Alligators have been known to exist for 200 million years, since the ages of reptiles. There are currently two well known types: American Alligators (Alligator mississippiensis) and Chinese Alligators (Alligator sinsensis). The species name originates from the Spanish term “el lagarto” which means “the lizard” when translated in English. The American Alligator can grow up to 14.5 feet and weigh up to 1,032 pounds while the Chinese Alligator can only grow up to 5 feet and weigh up to 100 pounds.

Did You Know? The sex of alligators is determined by the incubation temperature while they are still in their shells. A temperature of 83°F or lower produce females while a temperature of 93°F or higher produce males.

They also grow rather slowly, only reaching two feet after 2 years.

American alligators are found in the southeastern United States, where they live in freshwater environments such as ponds, marshes, rivers, lakes, and swamps. The largest recorded population of alligators living in the United States is found in Louisiana. The area can hold up to 1 million of these reptiles at a given time. Chinese Alligators are only found near the Yungtze River Valley, the longest river in Asia and the third longest in the world after the Nile and the Amazon.

Generally, the larger males tend to be solitary and territorial while the smaller species remain in close proximity to each other. Their main sources of food are smaller animals, although they may sometimes consume larger prey by drowning them and initiating the “death-roll.” The “death-roll” is a technique used by alligators to tear off larger chunks of meat of their prey by spinning convulsively.

In the spring, females lay about 40 eggs at a time and the incubation period is 65 days. The hatchlings use their “egg-tooth” to break open the shell. Alligators stay with their mothers for about 1.5 years until they move on to live on their own.

Did You Know?
The sex of alligators is determined by the incubation temperature while they are still in their shells. A temperature of 83°F or lower produce females while a temperature of 93°F or higher produce males.

Since 1981, the HIV and AIDS viruses have plagued the world. Considered to be incurable, the HIV virus mutates at an indiscernible rate into the AIDS virus, moving quickly in some and slowly in others. Once fully developed, the HIV virus turns into the AIDS virus, an immune system destroyer. However, research has been done that suggests a cure could be on the way: if special, hiding portions of the virus can be destroyed.

Up until now, it had been assumed that the HIV virus and AIDS virus worked in specific, determined ways. HIV (Human Immunodeficiency Virus) rapid viral replication and infection of specific types of white cells leads to the infiltration of HIV. As white counts drop, HIV transitions into the AIDS virus. There are periods of latency, both before and during this transition, that have been questioned by doctors for years. Where does the HIV virus go when patients are experiencing “remission” symptoms? When does the HIV  virus start to replicate?

According to new research, Dr. Kathleen Collins of the University of Michigan has found evidence that the virus that causes AIDS can hide in a patient’s bone marrow.

Practically undetectable, HIV in the bone marrow can grow without any consequence. This slow growing HIV can become the AIDS virus and mutate into the body very quickly, making it nearly unstoppable by medications and causing quick illnesses.

Dr. Collins also says this “dormant” HIV virus can cause problems for already recovering patients. It is well known throughout the scientific community that, if stopped in time, the HIV virus can be halted from becoming AIDS. A long regiment of lifetime drugs can aid a patient in staying healthier for longer, even potentially forever. This new, dormant style of HIV can live in the bone marrow long after “recovery” has occurred and can strike patients who slowly start taking less medication.

While this new discovery does little to set back research on the battle against AIDS, it also does little to take a step forward. Doctors and researchers have hoped for years that a cure for the AIDS/HIV epidemic would come soon. This new bone marrow hidden HIV evidence suggests that long term cures are still a long way off. Dr. Collins however, has hope, “If we are ever going to find a way to get rid of the cells, the first step is to understand.”

With killer whales performing tricks and ‘playing’ with trainers, Florida’s Shamu show at SeaWorld has drawn various tourists to check out the greatest attraction at the park, something that has made the park skyrocket to popularity. On Feb. 24, the Shamu noontime show was the subject of mass hysteria and commotion, but not for the reason it has always been. A shocked audience witnessed the 12,000 lb. orca attack and kill 40 year-old veteran trainer Dawn Brancheau. “He just took off like a bat out of you know what, took off really fast and came back around to the glass, jumped up, and grabbed the trainer by the waist and started shaking her violently,” eyewitness Victoria Biniak said. People in attendance from earlier shows attest to the behavior of the 22-ft orca equating to that of an “ornery child” and languidly following directions.

