Month: March 2013

Mars and Venus Surprised by Vulcan ~ Alexandre Charles Guillemot

 

VIA 1,000,000 Strong Against Offshore Drilling
Liked · 28 February

MILITARY MIGHT VS. MARINE MAMMALS ?
The U.S. Department of Defense has given the U.S. Navy permission to cover 70% of the Earth’s oceans with their sonar systems! The Navy’s training plans threaten entire populations of marine wildlife off the East Coast, Southern California, Hawaii and the Gulf Coast. These include many of the world’s rare and endangered whale species, such as blue whales, fin whales and North Atlantic right whales, which are barely clinging to survival.

High-intensity sonar can deafen, injure and even kill marine mammals, and has caused numerous mass strandings and deaths of whales on beaches around the world.

“This mid-frequency sonar will bombard whales with noise so intense — up to 236 decibels — it can actually cause their internal organs to hemorrhage. It’s distressing that the Navy refuses to put common-sense precautions in place that could protect whales during routine training — especially because taking such steps would in no way compromise our military readiness. Whales should not have to suffer or die for military practice.”
— Pierce Brosnan, Actor and NRDC Member

We can put a halt to the injury and death of whales, dolphins, seals and other marine mammals by bringing our voices together on this issue.

TAKE ACTION – SIGN & SHARE the links below:

1. Tell the National Marine Fisheries Service to reject the Navy’s irresponsible plan and put safeguards in place that will protect marine animals without compromising military readiness.
http://www.savebiogems.org/save-whales-from-sonar/
http://action.biologicaldiversity.org/o/2167/p/dia/action3/common/public/?action_KEY=12394
http://signon.org/sign/stop-us-navy-plans-to-1

2. Tell the California Coastal Commission to minimize harm to marine mammals and put areas with high concentrations of marine mammals off-limits to the Navy’s sonar and explosives. Safeguarding marine mammals during routine training and testing will not compromise military readiness.
Email the Coastal Commission:
< NavySonar@Coastal.ca.gov>
re: Agenda# CD-008-13 (Navy, Southern California)

Attend the March 2013 Hearing:
Date & Time: Friday, March 8th, 2013, 8:30 AM
Location: The Bahia Resort Hotel
998 West Mission Bay Drive, San Diego, CA 92109
http://www.coastal.ca.gov/mtgcurr.html
http://tinyurl.com/d7u85az

More info:
NRDC video: http://tinyurl.com/dx5grdh
http://foodintegritynow.org/2013/02/27/whales-and-dolphins-will-humanity-stop-the-madness/
http://documents.coastal.ca.gov/reports/2013/3/F9a-3-2013.pdf

Image credit: NRDC
____________________________________________________
“Non-violence is the greatest force at the disposal of mankind. It is mightier than the mightiest weapon of destruction devised by the ingenuity of man.”
— Mohandas K. “Mahatma” Gandhi

VIA From Quarks to Quasars
Like This Page · 14 hours ago

Curiosity Rover put to Sleep after Major Malfunction:

NASA’s Mars rover has a memory issue. Considering that the rover is millions of miles away, traveling about collecting samples on another planet, this makes repairs a little bit tricky. For now, the rover has been placed in “safe mode” while the NASA team in charge of operations attempts to troubleshoot the problem.

Fortunately, like many spacecraft, Curiosity has a backup plan.

Obviously, you don’t send a multimillion dollar instrument across the solar system without planning for technological issues and system failures. Thus, the rover was equipped with a pair of computers, just in case one was to experience errors. Each of the computers, A-side and B-side, also have redundant subsystems that are linked to just that computer. Consequently, errors from one computer should not affect the operations of the other.

NASA scientists state that the problem is related to a glitch in flash memory, which is linked to the other (now-inactive) A computer. This means that Curiosity is now hibernating in its B-side. Scientists noticed the problem when Curiosity did not send recorded data as scheduled. Instead, it sent only current status information (information regarding its systems and operations). This status information revealed that the A computer had not switched to the daily “sleep” mode when planned.

Magdy Bareh, leader of the mission’s anomaly resolution team, stated that the team is working on a way to correct the errors with the A-side (trying to find a way to restore this side so that it can be used as a viable backup if the need arises) while they are attempting to resume operations on the B-side.

These errors come at a critical time, as earlier this week the laboratory instruments inside the rover began analyzing portions of the first sample of rock powder ever collected from the interior of a rock on Mars. However, at this point, scientists do not believe that there is any reason for serious concern, and Curiosity is expected to resume normal activities in a few days.

We’ll keep you posted.

~~Jolene

Sources and Further Research:

Curiosity Computer Swap:
http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/msl/news/msl20130228.html

More information about Curiosity is online:
http://www.nasa.gov/msl and http://mars.jpl.nasa.gov/msl/

Follow the mission on Facebook:
http://www.facebook.com/marscuriosity

And on Twitter:
http://www.twitter.com/marscuriosity

Image Source:
NASA
Editors note: This is not an actual image, it is an artists interpretation. Please stop posting about how it looks fake and must have been made in a Hollywood studio. It is fake, NASA even says that in the caption. Relax, they’re not trying to pull one over on you.

Via Heitor Karai Awá-Ruvixá Gonçalves
3 hours ago

01/03/2013 08h33 – Atualizado em 01/03/2013 08h33
DEPRIMIDO, JOVEM DA ETNIA GUARANI- KAIOWÁ COMETE SUICÍDIO!
Sem perspectiva, jovens Guarani-Kaiowá se entregam à bebida e ao desespero!

Sidnei Bronka
Do Progresso- MS
De acordo com o perito André Kiyoshi, o jovem Guarani-Kaiowá de 15 anos saiu de casa por volta das 13h30 e foi encontrado às 17h de quarta-feira enforcado em uma árvore às margens de uma estrada vicinal que corta a Reserva.
“Ele vinha sofrendo porque há cerca de um mês perdeu o irmão que foi brutalmente assassinado. O jovem estava com depressão e nós buscávamos uma maneira para resgatá-lo, mas não conseguimos a tempo”, disse Aniceto Velasquez, integrante da liderança indígena.
Velasquez afirma que já procurou as autoridades, mas que nada foi feito até o momento. “Em novembro nós comunicamos à Fundação Nacional do Índio (FUNAI), assim como as forças de seguranças, mas ainda não vimos nada posto em prática.
Precisamos de algo que controle o fornecimento de bebidas alcoólicas, combata o tráfico e ofereça assistência social aos dependentes químicos e depressivos. “Só assim evitaremos mais mortes”.