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World News (not involving animals)
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Zealandia: Is there an eighth continent under New Zealand?
17 February 2017 Mount Cook, the highest peak of New Zealand - and Zealandia  *This image is copyright of its original author You think you know your seven continents? Think again, as there's a new contender hoping to join that club. Say hello to Zealandia, a huge landmass almost entirely submerged in the southwest Pacific. It's not a complete stranger, you might have heard of its highest mountains, the only bits showing above water: New Zealand. Scientists say it qualifies as a continent and have now made a renewed push for it to be recognised as such. In a paper published in the Geological Society of America's Journal, researchers explain that Zealandia measures five million sq km (1.9m sq miles) which is about two thirds of neighbouring Australia.  *This image is copyright of its original author Some 94% of that area is underwater with only a few islands and three major landmasses sticking out above the surface: New Zealand's North and South Islands and New Caledonia. You might think being above water is crucial to making the cut as a continent, but the researchers looked at a different set of criteria, all of which are met by the new kid in town. elevation above the surrounding area
 *This image is copyright of its original author The main author of the article, New Zealand geologist Nick Mortimer, said scientists have been researching data to make the case for Zealandia for more than two decades. "The scientific value of classifying Zealandia as a continent is much more than just an extra name on a list," the researchers explained. "That a continent can be so submerged yet unfragmented" makes it useful for "exploring the cohesion and breakup of continental crust". So how then to get Zealandia into the canon of continents? Should text books authors get nervous again? After all, just a few years ago, Pluto got kicked off the list of planets, changing what had been taught in schools for decades. There is in fact no scientific body that formally recognises continents. So it could only change over time if future research accepts Zealandia on par with the rest so that eventually we might be learning about eight, not seven, continents.   *This image is copyright of its original author Using a system that uses a set of plastic 'leaves' to funnel air in various directions, the team has developed water generators that appear to create pure drinking water out of nothing. http://www.sciencealert.com/this-device-...3A.twitter 
Between this and Desalination Water Systems, you wonder why there is still a water shortage in the world.
Geoscientists continue to debate two competing theories. One suggests that Earth’s water might have been captured from asteroids and comets that collided with the planet. But recent research has strengthened the case for the other theory that water was always present in the rocks of the Earth’s mantle and was gradually released to the surface through volcanoes.
 *This image is copyright of its original author https://www.universal-sci.com/headlines/2017/3/7/comets-or-volcanoes-scientists-are-changing-their-minds-about-how-the-earths-water-got-here 
It seems possible, perhaps, that there might be some truth to both theories.
India’s total forest cover increases by 1%: State of Forest Report 2017
Monday | 12 February 2018  *This image is copyright of its original author India’s tree and forest cover has registered an increase of about 1% or almost 10,000 sq. km in two years since 2015, according to the latest assessment by the government. The India State of Forest Report (ISFR) 2017 was released by Environment Minister Harsh Vardhan and his Deputy Mahesh Sharma in New Delhi on Monday. Mr. Harsh Vardhan said India has shown an increasing trend in the forest and tree cover as against the global trend of decreasing forest cover during the last decade. The report also points towards an expansion of agro-forestry and private forestry. There is a jump from 42.77m3 in the 2011 assessment to 74.51m3 in timber production in ‘Trees outside Forests’ (TOF) category. According to the 15th State of Forest Report , the total forest cover is 7,08,273 sq. km, which is 21.54% of the total geographical area of the country. Forest and tree cover combined is 8,02,088 sq. km or 24.39% of the total geographical area. The Environment Ministry said in the latest assessment that very dense forest in India has also increased by 1.36% as compared to 2015. ISFR is released every two years. “There is an increase of 8,021 sq. km [about 0.94%] in the total forest and tree cover of the country, compared to the previous assessment in 2015. “The increase in the