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Agreed!
The more I listen to those guys the more they grow on me :)
I was thinking the same :)
Nice voice for sure.
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FPP 2.40
Fungi have a hand in depleted uranium's environmental fate
From: Cell Press
Published May 5, 2008 09:05 AM
Fungi may have an important role to play in the fate of potentially dangerous depleted uranium left in the environment after recent war campaigns, according to a new report in the May 6th issue of Current Biology, a publication of Cell Press.
The researchers found evidence that fungi can “lock”� depleted uranium into a mineral form that may be less likely to find its way into plants, animals, or the water supply.
“This work provides yet another example of the incredible properties of microorganisms in effecting transformations of metals and minerals in the natural environment,”� said Geoffrey Gadd of the University of Dundee in Scotland. “Because fungi are perfectly suited as biogeochemical agents, often dominate the biota in polluted soils, and play a major role in the establishment and survival of plants through their association with roots, fungal-based approaches should not be neglected in remediation attempts for metal-polluted soils.”�
The testing of depleted-uranium ammunition and its recent use in Iraq and the Balkans has led to contamination of the environment with the unstable metal, Gadd explained. Depleted uranium differs from natural uranium in the balance of isotopes it contains. It is the byproduct of uranium enrichment for use in nuclear reactors or nuclear weapons and is valued for its very high density. Although less radioactive than natural uranium, depleted uranium is just as toxic and poses a threat to people.
In the new study, the researchers found that free-living and plant symbiotic (mycorrhizal) fungi can colonize depleted-uranium surfaces and transform the metal into uranyl phosphate minerals.
While they probably still pose some threat, he said, “The fungal-produced minerals are capable of long-term uranium retention, so this may help prevent uptake of uranium by plants, animals, and microbes. It might also prevent the spent uranium from leaching out from the soil.”�
Gadd said that a combination of environmental and biological factors is involved in the process. First, the unstable uranium metal gets coated with a layer of oxides. Moisture in the environment also “corrodes”� the depleted uranium, encouraging fungal colonization and growth. While the fungi grow, they produce acidic substances, which corrode the depleted uranium even further. Some of the substances produced include organic acids that convert the uranium into a form that the fungi can take up or that can interact with other compounds. Ultimately, he said, the interaction of soluble forms of uranium with phosphate leads to the formation of the new uranium minerals that get deposited around the fungal biomass.
“We have shown for the first time that fungi can transform metallic uranium into minerals, which are capable of long-term uranium retention,”� the researchers concluded. “This phenomenon could be relevant to the future development of various remediation and revegetation techniques for uranium-polluted soils.”�
http://www.enn.com/pollution/article/35812
Poison ice
As the sea ice melts, a toxic stew of mercury and synthetic chemicals is seeping into the Arctic food web, harming the area's people. We may be next.
By Elizabeth Grossman
April 30, 2008 | ARCTIC OCEAN -- Over 300 miles north of the Arctic Circle, in the polar dark of a December morning, University of Manitoba Ph.D. student Jesse Carrie is out on the frozen Beaufort Sea, collecting ice samples to measure for mercury and pesticides. Lowered by crane from the deck of the icebreaking research vessel the CCGS Amundsen, and accompanied by a rifle bearer who keeps watch for polar bears, Carrie extracts ice cores and vials of frigid water. Carrie is part of a $40 million International Polar Year scientific expedition, the first ever to spend the winter moving through sea ice north of the Arctic Circle. The expedition's labor-intensive work is essential to understanding the impacts of global warming.
As the Amundsen cuts through ice across the top of the globe, Carrie and his fellow researchers are uncovering evidence of a disturbing fallout of climate change. They are finding toxic contaminants, some at remarkably high levels, accumulating in this remote and visually pristine environment. Although there are no industrial sources in the Arctic, residents of the Far North have some of the world's highest levels of mercury exposure, some well above what the World Health Organization considers safe. High levels of mercury -- a powerful neurotoxin -- are being found in Arctic marine wildlife, including ringed seals and beluga whales, both staples of the traditional Northern diet. Levels in Arctic beluga have increased markedly in recent years.
When coal is burned in power plants in the U.S., China and elsewhere, mercury is released into the atmosphere. Airborne, mercury can travel great distances before settling to the ground, or into lakes, rivers and oceans. Air and ocean currents, propelled by weather patterns and storm systems, sweep the mercury north. But the recent increases in Arctic mercury outpace and cannot be explained by smokestack emissions alone, says Gary A. Stern, a senior scientist with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans, professor at the University of Manitoba and co-leader of the Amundsen expedition. Rather, signs point to global warming and other disruptive impacts of climate change.
As temperatures rise, causing sea ice, permafrost and snow to melt, the mercury that had been frozen in place is now being released, causing exposure up and down the food web. "Climate change alters exposure in the north and increases the system's vulnerability," says Robie Macdonald, a research scientist with Canada's Department of Fisheries and Oceans.
