The Lazy Lizard's Tales: Flashback: wildlife news in 1960s Singapore

A 6 metre long whale shark (Rhincodon typus), shot by police after it was trapped at a kelong near Pulau Sebarok in 1964. This is the only record of this species in our waters;
The Straits Times, 7 June 1964

This year's theme for Singapore Blog Awards is "60s Fever", and I thought it would be nice to take a look back at what it was like for Singapore's biodiversity in the 1960s.

Singapore's Master Plan from 1958. Some of the Southern Islands are not included in this map.

Singapore, according to the Urban Redevelopment Authority's (URA) Master Plan 2008. You can see how much our coastline has changed since 1958.

It's difficult to characterise the 1960s as being better or worse for our wildlife as a whole. On the upside, there was less urban development. Forest patches were still connected to one another in a mosaic of agricultural land, plantations, secondary scrub, and other rural landscapes. And this was a time before extensive land reclamation changed the shape of our coastline and caused our waters to turn murky. Numerous communities along our shores depended on the sea's bounty for their livelihoods.

On the flipside, protecting wildlife and habitat conservation were not high priorities among the people, both before and immediately after we became an independent nation. Many of the articles I've found are reports of wildlife being dealt with through lethal means, when today we place emphasis on live capture and relocation, and promote education and changing human attitudes as a better strategy to resolve human-wildlife conflict. And strange as it may seem, some species that we now find in Singapore today were absent during the 1960s, having first vanished during the initial wave of deforestation during the 19th century and early 20th century, not to mention uncontrolled hunting. It is only in recent years that some of these formerly extinct animals have returned to our shores, possibly due to a combination of extensive planting of urban greenery and the creation of parks and other green spaces, as well as increased habitat loss in southern Johor.

Here are ten articles that provide us with a glimpse of Singapore's wildlife during the 1960s...

The Straits Times, 15th April 1965

I haven't heard of any recent records of sawfishes in Singapore waters, but as this article shows, they used to be found locally. In 1960, another massive sawfish was caught, and was described as a monster that had been "terrorising fishermen and picnickers."

Green sawfish (Pristis zjisron), Underwater Adventures Aquarium in Minnesota, United States of America;
(Photo by Zoodiver)

Today, all species of sawfish are listed as Critically Endangered, and all international trade has been banned since 2007. Live trade for public aquaria was still allowed for one species of sawfish, but that too came to an end this year, after it was agreed that the largetooth or freshwater sawfish (Pristis microdon) should receive the same amount of legal protection against trade as the rest of its relatives.

Sawfish caught off the West Coast, 1965;
(Photo from Singapore Waters - Unveiling Our Seas)

It's sobering to think about the marine giants that were once abundant here, but which have since vanished from the seas around Singapore. Uncontrolled fishing of species that are slow to mature and reproduce certainly played a role, but it's also likely that habitat destruction was an important factor behind the disappearance of sawfish and other species. Our coastal waters still support a diverse range of marine life, but for now, these large predators are still absent.

The Straits Times, 11th July 1967

It seems as if Pasir Panjang has plenty of literal big fish stories. Sharks were once very common in Singapore waters, and could be found patrolling coastal areas. In one incident, a large shark that was caught at Siglap was simply dumped at sea instead of sold in the market, due to its supposed worthlessness.

We do still have sharks on our reefs, but besides rare sightings, the large species seem to have all but disappeared.

The shark that had been found with human remains in its stomach was a tiger shark (Galeocerdo cuvier), and its jaws used to be on display in the Public Gallery of the Raffles Museum of Biodiversity Research (RMBR).

Tiger shark, Bahamas;
(Photo by echeng)

After Singapore became an independent state, there were concerns that coastal development and reclamation were destroying our reefs and other marine habitats.

Singapore Waters - Unveiling Our Seas, a book published in 2003 by the Marine Conservation Group of the Nature Society (Singapore), shares many more photos and accounts of life by the sea during the 1960s, and the marine life that was once commonly found in these waters.

The Singapore Free Press, 29th December 1961

Long-tailed macaques (Macaca fascicularis) are no longer found in the Singapore Botanic Gardens, save for the occasional wandering loner, but in the 1960s, the resident troop was accused of wreaking havoc. I'm sure much of it was due to overpopulation as a result of feeding by people. This led to lots of conflict between humans and macaques, although ultimately, the monkeys lost.

Long-tailed macaques, Upper Peirce;
(Photo by NatureInYourBackyard)

There are also reports of monkeys causing trouble in places where they're no longer found today, such as in Fort Canning and Sembawang, although some of the culprits were actually pets that escaped from captivity.

Speaking of captive primates...

The Straits Times, 31 August 1962

Singapore was an important location for wildlife trade in the region, and many people had exotic pets. In 1963, a female proboscis monkey from Sabah escaped from captivity at Alexandra Barracks, although there is no news as to whether she was recaptured.

The Singapore Free Press, 4 July 1960

Seriously.

The 1960s were a time when Singapore was beginning to expand into the ornamental fish industry, with the breeding of aquarium fish for export being seen as a profitable business. Then-Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew had an aquarium worth $560 outside his office, to "put guests in a nice frame of mind" before meeting him.

