Sunday, June 28, 2020

Last month, a study conducted by archæologist Dr. Naomi Martisius and other researchers concluded Neanderthals living in Europe tens of thousands of years ago were more sophisticated than previously thought. The now-extinct species used to carefully select bones from a particular animal species to manufacture their bone tools, the research showed. The research was published on May 8 in Nature’s Scientific Reports journal.

Dr Martisius and her team used five bone tools discovered from Neanderthals’ sites in southwest France for this research. Four of these bone tools were found in a site called Abri Peyrony and the other one was from Pech-de-l’Azé I. These tools were just a few centimetres in size and were about 50 thousand years old, Dr Martisius told Wikinews. Microscopy analysis of these bone tools called lissoirs (smoothers) suggested Neanderthals used these tools for working animal skin to leathers.

The study stated the fauna of the sites were primarily medium-sized ungulates such as reindeer, in one layer nearly 90%. Despite the overabundance of medium-sized ungulates, Neanderthals used ribs of large bovids for making lissoirs. Dr Martisius told Wikinews this was likely due to the physical characteristics of the bovid ribs, which were “thicker” and “stronger” as compared to the “thin and flimsy ribs” of reindeers. In order to check the origins of the bone tools, the researchers used a technology called non-destructive Zooarchæology by Mass Spectrometry (ZooMS).

Instead of damaging the bone artefacts in order to discover its origins, the researchers collected collagen from the plastic containers in which these artefacts were kept. Collagen is a type of protein. These bone artefacts were kept in plastic containers: some were kept for about five years, some for just a few months. During this time, the collagen proteins from bone tools were stuck to the walls of its plastic containers. The collagen samples collected from the walls of the containers are broken into smaller molecules called peptides by using a chemical enzyme called trypsin.

After the trypsin has broken collagen fibres into peptides, it is analysed using a technology called Matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) Time-of-Flight mass spectrometer (ToF MS). The assisting matrix is a coloured compound. The acidic peptide is combined with the matrix, vapourised, and peptides are released. Some of them are positively-charged particles which travel across a vacuum tube in an electric field. Depending on the weight of the peptides, these molecules reach the end of the vacuum tube at different instances of time, forming a spectrum. These graphs are like unique fingerprints of a species: they are different for different species of animals. Looking at the database of such graphs, taxonomic identifications of the collagen proteins came be made.

All four bone tools from Abri Peyrony gave positive results and showed that the bones were made from large bovids, even though reindeer were more abundant during that time. One of the advantages of using bovid ribs over reindeer’s thin ribs was the bovid ribs would be more resistant to breaking during flexion, Dr Martisius said.

Dr Martisius said such non-destructive ZooMS analysis was previously conducted, but for tools no older than a few centuries. She said such an analysis had never been previously conducted for artefacts so ancient.

Wikinews caught up with Dr Martisius to discuss this research in-depth.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Neanderthals_%27knew_what_they_were_doing%27:_Archæologist_Dr_Naomi_Martisius_discusses_her_findings_about_Neanderthals%27_behaviour_with_Wikinews&oldid=4605557”

Thursday, March 31, 2016

Businessman Rocky De La Fuente took some time to speak with Wikinews about his campaign for the U.S. Democratic Party’s 2016 presidential nomination.

The 61-year-old De La Fuente resides in San Diego, California, grew up in Tijuana, and owns multiple businesses and properties throughout the world. Since getting his start in the automobile industry, De La Fuente has branched out into the banking and real estate markets. Despite not having held or sought political office previously, he has been involved in politics, serving as the first-ever Hispanic superdelegate to the 1992 Democratic National Convention.

De La Fuente entered the 2016 presidential race last October largely due to his dissatisfaction with Republican front-runner Donald Trump. He argues he is a more accomplished businessman than Trump, and attacks Trump as “a clown,” “a joke,” “dangerous,” and “in the same category as Hitler.” Nevertheless, De La Fuente’s business background begets comparisons with Trump. The Alaskan Midnight Sun blog described him as the Democrats’ “own Donald Trump.”

