Apocalypse and salvation strategy

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Life forms on Earth may fully disappear in 2,8 billion years, according to a survey conducted by British scientists earlier this year. The survey said that temperature increase depends both on solar luminosity and Earth’s orbital parameters. As for the Sun, it is predicted to become a so-called red giant in approximately several billion years. The Sun’s orbital parameters will change and its radius will expand to a minimum of 200 times its current value. This will lead to the evaporation of oceans on Earth, which will in turn result in the extinction of life forms on our planet. Bacteria may remain, though, says biologist Yelena Vorobyova of the Moscow State University. "Bacteria are known to be the most resistant organisms capable of living in the most unbearable conditions, Vorobyova says. We know that bacteria were the first forms of life on Earth and that their development added significantly to the evolutionary history of life on the planet, she adds, citing the emergence of plants and higher organisms." The ongoing climate change will finally affect Earth’s biosphere, a process that will finally kill higher organisms but that may spare bacteria. Living on Mars may prove to be the only way for mankind to survive, Yelena Vorobyova says. "There are enough water resources on Mars that may finally accommodate all those people who will be unable to live on Earth due to global warming," Vorobyova says. She is partly echoed by Dmitry Vibe of the Moscow-based Institute of Astronomy of the Russian Academy of Sciences. "With the Sun’s radius on the increase, living conditions on Mars may prove suitable for Earthmen, Vive says. However, it is hard to say whether they will feel comfortable in Mars’ atmosphere." Living on other planets is also an option, experts said in separate interviews with the Voice of Russia, casting doubt on pessimistic predictions by British scientists on the timeframe of the end of life on Earth. Source: Voice of Russia

Read More........→November 10, 2012

Global warming – to be or not to be

The UN Climate Change Conference will be kicked off in the capital of Qatar, Doha in late November. The global warming is continuing and no one knows how to stop it. At the same time, some scientists support the idea that there is no need to fight global warming. Experts who are well aware of the caprices of nature have shared their opinions on the scale of the issue at their meetings with our correspondents.

By Nikita Sorokin, Global warming is caused by carbon dioxide, which is being emitted into the atmosphere in huge volumes as a result of human activity. At the same time, there is an opinion that people cannot in principle radically influence the planet’s climate, and all talks about warming are a “conspiracy” of alarmists, politicians and industrialists. One can answer the question whether carbon dioxide emissions have an impact on the atmosphere: yes, there is an influence as well as no, the is no impact, head of the laboratory studying global energy problems at the Moscow Power (Electrical) Engineering Institute, Professor Vladimir Klimenko said in an interview with the Voice of Russia correspondent. “Can you imagine that in the past 15 years, emissions to the atmosphere have increased about 20 percent, while the temperature has fallen. What does it mean? This does not mean that emissions have no impact on temperature. Is there global warming? Yes, there is. Will it continue further? Yes, it will. Is it dangerous for the civilization? Yes, it is dangerous, if we fail to contain the global warming within the limits of one degree Celsius from the contemporary level,” Vladimir Klimenko said. At present, scientists suggest getting rid of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere or simply, covering the Earth from excessive sunrays. However, consequence of human interference in natural synthesis will be unpredictable, head of the WWF Russia’s “Climate and Energy” Programme Alexei Kokorin told our correspondent. “It’s theoretically possible to collect carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and in fact, there is even a technology, and pump it deep into the soil. Some insist that carbon dioxide can be pumped deep into the ocean. But, at present, it will be cheaper to work on energy saving, energy efficiency and the development of renewable energy sources,” Alexei Kokorin said. On his part, Professor Vladimir Klimenko asks a rhetoric question. Is there a need to fight global warming? “From my point of view, there is no need because the proportion between anthropogenic and natural factors is such that the rate of increase in temperature in the next decade will be less than that has achieved in the past 30 years. This rise has frightened the international community. One of the most important factors is that solar activity is falling. Consequently, less heat will reach the Earth from the sun. In short, the sun is significantly countering the growing greenhouse effect,” Vladimir Klimenko added. Source: Voice of Russia

Read More........→October 27, 2012

Lesula: Africa’s newest species of monkey

This discovery was made during the first expedition that John and Terese Hart, Yale conservation biologists working for Lukuru Foundation, carried out in a remote forested area of DR Congo. 