It was also a time when the Van Kleef Aquarium (opened in 1955) was an extremely popular and well-renowned attraction, and when plans were still being made for the Singapore Zoo and Jurong Bird Park.

Undated postcard featuring the Van Kleef Aquarium;
(Photo from ofey)

The Straits Times, 13 May 1960

Even today, reticulated pythons (Broghammerus reticulatus) continue to thrive in Singapore, although it seems like the irrational fear that people often have of snakes also continues to exist. There are many articles from the 1960s of pythons being reported in all sorts of places, causing panic among residents. Most were killed, others sold, while a few were brought into captivity. An editorial from 1965 about local snakes even noted that the king cobra (Ophiophagus hannah) was "fairly common", when today, not many can claim to have seen this snake in the wild.

Juvenile reticulated python, Queenstown;
(Photo by Anne Devan-Song)

King cobra, Sungei Buloh;
(Photo by myrontay)

It's also worth noting that during the 1960s, hunting was still a popular hobby, and many people owned rifles and shotguns. Some travelled over to Johor in search of game, while others pursued flying foxes, civets, birds, crocodiles, and pythons locally.

One of the favourite targets of Singapore's hunters in the 1960s, the Malayan flying fox (Pteropus vampyrus) is one of the world's largest bats, and is sadly now no longer resident in Singapore. It's likely that hunting at roosting sites not only killed large numbers of flying foxes, but also drove the survivors to seek sanctuary elsewhere. Today, these large fruit-eating bats are only rare visitors to Singapore, flying over from Peninsular Malaysia (where they are still hunted) or Indonesia to look for fruiting trees.

Malayan flying fox, Singapore Zoo;
(Photo by Will Symons)

The Straits Times, 23 June 1968

I'm particularly amused by this person's luck in encountering pythons while swimming. But seriously, even though the Singapore River has been cleaned up (another way in which the environment is actually better now compared to the 1960s), I still wouldn't swim in there. I certainly don't think that the waters off Boat Quay in the 1960s were a very pleasant place for a dip.

The Straits Times, 24 March 1962

Another big snake story, and one that's far larger than any of the longest reticulated pythons ever measured! For what it's worth, giant pythons always shrink whenever a tape measure turns up.

Pulau Ayer Merlimau was eventually joined with other neighbouring islands to create Jurong Island.

(Map from chemicals-technology.com)

The Straits Times, 18 March 1960

Another large reptile that generated much fear in Singapore during the 1960s was the estuarine crocodile (Crocodylus porosus). Although considered rare, even locally critically endangered today, it appears that back then, crocodiles were quite widespread and seen quite often in coastal areas. Some of these may have escaped from crocodile farms; Singapore was a major importer and re-exporter of crocodile skins.

Estuarine crocodile, Sungei Buloh;
(Photo by Mendis)

The Singapore Free Press, 15 August 1960

The common palm civet or musang (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) is one of several native mammals that are relatively tolerant of human activity. It's not surprising that during the 1960s, civets were often found near villages, where they made a living by feeding on rats, and raiding fruit orchards and chicken coops, although 700 does seem like a lot of chickens. Is it possible that not all the chickens were taken by civets? And how did the people know that there were 30 civets? Maybe the especially industrious civet at Serangoon Gardens that was said to have snatched 300 fowl over two months that same year was also at work in Yio Chu Kang!

Common palm civet, Siglap;
(Photo by kwokwai76)

Based on these news articles, and many more that I've looked up, the 1960s would have been a very interesting time for wildlife enthusiasts and naturalists in Singapore! Although it does seem that some accounts might be the result of exaggeration or hyperbole, and need to be taken with a lot of salt.

D.S. Johnson's An introduction to the natural history of Singapore was first published in 1964, and gives an excellent overview of Singapore's biodiversity, as known during the 1960s. A revised edition, published in 1992, may still be found in public libraries.

There are lots of other interesting articles about wildlife in and around Singapore that can be found in the online news archives, and I'll share more of them another time.

(Cross-posted to SBA Plus)

Source: http://lazy-lizard-tales.blogspot.com/2013/06/flashback-wildlife-news-in-1960s.html

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Thirdhand Smoke Damages Human Cells

Thirdhand smoke, the residue from cigarette smoke that lingers on surfaces and in dust long after the cigarette is out and the smoke has cleared, may damage human cells, a new study finds.

The researchers used two standard laboratory tests to assess the toxicity of thirdhand smoke. They showed that a compound found in smoke residue, called tobacco-specific nitrosamine, significantly damages DNA in human cells.

"This is the very first study to show that thirdhand smoke is mutagenic and causes DNA damage, which is considered as one of the first steps toward cancer," said study researcher Lara Gundel, of Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California.

Though the harmful effects of cigarette smoking are well-known, the question of whether exposure to thirdhand smoke is also a health concern has often been overlooked, the researchers said.

Thirdhand smoke is the smell that remains on the clothes and hair of someone who has just smoked, or the odor left in hotel rooms where smokers stayed. The chemicals are derivatives of nicotine, and remain in indoor environments, absorbed in the fabric of curtains and carpeting, and on the surface of other objects.