While receiving only minimal media coverage, he has campaigned actively, and according to the latest Federal Election Commission filing, loaned almost US$ 4 million of his own money to the campaign. He has qualified for 48 primary and caucus ballots, but has not yet obtained any delegates to the 2016 Democratic National Convention. Thus far, according to the count at The Green Papers, De La Fuente has received 35,406 votes, or 0.23% of the total votes cast. He leads among the many lesser-known candidates but trails both Senator Bernie Sanders who has received nearly 6.5 million votes and front-runner Hillary Clinton who has just shy of 9 million votes.

With Wikinews reporter William S. Saturn?, De La Fuente discusses his personal background, his positions on political issues, his current campaign for president, and his political future.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Wikinews_interviews_Rocky_De_La_Fuente,_U.S._Democratic_Party_presidential_candidate&oldid=4585942”

By Gabriel Adams

The internet has changed our lives in countless ways. Here are few examples.

Communication

The way we communicate is forever changed. Email is much faster than the snail-mail letters that were being sent and received before the advent of the internet.

Instant messaging has all but replaced the telephone. There are people who claim that they IM more than twice as often as they talk on the phone.

Text messaging, although it is done using a phone, basically uses internet type technology as well. This is a quick way to send a short message when there isn’t time to have a long conversation via phone or otherwise. It is used by professionals and everyday people alike.

Entertainment

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u6beuW1ZA3k[/youtube]

Our idea of entertainment has changed. Former couch potatoes are now ‘computer potatoes.’ In fact, even people who were never that big into TV are willing to sit for hours in front of their computers.

But what are they doing?

For one thing, they are playing games on online sites, which can mean retro games, card games and puzzle games, both new and old. The also thoroughly enjoy RPG’s (Role Playing Games), MMO’s (Massive Multiplayer Online games), FPS’s (First Person Shooters) and RTS’s (Real-Time Strategy games).

In addition to gaming, people like to listen to music online. This includes sites like Rhapsody, where you can stream music (and listen unlimited, like a giant jukebox), iTunes and emusic where you can buy digital music files like mp3 and mp4, and so on.

Online music also includes discovering independent music and new music from artists you’ve never heard of. This was hard to do at a music store, where even the few CDs you could listen to before you buy were major commercial releases.

People also like to watch TV shows and movies, even video podcasts online. Instead of being limited to what’s on TV, on-demand, or on one’s DVR, people can choose from the endless selection of video content on the internet!

Business

People of all walks of life and all professions are now finding the internet to be the go-to place for information and e-commerce. It is amazing how much you can learn online that can help you with school or work.

But equally astounding is the fact that you can actually make a lot of money online by starting a website and selling products and services. One can market his or her own special niche product or service in ways never before possible, to a customer base that spans the globe rather than their limited local community.

Lifestyle and Culture

The internet has also generally changed our lifestyle and culture. The way that we communicate off-line has been impacted by IM lingo. You may have already heard someone say ‘lol’ or ‘brb’ in person. If you haven’t, you probably will soon.

There was even a national ad campaign where someone asked another person what they were doing, and they said ‘Idk, talking to my bff.’ These abbreviations are out of control! Who would have thought that we would start saying abbreviated phrases in our everyday lives, verbally!?

When people meet new friends, they often give out an email address instead of a phone number. People might even say ‘myspace me’ (meaning to message them on their myspace page).

The internet itself has not only become an extension of everything we do, it has also become the part of the very fiber of our society.

About the Author: Browse the internet starting with the Site-Sift.com internet directory: http://www.site-sift.com/

Source: isnare.com

Permanent Link: isnare.com/?aid=238280&ca=Internet

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Jaslene Gonzalez is not your typical model. She rose to fame after winning Cycle 8 of America’s Next Top Model, and since then, has been aggressively tapping into the fashion industry. As a result of her Latin background, Gonzalez has been successful at marketing herself both in the English-speaking and Spanish-speaking worlds. However, Gonzalez is much much more – a fighter, a humanitarian, and a good Latin granddaughter.

Born in Chicago to a Latina mother, and a Puerto Rican-born father, Gonzalez had, in many ways, a typical U.S. Latino experience – her tight knit family, grandparents, and spirituality played an intrinsic part in her upbringing.

