The donor community and conservation movement are leaning increasingly towards a ‘what can nature do for us’ approach, where species and wild habitats are valued and prioritized according to the services they provide for people. This has made it increasingly difficult for conservationists to protect the most threatened species on the planet. We have an important moral and ethical decision to make: Do these species have a right to survive or do we have a right to drive them to extinction?Jonathan Bailie, conservation director at the Zoological Society of London • In a new report, “Priceless or Worthless?”, listing the top 100 most endangered species in the world. The list was compiled by 8,000 experts on behalf of the Zoological Society of London and the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The group also noted that, although these 100 face the most imminent threat of extinction, thousands of other species currently face extinction as well. source
I LOOK GOOD A mosaic of photos taken by an imager on NASA’s Curiosity rover shows the underside of the rover and its six wheels, with Martian terrain stretching back to the horizon. The four circular features on the front edge of the rover are the lenses for the left and right sets of Curiosity’s hazard avoidance cameras, or Hazcams. Because of the different perspectives used for different images, some of the borders of the photos don’t line up precisely. (Photo: ASA / JPL via NBC News)
Considering he’s on Mars all by himself, I don’t think we can judge Curiosity for the incomplete camera work.
An X-ray of a stingray, whose cartilage skeleton (similar to that of sharks) looks like one of those embryonic alien incubators from the opening scene of a horrific sci-fi movie.
(via Twisted Sifter)
Nobody show this to Ridley Scott. Thanks in advance.
Listen to the first song from Mars
Hip-hop musician Will.i.am’s “Reach for the Stars” officially became the first song broadcast from Mars today, thanks to a signal beamed from NASA’s Curiosity rover.
“This is the first time that a song’s ever come from another planet,” Leland Melvin, NASA’s associate administrator for education and a former astronaut, told students at an educational event at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.
You know, if the aliens come, we should be promoting our highest artistic work. Not the Black Eyed Peas. It’s like introducing Martians to our cinematic history through “Santa Claus Conquers the Martians.” I mean, how hard would it have been to put on some John Cage for these folks? You wouldn’t even have had to broadcast anything!
Great collection of photographs from Apollo 11 over at The Big Picture. I really like the accompanying caption to the above photo:
Astronaut Buzz Aldrin, photographed by Neil Armstrong (visible in reflection). Buzz Aldrin: “As I walked away from the Eagle Lunar Module, Neil said ‘Hold it, Buzz’, so I stopped and turned around, and then he took what has become known as the ‘Visor’ photo. I like this photo because it captures the moment of a solitary human figure against the horizon of the Moon, along with a reflection in my helmet’s visor of our home away from home, the Eagle, and of Neil snapping the photo. Here we were, farther away from the rest of humanity than any two humans had ever ventured. Yet, in another sense, we became inextricably connected to the hundreds of millions watching us more than 240,000 miles away. In this one moment, the world came together in peace for all mankind.”
Also worth a read: News blogger Charles Apple, a friend of SFB, says that there aren’t any good photos of Neil Armstrong actually on the moon.
Mission Accomplished: With more than a month left to go, and nearly a million in total donations, the campaign to raise the funds necessary to begin creation of a Nikola Tesla Museum can officially be ruled a success. After Matt Inman — creator of “The Oatmeal” and a noted fan of Tesla — learned that a company was planning to purchase the land where Tesla’s final lab is located, and destroy it to make room for a retail complex, he felt compelled to intervene. Now, thanks to a matching donation from the state of New York, the project can be called a resounding success.This makes the second time that Inman has used the popularity of his web-comic “The Oatmeal” for charitable purposes, but has already dwarfed the now seemingly-paltry $211,223.04 raised by Operation: Bear Love Good, Cancer Bad. source
By the numbers: The Economist put together a great infographic, visualizing the information provided by a new study from the University of Buffalo’s Gary Giovino. Printed in The Lancet, Giovino’s new study closely examines tobacco use, among 3 billion people in 16 countries, offers an interesting look at the gender, age, and economic affluency of those who choose to use. source
U.S. aiming to hit 6,000 km/h in test flight of supersonic ‘waverider’
The U.S. military conducted an unmanned test flight on Tuesday of its hypersonic Waverider aircraft, designed to move at six times the speed of sound using technology that bridges the gap between planes and rocketships, a military official said.
A B-52 bomber launched the remotely monitored, nearly wingless experimental aircraft, officially known as the X-51A, between 10 a.m. and 11 a.m., John Haire, a spokesman for the 412th test wing at Edwards Air Force Base in California, said in a statement. Results of the brief test flight will be released on Wednesday, he said. (US Air Force / AFP/Getty Images)
That looks sort of fast.
White House offers drought relief, feels heat to waive ethanol mandate
(Photo: Jim Lo Scalzo / EPA)
President Barack Obama announced emergency measures Monday to ease the impact of the worst drought in half a century, but stopped short of waiving the government’s requirement that a large portion of the now-shriveled corn crop be diverted to make ethanol.
Obama announced that the Department of Agriculture will buy up to $170 million of pork, lamb, chicken and catfish to help support farmers suffering from the drought. The food purchases will go toward “food nutrition assistance” programs, like food banks.
This seems like a good expense on the USDA’s part. Read up on the corn crisis in our piece from a few weeks ago.
High resolution, small size: Here’s an image printed at 50x50 micrometers with a 100,000-dot-per-inch resolution, then blown up so it’s big enough to show to you guys on the interwebs. Cool, eh? Here’s the science involved.
Yahoo wants to buy Hulu now too. They’re going on an “I...
I’m moving back to New York in a few days. Unlike past...
OMG. I got so...
In this week’s Newsweek, a little...
Tumblr this morning. [h/t anne]
#@#$%!.tumblr.com
Here’s a hidden feature that shipped in...
Sweet meteor shower, dude: The peak of the Perseid meteor shower occurred early Sunday morning. Where does the Perseid meteor shower come from? It’s been seen by people “for at least 2,000 years. It occurs each year in late July and early August when the Earth passes through a trail of dust and ice from the comet Swift-Tuttle.” You can maybe catch some more tonight, if you’re lucky to have a dark and clear sky. (Clear skies, dark nights, can’t lose.) source
Custom controllers: Using a single wire placed in the soil of a potted plant — doesn’t matter whether it’s live or artificial — Disney Research has created the Botanicus Interacticus system. Through the wire, the Botanicus software can detect where/how someone is touching the plant, strokes across the plants body, or even a person’s proximity to the plant in question. The new tech is currently being displayed at the SIGGRAPH 2012 computer graphics convention in Los Angeles. Excuse us while we try to get over how weird this video is. (ht to The Verge) source
With an overall rise in temperatures of approximately 3.3 degrees, the 12-month period from August 1, 2011 - July 31, 2012 is now the hottest such period in U.S. history. It also becomes the fourth 12-month period in a row to set a new record for high temperatures. The news was revealed in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s annual State of the Climate report. (Photo via NCDC) source
![reuters:
The full moon rises through the Olympic Rings hanging beneath Tower Bridge during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 3, 2012. [REUTERS/Luke MacGregor]
MORE PHOTOS: Full moon rises at Tower Bridge
For fans of serendipity.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_m87lewdBU61qmaoalo1_500.jpg)
The full moon rises through the Olympic Rings hanging beneath Tower Bridge during the London 2012 Olympic Games August 3, 2012. [REUTERS/Luke MacGregor]
MORE PHOTOS: Full moon rises at Tower Bridge
For fans of serendipity.
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