Yet the Arctic researchers are routinely recording a lot more than mercury. They are seeing synthetic chemicals such as the brominated flame retardants known as PBDE's (used in upholstery, textiles and plastics), as well as perfluorinated and chlorine compounds. And while long banned in many countries, lingering amounts of DDT and PCBs continue to turn up in people and animals in the Far North. Of concern due to their persistence and ability to accumulate in plant and animal tissue -- particularly the fat prevalent in Arctic animals -- these chemicals are also known to disrupt the endocrine hormones that regulate reproduction and metabolism. Some are considered carcinogens.
Alaskan polar bears, for instance, have some of the highest levels yet found in Arctic mammals of hexachlorohexane (HCH), a pesticide used to kill fungi on food crops. Carrie's ice samples, collected hundreds of miles from any agricultural sites, contain HCH. Polar bears also have some of the highest recorded levels of perfluorinated compounds, chemicals used in waterproofing and in fire and stain retardants. Indigenous people in both the Canadian and Greenland Arctic have some of the world's highest exposures to these persistent pollutants.
In the summer of 2007, Arctic sea ice reached a record low. Scientists monitoring the 2008 winter ice pack suspect this year's summer ice may also be remarkably low. As David Barber, Canada Research Chair in Arctic system science at the University of Manitoba, puts it, "Well over a million years of all ecosystems evolved to take advantage of this ice cover." With markedly less substantial sea ice cover, the hemispheric system is being thrown off balance, prompting changes that are increasing the load of contaminants in the Arctic.
As Stern explains, increased snowmelt, runoff and erosion in the Mackenzie River Basin are also now washing naturally occurring mercury into the Beaufort Sea. At the same time, disappearing sea ice leaves more water exposed to sunlight, increasing the growth of marine microorganisms and tiny plants like algae. This accelerates the process that turns mercury into its highly toxic form called methylmercury, which accumulates in marine mammals and fish traditionally eaten by residents of the Arctic. "These changes are happening much faster than anticipated," Stern says one morning on the Amundsen.
Decreasing sea ice is changing other dynamics of the Arctic ecosystem. Seasonal climate changes are pushing some animals farther to find food and prompting some to alter what and when they eat. "With climate shift changing availability of ocean nutrients, some birds that used to fly 50 miles to eat now have to fly 100," says Macdonald. "This means storing more fat, magnifying -- or concentrating -- the contents of the fat, resulting in stress to both birds and their chicks." Because fat cells serve as a reservoir for many contaminants, when broken down to release energy, the toxics are also released, exposing animals from within.
In addition, says Macdonald, "Migrating fish bring with them the contaminants they've hoovered up in the ocean. When the fish spawn, they release the contaminants." Similarly, fish-eating birds can take up these pollutants that they then excrete. It's possible, he says, that animals themselves might be adding to the transport of contaminants.
"The food web is quite important in terms of where contaminants are found," says Derek Muir, a senior scientist in aquatic ecosystems research with Environment Canada. Warmer temperatures and shorter ice seasons -- in lakes as well as the Arctic Ocean -- could alter what happens at the bottom of the food web in ways that affect how contaminants move up the food ladder, he explains. "Warming," says Muir, "could deliver more contaminants up the food chain to top predators, and result in high levels of contaminants in very remote areas."
Because top predators are important traditional food for Arctic people, humans are at the top of the food web. "There is absolutely no doubt of exposure of pollutants with harmful effects to some groups," says Eric Dewailly, professor of social and preventive medicine at Laval University, who works with the International Network for Circumpolar Health Research. There are local sources for some metals and pollutants, but most of the persistent organic pollutants in the Arctic come "100 percent from the outside," he says. Dewailly notes that because people are exposed to mixtures of contaminants, it's hard to isolate the precise impact of a single one. However, studies are now being conducted in Canadian Arctic communities to investigate links between contaminants and cardiovascular, neurological, reproductive and immune system problems.
Climate change is having another hazardous effect on indigenous people. Warming temperatures have caused changes in ice conditions and migration patterns that determine where people hunt and fish. In some northern communities, these changes have begun to push people toward greater dependence on supermarket food, which in remote Arctic villages can be extremely limited.
Research by Grace Egeland, Canada Research Chair in nutrition and health at McGill University, shows that traditional Arctic foods tend to provide more protein, vitamins and minerals than typically available local market food, which is usually higher in carbohydrates, fat and sugar. "These people are feeling so many pressures of transition that they're now at risk," says Egeland of the Arctic's indigenous communities. "There's a human right to food without elevated contaminants," says Egeland. "Based on what we know now, why wait to count the adverse events. Why wait until it's too late?"
But what kind of action should be taken? Can the brakes be put on the cascading impacts of climate change? "If we could slow it down we would," says Barber of the shrinking sea ice. "But we can't do that now; there's too much inertia in the system."
Can we reduce the impact of the pollutants? "We can control persistent organic pollutants," says Muir. It's well documented that when hazardous chemicals -- including mercury -- are taken out of use, environmental levels decrease. And if affected populations are sufficiently healthy, they will recover.