“I went to an all-girl Catholic school and grew up with tons of family…..My family was very close knit and supportive. They were involved in my life everyday. So there was so much joy in every little occasion…..Every Sunday we would go to my grandmother’s house where we [the family] would hang out together….We enjoyed being around each other and being together,” states Gonzalez.

Her grandfather was the director of a local dance group, Viva La Gente, which Gonzalez credits with impacting her life positively.

“I was a dancer for 12 years and life revolved around dancing. I was a very active girl, and was always involved with my grandfather’s dance studio. The whole family was. My aunts, my cousins – everyone took part in performances and were involved in the group…That’s how we spent our summers, and we looked forward to being outside, dancing salsa, hip hop, merengue,” states Gonzalez. Through her involvement in the dance studio, Gonzalez’s horizon was broadened significantly, and her humanitarian streak began to deepen.

“We were always constantly traveling. We traveled to Mexico to poor villages where we gave performances to give back to the community,” said Gonzalez.

Ironically, ANTM gave her the opportunity to overcome her own difficulties and to further help those in need. “I went in there, without knowing that I was in an abusive relationship. They were the ones that brought that up to me…they felt I was emotionally destroyed, they wanted me to get support,” commented Gonzalez. While the ANTM staff was supportive, she also credits her life long dream for helping her get out of the abusive relationship.

“Having a dream and having a goal in life, is the most important thing I did in my life. Because of that I maneuvered my way to that dream. I knew I was better than that, I wanted to be happier,” stated Gonzalez.

Soon after winning ANTM, Gonzalez became a spokesperson for Liz Claiborne and the National Domestic Violence Hotline, and began traveling the country reaching out to women.

“We had several meetings, and they asked me to be a spokesperson. I was so happy and blessed to help women, to have that title. It’s something I want to do, besides modelling….I enjoy sharing my personal experiences because I can educate them, but I can also save someone’s life. It’s something precious, it’s a gift,” stated Gonzalez.

Abuse is not the only obstacle Jaslene has had to face. Growing up Latina had its own set of difficulties. “Being a minority is a challenge no matter what,” states Gonzalez.

However, Gonzalez also states that being a Latina has many positive aspects in regards to her profession. “As a Latina, you have the advantage of being a Latina. Not only do you have this corporate job, but you can relate to many groups as a person.”

When asked if the fashion industry forces Latina models to change certain aspects about themselves, she remarks that she focuses on always staying true to herself. “Modeling is a difficult job because of what you go through. 80% of the time it’s a no…When I go in, I go in like me, I don’t have to change anything. Any time I get a chance to show who I am, I do. I am a Spanish girl, trying to pursue my dreams. I try to be the best I can be,” remarked Gonzalez.

It is that same confidence and will to succeed that she seems to appreciate in other woman. “I find women beautiful. I find a girl with no makeup, not worrying about her style and appearance, I find that sexy. I find confidence beautiful…Its so simple. It’s being natural and confident,” said Gonzalez.

As a role model, she has two key pieces advice that she offers women: nurture your mind with positive thoughts, and identify and foster the principles in life you value.

It is not surprising to see why Gonzalez’s family is proud of her. “My family is so funny. They are so happy. I’ve never seen them so full of life. My mom acts like she won. My grandmother screams ‘mi flaca‘ every time she sees me. They are so proud. Especially my grandparents. I was practically raised by them. To see them see you so happy and successful, there couldn’t be a better feeling,” said Gonzalez.

She adds that her grandparents would be extremely happy if she appeared on Cristina, the Spanish-language talk show whose host is referred to as “the Spanish Oprah Winfrey.”

In the coming years, Gonzalez plans to continue on the path she is on. She wants to continue gracing magazine covers, as well as dedicating herself to helping young teens develop self growth and esteem. “Every time I wake up, God gives me the opportunity to be a better me…Life gets better as it goes by.”

This is the third in a series of articles with America’s Next Top Model contestants.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=%27Top_Model%27_winner_Jaslene_Gonzalez_on_her_career_and_being_a_Latina_role_model&oldid=4567533”

Sunday, December 27, 2009

U.S. authorities have charged Nigerian Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab with trying to blow up a plane on its descent into the city of Detroit, Michigan on Friday. The man, who comes from a prominent Nigerian family, was read the charges in a hospital Saturday, where he is being treated for burns.

