Archive for May 4th, 2008
The Boris Effect: UK Government to Scrap Green Taxes in Bid to Calm Voter Fury
Posted by Paul, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Elections
Comments: 19
Gordon Brown is poised to scrap a series of unpopular tax rises as part of sweeping changes to stave off a dangerous revolt over the rising cost of living which last week dealt Labour its worst electoral hammering in 40 years. Today the Prime Minister will respond to a growing suburban uprising by signalling moves [...]
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Whaling News from the North Atlantic – A Note from Ann Novek
Posted by Paul, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Whales
Comments: 11
1) News from the Icelandic Minke Whaler’s Association, 15.4.2008.
Minke whaling boat Njordur KO, will leave port in the middle of May, to start minke whale hunting that will continue to the summer.
The vessels Dröfn RE and Halldor Sigurdsson IS, will join the hunt during the summer. According to the plan, whale meat be available in [...]
Biomimetics
Posted by Paul, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Plants and Animals
Comments: 2
Mimicking the Bumps on Humpback-whale Fins Could Lead to More Efficient Wind Turbines. Biomimetics is the abstraction of good design from nature.
Continue reading the ABC (US) news story: Whale-Inspired Windmills
Thanks to Ann Novek of Sweden for this story.
Challenging Global Warming Orthodoxies: Don Aitkin
Posted by jennifer, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Climate & Climate Change, Energy & Nuclear
Comments: 9
In last week’s broadcast I put forward the view that despite the alarm about greenhouse gas emissions, Kyoto targets and the rest, there is evidence that suggests that if the earth is warming, it is doing so slowly after a long, cool period and that human activity is unlikely to be a major cause of [...]
Hercules Moth
Posted by neil, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Plants and Animals
Comments: 4
In matters of antennae, I imagine that surface area correlates with sensitivity. The male Hercules Moth Coscinocera Hercules must find his mate within a very short timeframe.
Adult females emerge from the chrysalis without mouth-parts, her 4-5 day life does not include feeding. After she emerges and her wings unfold and dry, she emits pheromones [...]
Climate Change and the Commercial Fishery: A Note from Walter Starck
Posted by jennifer, May 4th, 2008 - under Uncategorized.
Tags: Climate & Climate Change, Fishing
Comments: 4
I have never seen a more succinct and telling argument to refute carbon dioxide governed climate change than the following graph from a study by L.B. Klyashtorin pubished as a technical paper by the United Nation’s Food and Agricultural Organisation.
from http://www.fao.org/DOCREP/005/Y2787E/y2787e1l.gif
The study entitled ‘Climate change and long term fluctuations of commercial catches: possibilities of forecasting’ [...]

