May 27, 2017
LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Brazil
seen from Brazil
seen from United States
seen from Brazil
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seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from Saudi Arabia
seen from Malaysia
seen from United Kingdom
seen from Brazil
seen from China
seen from Germany
seen from Egypt
seen from Brazil
seen from United Kingdom
seen from United States
LITTLE LOUDER FOR THE PEOPLE IN THE BACK
There is a planted aquarium forum I frequent, and one of the members has the best signature... "There are 2 types of people on this forum. Those that have algae, and those that lie and say they don't."
They edit their RNA, a trick Mother Nature largely gave up in almost all other creatures.
They can edit their RNA, which means they can control what proteins get made, and how those proteins function, based on their environment.
If these guys survived past reproduction, and could pass their knowledge to their young, we would not be the dominant species on this planet..
Text for H.R.861 - 115th Congress (2017-2018): To terminate the Environmental Protection Agency.
This is straight from the horse’s mouth: “terminate the Environmental Protection Agency”.
The agency conducts environmental assessment, research, and education. It has the responsibility of maintaining and enforcing national standards under a variety of environmental laws, in consultation with state, tribal, and local governments. It delegates some permitting, monitoring, and enforcement responsibility to U.S. states and the federally recognized tribes. EPA enforcement powers include fines, sanctions, and other measures. The agency also works with industries and all levels of government in a wide variety of voluntary pollution prevention programs and energy conservation efforts.
And, from Scientific American, a (very brief) list of the EPA’s success stories:
The home runs on the list—which was compiled by a group of more than 20 environmental leaders, including several former EPA officials—include: banning the widespread use of the pesticide DDT, which was decimating bald eagles and other birds and threatening public health; achieving significant reductions in sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions that were polluting water sources via acid rain; changing public perceptions of waste, leading to innovations that make use of waste for energy creation and making new products; getting lead out of gasoline; classifying secondhand smoke as a known cause of cancer, leading to smoking bans in indoor public places; establishing stringent emission standards for pollutants emitted by cars and trucks; regulating toxic chemicals and encouraging the development of more benign chemicals; establishing a national commitment to restore and maintain the safety of fresh water, via the Clean Water Act; promoting equitable environmental protection for minority and low-income citizens; and increasing public information and communities’ “right to know” what chemicals and/or pollutants they may be exposed to in their daily lives.
This bill is real, it’s been introduced, the next step is for the House of Representatives to vote on it.
For folks in the US, HERE IS THE HOUSE’S ‘FIND YOUR REPRESENTATIVE’ PAGE. All you have to do is enter your ZIP code!
An email is more effective than social media, a letter is more effective than email, a phone call is more effective than a letter, and meeting in-person is the most effective of all!
Meet in person if you can, but DEFINITELY CALL THEM! Floods of calls do make a difference! Voice mailboxes will probably be full, because elected officials have been flooded with calls over the past couple of weeks. Try to call during work hours. You’ll probably get an intern that works at their office. They are not intimidating to talk to, and THEY ARE REQUIRED TO TAKE YOUR MESSAGE AND PASS IT TO YOUR REPRESENTATIVE. The same goes for the Senate!
People who don’t live in the US, please share this far and wide. You might not be able to directly influence our elected officials (unless you're with the Kremlin), but you can help spread the word to people who can. And, this would affect you, too.
SPREAD THE WORD. TAKE ACTION. THERE IS NO ‘PLANET B’.
"When we try to pick out anything by itself, we find it hitched to everything else in the Universe." -John Muir
I work with DSLR cameras a lot, and I’m fascinated with the science and engineering behind photography, video, and other types of optics. I can only wish I had this kind of equipment at my own work.
Having these techniques is almost like being a wizard. Extreme close-up shots with macro photography, and high quality high-speed/slow motion video have the near magical capability of viewing a banal, everyday object or process into an experience of wonder.
The US Department of Agriculture will no longer make lab inspection results and violations publicly available, citing privacy concerns.
The disappearance of information caught animal welfare groups by surprise. “I'm just flabbergasted,” says Eric Kleiman, a research consultant at the Animal Welfare Institute, an advocacy group in Washington DC. “This is not only the opposite of transparency, it takes us back to the Stone Age.”
But Matthew Bailey, president of the non-profit Foundation for Biomedical Research in Washington DC, says the move has some merit, because animal rights activists sometimes target scientists who use animals. “I would certainly agree that protection of personal information is of utmost importance, given the rich history of targeting individuals involved in animal research,” he says. But Bailey acknowledges that it will now be difficult for organizations like his to analyse trends in animal use in research.
Espinosa declined to answer questions about what triggered the decision, or whether input from business interests, such as the circus industry, or the 20 January resignation of agency head Michael Scuse were factors. She would not comment on whether the White House had a role in the move, but added that the USDA has “been reviewing and updating the information that is released to the public for the last year”.
Nature is an extremely prestigious scientific journal. This is not a drill.
The Twitter user who filmed the strange moment theorized that the turkeys were "trying to give this cat its 10th life." Biologist Alan Krakauer says it's more likely "predator inspection behavior."
I see loads of turkeys at work, and, let me tell you, they are some amusing, and often very weird dinosaurs.