Environmental
Green plants reduce city street pollution up to eight times more than previously believed
by Staff Writers
Washington DC (SPX)
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Trees, bushes and other greenery growing in the concrete-and-glass canyons of cities can reduce levels of two of the most worrisome air pollutants by eight times more than previously believed, a new study has found. A report on the research appears in the ACS journal Environmental Science and Technology.
Thomas Pugh and colleagues explain that concentrations of nitrogen dioxide (NO2) and microscopic particulate matter (PM) – both of which can be harmful to human health – exceed safe levels on the streets of many cities.
Past research suggested that trees and other green plants can improve urban air quality by removing those pollutants from the air.
Hidden secrets in Norway’s rainforests
by Staff Writers
Oslo, Norway (SPX)
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The word rainforest usually conjures up visions of brightly coloured birds and hyperactive monkeys swooping through a thick green canopy of leaves, vines and flowers. But rainforests are also found closer to the poles, in the northern or boreal region where temperatures are far cooler. And while there are no monkeys swinging through the trees here, these forests are every bit as endangered as their southern cousins, and highly diverse – if you know where to look.
Olga Hilmo knows. As a biologist and researcher at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), she has made it her business to better understand the treasure trove of genetic diversity that is protected in the tiny fragments of boreal rainforests that still remain.
The key, she says, is realizing that this fantastic diversity is hidden in plain sight, in the organisms that drape tree branches in long tendrils of green or grow on bark and rocks in crusty or leafy patches of green or grey.
These organisms, called lichens, are actually two or more species living together in a symbiotic relationship, where a fungus provides the structure and an alga provides nutrients. In a study just published in Molecular Genetics, Hilmo and her colleagues from NTNU’s Museum of Natural History and Archaeology and the Nord-Trondelag University College report extremely high genetic diversity for individuals of one lichen species, Lobaria pulmonaria, that grow on the same tree.
Hilmo and her colleagues’ findings are important because they show that genetic diversity can persist, even if the species in question is found only in tiny fragments of once plentiful habitat, like northern rainforests.
Surprising results
Lobaria pulmonaria grows to about the size and shape of a crinkly green leaf and is found throughout Europe, Asia, North America and Africa in coastal areas with high rainfall. However, it is in decline and is considered an endangered species in many parts of Europe.
The lichen most often reproduces vegetatively, which means that it spreads via small fragments. Each fragment, if it blows or falls to a favourable spot, is capable of starting a new plant that is genetically identical to the “mother” plant that it came from. However, these little fragments, about the size of a coarse sugar grain, are relatively heavy, so you wouldn’t expect them to spread very far.
That’s why you would expect the lichens growing on the same tree to be genetically the same, or at least very similar – but they are not. That means that populations of Lobaria are either extremely old or that in some way or another the species is very good at spreading, Hilmo says.
Another surprising and counter-intuitive finding was that Lobaria populations in neighbouring rainforest fragments were actually fairly similar. “There appears to be limited genetic differentiation between the different populations of Lobaria, which means that there has been some genetic exchange between the different fragments of rainforest,” she says.
Even though these fragments of boreal rainforest may be somewhat far apart, there is clearly some kind of connection between them that enables Lobaria to share genetic material with its neighbors. “This is important in enabling populations of Lobaria to keep their genetic diversity and remain healthy,” Hilmo says
Leaf Litter and Soil Protect Acorns from Prescribed Fire
Asheville NC (SPX)
United States Department of AgricultureForest Service
 When acorns fall to the forest floor they don’t stay on top of the leaf litter too long. Squirrels, jays, chipmunks and mice bury acorns, or they settle into the litter because of weather, falling leaves and gravity. Once acorns are blanketed by leaf litter or soil, low-intensity burns are usually safe. |
U.S. Forest Service scientists have found that prescribed fires with the heat insulation of leaf litter and soil can help restore oak ecosystems. Forest Service researchers are helping land managers find the best time to use prescribed fire when oak regeneration from acorns is a concern. “Acorns inside the leaf litter or in the soil are for the most part protected from fire,” says Cathryn Greenberg, U.S. Forest Service Southern Research Station (SRS) researcher and lead author of the study published in July in the journal Forest Ecology and Management.