However, the extent to which the chemicals could be hazardous to people is still unknown.

"The purpose of the study was to find how toxic and hazardous some compounds in thirdhand smoke are, and by what mechanisms they can cause harm," Gundel said.

In the study, the researchers put paper strips in smoking chambers. Some of the samples were left for only 20 minutes, after which the researchers measured the residue; the researchers called this "acute exposure." Other strips were left for nearly 200 days in a smoking chamber that was ventilated, to create a "chronic exposure" condition.

The researchers then extracted the chemicals from the paper strips, and exposed cells?to the chemicals.

The results showed that the chronic samples had a higher concentration of thirdhand smoke residue than the acute samples. The chronic samples also caused higher levels of DNA damage.

"The cumulative effect of thirdhand smoke is quite significant," Gundel said. "The findings suggest the materials could be getting more toxic with time."

One important characteristic of thirdhand smoke is that its residue can interact with compounds in the air, such as ozone, and produce new toxins, the researchers said.

It is difficult to say when it is safe to enter a place where a smoker has formerly lived, as the emission seems to continue for a long time.

Cleaning a home or a car that has been smoked in doesn't seem to solve the problem. The researchers said they encountered people who complained about buying a used car that didn't smell at first but after a few days started to smell as if somebody had smoked in it.

"Even when you paint the walls, it covers the smell for a short time, but then the compounds work their way through the painting," Gundel said.

"We can take up markers from former smoking months, and sometimes even years after the smoker has left," the researchers said.

Future studies should investigate the effects of nitrosamines and other compounds found in thirdhand smoke on people by looking at blood samples, the researchers said.

The study was published June 13 in the journal Mutagenesis, and was funded by the?Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program, which is managed by the University of California and funded by state cigarette taxes.

Email Bahar Gholipour or follow her @alterwired. Follow?LiveScience?@livescience, Facebook?& Google+. Original article on LiveScience.com.

Copyright 2013 LiveScience, a TechMediaNetwork company. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/thirdhand-smoke-damages-human-cells-123135629.html

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Kiley Marissa: guest post: balanced health by kelsey

Hello every one! I was so excited to have Kiley ask me to do a blog post about beauty, especially focusing on health and fitness. I am so passionate about having a healthy balanced lifestyle because I am a recovered girl who once had an eating disorder. This Eating disorder controlled me and my life since I was 8 years old. In order to be healed I had to learn to have balance in life. I think so often as women we get obsessed with our body image and we get an all or nothing perspective on life. I know that I had a list of good and bad foods, a workout routine that was so intense that I had no time for any social life or school, and a negative body image that told me I would never reach perfection. This is where we get lost, we try to attain this perfection that is unattainable and therefore are left with lives that are discontent and joyless.?

I know that the media, magazines, Internet and the world has created an image that they say is ?perfect? but the problem is that we are designed differently. We cannot change our metabolism, height, hair color, skin color and so on. I was at a bachelorette party this weekend and we were out on the town all dressed up and couldn?t help but notice how different we all were. One of the girls had come up to me and said, ?I have been struggling with bulimia for years now, but thank you for being so honest with your story because to me you are the girl I had always pictured as having the perfect look and life. ?I was taken aback because to me , I had never been perfect enough for myself. The funniest part about this whole conversation was that when I didn?t know her and had just seen her in a crowd, her beauty stood out and I thought she was a stunning girl. Isnt that crazy how each of us want to be something else? My favorite thing about that conversation was that this gorgeous girl knew she had a problem and was doing something to fix it. She was deciding to start living life to the fullest and in a healthy way.

The way to have a balanced life is to stop OBSESSING. That means you will need to eat , you will need to exercise but fit it into your lifestyle where it isn?t controlling you. You know that it isn?t controlling you when you are able to skip a day or two of your workout or when you don?t feel bad about having a treat or two a day. I was at the point in my life a few years back, when I couldn?t go one day without a long workout. Not getting a workout in meant that I would be crabby and not eat all day. As you can see , this is when there is no balance in life. Now I try to get a workout in 3-5 days a week ( some weeks I don?t get one in, other weeks I workout 6 days). A workout helps clear my mind but I am still joyful when I miss one. I like to do 20-40 minutes of cardio and some weight lifting at each session. Weight lifting helps your body burn fat for hours after your workout! I?m all about burning fat and not having to workout all the time My workout varies from running, to rollerblading , sculpt yoga or a workout class. Make getting exercise fun!?

Eating healthy and enough is also very important. What many girls don?t realize is that under eating is actually doing negative affects on you and will cause weight gain in the future. Now I?m not saying eat McDonalds 4 times a day but eating small meals 4-6 times a day is really healthy. It speeds up your metabolism so that your body is constantly burning calories and fat which gives you more energy and lean muscle. Focus on eating ?CLEAN,? this means protein ( eggs, meat, fish, lentils), Veggies, fruits ( see this as your sweets), fats ( avocadoes, Nuts), and carbs ( rice, beans, whole wheat breads). There is always room for a healthy dessert. Find healthy versions of your favorite desserts and have a baking night with your girls friends! Eating this way will make you feel satisfied but not heavy or bloated. Don?t limit yourself because then your body will crave those things and then you end up overeating them. Its all about moderation.?