Yet the key to controlling these pollutants, says Muir, is knowing which are persistent, toxic, likely to climb the food web and travel long distances. Muir explains that of the 30,000 or so chemicals now in wide commercial use, only about 4 percent are routinely monitored. Environmental and health impacts of about 75 percent of them have not been studied at all. Meanwhile, these invisible substances are moving to and through the Arctic. And what happens in the Far North, says Stern, may well presage what's to come farther south. "It's the canary in the coal mine," he says.
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/04/30/arctic_pollutants/?source=newsletter
A Fine Frenzy: Come On, Come Out
A Fine Frenzy: Whisper Live DVD
Amy MacDonald - Mr Rock & Roll
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha Man
Roch Voisine - Kissing Rain
Just an updated link for the NSIDC Arctic sea ice news and analysis for the 2008 season.
http://nsidc.org/arcticseaicenews/index.html
Sometimes people come into your life and you know
right away that they were meant to be there, to serve
some sort of purpose, teach you a lesson, or to help
you figure out who you are or who you want to become.
You never know who these people may be - a roommate, a
neighbor, a professor, a friend, a lover, or even a
complete stranger - but when you lock eyes with them,
you know at that very moment they will affect your
life in some profound way.
Sometimes things happen to you that may seem horrible,
painful, and unfair at first, but in reflection you
find that without overcoming those obstacles you would
have never realized your potential, strength,
willpower, or heart.
Illness, injury, love, lost moments of true greatness,
and sheer stupidity all occur to test the limits of
your soul. Without these small tests, whatever they
may be, life would be like a smoothly paved straight
flat road to nowhere. It would be safe and
comfortable, but dull and utterly pointless.
The people you meet who affect your life, and the
success and downfalls you experience, help to create
who you are and who you become. Even the bad
experiences can be learned from. In fact, they are
sometimes the most important ones.
If someone loves you, give love back to them in
whatever way you can, not only because they love you,
but because in a way, they are teaching you to love
and how to open your heart and eyes to things.
If someone hurts you, betrays you, or breaks your
heart, forgive them, for they have helped you learn
about trust and the importance of being cautious to
whom you open your heart.
Make every day count. Appreciate every moment and take
from those moments everything that you possibly can
for you may never be able to experience it again. Talk
to people that you have never talked to before, and
listen to what they have to say.
Let yourself fall in love, break free, and set your
sights high. Hold your head up because you have every
right to. Tell yourself you are a great individual and
believe in yourself, for if you don't believe in
yourself, it will be hard for others to believe in
you.
You can make anything you wish of your life. Create
your own life and then go out and live it with
absolutely no regrets.
And if you love someone tell them, for you never know
what tomorrow may have in store.
Learn a lesson in life each day that you live! Today
is the tomorrow you were worried about yesterday. Was
it worth it?
author unknown
Good to hear that you were unaffected but I feel bad for those who were. Looks pretty nasty.
Dare to Believe
Everybody Knows:
You can't be all things to all people.
You can't do all things at once.
You can't do all things equally well.
You can't do all things better than everyone else.
Your humanity is showing just like everyone else's.
So:
You have to find out who you are, and be that.
You have to decide what comes first, and do that.
You have to discover your strengths, and use them.
You have to learn not to compete with others,
Because no one else is in the contest of *being you*.
Then:
You will have learned to accept your own uniqueness.
You will have learned to set priorities and make decisions.
You will have learned to live with your limitations.
You will have learned to give yourself the respect that is due.
And you'll be a most vital mortal.
Dare To Believe:
That you are a wonderful, unique person.
That you are a once-in-all-history event.
That it's more than a right, it's your duty, to be who you are.
That life is not a problem to solve, but a gift to cherish.
And you'll be able to stay one up on what used to get you down.
Author Unknown
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Thank you BoomTime. I don't think it could have been much more perfect!
Hope you had a great one too :)
Have a Great weekend all :)
Not sure whatever happened to him but PEA having another nice day thus far :)
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Turned out to be a bit of a "Green Giant" pea!
"Time"
And an astronomer said, "Master, what of Time?"
And he answered: You would measure time the measureless and the immeasurable.
You would adjust your conduct and even direct the course of your spirit according to hours and seasons.
Of time you would make a stream upon whose bank you would sit and watch its flowing.
Yet the timeless in you is aware of life's timelessness,
And knows that yesterday is but today's memory and tomorrow is today's dream.
And that that which sings and contemplates in you is still dwelling within the bounds
of that first moment which scattered the stars into space.
Who among you does not feel that his power to love is boundless?
And yet who does not feel that very love, though boundless, encompassed within the
centre of his being, and moving not form love thought to love thought,
nor from love deeds to other love deeds?
And is not time even as love is, undivided and paceless?
But if in you thought you must measure time into seasons, let each season encircle all the other seasons...
And let today embrace the past with remembrance and the future with longing.
-- Khalil Gibran
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