“However, when acorns lie on top of the leaf litter, even low intensity surface fires will kill most of them.”
Prescribed fire is increasingly used as a tool in oak ecosystem restoration, with the goal of reducing competition and creating light and seedbed conditions that help oak seedlings germinate and flourish. Forest Service researchers are helping land managers find the best time to use prescribed fires when oak regeneration from acorns is a concern.
To see how fire affected acorns, researchers placed nuts on the leaf litter surface, inside the duff (leaf litter plus smaller fragments of plant material), and underneath the duff, about 2 inches into the soil. The temperature of the prescribed burns, measured just above the surface of the leaf litter, ranged from less than 174 degrees F to almost 700 degrees F.
After the burn, researchers retrieved the acorns and placed them in ideal conditions for germination. “Almost all the acorns that were on the leaf litter surface and exposed to fire died,” says Greenberg. “However, acorns in the duff or in the soil were better protected from high temperatures, and generally unaffected by low intensity fires.”
When acorns fall to the forest floor they don’t stay on top of the leaf litter too long. Squirrels, jays, chipmunks and mice bury acorns, or they settle into the litter because of weather, falling leaves and gravity. Once acorns are blanketed by leaf litter or soil, low-intensity burns are usually safe.
However, land managers should consider the timing and size of acorn crops, as well as the forest floor condition when determining the timing and frequency of prescribed burning. “Frequent burning that reduces litter and duff depth could compromise the availability of ‘safe sites’ where acorns are insulated from high fire temperatures,” says Greenberg.
Access the full text of the article here
Related Links
U.S. Forest Service
Forestry News – Global and Local News, Science and Application
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Cyber Space
Researcher Releases Smart Meter Hacking Tool
By Jaikumar Vijayan, Computerworld
Security consulting firm SecureState today released a new open source hacking tool that it claims will let security researchers and penetration testers verify the security of electric utility smart meters being installed in millions of homes around the country.
SecureState CEO Ken Stasiak. Image from company website.The tool, called Termineter, is available for public download from SecureState’s website and will be demonstrated at the BSides security event in Las Vegas next week. The company had earlier sent out a stripped down version of the tool to a limited number of individuals.
Security consultancy InGuardians had planned to publicly release details of a similar tool called OptiGuard at the Shmoocon security conference a few months ago. The company however pulled the talk at the last minute in after a unnamed smart grid vendor and several utilities expressed concern that the tool would allow hackers to exploit vulnerable smart meters.
InGuardian is scheduled to disclose details of its tool at the Black Hat security conference also being held in Las Vegas next week.
Spencer McIntyre, a SecureState researcher said the goal in releasing Termineter publicly is to raise awareness of security issues pertaining to smart meters and to get vendors of such products to address those issues.
Power companies and utilities will be able to use Termineter to identify and validate internal flaws that make the meters vulnerable to hacking and tampering, he said.
The tool will give independent security researchers a way to probe such meters for potential access control and user authentication weaknesses, he said. “[Termineter] will give them low level access to smart meters to do security assessment of the device,” regardless of the vendor of the device, McIntyre said.
Termineter supports ANSI C12.18 and ANSI C12.19 standards, and can communicate with smart meters via the infrared ports on each device. The tool will let penetration testers and researchers get direct access to the data on the meter.
Currently, Termineter modules allow testers to read and write raw data on a device in order to get it to respond in specific ways, McIntyre said. Researchers can extend Termineter’s capabilities to build their own applications around it, he said.
Smart meters are a crucial component of the smart grid. The devices are designed to collect energy consumption data from homes and transmit it back to power distribution companies for billing, network and demand management purpose. The technology also lets consumer view their energy usage patterns in near real time to help them better manage home energy use.
