News

Last month I initiated a News post. Now it's February, so I commence a fresh one:

Leonardo
A male apprentice, longtime companion and possible lover of Leonardo da Vinci was the main influence and a model for the "Mona Lisa" painting, an Italian researcher said Wednesday.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110202/ap_en_ot/eu_italy_mona_lisa;_ylt=AmtfpHTjxxdXOp8qqxwTiWBxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJqYXZoMjQzBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjAyL2V1X2l0YWx5X21vbmFfbGlzYQRjcG9zAzIEcG9zAzYEc2VjA3luX3RvcF9zdG9yeQRzbGsDbWFsZW1vZGVsYmVo

VOC
You've probably heard the term VOC, which stands for volatile organic compounds. VOCs are chemicals that give off gas from certain materials and liquids. These chemicals hang around our homes, sometimes for years, polluting the indoor air and causing adverse health effects. VOCs are one of the main reasons that indoor air is often 200 times more polluted than the outdoor air.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/usnews/20110202/ts_usnews/5waystofreeyourhomeofdangerouschemicals;_ylt=Atkp37VRDL5YoqWfDDdFlBIPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTNncGFnOW01BGFzc2V0A3VzbmV3cy8yMDExMDIwMi81d2F5c3RvZnJlZXlvdXJob21lb2ZkYW5nZXJvdXNjaGVtaWNhbHMEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX2FydGljbGVfc3VtbWFyeV9saXN0BHNsawNmdWxsbmJzcHN0b3I-

Oysters
By averaging the loss among all regions, the researchers came up with an estimate that 85 percent of oyster reef ecosystems have been lost, but said that figure was likely low because some areas lacked historical records for comparison.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110203/sc_afp/environmentusfoodoceans;_ylt=Ap0T6iE_fq31o6upNnpscFIPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJsc2NnbnZpBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDIwMy9lbnZpcm9ubWVudHVzZm9vZG9jZWFucwRwb3MDNQRzZWMDeW5fbW9zdF9wb3B1bGFyBHNsawNveXN0ZXJzZGlzYXA-

CO2
The Mongol invasion of Asia in the 1200s took enough carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere to offset a year's worth of the world's gasoline demand today, according to a new study. But even Genghis Khan couldn't create more than a blip in atmospheric carbon compared to the overwhelming effect of agriculture.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/livescience/20110208/sc_livescience/mongolinvasionin1200salteredcarbondioxidelevels

Rape, Egypt, Lara Logan
Sexual harassment of women is an all-too-common occurrence on the streets of Cairo. But many women noted a complete absence of it in the early days of protests in Tahrir Square, where demonstrators made a point of trying to create a microcosm of the society without many of Egypt's social ills.
However, in the final days, and especially after the battles with pro-Mubarak gangs who attacked the protesters in Tahrir, women noticed sexual assault had returned to the square. On the day Mubarak fell, women reported being groped by the rowdy crowds. One witness saw a woman slap a man after he touched her. The man was then passed down a line of people who all slapped him and reprimanded him.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110215/ap_en_ot/us_tv_lara_logan_attack;_ylt=AjCl7R6F6KixeeWxccUMLAlxFb8C;_ylu=X3oDMTJvam8xc2VnBGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjE1L3VzX3R2X2xhcmFfbG9nYW5fYXR0YWNrBGNwb3MDMwRwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fdG9wX3N0b3J5BHNsawNjYnNuZXdzbG9nYW4-

Poisoned Oaks
Auburn: Oak trees poisoned at historic site
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20110217/ap_on_sp_ot/auburn_trees_poisoned;_ylt=AoFgKaBgummvYTPq4XoT_LcLMxIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJpOGwzdTA2BGFzc2V0A2FwLzIwMTEwMjE3L2F1YnVybl90cmVlc19wb2lzb25lZARwb3MDNwRzZWMDeW5fbW9zdF9wb3B1bGFyBHNsawNhdWJ1cm5vYWt0cmU-
I include this news item to declare that Knatz.com had a fair amount of material on differing attitudes toward trees in different times, places, cultures. The oak was especially revered: along with mistletoe, a common parasite of oaks.
pk wishes to emphasize: the ancient Teutons punished harm to trees severely. One convicted of cutting the bark of an oak had his belly button removed and tacked to the injured oak. The criminal was then driven around the tree in circles as his intestines were pulled from his guts by his passage. The trees wound was therefore bound by the attacker's flesh.
I love a number of aspects of Teutonic justice.

Little Replaces Big
"Humans have always fished. Even our ancestors have fished. We are just much much better at it now," said UBC scientist Reg Watson.
Examining the 2006 numbers, 76 million tons of commercial seafood were reported, meaning about "seven trillion individuals were killed and consumed by us or our livestock," said Watson.
Watson said fishing efforts have been growing over the past several decades, reaching a collective point of 1.7 billion watts, or 22.6 million horsepower, worldwide that year.
In terms of energy use, that would amount to 90 miles (150 kilometers) of "Corvettes bumper to bumper with their engines revving," he said.
"It looks like we are fishing harder for the same or less result and this has to tell us something about the oceans' health. We may in fact have hit peak fish at the same time we are hitting peak oil."
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110218/sc_afp/environmentoceansfish;_ylt=Ap2GMjghMUgICjnSnQahPlMPLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJqZWQzY2ozBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDIxOC9lbnZpcm9ubWVudG9jZWFuc2Zpc2gEcG9zAzcEc2VjA3luX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDZmV3ZXJiaWdmaXNo

pk adds: civilization formed a similar pattern on the land masses. Gatherer/hunters archeo-anthropologists tell us were bigger, stronger, healthier, had better teeth than the incipient farmers but were fewer. In conflict the toothless runt farmers beat the tiny team of better athletes. Numbers rule. So soon there was an earth full of spastic midgets with bad teeth: us: or at least us till very recently. Currently we're getting bigger again, healthier again, have dentistry even as we lose our teeth. But it's artificial, temporary, can't last.
The AI Singularity predicted for thirty-odd years from now may very much change things, I don't doubt that things will change; but will AIs produced by dishonest human institutions be honest as well as smart? What if the AIs learn hypocrisy from us as well as programming? The AIs may keep us around for reasons of their own, they may depend on us for some things no matter how smart they get, but will they be dumb enough to allow us political power? Power over them? I doubt it, I hope not.

Space Weather & Gadgets
A potent solar storm could disrupt these technologies, scorch satellites, crash stock markets and cause power outages that last weeks or months, experts said Saturday at the American Association for the Advancement of Science's annual meeting.
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20110220/ts_alt_afp/usastronomyspacetelecomweather;_ylt=AiuoqGuQduuZEp0kGGwLgo0PLBIF;_ylu=X3oDMTJzMGtzdTdhBGFzc2V0A2FmcC8yMDExMDIyMC91c2FzdHJvbm9teXNwYWNldGVsZWNvbXdlYXRoZXIEcG9zAzgEc2VjA3luX21vc3RfcG9wdWxhcgRzbGsDc3BhY2V3ZWF0aGVy