The charges were read by United States District Judge Paul Borman while Abdulmutallab was being held at the University of Michigan Medical Center in Ann Arbor, Michigan.

Abdulmutallab was asked if he understood the charges against him, and he answered in English that he did. Witnesses reported he was in a wheelchair with a blanket over his lap.

The U.S. government accuses the Nigerian national of bringing an explosive device onto Friday’s Northwest Airlines Flight 253 plane from Amsterdam in the Netherlands. A preliminary analysis by federal authorities indicates he used a syringe to detonate a highly explosive substance, identified as PETN. Abdulmutallab said he got the explosives in Yemen from an Al Qaeda bomb maker who sewed the device into his underwear.

Passengers have told investigators the man went into the bathroom for 20 minutes before landing and complained about stomach problems before pulling a blanket on himself.

Just as the plane was getting ready to land, they heard a pop, smelled smoke and then saw the man on fire. A Dutch passenger, Jasper Schuringa, jumped on the Nigerian to subdue him, and a fire extinguisher was used to put out the fire.

The House Committee on Homeland Security chairman, Bennie Thompson, said it was a very close call. “We’re just fortunate nothing happened. This was a serious situation,” he said. Thompson said Congress will look into the matter soon. “As soon as we reconvene from the holiday recess, we will start looking into the circumstances around the Northwest flight incident.”

Nigeria’s acting ambassador to the United States, Babagana Wakil, immediately issued a statement, which he read to the Voice of America over the phone. “Expectedly, the embassy is already in contact with relevant U.S. authorities over the incident to facilitate any preliminary investigations to get to the bottom of this unfortunate development. Officers from the embassy have already flown to Michigan to gain consular access to the individual under investigation, and to offer the mission’s cooperation to federal and local authorities,” he said.

The suspect’s family members in Nigeria said they were shocked. The suspect’s father, an accountant and businessman, was previously a very well known banker in Africa’s most populous nation. Friends and family said Adbulmutallab had studied in Togo and London, and that he had recently made several trips to Yemen. His father had, apparently, made concerns with his son’s extremist connections known to the U.S. Embassy in Nigeria.

Adbulmutallab told the FBI he met with a radical Yemeni cleric he corresponded with online. The cleric is not believed to be Anwar al-Awlaki, an American-born Imam connected to Major Nidal Malik Hasan who carried out the Fort Hood shooting last month.

Friday, the White House said it believed it was an attempted act of terrorism. U.S. media reports say the suspect told interrogators he had affiliations with Al Qaeda.

The charges that were read against him Saturday carry a penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

Meanwhile, security screening measures have upgraded in the wake of the foiled attack, including only allowing one carry-on bag for international passengers, banning anyone from moving around the airplane during the last hour of the flight and additional “unpredictable” measures that will vary from airport to airport.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Nigerian_man_charged_with_trying_to_blow_up_airliner&oldid=1141502”

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Article Source:

ArticleRich.com

Sunday, October 10, 2010

A United States federal court judge and Florida state court judge are enmeshed in a conflict against each other regarding a wrongful death lawsuit involving Scientology.

A federal judge for the United States District Court for the Middle District of Florida, Steven Douglas Merryday, ordered Pinellas County Senior Circuit Judge Robert E. Beach not to intervene regarding appearance of an attorney in a federal court case involving Scientology. Lawyer Kennan Dandar is representing the estate of Kyle Thomas Brennan in a wrongful death claim against the Scientology organization.

The suit asserts that members of the Scientology organization, including the father of Brennan, removed access to the deceased’s anti-depression medication, and provided him with means to utilize a loaded gun. Brennan had been staying with his father for a week prior to his death. Police in Clearwater, Florida investigated the 2007 death of Brennan, and determined it was a suicide. Kyle Brennan was himself not a member of Scientology. The lawsuit, filed in 2009, was filed by Brennan’s mother on behalf of her son’s estate. Named as defendants in the lawsuit include the Scientology organization, its subdivision the Flag Service Organization, twin sister of Scientology leader David Miscavige – Denise Gentile, and her husband Gerald Gentile.

