Downtown Fort Myers Trip

Peru protests at huge Conga gold mine in Cajamarca

In this article from the BBC environmental news: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-latin-america-15884119 An American company that digs for gold, wanted to explorer new land in the Andes of Peru. This American company claimed it would build man made lakes to replace the ones that they would be destroying to find gold. I recently spent the summer in Peru. I saw how many of these people live. They are very poor and live a basic life style. Most importantly, hard working. I saw these people constantly working trying to meet end meat. It just amazes me that they found time to collect and protest the gold mines. It really shows a sense of place. These people found it necessary to protect their home land and go protest the efforts of the American company. The saw that the plans for the lake replacements were not what they  should be. They saw that the pollution from the mind could cause harm to their plants and animals. This direct relationship they have with their sense of place amazes me! It is simply impressive what we americans let happen in our backyard. Why dont we have this sense of place?

'Brinicle' ice finger of death filmed in Antarctic

I was watching the BBC Frozen planet with my brother and yes, this show is awesome. So awesome! I am a huge fan of documentaries. Especially ones where David Attenburg narrates them. In which case,  frozen planet is one :). But yes, I found this article on the BBC the highlighted the best part of the episode I watched http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/15835017 . Make sure to click on the video to see the icle in live action. But to recap, their is a near by volcano to where this scene was recorded. The brine created by the volcano gets released into the water. Keep in mind, the top of the water is frozen. The brine is more dense than the actual sea water that it is in. So as the ice travels from the top, it gets more attracted to the areas with brine. This causes a barnacle like look. It is completely crazy that the animals at the bottom are instantly killed by the arrival of the barnacle. They barely have anytime to react.

Protection boosted for tuna, sharks and swordfish

Article: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-15804817

Tuna populations have been the most effected by the over fishing problem.  This fish is extremely popular for fishermen and the people that eat them. Tuna fishing is now illegal in some areas. The problem is, many times tuna will get caught in a net intended for another type of fish. The new protection measures, require the fishermen to release their tuna catch alive. These new protection measures are in effect also for the famous blueshark. This shark is hunted only for its fins for a delicacy in Japan. Often, the fish is killed and only the fin is used. Or worse the fin is removed while the shark is still alive and then the shark is thrown back into the water without its second important fin. These new measures, will be increasing protection of bluefin fishing around japan waters. Although the focus of Iccat meetings is often on the Mediterranean, the body also regulates fishing across a huge swathe of the Atlantic Ocean.This includes waters off the west coast of Africa which are beginning to see heavy fishing.

Hackers 'hit' US water treatment systems

In one of my other computer classes, I have had the task to report on the security of SCADA system. Thus this article interested me greatly!!!! You can see my research here: http://itech.fgcu.edu/faculty/zalewski/CNT4104/CEN4516projects.html

Hackers with access to the utility's network are thought to have broken the pump by turning it on and off quickly. He posted a document to the Pastebin website which purportedly contained links to screenshots of the internal control systems for a waste water treatment plant in South Houston.The hacker's claims about their ability to penetrate the control systems have yet to be confirmed or denied by South Houston's Water and Sewer Department.In an interview with the Threat Post website, Pr0f said the hack of the South Houston network barely deserved the name because only a three-character password had been used to protect the system. The attacks are the latest in a series in which different hackers and groups have targeted so called Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition (SCADA) systems. These specialised computer systems are used to control machinery used to filter water, mix chemicals, distribute power and route trains and trams.One of the best known SCADA attacks involved the Stuxnet worm which caused problems for Iran.

Autumn's birds delay migration

Every year, ducks and geese spend their summers and late fall in the northern region of Europe. Bird watchers have been keeping track of the migratory patterns. The birds have been delayed up to a month compare to the past 30 years of research. Even more shockingly,  there has been a huge decrease in the number of birds that do pass over the migration tracking point. For example, the white fronted geese population has dropped by 75%. In the past, around 30 years go, it would be normal for the populations of birds to be 6000. But now a days, there is a shocking 500 birds. This is a drastic decrease in  populations. So now for the future, a team in Finland will be conducting more research to see if populations are declining in the species or if the migratory patterns have change to go more north due to warming weathers else where.

White Fronted Geese populations have dropped by 75 percent over the past 30 years

Chinese pollution is a health problem

The UN recently warned China that the pollution problem is a gigantic health risk. Ironically, as the UN representative spoke, deep smog rolled into the Beijing down town. Take a look at the image at the right to see how thick the smog can be in the city. Beijing is going to launch a "green economy" report.The document, which has taken three years to prepare, outlines how countries can maintain economic growth and improve the environment at the same time. It is now the world's biggest investor spending $49 billion last year on renewable energy, a figure that will grow over the next five years.