Farmed fish, the dark side

© ENN.com

Environmental News Network | Jun 27, 2014 | Roger Greenway

It seems as more and more of the fish available to us in the supermarket and in restaurants is farmed. Is this good or bad? Probably a bit of both. Raising fish in fish farms doesn't impact the wild fish to any great extent, but fish farms must be well situated, and well run to prevent problems. They are not natural ecosystems!

Aquaculture has become a booming industry in Chile, with salmon and other fish farmed in floating enclosures along the South Pacific coast. But as farmers densely pack these pens to meet demand, diseases can easily pass between fish — for example, an outbreak of infectious salmon anemia that emerged in 2007 caused the deaths of more than a million fish and threatened to cripple the industry. And unsustainable aquaculture methods can have a wider impact, spreading disease to the world’s already vulnerable ocean fisheries and contaminating the environment.

Earlier this year, Tamara Awerbuch Friedlander, an instructor in the Department of Global Health and Population at Harvard School of Public Health (HSPH), traveled to Chile to work with faculty members at the University of Antofagastato develop research and an academic curriculum focused on preventing the spread of diseases and parasites among farmed fish, and from aquacultures to the wild fish population, without the use of potentially harmful chemicals.

Awerbuch Friedlander uses mathematical modeling to study the complex social and biological systems behind the spread of diseases, and has previously focused on AIDS and Lyme disease, among others. In Antofagasta, she taught a three-week course on mathematical modeling to students, based on the long-running course she developed and teaches at HSPH. She described her approach as holistic. "I teach students to look at a range of factors relevant to the spread of a disease — such as ecological impact and human behavior — to develop a mathematical model. This can then be used to explore the effect of each factor in the presence of the others as well as new interventions."

Fish farm in southern Chile image via Shutterstock.

Read more at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Monsanto Indoctrinating Kids At the Zoo

© TruthStream Media

TruthStream Media | Jun 18, 2014 |Melissa Melton / Aaron Dykes

Melissa and I visited the St. Louis Zoo, in Monsanto’s hometown, and found that they and other leading corporate donors were actively “educating” children, families and groups about the natural world, including the causes of bee colony collapse and the rapid mass disappearances of Monarch butterfly populations.



We passed by the Monsanto Lecture Hall, Monsanto Education Center and went inside the Monsanto Insectarium… I guess the conquerors always celebrate the things they dominate and destroy, putting their fleeting beauty and grace on full display.

The saturated propaganda and overt corporatism could not be missed… Melissa kept wondering if there was anything in this town Monsanto hadn’t bought.

Despicable: Funding shortage leaves Ukraine's zoo animals facing starvation

The hippopotamus at the city zoo in Kharkov
(Reuters / Leonid Litvin)

RT | Apr 9, 2014

Zoos across Ukraine are experiencing the fallout after the coup in Ukraine ousted President Viktor Yanukovich. Worried staff say the animals face starvation unless funds are immediately provided to buy food.

The zoo in Nikolaev is one of the country’s oldest and has survived two world wars, but the latest political crisis in Ukraine could see it closing. It is not just the animals that are in danger. The zoo also desperately needs money in order to pay the costs of running the establishment.

According to Barbara Wiseman, president of the Lawrence Anthony Earth Organization, which is an international non-profit conservation and environmental body, “there are close to 5,735 animals on the brink.” She has been launching a campaign to raise funds from around the world to help the stricken animals, after learning of their fate from South African animal lover Lionel de Lange, who is based in Ukraine.

The organization is trying to rescue over 8,000 animals in total by providing the necessary food and medical supplies to several Ukrainian zoos.

“We have raised enough funds to cover the last two weeks of needed food and medical supplies and have enough food for one more week,” Wiseman said. “The zoo will not have the resources to take care of the animals’ food needs until the end of April when the weather gets warmer and the [income] from zoo attendance [rises].”

The zoo has made an appeal to the public for help, with ticket sales helping to bring in just over $20,000, while the people of Nikolaev, which is in the south of the country, also brought food with them to give to the animals.