Attorney Dandar had previously represented the estate of Lisa McPherson in a separate civil wrongful death claim against the Scientology organization. After being under the care of members of the Scientology organization for 17 days, McPherson died in Clearwater in 1995. The wrongful death suit claimed that Scientology officials permitted McPherson to deteriorate to a dehydrated state, where her condition was such that she did not have the energy to fend off cockroaches from biting her skin.

Scientology management settled the McPherson wrongful death case in 2004; lawyers representing the organization stated the settlement included a confidential arrangement with Dandar to never again represent clients in lawsuits against Scientology entities. The settlement included an agreement that both sides would never speak again about the case; California lawyer Ford Greene commented, “The church bought silence.” The Scientology organization had also filed a countersuit against the estate of Lisa McPherson, and named Dandar a party to that lawsuit. The organization claimed Dandar had inappropriately tried to add the head of Scientology David Miscavige as a party to the wrongful death lawsuit.

I’m stuck in the middle of two courts.

Scientology legal representatives requested Judge Beach to see to it that Dandar abide by the secret settlement agreement, and Beach subsequently issued an order in June 2009 that Dandar be removed from the Brennan wrongful death case. Dandar faced sanctions from Judge Beach including suspension of Dandar’s license to practice law, a US$130,000 judgement to be given to the Scientology organization, and a fine of $1,000 per day. Judge Beach ruled that all money from the sanctions imposed against Dandar – were to go directly to the Scientology organization. The Tampa Tribune noted that Judge Breach made his ruling, “in an inexplicably closed hearing from which Beach tossed a St. Petersburg Times reporter”.

Faced with these possible sanctions, Dandar filed an “involuntary” motion to withdraw from the Brennan wrongful death case in federal court, but Judge Merryday denied this request. Dandar stated to The Tampa Tribune, “I’m stuck in the middle of two courts.”

D. Wallace Pope, a lawyer for the Scientology organization, stated that he wished to show evidence regarding the settlement in the McPherson wrongful death case. However, Judge Merryday emphasized his main issue was determining whether or not Dandar was being penalized for obeying the federal court’s order denying his request to be withdrawn from the Brennan wrongful death case. Judge Merryday stated he would prevent the Scientology organization along with Judge Beach from punishing Dandar for representing his client in US federal court. Merryday stated Beach had attempted to usurp control outside of his jurisdiction, thereby “aggressively” interferring with the US federal court process through imposing sanctions on Dandar.

Merryday has served as a US federal judge based in Tampa, Florida since 1992. The St. Petersburg Times noted that Judge Merryday, “has presided over some of the region’s most noteworthy cases.” Judge Merryday’s court order creating an injunction against Beach was 29-pages long, and criticized the “stunning severity” of Beach’s sanctions imposed on Dandar. Merryday explained that the federal court needed to “act in defense of the (federal) court’s jurisdiction”, due to Beach’s actions. Referencing Judge Beach, Merryday wrote in his court order, “A judge should not undertake, directly or indirectly, overtly or through a surrogate, to compel an act by another judge, especially in a different jurisdiction.”

Judge Merryday stated to Scientology lawyers, “have forced my hand on this issue.” Merryday stated to Scientology lawyer, Robert Potter, “I don’t like being put in this position. When people start to squeeze, other people can squeeze back.” Potter asked him to seal the proceedings from public view, and Judge Merryday responded, “I’m not going to be entering any seals unless I see a lawful reason, and I can’t even see the beginning of a reason”. Merryday stated he would not allow his court to be influenced by “some circuit judge somewhere who appears for all I can tell to have sealed something for some unknown reason”.

HAVE YOUR SAY
What are your thoughts on the sanctions imposed on Dandar by Judge Beach?
Add or view comments

Judge Beach responded to Judge Merryday’s injunction which “permanently enjoined” him from imposing sanctions on Dandar, by filing a motion on Thursday in federal court in Tampa. Beach asked Merryday to rescind his order so that he may recuse himself from acting as a judge on the Scientology case related to Dandar. Beach’s motion argued that he was denied due process because he was not given notice by Merryday of the hearing which occurred before Merryday issued his ruling. In addition, Beach asserted Merryday did not have power to issue the ruling restricting him from sanctioning Dandar, because Beach was not a party to the Brennan wrongful death case, and Merryday lacked authority to restrict powers of a judge from outside his federal court jurisdiction. In response, Judge Merryday has scheduled a hearing for October 12 in federal court to hear state court judge Beach.

