Earth Changes

Wimps or warriors? Honey bee larvae absorb the social culture of the hive, study finds

ScienceDaily
Thu, 29 Oct 2015 00:00 UTC

© gertrudda / Fotolia
Even as larvae, honey bees are tuned in to the social culture of the hive, becoming more or less aggressive depending on who raises them. The researchers don't yet know how the social information is being transmitted to the larvae.

Even as larvae, honey bees are tuned in to the social culture of the hive, becoming more or less aggressive depending on who raises them, researchers report in the journal Scientific Reports.

"We are interested in the general issue of how social information gets under the skin, and we decided to take a chance and ask about very young bees that are weeks away from adulthood," said University of Illinois entomology professor and Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology director Gene Robinson, who led the research with postdoctoral researcher Clare Rittschof and Pennsylvania State University professor Christina Grozinger.

"In a previous study, we cross-fostered adult bees from gentle colonies into more aggressive colonies and vice versa, and then we measured their brain gene expression," Robinson said. "We found that the bees had a complex pattern of gene expression, partly influenced by their own personal genetic identity and partly influenced by the environment of the colony they were living in. This led us to wonder when they become so sensitive to their social environment."

In the new study, the researchers again cross-fostered bees, but this time as larvae in order to manipulate the bees' early life experiences. The larvae were from a variety of queens, with sister larvae divided between high- and low-aggression colonies.

Suspicious deaths of 1,500 birds at Lake Urmia, Iran

Press TV
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 23:25 UTC

Around 1,500 birds have died around Lake Urmia in northwestern Iran for unknown reasons, an official with Iran's Department of Environment says.

"The reason behind this accident is not clear yet and is under investigation," said the director of wildlife protection organization of the province of West Azarbaijan on Tuesday.

Omid Yousefi ruled out the possibility of a bird flu outbreak, and added that samples had been sent to a number of veterinary diagnostic laboratories and research centers and universities for detailed analysis.

Referring to speculations that the birds may have been poisoned by the sewage and wastewater from treatment plants in the city of Urmia and other surrounding cities, he said, "A certain answer cannot be given without the results of the tests."

He added that there are still a large number of sick birds that may perish in the near future due to their small stature.

Thunderstorm floods roads, schools in Kuwait; flights suspended

Meshaal Al-Enezi
Kuwait Times
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 21:11 UTC

Floodwater in Kuwait

A thunderstorm hit the country early yesterday, leading to the suspension of schools and universities and flooding in some areas and roads. The Interior Ministry cautioned motorists from the possible continuation of the thunderstorm, calling on people in Kuwait to contact the police and fire directorate's emergency teams in case of emergencies.

Officials from Kuwait University and the Ministry of Education released statements regarding the suspension of studies at schools and universities due to the bad weather conditions. The measure also took into consideration the safety of students and teaching staff at educational facilities.

The Kuwait Meteorological Center warned that the weather would remain unstable and cloudy, with moderate to strong southeasterly wind with speeds of 25-50 km/h, causing rising dust and low visibility of less than 1,500 m in some areas and a chance of rain that might be thundery at times.

Dead minke whale to be removed from Norfolk, UK beach

BBC
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 20:36 UTC

Dead minke whale

A dead minke whale that washed up on the Norfolk coast is set to be removed by council workers.

The body of the juvenile whale washed ashore on a beach near Bacton on Wednesday.

North Norfolk District Council said it was looking at how to remove the whale, which is beneath the Bacton Gas Terminal site.

The council said its environmental services team hoped to remove the whale "when the tide allows".

A spokeswoman said: "The location of the whale beneath the Bacton Gas Terminal site has caused some difficulty in terms of access, but working with local contractor Renosteel, the teams will be able to use specialist equipment which will be drafted in to bring an end to this sad situation."

Lightning bolt kills 3 in Zambia

Zambia Daily Mail
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 17:26 UTC

Three people including a 10-year-old child of Chipepa village in Senior Chief Mwata Kazembe's area in Luapula Province, died on Independence Day after lightning struck them at a fishing camp.

Luapula Province commissioner of police Hudson Namachila identified the victims as John Chinyimba, 36, Good Kwempe, 41, and Mwelwa Katuba, 10, all of Chipepa village in Mwansabombombwe district.

Mr Namchila said the three met their fate at 18:25 hours.

"The three are believed to have died after lightning struck them at Nkalamo fishing camp in Luapula Province,'' Mr Namachila said.

Massive storm hits Chinchilla, Australia; golf-ball-sized hail reported

abc.net.au
Wed, 28 Oct 2015 16:09 UTC

The entire population of more than 5,000 people in the Queensland town of Chinchilla are without power and roofs have collapsed on several houses and community buildings after a severe hail storm.

The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) said golf-ball-sized hail and destructive winds tore through the town, in the state's Western Downs, on Wednesday afternoon.

Ergon Energy said it hoped to restore power to some of those properties overnight.

The main evacuation centre was among the buildings damaged, but Western Downs Mayor Ray Brown said the building was not needed because those affected had found alternative accommodation.

Chinchilla Christian School will be closed on Thursday due to the extent of damage.

Completely lost Variegated Flycatcher from South America turns up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Larry Barszewski
South Florida Sun-Sentinel
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:52 UTC

Variegated Flycatcher

The city's latest tourist hot spot is a cemetery.

Birders have been flocking to Evergreen Cemetery since Saturday, when a South American bird only seen five previous times in the United States and Canada was spotted, sending online message boards a-twitter.

The variegated flycatcher has attracted several hundred people from across the country, who are delighted it's still hanging around the graveyard at the end of Southeast 13th Street east of Federal Highway. The bird hasn't been camera shy and is providing nice views for visitors.