Utility companies around the country are in the process of installing millions of smart meters in homes to better manage energy consumption, respond to demand better and eventually offer tiered rating plans based on a consumer’s energy use habits.
Cybersecurity Bill Rhetoric Heats Up in Washington
By Christina DesMarais, PCWorld
Computer vulnerabilities and how they can affect Americans’ security are on the agenda for the U.S. Senate, and strong rhetoric is being used to support new legislation.
The Cybersecurity Act of 2012 is expected to move to the Senate floor this week. The bill has the support of President Barack Obama, and it is being sponsored by Sen. Joseph Lieberman of Connecticut.
“The cyber threat to our nation is one of the most serious economic and national security challenges we face,” Obama wrote in an op-ed in The Wall Street Journal on July 19.
The president said that foreign adversaries could seek to exploit U.S. computer vulnerabilities, taking down vital banking systems, and that could cause a financial crisis. Similarly, he said, “The lack of clean water or functioning hospitals could spark a public health emergency. And as we’ve seen in past blackouts, the loss of electricity can bring businesses, cities and entire regions to a standstill.”
Lieberman and four other co-sponsors of the cybersecurity bill recently introduced a revised version of the bill that has broader support than the prior version, which privacy advocacy groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation said included serious threats to civil liberties.
According to the EFF, major privacy protections added to the new bill ensure that:
- Only civilian agencies will be in charge of U.S. cybersecurity systems, as opposed to the National Security Agency, which has been spearheading warrantless wiretapping for years.
- Data won’t be shared with law enforcement except in certain circumstances such as when it relates to a cybersecurity crime investigation or an imminent threat of death or serious bodily harm.
- Data garnered from cybersecurity initiatives can’t be used as evidence for other crimes such as copyright infringement or drug usage.
- Constitutionally-protected free speech and terms of service violations won’t be considered as threats to cybersecurity.
We’ll Share Data, if We Get to Choose the Data, Survey Says
A study shows that Americans value their personal data and don’t want to give it away for free. They also want a Consumer Privacy Bill of Rights.
By Dan Tynan, ITworld
When it comes to personal privacy, people are a lot more savvy than you might realize. Sure, there’s always the “privacy is dead — get over it crowd.” But as a new survey by PwC shows, most Americans have a much more nuanced view of the personal information they surrender each day online and via their mobile devices, and they yearn for more control over it.
PwC surveyed roughly 1000 U.S. adults on their feelings about privacy earlier this year. The big picture conclusions: People are willing to share personal information with companies — to a point. But they draw the line when it gets too personal. They want something in return for giving up their data. And they want to know exactly what data companies are collecting about them and to have the ability to turn off the spigot, as needed.
Naturally, there are some generational differences, but they aren’t as big as you might expect. For example: 72 percent of Americans age 18 to 29 would hand over their personal information in return for a discount on movie tickets; only 56 percent of those age 45 to 59 would do the same. Two thirds of the young hipsters would surrender their data for free popcorn, versus 52 percent of the aging crones.
Only 7 percent of the youngsters don’t want to share no matter what goodies might be in store for them; 11 percent of the oldsters feel the same. I expected the gulf between those two groups to be much wider.
Roughly half of all those surveyed say they’d share personal info in exchange for some location based services, such as finding nearby restaurants and performances; to avoid seeing ads before or during shows; and to get real time traffic info or better mobile phone service.
What this means to me: People do understand that their data has value, and that they deserve something in return for it. This is something I’ve been harping on for the last 15 years. It’s my data; if you want it, you need to pay me for it — and just serving me “more interesting ads” isn’t gonna cut it.
Perhaps the most interesting results of the PwC survey are the types of data people want to protect. As shown in the inverted triangle below, nobody cares if some stranger knows if they’re married or single, while just about everyone knows they need to protect their Social Security Number or risk having their identities stolen.