FILE - In this Saturday, Feb. 27, 2010 file photo, a killer whale raises its head out of the water during the first show since an orca killed a trainer at the SeaWorld theme park in Orlando, Fla. The latest killer whale involving Tilikum at SeaWorld attack raises anew the question of whether some animals, especially the biggest ones, have any business being tamed. (AP Photo/Phelan M. Ebenhack, Pool, File)

Apparently, this is not the first time Tilikum has been involved in fits of disturbance. In fact, the whale has been implicated in two other human deaths. The 30 year-old whale was connected with the 1991 death of another trainer in Canada’s Sealand of the Pacific as well as the death of a naked man whose body was discovered floating on the whale’s back in 1999. Tilikum’s attack on Brancheau has been the most recent to join the ranks of other animals either severely injuring or killing trainers and handlers.

These animal attacks have suggested the qualms about captivity and whether or not it is suitable to enforce detainment with all the dangers involved. Many also question the parading of animals around as exploited entertainment. Naomi Rose, a marine mammal scientist with the Humane Society said, “Orcas are simply too big, too complex, and too intelligent to be adequately accommodated in captivity.” Being that killer whales like Tilikum are sophisticated predators and have significant intelligence, it elicits the matter of large animals not being able to familiarize with a small environment, a fact that can lead to boredom and violent acts.

On the contrary, former SeaWorld head trainer Thad Lacinak says that keeping animals in captivity is necessary for educating people as well as protecting these large animals. He says that, unlike the Discovery Channel, learning about animals includes bringing them to the public, giving a different, more wholesome experience than “observing through a pair of binoculars.” “We know for a fact that people do not learn in static conditions. They learn from these animals when they are entertained by them.

That’s just how people learn. They don’t learn when they’re bored. They have a greater appreciation of the animals when they walk out.”  As of now, SeaWorld will keep Tilikum until management decides what they will do with the orca.

From AFP

WASHINGTON (AFP) – Victims of Hurricane Katrina are seeking to sue carbon gas-emitting multinationals for helping fuel global warming and boosting the devastating 2005 storm, legal documents showed.

The class action suit brought by residents from southern Mississippi, which was ravaged by hurricane-force winds and driving rains, was first filed just weeks after the August 2005 storm hit.

“The plaintiffs allege that defendants’ operation of energy, fossil fuels, and chemical industries in the United States caused the emission of greenhouse gasses that contributed to global warming,” say the documents seen by AFP.

The increase in global surface air and water temperatures “in turn caused a rise in sea levels and added to the ferocity of Hurricane Katrina, which combined to destroy the plaintiffs’ private property, as well as public property useful to them.”

More than 1,200 people died in Hurricane Katrina, which lashed the area, swamping New Orleans in Louisiana when levees gave way under the weight of the waves.

The suit, claiming compensation and punitive damages from multinational companies including Shell, ExxonMobile, BP and Chevron, has already passed several key legal hurdles, after initially being knocked back by the lowest court.

Three federal appeals court judges decided in October 2009 that the case could be heard. But in February the same court decided to re-examine whether it could be heard this time with nine judges.

Other companies named in the suit include Honeywell and American Electric Power, with the residents charging that “the defendants’ greenhouse gas emissions caused saltwater, debris, sediment, hazardous substances, and other materials to enter, remain on, and damage plaintiffs’ property.”

They allege that companies had a duty to “avoid unreasonably endangering the environment, public health, public and private property.”

The district court, which initially rejected the case, ruled that it was “a debate which simply has no place in the court.”

The court argued that Congress first had to enact legislation “which sets appropriate standards by which this court can measure conduct.”

Mississippi residents must now wait for the appeals court to fix a new hearing, in principle within the next three months.

A decision would then be due by the end of 2010, and both sides could also then take the case to the Supreme Court.

Spider monkeys are found in the tropical forests of Central and South America ranging from southern Mexico, to Colombia, to Brazil. They are known for their long limbs and extremely flexible tails, which they mainly use for climbing and balance. Out of the New World monkeys, they are considered the most intelligent for their communication and memorization skills. They are capable of emitting a large range of sounds and postures either for warding off predators or for selecting a potential mate. Their frugivorous diet also drives them to recall a wide variety of plants in which they can consume. When fruit is not available, they will resort to leaves, flowers, insects, honey, and bark.