But its notoriety stems more from its scarcity than its beauty.

"It doesn't look spectacular, but just think of how far this bird flew from South America," said Jacque Woodward, who drove a fair distance herself from near Lake Wales to see the bird on Tuesday.

Tests required to determine abnormal fish deaths in Seychelles

Sharon Uranie and Sharon Meriton-Jean
Seychelles News Agency
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 14:20 UTC

© Cindy Etheve
People in Seychelles an archipelago that relies heavily on fish as its main source of protein have been alarmed by the death of large amounts of coral reef fish in recent days and the discolouration of some parts of the sea.

The Seychelles authorities will be sending fish samples overseas either to Reunion island, a French overseas department in the Indian Ocean or to France to determine what exactly is causing a large number of fish to die in the Indian Ocean island nation.

A large amount of dead fish mainly coral reef fish and other marine species have been washed onshore in various parts of the main Seychelles island of Mahé, second most populated island of Praslin and other satellite islands, in recent days.

"We found it on Friday, and they could be found on almost all the beaches especially in the lagoons and where the water is usually shallow. There were all types of fish especially those that usually lives or frequents coral reef such as moray eels, parrot fish and others," Sam Hope, the Manager of Cousin, a special nature reserve, located off the west coast of Seychelles second most populated island of Praslin told SNA this morning.

"Today [three days later], we have only seen a handful but it seems whatever have cause the phenomenon has dispersed as there are not so many dead fish recorded. We have buried most of the dead fish because as you know Cousin is open to visitors throughout the week, but we have kept a few samples as well, which we hope to get analysed."

The same thing was reported by residents of several areas on Praslin including at Anse Kerlan, Amitie and Grand Anse.

Toxic haze threatens millions in southeast Asia, as Indonesia's wildfires continue

Christopher Woolf
PRI
Mon, 26 Oct 2015 16:00 UTC

© Hugo Hudoyoko/EPA
An Indonesian woman rides a motorbike amid thick haze in Palangkaraya, Central Kalimantan province, Indonesia.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo is cutting short his visit to the US to deal with a growing environmental crisis back home.

Wildfires across the length of his country over the last few months have thrown up huge clouds of smoke that now hang over much of southeast Asia, from Malaysia and Singapore, across Indonesia, to Papua New Guinea.

The Indonesian Disaster Agency estimates 500,000 people have developed respiratory problems since the fires began in July. Millions of people are dealing with smoke levels roughly 10 times the level the World Health Organization considers hazardous.

"It's hard for people to imagine how serious this is," says Nigel Sizer, forests director for the World Resources Institute, an environmental research group in Washington. Sizer was in Indonesia for the summer and is heading back next week.

"This is literally almost off the charts in terms of air quality," adds Sizer. "It's like you're staring through thick bonfire smoke day after day. ... It's an extraordinary situation."

Comment: According to researchers some of the noxious components of the smoke include: ozone, carbon monoxide, cyanide, ammonia and formaldehyde, which is "extremely hazardous" for health, prompting child evacuation plans to be prepared.

Martin Wooster, Professor of Earth Observation Science at King's College London and National Centre for Earth Observation (NCEO) states:

"I've visited quite a few sites of biomass burning during my 10 years or so of research in the area. And I can certainly say this is the worst situation I've ever encountered for biomass burning or any form of combustion in a natural environment,"

All over the world we are witnessing extensive wildfires, which in some regions have been described as "unprecedented". The National Interagency Fire Center has described the 2015 wildfire season in the United States as a record breaker.

Could some of these wildfires have been fueled from outgassing, then possibly 'sparked' by an increase in atmospheric electric discharge events, such as lightning strikes and other 'cosmic' ignition sources? See also:

Study: Wildfire seasons are more destructive and lasting longer almost everywhere on Earth

Record-breaking swarm of earthquakes hit California city

Stephanie Pappas
Live science
Tue, 27 Oct 2015 17:07 UTC

A whopping 408 earthquakes have hit San Ramon, California, in the past two weeks, including 11 in one 24-hour stretch.

This record-breaking earthquake swarm is nothing to fear, however, according to the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Periods of tectonic unrest are common in the area and probably don't presage a larger quake, the USGS said.

Most of the quakes affecting this Bay Area city are tiny. The one that kicked off the swarm at 8:50 a.m. Pacific Time on Oct. 13 was a mere magnitude 0.8. People don't usually feel earthquakes until they reach a magnitude of 2.5; quakes between magnitude 2.5 and 5.4 can be felt but rarely cause much damage. Most of the quakes occur at depths of 5 to 6 miles (8 to 9.7 kilometers).

A handful of the San Ramon quakes have rattled locals, including a magnitude-3.6 quake that hit on Oct. 19 and a magnitude-3.1 quake recorded on Oct. 27, both causing weak to light shaking in the East Bay (the eastern part of the San Francisco Bay area). Between 11:30 a.m. PT on Oct. 22 and 11:30 a.m. on Oct. 23, 11 quakes hit the area. Five were between magnitudes of 2.0 and 2.9, and one was a magnitude 3.2.

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Earth Changes

Wimps or warriors? Honey bee larvae absorb the social culture of the hive, study finds

Suspicious deaths of 1,500 birds at Lake Urmia, Iran

Thunderstorm floods roads, schools in Kuwait; flights suspended

Dead minke whale to be removed from Norfolk, UK beach

Lightning bolt kills 3 in Zambia

Massive storm hits Chinchilla, Australia; golf-ball-sized hail reported

Completely lost Variegated Flycatcher from South America turns up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida

Tests required to determine abnormal fish deaths in Seychelles

Toxic haze threatens millions in southeast Asia, as Indonesia's wildfires continue

Record-breaking swarm of earthquakes hit California city

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