Hope I could encourage on your way to a healthy lifestyle. Any questions about eating disorders, meal plans, and workout routines, pageants and beauty, I would love to talk!?

Email me at www.Kelseyanngiles@gmail.com or facebook me at Kelsey Giles.?

Hugs and kisses, Kels

Source: http://www.kileymarissa.com/2013/06/guest-post-balanced-health-by-kelsey.html

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Turn Frozen Tater Tots Into Homestyle Hash Browns with a Waffle Iron

Bite sized tater tots are delicious and convenient, but a lot of people prefer the restaurant-style hash browns that require a fork. If you're sitting down for a nice breakfast at home, it's surprisingly easy to make these fancier hash browns on a waffle iron.

For such a specific appliance, the waffle iron is surprisingly versatile. As One Good Thing by Jillee points out, all you have to do is toss some frozen tater tots onto your waffle iron, and press them for three or four minutes. Once they're done cooking, they should have formed together into a perfect patty. While you have the waffle iron pulled out, you could also use it to make no-fuss pizza pockets and cinnamon rolls.

Things You Can (and Can't) Make in a Waffle Iron | One Good Thing by Jillee

Source: http://feeds.gawker.com/~r/lifehacker/full/~3/-VFVHDXYxXg/turn-frozen-tater-tots-into-homestyle-hash-browns-with-537862964

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Archery programs gain popularity in schools ? Artesia News

TUPELO, Miss. (AP) ? Mississippi?s fastest growing sport doesn?t involve running or tackling or a ball.

Whether interest begins with 4-H programs or the movie ?The Hunger Games,? students are asking for archery in schools and trying out for the accuracy-driven sport.

With the growing popularity comes growing talent and three Northeast Mississippi schools ? each with archery programs only about two years old ? brought home state championships this year. Saltillo won the 5A championship, Hatley the 2A crown and Myrtle the 1A title.

Coaches Mark Davidson of Saltillo, Jennifer Taylor of Hatley and Keith Speck of Myrtle each give credit to students who were committed and gave their best in a stressful environment.

?I?m told archery is the fastest-growing sport in the state, if not in the nation,? said Davidson, who has been shooting competitively for more than 25 years.

Though some aspects of school shooting competitions are different from the traditional long bow and re-curve bow that he has used, shooters must use the same skills of shooting without a sight and using the fingers without an aid.

?Our program was in its second year,? Davidson said. ?We were able to win the state championship for the division and also the overall state championship back-to-back in our first two years because the kids were dedicated, put in their time and worked hard.?

Saltillo went on to compete in the nationals in Louisville, Ky., in May, where they came in 21st out of almost 10,000 shooters.

?We didn?t shoot to our potential there,? Davidson said. ?I think the big match pressure kind of got the best of them.?

Saltillo?s top scorer at the state competition was Landon Jones, with Caitlin Rigby joining him as a team leader. Rigby, 17, will be a senior in the fall and was Saltillo?s top female scorer. Her interest in archery started with 4-H.

?I?ve always been interested in sports and still shoot with 4-H too,? Rigby said. ?After I shoot it gets me excited to see most of my arrows in the yellow. It makes me so happy. The most advice I could give someone else is to take your time, not rush and have fun.?

Each school program has about 40 students overall, and the top 26 are able to attend state competition, 24 shooting and two alternates.

?What excites me about archery is that it?s a sport where girls can compete with guys,? said Hatley?s Taylor, a longtime bow hunter. ?It gets people who are not involved in other sports. They may think they?re not athletic enough for some other sport, but in this one all they have to have is accuracy.?

Two of Hatley?s team members graduated in May, but 24 will be returning. After tryouts for seventh- through 12th-graders, 40 students made the team.

Hatley?s top shooter, Braeden Eldridge, graduated in May.

?I got into archery because it was something new,? he said. ?I?d played baseball and tried other things, but when I tried this it stuck. The first year everybody was really young. I?ve always been around hunting, shotguns and been in the outdoors, but nobody else on the team shot bows or hunted. The next year they really stepped up, and when I shot bad they stepped in.?

Eldridge sees his archery career ending with high school as he moves on to college and hopes later the Marine Corps.

Myrtle, too, is fortunate to be bringing back all of its team except one graduate. Speck, a bow-hunter for more than 20 years, was tapped to start up the program just more than two years ago.

?There usually isn?t a lot of money for schools to start new programs, but we got two grants so the school was out very minimal cost to start it up,? he said.

Factors also mentioned by the other coaches ? that it?s a coed sport and that people who may not consider themselves to be athletic can represent their school in a sport ? also appeal to Speck.

The competition builds the student?s confidence, but the final outcome ?boils down to who is hot on that particular day,? Speck said. ?We were very fortunate the past two years to shoot our best score at the state tournament.?

Sixteen-year-old Kelsey Whitten, who will be a senior, has been his top shooter the past two years.

?I like archery because it?s something different,? Whitten said. ?I used to play softball a lot, then tried archery out and really liked it. I practice in my yard out back, make a target and do it until my arm starts hurting. I can?t really get tired of it.?