forest cover has been observed as 6,778 sq. km and that of tree cover as 1,243 sq. km,” Mr. Harsh Vardhan said. “The increase in forest cover in VDF is followed by increase in open forest,” the Minister said, adding that ISFR 2017 has been prepared with the help of scientific tools. He said Madhya Pradesh (77,414 sq. km) has the largest forest cover in the country in terms of area, followed by Arunachal Pradesh (66,964 sq. km) and Chhattisgarh (55,547 sq. km). In terms of percentage of forest cover with respect to the total geographical area, Lakshadweep with (90.33%) has the highest forest cover, followed by Mizoram (86.27%) and Andaman and Nicobar Island (81.73%), he said. “Work has already started for preparing ISFR 2019,” he said. *This image is copyright of its original author The top five States where maximum forest cover has increased are Andhra Pradesh (2,141 sq. km), Karnataka (1,101 sq. km), Kerala (1,043 sq. km), Odisha (885 sq. km) and Telangana (565 sq. km). The survey, which has for the first time assessed water bodies, said that these bodies inside forest cover have increased by 2,647 sq. km during last decade. It said Maharashtra (432 sq. km), Gujarat (428 sq. km), Madhya Pradesh (389 sq. km) are top three states showing increase in water bodies within forest areas. “Overall, almost all the states have shown a positive change in water bodies,” it said. The five States where forest cover has decreased most are Mizoram (531 sq. km), Nagaland (450 sq. km), Arunachal Pradesh (190 sq. km), Tripura (164 sq. km) and Meghalaya (116 sq. km). Ministry officials said that these States are in the Northeast where the total forest cover is very high — more than 70% in each State. The main reasons for the decrease are shifting cultivation, other biotic pressures, rotational felling, diversion of forest lands for developmental activities, submergence of forest cover, agriculture expansion and natural disasters, they said. The present assessment also reveals that 15 States and Union Territories (UTs) have above 33% of the geographical area under forest cover. Out of these States and UTs, Mizoram, Lakshadweep, Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Meghalaya and Manipur have more than 75% forest cover, while eight — Tripura, Goa, Sikkim, Kerala, Uttarakhand, Dadra and Nagar Haveli, Chhattisgarh and Assam have forest cover between 33% and 75%. “18,000 points have been physically surveyed in a scientific manner in the preparation of the report,” Mahesh Sharma said. “India is ranked 10th in the world, with 24.4% of land area under forest and tree cover, even though it accounts for 2.4% of the world’s surface area and sustains the needs of 17% of human and 18% livestock population,” Mr. Harsh Vardhan said. The Minister said as per the latest Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) report, India is placed 8th in the list of top ten nations reporting the greatest annual net gain in forest area. 
02-28-2018, 03:53 PM
( This post was last modified: 02-28-2018, 10:03 PM by sanjay
Edit Reason: corrected the formating
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South Africa parliament votes to confiscate white-owned land without compensation
 *This image is copyright of its original author http://www.news.com.au/finance/economy/w...3576c4c0bc (02-28-2018, 03:53 PM)Nyers Wrote: South Africa parliament votes to confiscate white-owned land without compensation This is a very dangerous game to play... I see a lot of conflict in the near future from this decision. 
@Spalea
I'm very much the same way, I find my self disconnecting from people more and more and caring more for nature and the wildlife it contains. In regards to the topic, I just think attempting to right crimes against humanity with more crimes against humanity isn't going to solve a thing, just create more diversion and conflict in a place that can hardly afford it. (02-28-2018, 03:53 PM)Nyers Wrote: South Africa parliament votes to confiscate white-owned land without compensation Worrying facts. South Africa, despite all its victorious conservation model, has many social and economic problems (hunger, violence, unemployment, AIDS ...) a large pressure cooker. The departure of Zuma, implying a new political reordering can foment old ethnic brawls with harmful consequences for stability. It is necessary to follow the development of these events ... It is a very dangerous precedent, the long years of Zuma in power and the innumerable denunciations of corruption and the inertia in promoting projects of social insertion, causes that the black population suffers the same problems of the Apartheid. 
Guys, it looks like we may see a slight, yet significantly-important continental change in our lives. Cracks are forming up in Kenya and many of the countries in East Africa.
