Google News Science & Technology

Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd has accused Japan of funding the killing of whales with money donated to victims of the earthquake and tsunami, a claim the Japanese consulate in Australia denies.

Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for the country's annual hunt in Antarctica, with security measures beefed up amid international protests.

Sea Shepherd is preparing to confront the whalers in the Southern Ocean, in what is expected to be one of its most intense campaigns yet.

Whaling funding a disgrace: Sea Shepherd
December 7, 2011 - 3:48PM
Ads by Google
Self Managed Super (SMSF)

www.esuperfund.com.au

Take Control of Your Super Special Offer Ends Soon. Apply Now!

Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd has accused Japan of funding the killing of whales with money donated to victims of the earthquake and tsunami, a claim the Japanese consulate in Australia denies.

Japan's whaling fleet has set sail for the country's annual hunt in Antarctica, with security measures beefed up amid international protests.

Sea Shepherd is preparing to confront the whalers in the Southern Ocean, in what is expected to be one of its most intense campaigns yet.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Sea Shepherd captain Paul Watson said it looked as if the Japanese fleet had two security vessels with security and coast guard personnel aboard.

"We are hoping to deter their operations," he said.

"I assume the security vessels will try and dislodge us. I am assuming there will be some difficult confrontations," he said today.

"That is one of the reasons I asked Australia to send a vessel down to keep the peace, but they refused."

He said about an extra $28 million that Japan had given to the campaign was most likely behind the beefed-up security.

"That money did come from the earthquake relief fund," he said.

"I think that it's totally disgraceful. People from around the world sending money to help the victims of the tsunami-earthquake were not expecting their money to be used to fund killing whales in the Southern Ocean."

Three ships from the Sea Shepherd fleet will set sail in about eight days.

The Steve Irwin and the Brigitte Bardot will leave from Albany in Western Australia and the Bob Barker will depart from Hobart.

Mr Kaz Inadome from the Japanese Consulate said no money from the disaster relief funds collected in Australia had been used. All that money had gone to the Red Cross in Japan.

Source http://www.smh.com.au/environment/whale-watch/whaling-funding-a-disgrace-sea-shepherd-20111207-1oi21.html

When a Swedish voice came down the line informing him he had a "very important call" Tuesday night, Australia's newest Nobel laureate Brian Schmidt assumed it was an elaborate undergraduate joke.

"My first thought was 'Geez my students have done a pretty good job on this accent'," the Australian-American astronomer said Wednesday.

"She asked me to confirm that I was Brian Schmidt and told me I had a very important call, and then the members of the panel went out and read the citation to me and congratulated me."

"I feel like when my first child was born. I'm kind of weak in the knees and a little, you know, I guess a little -- hard to describe -- almost speechless at this point."

Schmidt, 44, was named joint winner of the Nobel Physics Prize in Stockholm on Tuesday for his work on the 1998 discovery that dark energy -- gravity's repulsive opposite -- was driving an ever-increasing expansion of the universe.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard said the award was a testament to his "rigour and determination", congratulating Schmidt, US colleague Adam Riess and their competitor Saul Perlmutter, also from the US, on the joint Nobel prize.

"This discovery turned some of our most stable notions of the universe on its head and challenges our understanding of its very composition," said Gillard.

"They stuck with their observations and made the theory fit the facts, however revolutionary and inconvenient."

It was so groundbreaking Schmidt admitted having to overcome his own self-doubts about his findings, which went against the scientific orthodoxy of the time.

"It seemed too crazy to be right. We were a little scared," he told ABC Radio.

By his own admission Schmidt's research is "bleak" stuff: Earth's galactic neighbours hurtling away at unimaginable speeds to ultimately leave mankind's home in a cold, deserted Universe.

"Right now I look out into space and I see billions of galaxies. In the future I will look out and see an empty Universe," Schmidt told reporters Wednesday of his prizewinning work.