Did you know? A Colombian spider monkey’s tail contains a hairless tip with tiny skin grooves that is similar to fingerprints.

Colombian spider monkeys form groups of 15 to 25 normally, however during the day they will separate into 2 to 8 monkeys per subgroup. The size of the subgroup depends on food competition and risk of predation. A female monkey will part from her family during puberty rather than a male, who will become dependent and form groups with his other male relatives. The female will form her own close bonds through her offspring.

Spider monkeys are diurnal, meaning that they spend the night sleeping in carefully chosen trees and the day searching for food which is led by the female. The females are responsible for planning what route to take during feeding time. If there are not enough sources for the entire group, the spider monkeys will split up into smaller sub-groups.

Did you know?
A Colombian spider monkey’s tail contains a hairless tip with tiny skin grooves that is similar to fingerprints.

By Brent Higgins
Guest Contributor

Overwhelming is an understatement, especially when acknowledging the deluge of variables that could have an effect on Ms. Bell’s data sets. On the overhead was a long string of what looked like frat house graffiti gone wrong- later determined to be a Baysian Hierarchical Model that accounted for a barrage of real world variable statistics. The model included information such as time of day, day of the week, temperature, and levels of different sizes of air particulate. Just the title of the lecture alone: “Air Pollution and Human Health” committed itself to a plethora of what ifs and if and only ifs.

Michelle C. Bell represents an army of scholarly elites expanding our understanding of the world through Sisyphusian endeavours neither wholly inglorious nor murmured in the streets. Her historical research began with the “Great Smog of 1952” when London air was trapped under a dense natural fog. The effect was so severe that visibility for a pedestrian was reduced to less than an arm’s length. Even pictures taken in broad daylight looked nightly. A correlation between exposure to sulphur dioxide and the number of health consequences and deaths was acknowledged with the Clean Air Acts of both the United States and the United Kingdom in the 70s.

As a result of the Clean Air Acts today’s scientists researching air pollution are “looking at a much smaller signal.” This decrease in larger, coarser particulate has been met with an increase in finer, combustion related particulate. This finer particulate is denoted PM2.5 for an aerodynamic diameter under 2.5 micrometers or about 30 times smaller than that of a human hair. The larger coarse dirt or dust particulate around PM10 is more common in developing cities with a lot of construction like those of China and India. Depending on weather conditions PM10 can settle to the ground within a couple of hours but PM2.5 is capable of remaining airborne for weeks and is only really removed when it rains. An interesting remark made about the federal stipulations was that they shortcut by only accounting for particulate size and avoid more intensive characteristics like chemical structure, acidity, water content and shape.

Due to the small size of fine particulate and its dependency on a daunting number of external factors that are difficult to quantify, the exact nature of PM2.5 with regards to bodily absorption rates and health effects remains elusive. Ms. Bell stated a better understanding of the nature of these chemicals present in the air can be achieved provided the time needed for more data collection. Of course it would also help to have more innovative but yet precise instruments capable of dissecting the air into quantifiable datasets. “…Come see me in four more years.” Michelle C. Bell concluded with a slight humour. More data is exactly what she intends to acquire.

From the Associated Press by Tanalee Smith

ADELAIDE, Australia – Anti-whaling activists on Friday cut short what they called their “most successful” Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers, citing an engine problem on one of their ships.

There are two weeks left in the three-month whaling season, during which Japan sends its six-vessel whaling fleet into Antarctic waters as part of a research program, an allowed exception to the International Whaling Commission’s 1986 ban on commercial whaling.

Paul Watson, founder of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd group that confronts the whalers each year, said in a statement Thursday that he had ordered the Bob Barker vessel to stop pursuing the Japanese and set a course for Tasmania. He said the vessel had a fuel valve problem that could cause an engine breakdown.

Watson said his group had had its best season ever, adding that the Japanese had not been able to kill a whale for three weeks thanks to Sea Shepherd’s efforts. The protest vessels had closely tailed the Japanese fleet of harpoon and factory vessels, which generally travel together, since late January.

“We’ve hurt the Japanese whaling fleet more this year than any year before,” Watson said. “This has been our most successful campaign in the six-year history of our interventions in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. We have done the best job possible with the resources available to us, and I am confident that we have prevented the slaughter of hundreds of whales.”