Martin Errorl Rice is an attorney in St. Petersburg, Florida who represented Beach in the motion before the US federal court. Rice stated his client’s motivation in requesting the ruling by Judge Merryday be rescinded was to allow Beach to recuse from the Scientology case. Rice told the St. Petersburg Times that his client’s conflict with the US federal court has “cast kind of a cloud” over Beach’s position in the Scientology case.

Stetson University College of Law constitutional law professor Michael Allen analyzed the clash between the US judge and Florida judge for The Tampa Tribune. Allen observed that it was “very, very rare” for a US federal judge to order a state judge. He noted that a 1793 federal law contravenes such orders – except in “extraordinarily narrow” cases where the federal judges are permitted to create rulings in order to safeguard the jurisdiction of their federal court proceedings.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=US_federal_judge_and_Florida_judge_clash_over_Scientology_wrongful_death_case&oldid=2541996”

Thursday, November 8, 2007

What you are about to read is an American life as lived by renowned author Edmund White. His life has been a crossroads, the fulcrum of high-brow Classicism and low-brow Brett Easton Ellisism. It is not for the faint. He has been the toast of the literary elite in New York, London and Paris, befriending artistic luminaries such as Salman Rushdie and Sir Ian McKellen while writing about a family where he was jealous his sister was having sex with his father as he fought off his mother’s amorous pursuit.

The fact is, Edmund White exists. His life exists. To the casual reader, they may find it disquieting that someone like his father existed in 1950’s America and that White’s work is the progeny of his intimate effort to understand his own experience.

Wikinews reporter David Shankbone understood that an interview with Edmund White, who is professor of creative writing at Princeton University, who wrote the seminal biography of Jean Genet, and who no longer can keep track of how many sex partners he has encountered, meant nothing would be off limits. Nothing was. Late in the interview they were joined by his partner Michael Caroll, who discussed White’s enduring feud with influential writer and activist Larry Kramer.

Retrieved from “https://en.wikinews.org/w/index.php?title=Edmund_White_on_writing,_incest,_life_and_Larry_Kramer&oldid=4520289”

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Last Thursday, British sensory biologist Dominic Clarke and other authors published research about detection of floral electric fields by bees in journal Science. The research involved studying bees’ reaction to flowers with different electric fields. The researches concluded that bees can choose flowers based on their electric fields, and remember them as they do with color and other characteristics of flowers.

This Friday Wikinews interviewed Dominic Clarke about the research.

((Wikinews)) What caused your initial interest in electric fields of flowers?

Dominic Clarke: There has been a considerable amount of speculation in the scientific literature since the 60s about the role of electric fields in pollination. It has been suggested that the electric field that arises between a charged bee and a grounded flower may be responsible for increasing the efficiency of pollen transfer between the two. We looked at this literature as sensory biologists and naturally formed the question ‘can bees sense these fields?’. Since we couldn’t find any answers to that question in the literature, we decided to find out for ourselves.

((WN)) How was the new phenomenon discovered?

DC: We use what’s called ‘differential conditioning’, where bees are trained to find a sucrose reward from an array of flowers, where only half of the flowers contain the reward. In our experiment, the flowers that were rewarded (with a sugary solution) were marked with a small electric field (about the same strength as around a flower in the wild). The ones that were not rewarded were not marked with fields. Since the electric field is the only thing that differs between the two flowers, we know that if the bees can learn to tell them apart, they can sense the electric field. Our bees were able to pick the rewarded flower 80% of the time when the electric field was present as a cue. When the electric field was switched off, they could only get it right half the time, which is the same as if they were just picking flowers at random.

((WN)) How many species of flowers and bees did you study during your research?

DC: We focus on one species of bee, the bumblebee Bombus terrestris. And we look mainly at Petunia flowers (P. integrifolia). These two species provide the bulk of our data, but we do consider other flowers like geraniums, daisies, clematis and foxglove, and other species of bee (particularly the honeybee Apis mellifera).

((WN)) Do you have diagrams, sketches, or drawings of electric field around a bee and a flower?

DC: I have attached a picture of a computer model of the electric field around a flower called “Flower Potentials and Fields”.