Victim of half-million-dollar cybercrime tells tale of fighting back
Michelle Marsico’s two-year ordeal ends with lawsuit settlement
It started out as an ordinary workday for Michelle Marsico, who runs a business based in Redondo Beach, Calif., handling escrow funds for clients in real estate. But when she went online to check the funds-transfer activity in her commercial bank account, she found to her horror that it had been cleaned out by cybercrooks to the tune of almost half a million dollars.
Two dozen fraudulent electronic-funds transfers had whisked about $450,000 out of her account to bank accounts elsewhere for roughly 20 recipients whose names and addresses she didn’t recognize. “I was in shock for a few minutes,” says Marsico, president of Village View Escrow. “I thought, there must be a mistake.”
BACKGROUND: Business scores settlement in thorny cybercrime case
It was all an online cyberheist against her and Professional Business Bank, where she had the Village View escrow account, and it turned her life upside down. The next shock was when she realized her bank, which called the FBI, wasn’t going to be able to speedily recover the funds that had been sent to these 20 or so “money mules,” the individuals recruited to help the organized cybercrime gang.
And since her bank wasn’t going to quickly go after the money mules, Marsico decided to do it herself.
“I finally received a copy of the wire transfers, with the names and addresses of the recipients,” she says. She frantically set out to find as many as she could through online searches.
Strangely, one of the recipients had actually called the company, angrily demanding that it “stop harassing him.”
“They thought we were harassing him to send out the money after he had his bank call him about it. He thought the money legitimately came from us, and the criminals were trying to hurry him up,” she says.
Some of the money mules that had been recruited to transfer stolen funds on to the crooks were indeed unaware they were part of a cybercrime, often having been recruited by means of fake job advertisements at online job sites like CareerBuilder.com. One older man in Hawaii thought the funds transfers were part of a textile-buying operation.
But “some did know what it was,” says Marsico.
One man in New York that had received about $29,000 “was frank with me and said, ‘I feel bad about it.’ I said if you return the money, I’ll let the Secret Service know that.” She managed to get about a dozen of the recipients to cough up $72,000 of the stolen funds. But that left her out $373,000.
That left Marsico and her bank to square off over how this had happened, whether someone had broken into a Village View Escrow computer or something else. The focus of the dispute came to center around the nature of the authentication and funds-transfer validation process.
Village View Escrow ended up suing Professional Business Bank. Basically, the company contended that the authentication and funds-transfer authorization and validation process was insufficient, and the bank should be held responsible for the loss that Village View suffered.
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Survival / Sustainability
Who Dies After an Economic Collapse
Published on Jul 9, 2012 by TheModernSurvivalist
My book “The Modern Survival Manual: Surviving the Economic Collapse”:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/9870563457?tag=surviinargen-20&camp=14573&cr…
Website:
http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com
http://www.ferfal.blogspot.com
Coping With Crime After Economic Collapse
Uploaded by Survive2Day on May 3, 2011
Interview with Fernando “FERFAL” Aguirre regarding post collapse Argentina and how you can cope with increasing crime due to societal collapse.
5 most underrated Survival Skills for Survivalists & Preppers Part 1 of 2
Uploaded by TheModernSurvivalist on Apr 11, 2011
Original video by TheLordHumungus
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nMzfqpTSQtw
Read the post about this video at http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com
http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com/?p=1198
[URL=”http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com/?p=1198″]http://www.themodernsurvivalist.com/?p=1198[/URL]
5 most underrated Survival Skills for Survivalists & Preppers Part 2 of 2
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Activism
Occupy the Midwest Conference: Detroit, Aug. 23-26
by OccupyWallSt
August 23rd to 26th, 2012 the Occupy The Midwest Conference will be taking place in Detroit, Michigan, hosted by Occupy Detroit. The summer conference will be the second gathering of Occupiers from around the Midwest, following the widely acclaimed success of the previous conference held during the spring in St. Louis, MO.