"All the galaxies we see now will be so far away that their light can no longer reach us... and our galaxy of stars will slowly fade away and die and we're left with a bunch of stellar embers and a dark universe."

It's a prospect some hundreds of billions of years in the future, but "that's not too long by astronomical standards", he added.

Schmidt was 27 when he moved to Australia in 1994, having obtained his PhD from Harvard, and said there were few other places in the world he could have done such world-class research at such a young age.

He formed the High-Z SN Search team, a group of 20 astronomers on five continents who used distant exploding stars, or supernovae, to trace the expansion of the universe back in time.

Schmidt said knowledge was a "funny thing" and while he was "pretty certain" his dark energy theory was correct "you're never absolutely certain".

It was also impossible to know where the discovery would lead, he added.

"I do not know whether the accelerated universe is going to give us a better toaster, but I do know that it will help us understand the universe, and what that eventually evolves into is to be determined," he said.

Australian Academy of Science president Suzanne Cory said it was the first time an Australian had won the Physics Nobel since 1915, declaring it an "absolutely wonderful day" for the nation's scientists.

A winemaker in his spare time, Schmidt said he was mostly looking forward to life going on as normal, starting with his weekly third-year cosmology lecture later Wednesday at the Australian National University.

He plans to put his share of the US$1.5 million prize money, to be awarded at a ceremony in Sweden in December, towards "some sort of public good" in consultation with his 20-person team.

"I like my life as it is, so I'm hoping that it doesn't change too much," he said.

Source http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/article/ALeqM5hIf9BHVIGiiob9HxfVYuyVV5-zjQ?docId=CNG.1115db5cc2628f77f4863b0a574661ed.301

MANY of the world's coral reefs, including the Great Barrier Reef, could survive the coming decades if greenhouse gas emissions are reduced, a study has found.

While past research had predicted large-scale destruction from global warming was inevitable, recent studies have shown some species were more capable of adapting than others.

But the capacity for these corals to adjust could be greatly reduced by human activities such as over-fishing, pollution and habitat destruction.

As part of the study, published in the journal Science, scientists reviewed the most recent research on the effect of climate change on coral reefs, as well as evidence from the fossil record.

A marine biologist and study leader, John Pandolfi, said the response to climate change varied dramatically between regions.

''We can't say everywhere is doomed in two decades because CO2 is this level and pH is that level; it's just not that black and white,'' said Professor Pandolfi, from the ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies at James Cook University.

''Our expectation is that some regions are less likely to completely collapse in the next few decades than others.''

A marine biologist and co-author of the study, Sean Connolly, also from the centre, said there was good evidence to show that past global warming and ocean acidification had had devastating impacts on coral reefs.

There was also evidence that marine species coped differently to ocean warming and coral bleaching.

He warned that the findings did not mean coral reefs were out of danger.

"There is no doubt that unchecked global warming would have a devastating affect on the world’s reefs," he said.

"If we do nothing, by later this century then all bets are off," Professor Connolly said.

"There is a wide range of responses to climate change among different organisms; some are already suffering with the climate change that has happened already, while others aren’t doing so badly," he said.

There was also uncertainty around which species would be able to adapt to rising temperatures and ocean acidification in time, he said.

Ocean acidification occurs when excess carbon dioxide in the atmosphere is absorbed by the ocean. Too much carbon dioxide reduces the availability of calcium carbonate, the building block of coral skeletons.

The rate of adaptation for many species could be increased if human activities such as fishing and runoff were managed appropriately.

To increase the ability for a species to adapt to one stress, others needed to be reduced, Professor Connolly said.

"The organisms that have an unusually good ability to cope with high temperatures and ocean acidification have to be able to survive and reproduce offspring that also have those tolerances. But if there is also a lot stress from coastal development [and] runoff then they can die out," he said.

Authorities also needed to ensure populations of marine species did not decline dramatically.