((WN)) Was it known that bees have a charge before?

DC: Yes, reports as early as the 70s have measured electrical charge on bees, but it was not known before whether or not they could sense such charges.

((WN)) What environment did you study the flowers and bees in? A laboratory? A garden? Natural environment?

DC: The behavioural tests were carried out in a laboratory because we needed to be able to precisely control the environment in which the bees were tested. Future work will be aimed at trying to get out into the bees’ natural environment and trying to figure out exactly what role(s) this sense plays in their lives.

((WN)) What equipment was used during the research? How did you measure the charge?

DC: Charge was measured using a device called a “Faraday Pail”. It is basically an electrically shielded metal cup, the voltage of which changes according to how much charge is inside it. We can measure this voltage when a bee flies in and so measure its charge. We did this with 51 individual bees.

((WN)) What were the roles of the people involved in the research? What activity was most time-consuming?

DC: It was very collaborative in all aspects of the research. I carried out the bulk of the experimental work and data analysis, but the process of designing the experiment, figuring out how to do the analysis, choosing which ideas to follow and which to put on the shelf etc., that is highly collaborative. Then of course comes the long period of writing, re-writing, re-re-writing, sending out to colleagues for feedback, re-re-re-writing, submission, peer-review, editing re-submission etc. which is also a collaboration between all the authors. A large part of doing science is talking as well; meeting, planning brainstorming. It feels to me like putting together the paper took the longest, but perhaps that’s just because it’s the most fresh in my mind.

((WN)) What do you see as possible directions for future research in this field? What do you think possible applications of the discovery can be?

DC: The two big questions now are “how do the bees do this?” and “why do they do this?”. The first is a case of pinning down the sensory mechanism used by the bees to detect the fields, and the second will involve a great deal of field-based experiments. We need to get out of the laboratory and understand the role this phenomenon plays in the lives of bees in the wild.

((WN)) Thank you for sharing your insight and details. Have a good time.

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Wednesday, October 3, 2007

On September 26, United States Representative Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) introduced a bill to prohibit federal grants to Columbia University in response to Columbia’s decision to allow Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to speak on campus. The legislative bill, titled “Restore Patriotism to University Campuses Act”, states that “[t]hrough their invitation, Columbia University provided a public, prestigious platform on United States soil from which on September 24, 2007, President Ahmadinejad spoke and defended his wide-ranging support for terrorist activities.” The bill arrived at the House of Representatives within two days after the speaking engagement.

A portion of the bill requests a denial of funds to the University, “for permitting State terrorist access to campus.” According to the Council of Foreign Relations in the United States, its country’s State Department has called Iran, “[the] most active state sponsor of terrorism.”

Iran’s parliament, in September this year, labelled the U.S. forces as terrorists.

Hunter, who is seeking the Republican Presidential nomination, argued in favor of the bill last week. “If the left-wing leaders of academia will not support our troops, they, in the very least, should not support our adversaries,” he said. “By hosting President Ahmadinejad, Columbia University openly insulted the thousands of servicemen and women serving in Iraq, most of whom are direct targets of the munitions that he is sending across the Iraq-Iran border.”

Prior to Ahmedinejad’s speech, U.S. President George W. Bush expressed a different view, saying that Columbia’s invitation “really speaks to the freedoms of the country.” “I’m not so sure I’d offer the same invitation, but nevertheless, it speaks volumes about the greatness, really, of America. We’re confident enough to let a person express his views,” he said.

  • “Iran’s parliament labels CIA a terrorist organization” — Wikinews, September 30, 2007
  • “Protests mark Ahmadinejad’s visit to Columbia University” — Wikinews, September 25, 2007
  • “Iranian President Ahmadinejad speaks at Columbia University” — Wikinews, September 25, 2007

  • Daniel W. Reilly. “Hunter Seeks To Cut Federal Funds To Columbia University” — CBS News, October 1, 2007
  • “GovTrack: H.R. 3675: Text of Legislation” — GovTrack.us, September 26, 2007
  • “Ahmadinejad Blasts Israel, Denies Existence of Iranian Gays During Columbia Speech” — FOX News, September 24, 2007
  • “State Sponsors: Iran” — Council on Foreign Relations, August, 2007
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