By DENNIS OVERBYE
The Nobel laureate Peter Higgs, 85, whose public appearances have been as rare and fleeting as the tracks of the Higgs boson, discussed his life’s work in an interview at an Edinburgh cafe.
Published: September 16, 2014 at 12:00AM
By JAMES GORMAN
A fish knocks down insects with a jet of water that it delivers with varying speeds and with control no other creature is known to have.
Published: September 16, 2014 at 12:00AM
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North Korea is one of the world’s most unique and isolated countries. Known as the Hermit Kingdom, it has repeatedly angered foreign powers through a combination of bombastic militaristic and provocative language as well as frequent and documented human rights abuses. Even though westerners are frequently targeted, they continue to travel there in numbers that have only increased in the past few years. Even as the country continue to imprison Americans on false/forced charges, people see that sort of hostility as a challenge and an adventure. North Korea has responded by increasing the activities available for tourists while also resuming domestic flights to three cities so that moving around the country is easier.
In an effort to get more tourists, North Korea has started to offer both surfing on the east coast of the country and skiing at the newly opened Masik Pass ski resort, which advertises itself as the “most exotic ski resort of earth”. Since 2009, western tourism to the country has increased and North Korea now sees anywhere from 4,000-6,000 western tourists a year. China, thanks to its friendly relations and shared border, still send the most to the country with 237,000 visiting in 2012 alone with a new bus route opening that will make things even easier. For westerners to get in, they need to use an accredited tour guide company and will be lead around at all times by foreign and North Korean tour guides. With North Korean soldiers known for shooting visitors who stray too far on site, the pressure to follow the rules is certainly a strong one.
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When the world first heard the news of the Malaysian Airlines flight that disappeared over the ocean, countries immediately sprang to action in an impressive show of both force and cooperation. While the plane is still missing and the search continues, there has been good to arise from all of the efforts to find out what happened. Even though the sonar and satellites have found nothing, they have actually mapped out previously unknown and unexplored parts of the ocean floor. Massive rock formations, from volcanoes to fault lines to mountains, have been found and can now be mapped and explored by scientists. The newly found formations are useful not only because of the information we can learn from them about how the earth and continents were formed, but also because they can be used to help predict tsunamis and allow for a greater understanding of ocean currents.
The search for the missing plane has now evolved into a simultaneous scientific exploration of discovery. The data collected won’t be released to the public for research and analysis until after the search for the missing plane is complete. The maps and data are needed so that searchers can use the information while hunting for remains of the plane. A lot of the the sonar equipment that is being used needs to be dragged on or near the ocean floor and without the maps of the mountains and ridges, the expensive equipment runs the risk of getting damaged. Once the search is over, there will be a treasure trove of information that will change the way we know the oceans and the world we live on.
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With all the bad news out there regarding climate change and the death of all that is natural and beautiful, science has found a little bit of good news in the form of traditional agriculture. Palaua is an island in the western Pacific that is faced with the dual threat of both rising oceans and sedimentation. The island is surrounded by coral reefs that, when they’re healthy both break waves and higher water while also filtering run-off and sediment from streaming into the surrounding waters. The main food crop on Palaua (as in most of the Pacific islands) is taro, a starchy root vegetable who’s growing process has surprising effects on the surrounding environment.
A NOAA funded study has revealed that when taro is planted in the traditional way, as in planted near the water with an embankment that allows a steady water flow, the roots act as a natural filter. When the taro fields are combined with the naturally growing mangrove forests, you see that 90% of runoff gets trapped between the two, greatly improving the surrounding water quality. If tactics like this continue to be used and grow in popularity, we might see some progress being made in the fight against pollution and the dirtying of our oceans. If nothing else, at least we will continue to have coral reefs and the organisms that live in them to explore.
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Most people are firm believers in climate change and the melting of the ice caps, even though there are those that continue to stand against the rising tide of scientific and observable evidence. While it was always known that the ice caps are melting and that sea levels will rise, a new study says that they are melting faster than we thought and will make the oceans rise higher than we thought. This is bad news for a huge number of reasons, least of which is that all the coastal cities and settlements that might’ve escaped the previous estimates are now going to have to figure out if they will be flooded with by the oceans.
This is the first study to actually show how much water will be added to the oceans in the next century by the melting ice caps. With 37 centimeters being added solely by the melting ice caps (that’s ignoring all the other things causing the sea levels to rise), the oceans are going to drastically change the way people live. Cities such as New York and Shanghai are going to have to think of drastic plans to prevent untold destruction and flight from the cities to country. With the oceans rising faster than we though, we have less time to make plans and this will lead to more chaos and loss of life. The most unfortunate thing about this is that all of this could’ve been prevented with logical laws and a unified effort by all countries and political parties around the world.
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Viking Cruise Lines has unveiled the very first of its oceanic ships in a video earlier this week. While that may not sounds all that impressive, people should consider that the Viking Cruise Line used to be solely river cruises around Europe, Asia, and parts of Egypt. The branching out into ocean cruises (the Viking Start launches in 2015) is a big step for the company and takes them into direct competition with a number of larger and better known companies including Norwegian Cruise Line and Carnival Cruise line. While the ship can only carry 930 passengers (leading to a different type of cruise experience), it wouldn’t be a stretch to imagine Viking eventually owning a fleet of large cruise ships as well as smaller ones.
The video released showed the inaugural floating of the ship, the first time it has ever touched water. It also sets the stage for the final chapter of the ship’s construction, the building and outfitting of the interior of the ship. While the ship is being built/inaugurated in Italy, the mayor of Bergen, Norway and godmother to the Viking Star, Trude Drevland, was there as well to officially inaugurate the ship. Soon the Viking Star will be officially used to ferry passengers around the world’s oceans and will take Viking Cruise Lines to a whole new level.
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