Whitten says that attitude of wanting to keep practicing and getting better is something she got from Speck.

?I probably wouldn?t be where I am now if the coach didn?t push us,? Whitten said. ?If we would miss practice or something, he?d impress on us how important it was, so I probably wouldn?t have achieved anything without him.?

Soon, though, archery shooters around Northeast Mississippi won?t need to fix a practice place in their own yards like Whitten does.

Bryan Ellis expects to open Mudcreek Archery, an indoor archery center in late June.

?There?s no other archery facility like it around here,? Ellis said. ?We were driving to Michie, Tenn., an hour and 15 minutes, and they only have a small range for one or two people to shoot. It?s nothing like what we?ve got.?

Mudcreek includes moving targets, pop-up targets, the computer simulation game, Techno Hunt, and more. With assistance from the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, they also will have the same equipment and targets schools use.?

?They have been very helpful to me, providing me with data about the number of shooting licenses they issue and other advice,? Ellis said. ?We?re self-titling it as ?Mississippi?s most advanced indoor archery range.? We?re going to hold non-school-affiliated tournaments that kids can enter so they have a place to go to shoot after school.?

Some youths also are introduced to archery through 4-H programs of the Mississippi State University Extension Service, with Alcorn County 4-H agent Tammy Parker as the district shooting sports coordinator.

?We have about 140 youths from 23 counties in the archery program,? Parker said. ?It has increased over the past several years. Alcorn County has 10 kids, but the only holdback is adult volunteers who will agree to go through the certification training. We could probably have 50 kids if we had enough adult volunteers to work with them.?

Archery in Mississippi Schools is a program supported by the Mississippi Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks Foundation, coordinating the implementation of archery programs in public and private schools.

?This is a continuation of the ongoing effort by the Foundation and the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks to attract Mississippi youth into the out-of-doors and to support Mississippi schools in their effort to improve the physical condition of the youth and to provide youth with a pastime that they can utilize throughout their lives,? the Mississippi Archery In Schools website says.

Program coordinator Waldo Cleland resides in Columbia, and conducts training programs for school archery coaches as well as volunteer coaches.

Davidson retired from Saltillo at the close of school, but is excited about the new shooting facility where he?ll be able to keep using his skills.

?It?s exciting that the new archery complex will be very friendly to the school competition style of shooting, with the kind of bows and targets schools use,? he said. ?Any area student who wants to get in practice outside of school will have a place to go.?

___

Information from: Northeast Mississippi Daily Journal, http://djournal.com

This entry was posted on June 22, 2013, 8:02 am and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.

Source: http://www.artesianews.com/2013/06/22/ap-news/sports-ap-news/archery-programs-gain-popularity-in-schools/

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To Store More Carbon, Make Grasshoppers Nervous

Click here to listen to this podcast

The grasshopper is a carefree creature?according to Aesop's fables. But in real life, grasshoppers can have a lot to worry about. For example, grasshoppers get quite anxious when they know there's a deadly spider about, and it puts them off their food. Since their food is grass, nervous grasshoppers leave more grass intact to perform photosynthesis, turning sunlight and carbon dioxide into plant food. More CO2 in these grasses and their roots means less CO2 in the air. That's according to a new paper published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Yale researchers tracked CO2 as it cycled through Plexiglass cages containing just grass, grass and grasshoppers, or grass, grasshoppers and spiders. Grasses stored 1.4 times as much carbon with spiders about than when grasshoppers were allowed to roam unmolested. That's even better than when there were no grasshoppers at all because nervous grasshopper grazing did little damage but spurred greener growth. In other words, spiders protect the climate, just by being spiders and scaring grasshoppers. Similar results may also prove true in ecosystems with larger predators, whether wolves and caribou or lions and zebras. Keeping predators around may be another way to combat climate change. ?David Biello Follow Scientific American on Twitter @SciAm and @SciamBlogs. Visit ScientificAmerican.com for the latest in science, health and technology news.
? 2013 ScientificAmerican.com. All rights reserved.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/store-more-carbon-grasshoppers-nervous-140008078.html

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NSA leaker charged with espionage, theft

WASHINGTON (AP) ? The Justice Department has charged former National Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden with espionage and theft of government property in the NSA surveillance case.

Snowden, believed to be holed up in Hong Kong, has admitted providing information to the news media about two highly classified NSA surveillance programs.

A one-page criminal complaint unsealed Friday in federal court in Alexandria, Va., says Snowden engaged in unauthorized communication of national defense information and willful communication of classified communications intelligence information. Both are charges under the Espionage Act. Snowden also is charged with theft of government property. All three crimes carry a maximum 10-year prison penalty.

The federal court in the Eastern District of Virginia where the complaint was filed is headquarters for Snowden's former employer, government contractor Booz Allen Hamilton.

The complaint is dated June 14, five days after Snowden's name first surfaced as the leaker of information about the two programs in which the NSA gathered telephone and Internet records to ferret out terror plots.

The complaint could become an integral part of a U.S. government effort to have Snowden extradited from Hong Kong, a process that could turn into a prolonged legal battle. Snowden could contest extradition on grounds of political persecution. In general, the extradition agreement between the U.S. and Hong Kong excepts political offenses from the obligation to turn over a person.