He said the Sea Shepherd’s effort this season “spells financial disaster for Japan’s whaling fleet.”

There was no immediate reaction from Japan.

Japan hunts hundreds of mostly whales in the Antarctic annually, with a maximum quota of 935 minke and 50 finback whales. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan, which critics say is the real reason for the hunts.

During each whaling season, in the southern hemisphere summer, Sea Shepherd activists try to block the whalers from firing harpoons and dangling ropes in the water to try to snarl their ships’ propellers. They also hurl packets of stinking rancid butter at their rivals. The whalers have responded by firing water cannons and sonar devices meant to disorient the activists. Collisions have occurred occasionally.

Earlier this month, activist Peter Bethune of New Zealand jumped aboard one of the Japanese ships with the stated goal of making a citizen’s arrest of the ship’s captain, while handing over a $3 million bill for the destruction of his protest ship last month. He is being held on the ship as it returns to Japan, where he may face charges of intrusion.

Watson said the Sea Shepherd will be arranging a legal defense for Bethune.

From the Associated Press by Tanalee Smith

ADELAIDE, Australia – Anti-whaling activists on Friday cut short what they called their “most successful” Antarctic campaign against Japanese whalers, citing an engine problem on one of their ships.

There are two weeks left in the three-month whaling season, during which Japan sends its six-vessel whaling fleet into Antarctic waters as part of a research program, an allowed exception to the International Whaling Commission’s 1986 ban on commercial whaling.

Paul Watson, founder of the U.S.-based Sea Shepherd group that confronts the whalers each year, said in a statement Thursday that he had ordered the Bob Barker vessel to stop pursuing the Japanese and set a course for Tasmania. He said the vessel had a fuel valve problem that could cause an engine breakdown.

Watson said his group had had its best season ever, adding that the Japanese had not been able to kill a whale for three weeks thanks to Sea Shepherd’s efforts. The protest vessels had closely tailed the Japanese fleet of harpoon and factory vessels, which generally travel together, since late January.

“We’ve hurt the Japanese whaling fleet more this year than any year before,” Watson said. “This has been our most successful campaign in the six-year history of our interventions in the Southern Ocean Whale Sanctuary. We have done the best job possible with the resources available to us, and I am confident that we have prevented the slaughter of hundreds of whales.”

He said the Sea Shepherd’s effort this season “spells financial disaster for Japan’s whaling fleet.”

There was no immediate reaction from Japan.

Japan hunts hundreds of mostly whales in the Antarctic annually, with a maximum quota of 935 minke and 50 finback whales. Whale meat not used for study is sold for consumption in Japan, which critics say is the real reason for the hunts.

During each whaling season, in the southern hemisphere summer, Sea Shepherd activists try to block the whalers from firing harpoons and dangling ropes in the water to try to snarl their ships’ propellers. They also hurl packets of stinking rancid butter at their rivals. The whalers have responded by firing water cannons and sonar devices meant to disorient the activists. Collisions have occurred occasionally.

Earlier this month, activist Peter Bethune of New Zealand jumped aboard one of the Japanese ships with the stated goal of making a citizen’s arrest of the ship’s captain, while handing over a $3 million bill for the destruction of his protest ship last month. He is being held on the ship as it returns to Japan, where he may face charges of intrusion.

Watson said the Sea Shepherd will be arranging a legal defense for Bethune.

From The Associated Press

LONDON – British politicians were among those caught up Friday in the latest Twitter-based scam which hijacks users’ accounts to send out sexually explicit messages to friends and followers.

The micro-blogging Web site has been hit by a wave of so-called “phishing scams,” which lure users to a bogus Web site where they’re enticed to part with their passwords. The compromised accounts are then used to distribute rogue messages to other users.

Those tracking the Twitter account of Ed Miliband, the British energy minister, were surprised by a message carrying an unusually direct reference to the politician’s sex life.

“Oh dear it seems like I’ve fallen victim to twitter’s latest ‘phishing’ scam,” Miliband said in a message posted shortly afterward.

He wasn’t alone.

On Thursday, House of Commons leader Harriet Harman told lawmakers her account had sent a bogus message to opposition lawmaker Alan Duncan.

She didn’t say exactly what the content of the message was, but she left British lawmakers wondering when she told them: “I wouldn’t ever send a tweet like that.”

