Nicks News Snippets

 From the National Geographic's  web site please visit Images from National Geographic's Favorite Bird Pictures for the full gallery  Yellow-Breasted Chat Great Horned Owl

Soil Erosion what is it why does it effect me? Soil erosion is the loss of top soil from the ground and is a natural occurence. Step in the human race!                Land is being cleared for farming through deforestation and plouging,this cause the soil to be washed away by the rain and blown by the wind. Leave a field with no plants and it will erode quickly. Every minute we loss 30 football fields worth of top soil to the seas and rivers, It take 1,000 years to generate three centimeters of top soil.           Some crops can not  hold the soil in place thus increasing erosion on normal arable land these include coffee,  cotton,   wheat, palm oil,  soybean  With an incresing global population this is a problem that we could well do without and is not given enough attention by the goverments of the world. Sources ...

Photograph by Corbis Rapidly melting Antarctic Ice caps are dropping mount everest blocks of ice into the sea every two years a study reports. The western ice sheet itself holds enough ice to raise the sea level by 5 meters. Use the sea level map at  Flood Maps    to see how this would effect you . More info at National Geographic Related   New NASA Climate Programs        Rain and Floods

  DC=8 Airborne Lab                          Image NASA     NASA has released details of 5 new programs starting in 2015 to see  how long-range air pollution, warming oceans and fires in Africa affect our climate. these are:- Atmospheric chemistry and air pollution Ecosystem changes in a warming ocean Greenhouse gas sources African fires and Atlantic clouds  Melting Greenland glaciers  The study will involve seven NASA  centers  25 education institutions there US Government departments and two private sector partners. For source look Here

  The sea ice in the Antarctic has been measured many ways in the passed now an Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV)  has been used in a proof of concept operation to map the base of the ice. The vehicle used upward facing radar to look at the underside of the ice. The vehicle moved backwards and forwards crisscrossing the area to get a radar image. Source    BBC       Nature.com

  NASA's Near Earth Object (NEO) Program has released a map off NEOs that have burned up /impacted the earth since 1994.The data could be used to help scientists to refine their predictions on NEO's  Source Jet Propulsion Laboratory

 Scientists in California are working on a bio-engineered plant based version that they hope will be even better. Muufri's web page says Our solution is to make real milk from the bottom up. It's a fairly simple mixture: six key proteins for structure and function, eight key fatty acids for flavor and richness. In different ratios, these components give us cow's milk, goat's milk, or even buffalo milk – all suitable to become countless products, from toppings to cheeses to desserts. At Muufri they believe that they add value to milk by adding or taking away items of milk that or not needed or  adding thing that our needed. Question? is this really Milk then. Read more Muufri    Gizmag

  Heart transplants are usually carried out with hearts from people who are brain dead. Their  circulatory system is still working and blood is still flowing through the heart and receiving oxygen.     A patient in Australia two months ago received a  donor heart that was technically dead, no blood flowing through it. The heart was placed in a new machine (  "heart-in-a-box" .) that revived it by keeping it warm and placing vital fluids inside it. This procedure could make up to 30 percent more hearts available for transplanted and has been welcomed by the  British Heart Foundation . Source  BBC     http://www.transmedics.com

If you fail to control Japanese Knotweed you could be fined up to £20,000 and a criminal record for Anti social behavior after the Home Office changed the rules and specifically named the plant. The new rules are targeted at rural areas and allow neighbors to report next door for not controlling the plant. The cost of eradicating  the plant in Britain has been estimated at over 1 Billion Pounds. Read more at Plymouth Herald   http://www.telegraph.co.uk      Daily Mail