Hong Kong had no immediate reaction.

In Iceland, a business executive said Friday that a private plane was on standby to transport Snowden from Hong Kong to Iceland, although Iceland's government says it has not received an asylum request from Snowden.

Business executive Olafur Vignir Sigurvinsson said he has been in contact with someone representing Snowden and has not spoken to the American himself. Private donations are being collected to pay for the flight, he said.

"There are a number of people that are interested in freedom of speech and recognize the importance of knowing who is spying on us," Sigurvinsson said. "We are people that care about privacy."

Sen. Bill Nelson, D-Fla., a member of the Senate Armed Services Committee, welcomed the charges. "I've always thought this was a treasonous act," he said in a statement. "I hope Hong Kong's government will take him into custody and extradite him to the U.S."

Michael di Pretoro, a retired 30-year veteran with the FBI who served from 1990 to 1994 as the legal liaison officer at the American consulate in Hong Kong, said "relations between U.S. and Hong Kong law enforcement personnel are historically quite good."

"In my time, I felt the degree of cooperation was outstanding to the extent that I almost felt I was in an FBI field office," said di Pretoro.

The U.S. and Hong Kong cooperate on law enforcement matters and have a standing agreement on the surrender of fugitives.

However, Snowden's appeal rights could drag out any extradition proceeding.

The success or failure of any extradition proceeding depends on what the suspect is charged with under U.S. law and how it corresponds to Hong Kong law under the treaty. In order for Hong Kong officials to honor the extradition request, they have to have some applicable statute under their law that corresponds with a violation of U.S. law.

Disclosure of the criminal complaint came as President Barack Obama held his first meeting with a privacy and civil liberties board as his intelligence chief sought ways to help Americans understand more about sweeping government surveillance efforts exposed by Snowden.

The five members of the little-known Privacy and Civil Liberties Oversight Board met with Obama for an hour in the White House Situation Room, questioning the president on the two NSA programs that have stoked controversy.

One program collects billions of U.S. phone records. The second gathers audio, video, email, photographic and Internet search usage of foreign nationals overseas, and probably some Americans in the process, who use major providers such as Microsoft, Google, Apple, and Yahoo.

___

Associated Press writer Jenna Gottlieb in Reykjavik, Iceland, contributed to this report.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/nsa-leaker-charged-espionage-theft-001952096.html

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Gunmen kill 11 foreign tourists in Pakistan

ISLAMABAD (AP) ? Gunmen killed 11 foreign tourists before dawn Sunday as they were visiting one of the world's highest mountains in a remote area of northern Pakistan, police said.

The tourists from Russia, China and the Ukraine were shot dead at the base camp of Nanga Parbat, the ninth highest mountain in the world, said local police chief Barkat Ali. It's unclear if they were planning to climb the mountain or were just visiting the base camp, which is located in the Gilgit-Baltistan region of Pakistan.

The police chief learned about the attack when the tourists' local guide called the police station around 1 a.m. local time on Sunday, said Ali.

No one has claimed responsibility for the attack.

Pakistan is home to several insurgencies and internal conflicts but Gilgit-Baltistan is generally a peaceful area, although it has experienced some sectarian violence between Sunni and Shiite Muslims in recent years. The area is a popular destination for tourists because it includes a large number of very tall mountains in the Himalayan and Karakoram ranges, including K2, the second highest mountain in the world.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/gunmen-kill-11-foreign-tourists-pakistan-052935406.html

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Zombies roam the animal kingdom ? and some of them might be after us

David Hughes / Penn State

One fungus took over the brain of this zombified ant, but the first fungus was sabotaged by a different type of parasitic fungus.

By Alan Boyle, Science Editor, NBC News

The zombies in "World War Z" are just actors ??but in the animal world, zombies are a fact of life. Evolution can come up with some fiendish twists: For example, there are some species that bend other creatures to their will to keep their bizarre life cycles going. Or just to feast on their delicious braaaains.

To celebrate the premiere of "World War Z," here's a top-ten list of zombies from the animal kingdom, finishing up with a particularly pernicious parasite that can pose a risk to humans:

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Zombie ants: There are special kinds of?zombifying fungi that infect carpenter ants?in Thailand and Brazil. The fungus?grows into the ant's brain and compels it to climb down and clamp onto to the low leaves that provide the fungus with its favored breeding ground. After the ant dies, the fungus sprouts from its head and shoots out spores to infect other ants. But this zombie isn't invincible: Scientists recently discovered a different kind of fungus that can?castrate the zombifying fungus before it spreads.

Zombie bees: A parasitic fly known as Apocephalus borealis can inject its eggs into a honeybee's abdomen, where the fly larvae mature. The parasitized bees abandon their hives and walk in circles ? but eventually they fall over. "It really painted a picture of something like a zombie," says San Francisco State University's Andrew Core. About seven days after infection, the mature larvae burst out from the dead bees' bodies, renewing the gruesome circle of life. It gets worse: The zombie bees are spreading.