Other prominent politicians and journalists were among those who received the rogue messages.

Even tech-savvy Twitter users have been hit.

Intel UK, the British arm of the chip maker, apologized to its followers Thursday after saying its account had been hacked.

So too was the account of prominent tech blogger Cory Doctorow, who blamed the small screen on his phone for falling 

LONDON – British politicians were among those caught up Friday in the latest Twitter-based scam which hijacks users’ accounts to send out sexually explicit messages to friends and followers.

The micro-blogging Web site has been hit by a wave of so-called “phishing scams,” which lure users to a bogus Web site where they’re enticed to part with their passwords. The compromised accounts are then used to distribute rogue messages to other users.

Those tracking the Twitter account of Ed Miliband, the British energy minister, were surprised by a message carrying an unusually direct reference to the politician’s sex life.

“Oh dear it seems like I’ve fallen victim to twitter’s latest ‘phishing’ scam,” Miliband said in a message posted shortly afterward.

He wasn’t alone.

On Thursday, House of Commons leader Harriet Harman told lawmakers her account had sent a bogus message to opposition lawmaker Alan Duncan.

She didn’t say exactly what the content of the message was, but she left British lawmakers wondering when she told them: “I wouldn’t ever send a tweet like that.”

Other prominent politicians and journalists were among those who received the rogue messages.

Even tech-savvy Twitter users have been hit.

Intel UK, the British arm of the chip maker, apologized to its followers Thursday after saying its account had been hacked.

So too was the account of prominent tech blogger Cory Doctorow, who blamed the small screen on his phone for falling

From the associated press

SALT LAKE CITY – Fossils of a previously undiscovered species of dinosaur have been found in slabs of Utah sandstone that were so hard that explosives had to be used to free some of the remains, scientists said Tuesday. The bones found at Dinosaur National Monument belonged to a type of sauropod — long-necked plant-eaters that were said to be the largest animal ever to roam land.

The discovery included two complete skulls from other types of sauropods — an extremely rare find, scientists said.

The fossils offer fresh insight into lives of dinosaurs some 105 million years ago, including the evolution of sauropod teeth, which reveal eating habits and other information, said Dan Chure, a paleontologist at the monument that straddles the Utah-Colorado border.

“You can hardly overstate the significance of these fossils,” he said.

Of the 120 or so known species of sauropods, complete skulls have been found for just eight. That’s mostly because their skulls were made of thin, fragile bones bound by soft tissue that were easily destroyed after death.

“This is absolutely No. 1 in terms of projects I’ve had the opportunity to work on,” said Brooks Britt, a Brigham Young University paleontologist who co-authored a study on the fossils along with University of Michigan researchers .

The new species is called Abydosaurus mcintoshi. Researchers say it’s part of the larger brachiosaurus family, hulking four-legged vegetarians that include sauropods.

The findings are being published this week in the peer-reviewed science journal Naturwissenschaften.

The bones came from a quarry known as DNM 16. It was discovered in 1977, but intensive excavations didn’t get started until the late 1990s.

The skulls were found in 2005. Tantalized researchers, though, were stymied by rocks around the bones that were so hard that workers were unable to break through, even with use of a jackhammers and concrete saws.

Last year, a blasting crew from Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado spent three days at the quarry detonating handset explosives that loosened the rock but didn’t damage the bones. That allowed scientists to pluck out other fossils, including leg bones, shoulder blades and other parts.

Paleontologists believe they have the remains of at least four dinosaurs at the site. All appear to be juveniles and were likely around 25 feet long, Britt said.

“We don’t know how much bigger they could get,” Britt said.

The skulls — including one that’s complete and intact and another that’s complete but in pieces — offer new clues about how sauropods ate their food.

“They didn’t chew it. They just grabbed it and swallowed it,” Britt said.

Early sauropods had wide teeth. Later versions had narrow, pencil-like teeth. The abydosaurus teeth are in-between, which will help scientists trace how their eating techniques and diet evolved.

“Abydosaurus is the right dinosaur at the right time to answer some of these questions,” University of Michigan researcher John Whitlock said in a statement.

The find may offer the most complete view yet of certain sauropods roaming North America from the Lower Cretaceous period spanning roughly 145 million to 99 million years ago, said Jim Kirkland, Utah’s state paleontologist, who was not involved in the discovery announced Tuesday.