| Indonesian volcano spews new burst of ash By BINSAR BAKKARA 2010-09-03T14:15:28ZTANAH KARO, Indonesia (AP) -- An Indonesian volcano that was quiet for four centuries shot a new, powerful burst of hot ash more than 10,000 feet (three kilometers) in the air Friday, sending frightened residents fleeing to safety for the second time this week.... hosted.ap.org |
Today's mystery bird for you to identify | GrrlScientist Caught in the act of diving, this migratory North American species is an extremely rare vagrant to western EuropeMystery Bird photographed at the Bolsa Chica Wetlands, Huntington Beach, southern California, USA. [I will identify this bird for you in 48 hours]Image: Steve Duncan, February 2009 [larger view].Nikon D200 w/ manual Nikkor 600 f/4 on tripod w/ gimbal mount.There are several interesting features about this species' reproductive habits, particularly regarding its nest choice and the behavioral and evolutionary consequences of that choice. Can you tell me more about this? Daily Mystery Bird Rules: 1. Please name at least one field mark that supports your identification, keeping in mind that more than one field mark is often necessary to distinguish between species. IDs without any supporting information are not valid and may be deleted by the moderators. 2. Expert and intermediate level birders: please do NOT try to be the first to blurt out the mystery bird's ID. Instead, please provide helpful hints, such as descriptions, literary references, puns, personal anecdotes, and other forms of discussion and assistance for beginning birders and those following on their iPhones without naming the species. Expert and intermediate birders are free to name the bird species 24 or more hours after it was first published.3. Each mystery bird is usually accompanied by a question or two. These questions can be useful for identifying the pictured species, but may instead be used to illustrate an interesting aspect of avian biology, behaviour or evolution, or may be intended to generate conversation on other topics, such as conservation. 4. Each bird species will be demystified 48 hours after publication. If you have bird images, video or mp3 files that you'd like to share with a large and appreciate audience, feel free to email them to me.GrrlScientistguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Animal activists accused of liberating 5,000 mink in Ireland Farm owner in Donegal accuses radicals of cutting open cages and fences to free predatory, carnivorous mammalsThe roads and rivers of north-west Ireland are suddenly lined with mink. Managers at Anderson's Mink Farm in Ardara, Donegal, said today that animal right activists cut and opened many of their cages and fences over the weekend, freeing an estimated 5,000 animals into the wilds. About 28,000 stayed behind.More than 100 have already been recaptured by hunters using cage traps, while several hundred others have been killed by traffic. Drivers have reported seeing groups of the farm-reared animals standing, dazzled by headlights, in the middle of busy roads.One of the farm's directors, Connie Anderson, blamed animal rights activists for invading the farm in the early hours of Sunday. "These people are animal liberation terrorists and had no thought for the mink or for the damage that will be done to other wildlife in the area," Anderson said.Agricultural authorities warned that the surviving minks could destroy local populations of salmon, rabbits and fowl. Animal rights activists in Ireland have denied responsibility – but are praising whoever did it."We have nothing to do with it," said Bernie Wright, spokeswoman for Ireland's Alliance for Animal Rights. "However, I commend whoever risked their freedom to do this as these animals have a horrendous life."IrelandAnimalsAnimal welfareAnimal behaviourBiologyguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Houston Symphony Orchestra/Graf – review Bridgewater Hall, ManchesterThe Planets: An HD Odyssey is a whirlwind tour of the solar system with images from Nasa's most recent space explorations accompanied by the Houston Symphony Orchestra. As gimmicks go, it has been a great success. The show debuted at New York's Carnegie Hall earlier this year, and the UK tour sold out well in advance.The concept is arguably flawed on several counts. As a cosmic tone poem, the Planets Suite stands or falls by its aural effects alone. And Holst's intention was to depict the astrological character of the heavenly bodies; so enhancing, for instance, the Bringer of Jollity with images of the surface of Jupiter is hardly more relevant than Nasa sending a satellite to test whether Jupiter is such a jolly place to be.Quibbles aside, the production is slickly handled, though we could probably have done without the preceding 10-minute documentary in which Nasa scientists observe that the music for Mars, the Bringer of War, is "powerful and brooding". Yet the images are sometimes quite breathtaking; such as when a probe penetrates the noxious atmosphere that surrounds Venus like the fuzz of a rotten orange, or ripples through the rings of Saturn like a harpist's fingers.The Houston Symphony, impressively led by music director Hans Graf, is as large as you'd expect a Texan organisation to be – with a particularly rampant brass section that does full justice to the effects that Holst intended to achieve. Stripped of the visuals, this would be a rousing account of the Planets Suite on its own. With them, it creates an experience that is genuinely out of this world.At Anvil, Basingstoke, 15 October (01256 844244) and Barbican, London, 16 October (020-7638 8891).Rating: 4/5Classical musicNasaAlfred Hicklingguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2010 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds guardian.co.uk |
Sea ice melting as Arctic temperature rises By RANDOLPH E. SCHMID 2010-10-21T18:56:03ZWASHINGTON (AP) -- The temperature is rising again in the Arctic, with the sea ice extent dropping to one of the lowest levels on record, climate scientists reported Thursday.... hosted.ap.org |