A new forest monkey is the latest discovery of a team of international scientists in DR Congo. The news has been highlighted in a report in Plos One scientific online journal earlier this week. The researchers found the primate known locally as Lesula, earlier unknown to science which they named Cercopithecus Lomamiensis.The scientists spoke with the Voice of Russia about the new monkey. Dr. Christopher Gilbert from the Department of Anthropology of Hunter College in New York is one of the authors of the report. In an interview with the Voice of Russia he said, “This new species was unknown to the outside world. But it was well-known locally and the locals hunted it quite a bit, which is a problem going forward.“In 2007, John and Terese Hart, field biologists working in the Congo, and their field team, came across an interesting monkey that has been kept as a pet in a local town. They noticed it looked somewhat like the owl faced monkey which is found much further to the East, but it looked quite different from them”, explained the anthropologist. In an exclusive interview with the Voice of Russia, John Hart explained that he first saw this monkey in 2007 during the first expedition he and his wife undertook in this part of DR Congo. At that time, the scientists noticed that this primate was different from other species they knew, and they decided to track

This monkey is different from already known species. It was quite a beautiful animal according to Dr.John Hart.

this animal. “The new monkey compared to its closest relative, has a much paler face and a sort of pale creamed-colored stripe on its nose: unlike, its closest relative, who has a very dark face and a clear kind of white stripe on its nose. So the whole face is different. TheLesula has also a sort of blond-golden colored mane around the face. And on its back, it has a really beautiful sort of red, amber colored stripe. And he has really big eyes, much bigger eyes than the eyes of the owl faced monkeys.” Furthermore, the Cercopithecus Lomamienshas a particular behavior and way of life. As Dr. Gilbert pointed out, “We know right now that they appear to spend a lot of time on the ground and that’s interesting because for the all group of monkeys, there is not a lot of them who spend that lot of time in the ground, most of them are strictly tree-living.” This discovery is quite a success for the scientists involved in the project. Actually the Lesula is the second species of primate to be found in Africa over the past 28 years. On the one hand, this discovery positively shows that the scientific progress is still getting further and further. But on the other hand, it is also an illustration that hunters are going further too, and hunt in even more remote areas, than the place where the Lesula lives. As Dr. John Hart described, in the region, the bush meat hunters are poaching beyond control. And this is a big threat for the local biodiversity. That is why the scientific project led in Congo by Terese and John Hart and their team, aims both to document the biodiversity and to prevent the area from further ecological damage. Thus, this discovery shows how vital it is to protect nature, particularly in Africa. More information about the project can be found on the website of the Lukuru Foundation and on the website of Terese and John Hart’s project (Searching for Bonobos in Congo) Source: Voice of Russia, 

Read More........→September 15, 2012

Russian scientists one step from creating AI?

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By Yelena Kovachich, Russian scientists have created a computer analogue of a human mind, the possibilities of which lag behind that of a human brain only by 0.8%.At an international contest of similar computer programs, which recently finished in London, this Russian program won the first place. All the contesting programs had to undergo the so-called Turing test. In 1950, UK mathematician Alan Turing, one of the first developers of computer technologies, suggested a test (although, at that time, it had little scientific significance and was rather a game). The rules are simple – the examiner communicates with an anonymous partner who can be either a human or a computer program. The examiner neither sees nor hears his partner – he only receives printed answers to his questions from his hypothetical interlocutor. The examiner has to guess whether he is communicating with a real human or with a computer program. As a rule, after some time, the examiner guesses it right, because no computer program that can fully imitate human thinking has been created yet – if it may ever be created at all.In an interview with the Voice of Russia, Mikhail Gorbunov-Posadov from the Institute of Applied Mathematics said: Source: Voice of Russia.