Zombie birds: Great tits look so cute when they're perched on a branch. You'd never know that they have a taste for bat brains. In Hungary, the birds listen for the calls sent out by the cave-dwelling pipistrelle bats when they rouse themselves from hibernation. Then they track down the groggy bats, crack their skulls open and eat their brains. Researchers found that the trick is passed down from one generation of great tits to the next, providing an example of cultural transmission in avian species. The great tits helped inspire the title of Becky Crew's book about bizarre biology, "Zombie Birds, Astronaut Fish and Other Weird Animals." ??

Zombie caterpillars: You don't want to be around when a zombified caterpillar turns to goo. There's a species of baculovirus that infects gypsy moth caterpillars and sends them up into the treetops to die. When the caterpillar's body liquefies, the ooze drips down onto other caterpillars?? creating more zombies. Scientists say a single gene in the virus interferes with the caterpillar's hormones, apparently triggering the uncharacteristic urge to climb during the day.?

Zombie crabs: A tiny barnacle called Sacculina?can latch onto male crabs?and blast them with so much estrogen that they dig empty nests, made to order?for the barnacle to lay its eggs inside. If the crab host happens to be a female, no problem: The barnacle merely wipes out the host's reproductive system, and then sets her digging.

A zombie cricket jumps into a pool and dies, which gives the mind-controlling parasitic worm inside the cricket its opportunity to swim away.

Zombie crickets: Parasitic hairworms have been known to invade crickets, take over their nervous system and then force their?buggy hosts?to drown themselves?so that the grown worm can swim out and look for a mate. Scientists aren't exactly sure how crickets pick up the parasite,?but it may involve ingesting water or bugs that contain hairworm larvae.

Zombie fish: What could be ickier than having a zombie crustacean eat out your tongue?? and then take its place in your mouth?That's what the beastie known as Cymothoa exigua does to spotted rose snappers. C. exigua latches onto the fish's tongue and sucks the blood out of it until it falls off. Then it attaches itself to the stub that's left behind, and changes its diet from blood to fish mucus. The fish and the parasite carry on that way for the rest of their lives. If you're freaked out by the "Alien" movies, do not look at this picture.

Zombie ladybugs:?Dinocampus coccinellae, a species of parasitic wasp, lays a single egg inside the abdomen of a ladybug. The wasp larva eats its way through the ladybug's insides, then pops out and spins a cocoon. End of story for the ladybug, right? Not necessarily. The ladybug often lives on as one of the undead, partially paralyzed on top of the cocoon. There's evidence that the wasp larva provides resources to keep the ladybug alive, while the ladybug provides an extra layer of protection from bugs that might otherwise eat the larva.?

Zombie spiders: Another kind of zombifying wasp targets the orb spider known as Plesiometa argyra. The wasp temporarily paralyzes the spider, lays an egg on the tip of its abdomen, and leaves it to mature. The orb spider goes about its business, weaving its usual circular webs ? until, one night, the wasp larva sends a chemical signal to the spider's brain. The spider spins a weird-looking web, seemingly designed to provide shelter from rain, wind and predators. The next day, the larva kills the spider ??and moves into the home it programmed the spider to build. ??

Zombie rats ... and humans??The most insidious zombie of the animal world may well be the tiny parasite called Toxoplasma gondii, or Toxo for short. This parasite can reproduce sexually only in cat intestines, which poses a challenge when the little critters wind up in cat poop. Here's how Toxo gets back inside the cat: When mice or rats nibble on the poop, they also gobble up some of the Toxo parasites. The parasites migrate to the brain, where they release chemicals that make the rodents lower their guard when they're around cats. Scientists think that Toxo-infected mice start to regard the smell of cat pee as something sexy rather than a cause for alarm. The cats eat the smitten rats, and the Toxo life cycle begins again.

The scary part is that Toxo can find its way into the human nervous system as well. About 30 percent of the world's population is thought to be infected. Pregnant women should be careful about avoiding infection, because the parasite can pose a risk to the unborn baby. There's also some evidence of a connection between Toxo and changes in mood or personality, and perhaps even conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder. The linkage isn't rock-solid, and most of those who are infected suffer no apparent effects. But if you need a plot device for your next zombie-movie script, Toxo is a good place to start.

More science of zombies:

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Alan Boyle is NBCNews.com's science editor. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the NBC News Science Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter and adding the Cosmic Log page to your Google+ presence. To keep up with NBCNews.com's stories about science and space, sign up for the Tech & Science newsletter, delivered to your email in-box every weekday. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

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Video: Flood evacuations in Canada

Heavy flooding in western Canada could force evacuation of as many as 100,000 people, city officials in Calgary, Alberta, said Friday.

Torrential rains and widespread flooding throughout that province washed out roads and bridges, floated away cars, couches and refrigerators, and left at least one person missing.

Mud slides also forced closure of the Trans-Canada Highway, the Associated Press reported, isolating the mountain towns of Banff and Canmore.

The uploader of this video, Kevin Heinrichs, marked it as footage of people being evacuated during severe flooding in the High River area of Alberta on Thursday. Rescuers employed heavy machinery to try to move people to safety.

In this video, uploaded Thursday to YouTube by Tristan Zaba, a house floats down Bragg Creek, which has obviously swelled to a torrent, and smashes against a bridge.