Africa Is Splitting in Two, and Here's the Proof "A piece of East Africa is expected to break off the main continent in tens of millions of years. And if you need any proof, look no further than Kenya's Rift Valley, where a giant, gaping tear opened up following heavy rains and seismic activity, according to Face2Face Africa. The enormous crack appeared on March 19 and measures more than 50 feet (15 meters) wide and several miles along, Face2Face Africa and other news sources reported. Moreover, it's still growing longer. The rift is likely a sign of things to come as the plate tectonics under Africa rearrange themselves. The majority of Africa sits on top of the African Plate. However, a long, vertical piece of eastern Africa lies on top of the Somali Plate. This juncture where the two plates meet is known as the East African Rift, which stretches an astonishing 1,800 miles (3,000 kilometers), or about the distance from Denver to Boston. [50 Interesting Facts About Planet Earth] To avoid confusion (given that Africa doesn't sit on only one plate), researchers call the giant African plate the Nubian Plate. In essence, the Nubian and Somali plates are being split in two, according to a piece in The Conversation by Lucia Perez Diaz, a postdoctoral researcher at the Fault Dynamics Research Group at Royal Holloway, University of London. Here's how two plates split apart: The lithosphere, which is broken up into tectonic plates, is made of the Earth's crust and the upper part of the mantle. When the lithosphere experiences tugging forces, it becomes thinner, until it eventually ruptures, Perez Diaz wrote. This rupture has already led to the formation of the rift valley. The rupture process is often accompanied by seismic activity and volcanism. In the East African Rift's case, a large mantle plume under the lithosphere is weakening it, allowing it to stretch, Perez Diaz said. Rifts lead to recognizable land formations — that is, a series of depressions surrounded by higher ground. The East African Rift has a series of rift valleys that can be seen from space. However, not all of these rifts formed at the same time. Rather, they started in northern Ethiopia about 30 million years ago and spread southward toward Zimbabwe at an average rate of between 1 and 2 inches (2.5 and 5 centimeters) a year, Perez Diaz said. As the Somali and Nubian plates move apart, the region can experience earthquakes, as it did in southwestern Kenya last week. The giant crack tore the busy Mai Mahiu-Narok road in two and split apart houses, including the home of a 72-year-old woman who was eating dinner with her family when it happened, according to Face2Face Africa."
A magnetic anomaly is currently rising in the Eastern part of Africa as well, and this is most likely due to the slight, continuous plate shift. The Bangui Magnetic Anomaly has grown in size to reach the Western edge of the Rift Valley as well, and some (un-informed people) said that this will indicate a rapid change in magnetic poles. It won't because there is another anomaly in Russia called the Kursk Anomaly that is also large in size (although smaller than its African counterpart), and it grew and contracted, yet nothing happened.
So far, many birds have fallen to the ground in East and Central Africa due to their magnetoreceptic olfactory sense (they can easily visualize magnetic fields). Bangui Magnetic Anomaly
I completely disagree with the article myself, but the "scientific community" (probably the one purposely funded by the government) is stating that there could be no alien life aside from our galaxy.
A Vital Ingredient For Alien Life Seems to Be Missing From The Universe "One of the chemical elements essential to life is phosphorus, but the latest research suggests there may be less of it in the wider Universe than we thought. That could be bad news for those hoping to find alien life out there in space. Scientists think that life-giving phosphorus – capable of triggering the chemical reactions necessary to spark the development of organisms – was carried to Earth via meteorites. With that in mind, it could point to the chances of life existing on other planets. Phosphorus is particularly important for the compound adenosine triphosphate, or ATP - the molecule cells use to store and transfer energy. For this new study, researchers examined readings from the William Herschel Telescope in the Canary islands. They measured the infrared light produced by phosphorus and iron in the Crab Nebula, the leftovers of a supernova some 6,500 light-years away from Earth. Comparing the readings to those previously taken from the Cassiopeia A (Cas A) supernova remnant, the scientists found much less phosphorus present in the Crab Nebula. Their result indicates that some star systems might have very little of the stuff, though the team emphasises these are just preliminary findings for now. "The two explosions seem to differ from each other, perhaps because Cas A results from the explosion of a rare super-massive star," says one of the researchers, astronomer Phil Cigan from Cardiff University in the UK. "We've just asked for more telescope time to go back and check, in case we've missed some phosphorus-rich regions in the Crab Nebula." Previous research has confirmed that phosphorus is created in the explosions of massive stars known as supernovae, but scientists are having a hard time figuring out just how much phosphorus these blasts might produce. If the amount of phosphorus being shot out into space by supernovae is as unpredictable as the Cas A and Crab Nebula results would suggest, that means less of a chance that the right chemical mix will land on the right planets to spark life. One possibility is that the different ages of the stars affected the levels of phosphorus, the researchers told Jay Bennett at Popular Mechanics. Another is that the extra mass or density of Cas A produced more reactions, but for now, scientists aren't sure. We'll need much more research to establish this phosphorus-supernovae relationship, but the researchers suggest that the likelihood of alien organisms flourishing could well depend on what type of supernova is close by, just as much as the other conditions on the local planet. "If phosphorus is sourced from supernovae, and then travels across space in meteoritic rocks, I'm wondering if a young planet could find itself lacking in reactive phosphorus because of where it was born?" says one of the team, Jane Greaves from Cardiff University. "In that case, life might really struggle to get started out of phosphorus-poor chemistry, on another world otherwise similar to our own." The research has been presented at the European Week of Astronomy and Space Science in the UK." |
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