Read More........→September 08, 2012

Residents Were Digging After a Tornado hit The West

TV was on and listen to the forecasters warning "from the impending storm disastrous, when Greg Tomlyanobich heard a short burst from the roar of the tornado siren after midnight. Then silence. Then the roar. 52-year-old quickly grabbed his wife and grandson, besieging them in the basement as emergency debris swirling around the head of its mobile home park northwest of Oklahoma. They lived in about 20 people, before a tornado - among more than 100 countries swept the abdomen at the weekend - with a bang on the floor above, tearing their house foundations. "It scared the hell out of me," said Tomlyanobich. The storm killed five people and injured more than two dozen in the Woodward, a town about 140 miles northwest of Oklahoma City, but it was a tornado that caused the death only. Many of the victims shot by isolated damage in rural areas of Kansas, and if the communities in Iowa and Kansas affected residents and officials attribute days emergency warnings, forecasts, and to save lives. When Tomlyanobich out of the underground shelter after the storm subsided, he saw the traces of destruction went: home insulation, siding and wood was cracked where once stood the house, the trees are leafless, clothing and metal volatile suspended members. "It just makes you a stomach ache. Just look at the corruption of steel," he said Sunday, indicating that turned out to be a part of the giant twisted steel, which landed in the middle of a mobile home park, which is surrounded by rural land dotted with oil-field equipment. Storms are part of the system, which is extremely strong storm prediction center in Norman, Oklahoma who specializes in predicting tornadoes warned for the day. Center has taken the unusual step of warning people away for 24 hours prior to a possible "first-class, life-threatening events." Woodward suffered the worst destruction of the storm, which also fell in Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska. Bloodied survivors in the town of 12,000 people came out to find the vehicle overturned, broken trailers and shredded power lines. The streets were littered with distorted left vehicles, power lines and toppled buildings laid. Retired firefighter Marty Logan says that he saw the tornado when it hit power lines, resulting in a flash of light, and saw the flashing lights of the radio towers are black. Later, he saw a man get out of the twisted, broken SUV, which was thrown on the roadside. "Man, the blood flowed across the face," said Logan. "It was scary because I knew that after midnight, and many people were in bed." Authorities said that the turn signal of a tornado siren Woodward struck by lightning and tornadoes hit early Sunday morning. Police Chief Harvey Rutherford said that the tower, which was to send a signal to the repetition of a tornado siren was stunned. Given the tornado struck at night, and sirens were damaged, it is remarkable that there were more victims, Rutherford said. "We had the hand of God to take care of us," he said. In a small town west of Thurman, Iowa, a lot of fallen trees along the street in front of the house where the walls and roof are missing soaked holiday. A longtime resident of Stafford, Ted recalled feeling the house shake, and then heard three windows to break, as the storm hit. He was surprised that no one in the city was seriously wounded. "We are all well, fortunately. No one was injured. We can feed this back beans and coffee," 54-year-old said as he stood on the broken concrete that was the basis of their new home basement. Reported tornado in Wichita damaged McConnell Air Force Base and Spirit AeroSystems and Boeing plants in the Saturday evening. Mobile home park was badly damaged in the city of Wichita and the surrounding district was declared a disaster area to preliminary estimates, suggesting that the damage could be $ 283 million. In an interview with CNN, the governor of Kansas, Sam Brownback acknowledged that damage may be much worse, noting that people seem to heed warnings to get to safety. "God was merciful," he said. Yvonne Tucker ran to the shelter about 60 of their neighbors to the mobile home park Pinaire in Wichita. She said that people were crying and screaming, and the light came from the shelter when the tornado struck. When they went outside, they found several damaged houses, including Tucker. "I do not think it was bad until I was walking along the street, and it's all gone," said Tucker, 49. "I do not know what to do. I do not know where to go. I saw him on TV, but when it happens to you, it's unreal. "I feel lost." Hospital in Creston, 75 miles southwest of Des Moines, the roof was damaged and some of its windows blown out in a storm, but patients and staff were not injured. Medical center officials were calling the other hospitals in the area to help. Christine Dean, who was also among the residents of Wichita mobile home hiding from the storm, said that she trembled as she was driven home in a wheelchair. She was able to grab a bag of his possessions before entering the sanctuary, and that's all she's gone. Her house was not. "He was, however," the 37-year-old woman who is in a wheelchair because of leg injury a month ago, recalls. "Then we heard a boom, all the flies. Everyone shouted, pressing one. "It's devastating, but you know we're alive."Source: 12 News Post

Read More........→September 07, 2012