Occupiers from around the Midwest region will be meeting in Detroit for organizational meetings aimed at connecting Occupy movements for future projects, innovative “teach-ins” and workshops, fellowship, and entertainment. The theme for the summer conference is “Another World Is Possible”, highlighting a wide range of ideas from the Occupy movement aimed at improving the world through better local communities, while inspiring initiatives from citizens internationally. The failure of our current outdated systems has led to a demand for new and improved methods that meet the needs of all citizens, independent of a corrupt economic and social structure that benefits only a few at the expense of the many.
Regardless of someone’s current level of involvement in the Occupy movement or activism in general, anyone concerned with social and economic justice is encouraged to attend the conference to exchange their ideas and visions for a better world. Topics like developing regional and local strategies, launching innovative DIY projects, urban communal living techniques, cooperative community building, and many others will be addressed. This conference will serve as an opportunity for everyone to gain skills that will immediately benefit our communities and promote self-reliance free from the limited corporate owned products and services that exist today.
Detroit was selected for the second Occupy The Midwest Conference because it serves as an unfortunate example of our failed economic system. Detroit was once a proud and iconic American city that represented the effort, pride, and character of the working class, serving as the epicenter of the American auto industry, while also acting as a major force in the entertainment industry. Today Detroit ranks amongst the highest rates in unemployment, empty housing, and crime, following the collapse of the auto industry and subsequent housing market collapse. No city in America better represents the harmful effects of corporate greed and political corruption than Detroit.
Occupy The Midwest is proud to meet in Detroit this August, not only to reinvigorate its citizens and communities, but also occupiers from around the country, providing unique opportunities to collaborate on projects that will have a direct impact in improving the lives of all people, regardless of economic status. While strengthening the relationships established at the spring conference, and building new relationships, Occupy The Midwest’s summer conference will mark the beginning of a new phase of the Occupy movement, creating ideas and momentum that will evolve into an unstoppable community involving everyone who is passionate and truly believes that Another World Is Possible.
click here to register!
Occupy The Midwest is a coalition of Occupy movements from cities around the Midwest region, uniting in solidarity with Occupy Wall Street and the Occupy people’s movement worldwide.
http://www.occupythemidwest.org/
@occupythemidwes
OccupyTheMidwest@gmail.com
Stop the Spectra Pipeline: Direct Action Training
by OccupyWallSt
Where: Gather at Prospect Park Bandshell
Nearby trains: 1,2, Q, Franklin Avenue Shuttle
When: Sunday, July 22nd (tomorrow), from noon to 2.
Training will start on time, so please be prompt.
New Yorkers have had enough! Politicians and regulators have ignored our vocal opposition to the New York-New Jersey Expansion Project (Spectra pipeline). This pipeline will make New York dependent on hydro-fracked natural gas, create a serious safety hazard for New Yorkers living near the pipeline, and create a health risk by transporting gas with 70 times more radioactive radon than the gas New York currently uses. But we still have recourse to one tried and true method to halt construction: non-violent direct action.
This Sunday, July 22nd, join us in Prospect Park for a direct action training organized by OWS Environmental Solidarity. Trainers Goose & Jordan, of Hudson Valley Earth First!, will share the concrete skills needed to effectively halt construction, including blockades, soft-and hard-locks, police and worker outreach, media, and more.
NOTE: There will be a variety of roles involved in this training, including ones for people who do not feel comfortable being arrested. No one will be asked to do anything they don’t feel comfortable with. This is just a training, not the action itself. No one will be risking arrest by participating. Any risks will be made clear to people taking part in any eventual action.
More detailed information on why thousands of New Yorkers are resisting the pipeline here: http://saneenergyproject.org/2012/04/19/why-not-the-pipeline/
#RiseUpNY: July 24 Day of Action for Low Wage Workers
by OccupyWallSt
Where: Union Square, NYCWhen: Meet Up at 5PM
More info: http://unitedny.org/
RSVP on Facebook
Fight for better jobs, better wages, and the rights of all workers!