"If you reduce a population size you reduce its ability to adapt rapidly to environmental change," he said.

Source http://www.smh.com.au/environment/climate-change/coral-reef-species-may-adjust-to-climate-change-20110721-1hr08.html

If there are aliens on other planets, Australia could play a key role in making contact, the nation's leading astronomer Fred Watson says.

But it may depend on an area of Western Australia being chosen as the site for the square kilometre array (SKA), the world's most powerful radio telescope that will also reveal more about the origins of the universe.

The Murchison region in the WA outback is vying with a site in southern Africa for the SKA with a group of international scientists expected to make a final decision in 2012.

If there are aliens on other planets, Australia could play a key role in making contact, the nation's leading astronomer Fred Watson says.

But it may depend on an area of Western Australia being chosen as the site for the square kilometre array (SKA), the world's most powerful radio telescope that will also reveal more about the origins of the universe.

The Murchison region in the WA outback is vying with a site in southern Africa for the SKA with a group of international scientists expected to make a final decision in 2012.
Advertisement: Story continues below

Some clues as to the location may be revealed after a meeting in Canada this week involving what has been described as a steering group taking the project forward.

Australia is considered the best location for the SKA but there are suggestions other factors could come into play, including political considerations.

Professor Watson, astronomer in charge at the Australian Astronomical Observatory at Coonabarabran in NSW, said the SKA would be involved in "big picture" science.

"It's about asking the big questions," he told AAP.

"The SKA will be by far the most sensitive radio telescope ever built.

"It will have the potential to reveal all kinds of things ranging from the possibility of picking up signals from aliens, if they exist.

"More seriously, it will look at the early universe, trying to work out how galaxies were formed."

Professor Watson said the SKA would also investigate the "mysterious stuff" called dark matter, which permeates four-fifths of the universe, and possibly reveal how dark matter helped the formation of stars.

"Insights into that are of extreme value to scientists for all kinds of reasons," he said.

"One of which is to confirm the picture we have of the origin of the universe and its early evolution is correct.

"But more especially to tell us things we simply don't dream about at the moment.

"Always with these things the most exciting discoveries are the ones that are completely unexpected.

"So who knows what a facility like this might produce?"

Professor Watson was in Adelaide on Tuesday for the annual scientific meeting of the Astronomical Society of Australia.

Source http://news.smh.com.au/breaking-news-national/new-telescope-may-link-us-to-alien-life-20110705-1h06o.html

The defence minister's warning came a day after charges were laid against a former ADF member over the setting up of a gay-hate Facebook page.

Mr Smith today announced an external consulting company would head a review into the use of social media, such as Facebook and Twitter, in light of ADF values.

The social media review is part of a raft of studies looking at the defence force, including the use of alcohol and leadership opportunities available to women.

Mr Smith said the review would raise awareness among ADF employees that the information they share on social media often becomes public.

"That which people [post on social media], which becomes public, particularly if they are representing Australia or representing the ADF, potentially can have seriously adverse consequences," he said.

"It's very important that members of the ADF, whether they're onshore or offshore, understand that at all times they are representing the defence force and representing the nation.

"As a consequence, inappropriate behaviour, effectively, in uniform can lead to very serious reputational damage."

A former ADF member was charged yesterday over alleged threats to a senior army officer and creating a Facebook page which encouraged violence against homosexuals.

The review, to be led by Rob Hudson from George Patterson Y & R, is due to provide an interim report by the end of July.

Meanwhile, the Independent Advisory Panel on Alcohol will examine the impact of alcohol use at the Australian Defence Force Academy (ADFA) and the adequacy of current policies and strategies.

"Often, inappropriate conduct and abuse of alcohol go hand in hand," he told reporters in Perth.

"The objective here is to advise ADFA on the current organisational arrangement so far as use of alcohol is concerned and whether there's anything more we can do or learn."