This video was posted to YouTube by prairieboy18, showing flooding in downtown Calgary itself, including MacLeod Trail and the Stampede Grounds where the city's famed rodeo is held.

This dawn-light view Friday of Louise Bridge in Calgary, showing the swollen Elbow River, was uploaded to YouTube by Dong Kim.
The Elbow began carving out the structure around this bridge southwest of Bragg Creek, Alberta, on Thursday. The bridge carried Highway 66, but later collapsed, according to the uploader of this video, Andrew Morrison.

Source: http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/news/video-canada-flood-victims-evacuated-huge-bulldozer-floating-145638179.html

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National Beef Recall: E. Coli Possibly Contaminated 22,000 Pounds Of Ground Meat, USDA Says

More than 22,000 pounds of beef are feared contaminated with E. coli, the U.S. Department of Agriculture?s Food Safety and Inspection Service announced Tuesday.

A recall spanning at least 13 states concerns 22,737 pounds of ground beef packaged by National Beef Packing Co. of Liberal, Kan., and affects 10-pound packages of the following products:

? ?National Beef? 80/20 Coarse Ground Chuck, package code ?0481.?
? ?National Beef? 81/19 Coarse Ground Beef, package code ?0421.?
? ?National Beef? 80/20 Fine Ground Chuck, package code ?0484.?

The packages of ground meat have a use/sell by date of June 14, 2013, and bear the establishment number ?EST. 208A? inside the USDA mark of inspection, according to a press release by the FSIS. The beef was produced on May 25, 2013, and shipped to retail establishments in Texas, Tennessee, Kansas, Mississippi, Illinois, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Oklahoma, Missouri, Arkansas and Arizona.

There is concern that some contaminated products may have been frozen and stored in consumers' freezers.

The recall resulted from routine FSIS inspection. No cases of illness associated with these products have yet been reported.

E. coli are potentially deadly bacteria that can cause bloody diarrhea, dehydration, and in the most severe cases, kidney failure. The very young, seniors and persons with weak immune systems are the most susceptible to foodborne illnesses.

The FSIS advises consumers are advised to fully cook their meat so that its internal temperature reaches 160 degrees Fahrenheit, as it is the only way to ensure that harmful bacteria are killed.

Last year, a massive recall of more than 890,000 pounds of beef from Canada ended up affecting 30 states in the U.S., eventually extending to 1,500 types of products representing one third of the total Canadian beef supply. Between four an 22 incidences of illness stemming from the tainted beef were reported, all in Canada.

Also on HuffPost:

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Source: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/06/20/national-beef-recall-e-coli_n_3473287.html

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Engadget Podcast 349 - 06.21.13

"You don't have Facebook? Then how do you get on Farmville?," asks Brian as Peter explains his disdain for the world's largest social network. While Tim was relatively mum on that subject, it turns out he broke his Google Glass... somehow. So, while the aforementioned bearded wizard works on getting a replacement -- and 3D printing a better case -- feel free to hear about this week's biggest stories in consumer electronics by streaming our newest episode below.

Hosts: Tim Stevens, Peter Rojas, Brian Heater

Producer: Joe Pollicino

Hear the podcast:

Filed under: Podcasts

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Source: http://www.engadget.com/2013/06/21/engadget-podcast-349-06-21-13/?utm_medium=feed&utm_source=Feed_Classic&utm_campaign=Engadget

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Viber - Free Phone Calls & Text 3.0 (for iPhone)

By Max Eddy

The iPhone ?revolutionized the mobile market, but the actual phone and messaging experience hasn't changed too dramatically. Viber (free, App Store) is a VoIP app that aims to improve your talk and text experience with some remarkable new tools. It might even save you a little money in the process, with free voice and text messages to other Viber users.

Starting Up
Setting up Viber is fairly straightforward: just enter your phone number and a user name, then enter the activation code Viber sends via SMS. I was impressed when setting up Viber on my Samsung Galaxy S III when the app automatically detected the activation text?a feature surely impossible in iOS.

For better or worse your Viber account is tied to your existing phone number.? This means you'll have to create a new account when you migrate to a new phone, though the developers tell me your data should still be available. However, the big advantage is that Viber will automatically detect which of your contacts is already using the service.

?This is in stark contrast to Google Voice, which lets you create a new, independent phone number that will redirect to the devices of your choosing. Viber is focused more on communication, so look at Google Voice if you want to merge multiple phone numbers behind a single number.

Using Viber
Once you're up and running, Viber will automatically import all your contacts into its own directory. From here you can quickly call or send messages using either Viber or your normal data plan. This is smart, since it encourages you to use Viber as your one-stop-shop for voice and messaging.

The other sections are for messaging, recent calls, a keypad, and settings. The interface is very iOS, with tabs running along the bottom bar, but I preferred the Android version's streamlined approach which condensed the app down to three sections.

Viber is obviously keen to use design features that iOS users are familiar with, but I'd like to see a more imaginative and elegant design that looks like an iOS app.

Source: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/ziffdavis/pcmag/~3/EZ4qlfd4-W0/0,2817,2419773,00.asp

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