Across New York, our livelihoods are under attack. After years of massive layoffs and high rates of unemployment, wages and benefits are being cut from what used to be middle class jobs. On top of that, workers are working longer hours without overtime pay, health insurance or any retirement benefits.
Meanwhile minimum wage jobs are the fastest growing sector in the state growing ten-fold over the past five years.
A minimum wage earner employed full time makes just of $15,000/ year. That’s hardly enough to get by in New York. And many low-wage workers have tips and wages stolen by employers, forcing them to survive on even less.
Full-time work shouldn’t keep you in poverty. It’s time for workers to band together and demand respect in our work places. It is time to tell our elected officials that New York needs a raise. It’s time for broader prosperity across the country.
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Articles of Interest
Neanderthals at El Sidron, Northern Spain, had knowledge of plants’ healing qualities
by Staff Writers
York, UK (SPX)
 File image. |
An international team of researchers, led by the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona and the University of York, has provided the first molecular evidence that Neanderthals not only ate a range of cooked plant foods, but also understood its nutritional and medicinal qualities. Until recently Neanderthals, who disappeared between 30,000 and 24,000 years ago, were thought to be predominantly meat-eaters. However, evidence of dietary breadth is growing as more sophisticated analyses are undertaken.
Researchers from Spain, the UK and Australia combined pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry with morphological analysis of plant microfossils to identify material trapped in dental calculus (calcified dental plaque) from five Neanderthals from the north Spanish site of El Sidron.
Their results, published in Naturwissenschaften – The Science of Nature this week, provide another twist to the story – the first molecular evidence for medicinal plants being used by a Neanderthal individual.
The researchers say the starch granules and carbohydrate markers in the samples, plus evidence for plant compounds such as azulenes and coumarins, as well as possible evidence for nuts, grasses and even green vegetables, argue for a broader use of ingested plants than is often suggested by stable isotope analysis.
Lead author Karen Hardy, a Catalan Institute of Research and Advanced Studies (ICREA) Research Professor at the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB) and an Honorary Research Associate at the University of York, UK, said: “The varied use of plants we identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidron had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants for their nutritional value and for self-medication. While meat was clearly important, our research points to an even more complex diet than has previously been supposed.”
Earlier research by members of this team had shown that the Neanderthals in El Sidron had the bitter taste perception gene. Now trapped within dental calculus researchers found molecular evidence that one individual had eaten bitter tasting plants.
Dr Stephen Buckley, a Research Fellow at the University of York’s BioArCh research facility, said: “The evidence indicating this individual was eating bitter-tasting plants such as yarrow and camomile with little nutritional value is surprising. We know that Neanderthals would find these plants bitter, so it is likely these plants must have been selected for reasons other than taste.”
Ten samples of dental calculus from five Neanderthals were selected for this study. The researchers used thermal desorption and pyrolysis gas-chromatography-mass spectrometry to identify both free/unbound and bound/polymeric organic components in the dental calculus. By using this method in conjunction with the extraction and analysis of plant microfossils, they found chemical evidence consistent with wood-fire smoke, a range of cooked starchy foods, two plants known today for their medicinal qualities, and bitumen or oil shale trapped in the dental calculus.
Professor Matthew Collins, who heads the BioArCh research facility at York, said: “Using mass spectrometry, we were able to identify the building blocks of carbohydrates in the calculus of two adults, one individual in particular having apparently eaten several different carbohydrate-rich foods. Combined with the microscopic analysis it also demonstrates how dental calculus can provide a rich source of information.”
The researchers say evidence for cooked carbohydrates is confirmed by both the cracked/roasted starch granules observed microscopically and the molecular evidence for cooking and exposure to wood smoke or smoked food in the form of a range of chemical markers including methyl esters, phenols, and polynuclear aromatic hydrocarbons found in dental calculus.
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