The panel, to be chaired by Professor Margaret Hamilton, will include drug and alcohol experts as well as the Commander Joint Health, Major General Paul Alexander, and is due to report back at the end of July.

Other reviews will examine ways to improve the leadership representation rates of women in defence and the management of complaints.

The independent Inspector General of the ADF, Geoff Earley, will head the review of how incidents and complaints are managed, focusing on the treatment of victims and the relationship between military disciplinary investigations and civil or criminal matters.

"Sometimes that inter-relationship has led to delays and lack of a timely response in those issues," Mr Smith said.

The reviews follow the Skype sex scandal, in which a male cadet allegedly use a live webcam to stream video of him having sex with a female cadet to his colleagues without her knowledge.

Police have since charged two other cadets with related offences.

Sex Discrimination Commissioner Elizabeth Broderick is heading a review into the treatment of women in the ADF and the ADFA following the scandal.

Source http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/defence-to-review-risk-of-social-media-20110506-1ebpp.html

A state of origin match is being played out in Sydney's drains, but unlike the real thing it is the Queenslanders being massacred.

It has been discovered that a colony of cane toads who hitched a ride from the sunshine state are being eaten by the local rodents.

Cane toads were discovered some time ago in an industrial area of Taren Point, in Sydney's south.

Since then the local council, State Government and scientists have been working to eradicate them.

University of Sydney biologist Rick Shine, a passionate toad buster, says toads have been fitted with radio transmitters to monitor their behaviour.

Professor Shine says one of the "entertaining" things to emerge from the monitoring is how rats are munching away on the toads and living to tell the tale.

"The toads quite frequently use drains as cover and the drains contain rats, which we don't normally think of as our best friends," Professor Shine said.

"But rats evolved in the northern hemisphere, in the same place that toads did, and they're capable of dealing with the toad's poison.

"So one of our telemetered toads got massacred and eaten by a rat.

"Unlike a native predator, which a toad would be a fatal meal for, for a rat a toad's just a pretty nice breakfast.

"So we may have some of the old invaders helping get rid of some of the new invaders.

Professor Shine says they have also discovered a Sydney breeding ground for the pests, a pond of tadpoles.

He says it is the "Achilles heel" of the breeding cycle.

"It's a big step in controlling the breeding of the toad as one female can produce as many as 30,000 eggs," Professor Shine.

The tadpoles are euthanised.

He says there are hundreds of the toads in the Shire and hundreds more arrive every year by hopping on trucks carrying things like building materials and mulch from Queensland.

Professor Shine says because the toads are such effective stowaways they will keep on coming.

A toad was found in Launceston in Tasmania's north last week after apparently hitching a ride in a container at Christmas time.

There are several records of toad sightings in other areas in Sydney, but Taren Point seems to be their favourite home.

Source http://www.abc.net.au/news/stories/2011/04/20/3196478.htm?site=sydney

The Telstra Elite Mobile Wi-Fi will allow up to five Wi-Fi-enabled devices access to Telstra's Next G network, offering download speeds of up to 8Mbps.

Telstra's executive director of mobility products, Warwick Bray, said that the hotspots were ideal for customers who had lots of devices that needed internet connectivity.

"Our customers tell us they love the speed and reliability of Next G mobile broadband, but they've said they'd like an easier way to share it with a greater range of Wi-Fi-enabled devices including smartphones, tablets, cameras, laptops and portable games consoles," he said in a statement.

"The Telstra Elite Mobile Wi-Fi should ... prove popular with our business customers who increasingly use Wi-Fi-enabled devices such as tablets and cameras and require mobile connectivity to support fast file transfers and to work flexibly while away from the office," he added.

The device will be available from 12 April and costs $129 upfront with 5GB of data for regular prepaid mobile broadband customers, while business customers can sign up for a $29 per month plan with 1GB worth of data each month.

Source http://www.cnet.com.au/telstra-launches-elite-mobile-hotspots-339312742.htm