Ostriches kept within an enclosure on the grounds of the Mezhyhirya
residence of Ukraine's President Viktor Yanukovich in the village Novi Petrivtsi,
outside Kiev February 22, 2014. (Reuters / Konstantin Chernichkin)

Nikolaev zoo is not the only attraction to have suffered. Kharkov zoo also faced similar problems, "our animals are not fighting for power, they do not share anyone's political views, they just want to live", the zoo said in a statement in March, AFP reported. With no help forthcoming from the coup-appointed government, the residents of Kharkov took matters into their own hands.

Worried locals advertised the zoo’s plight and the public responded. In just three days, the zoo attracted 77,603 visitors and managed to raise almost $125,000 through ticket sales and donations from abroad, the zoo said on its website.

"We sincerely thank everyone who helped the zoo during these difficult days. To our call of ‘Save the Kharkov zoo!’ it seems like the entire city responded. This weekend our zoo saw huge lines for tickets, tons of food, and lots of positive emotions. People of all ages and professions kindly showed up to support the zoo,” the zoo’s website said after seeing a significant rise in visitors between March 8 and 10.

However, the zoo still faces substantial financial difficulties. On March 20, its website stated it still needed to find in the region of $110,000 to pay for utilities such as electricity and gas.

The animals at Viktor Yanukovich’s personal zoo are also facing starvation, according to NTD television. When the ousted president fled the country, he left no means of supporting over 2,000 animals at his estate, with most of his support staff also leaving. One of the only people to show an interest in caring for the animals was Sergey Grigoryev, who used to work at the Kiev zoo.

Using social media, he managed to mobilize more than 100 people, who are giving up their free time to work at the zoo. However supplies are low and Grigoryev believes they only have enough food and vitamins to last the animals until the end of this week.

He says the volunteers are trying to find them new homes, but Kiev zoo does not want to take in any new animals at the moment. Talks with other zoos across the country are continuing.

EARTHLINGS: A Documentary Detailing How Far We Have Gone In Disrespecting Earth's Inhabitants

EARTHLINGS: A Documentary Detailing How Far We Have Gone In Disrespecting Earth's Inhabitants
Nov 7, 2013 | Prevent Disease

EARTHLINGS is the single most powerful and informative documentary about society's tragic and unforgivable use of living things, narrated by Joaquin Phoenix with soundtrack by Moby. Directed by Shaun Monson, this multi-award winning film by Nation Earth is a must-see for anyone who cares about nonhuman animals or wishes to make the world a better place.


"When I look into the eyes of an animal I do not see an animal. I see a living being. I see a friend. I feel a soul." ~ A.D. Williams

PLEASE: don't run from reality, watch the film and share your thoughts with other viewers in the comments section. If we are ever to stop mass cruelty to living things, we must inform and educate what really goes on behind the scenes. Thank you.

BLACKFISH - The Truth About SeaWorld and Animal Cruelty

BLACKFISH - The Truth About SeaWorld and Animal Cruelty
Sept 7, 2013 | TheLipTV

BLACKFISH is the new documentary showing the truth about Killer Whales in captivity and how they are systematically abused and can turn on their trainers and handlers. We look at SeaWorld and their pattern of abuse of Orca with director Gabriela Cowperthwaite on this clip from BYOD.

Watch the Full Episode:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_gk1...

BYOD Short Clips Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=csoVR...

BYOD Full Episodes Playlist:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A_gk1...

Scientologists' Alleged Apocalypse Bunker Found

A report claims this is the secret New Mexico
bunker of the Church of Scientology.
CREDIT: Google Maps

Scientologists' Alleged Apocalypse Bunker Found
Dec 31, 2012 | Live Science | Marc Lallanilla

A secret bunker hidden deep within the deserts of New Mexico is reported to be the "alien space cathedral" of the Church of Scientology, according to a BBC reporter.

The site is marked by a large symbol etched onto the desert floor: two diamonds surrounded by a pair of overlapping circles, according to the British newspaper The Sun. A private airstrip, built to serve the controversial church's leaders, is within walking distance of the symbol.

The entire complex is located near Mesa Huerfanita, N.M., roughly two-hour's drive from Santa Fe, N.M., and three hours north of Roswell, N.M., site of numerous purported UFO sightings, according to The Sun.

The Sun report, penned by BBC journalist and Scientology debunker John Sweeney, claims the church designed the underground site to withstand a nuclear holocaust. Hidden within the complex's vaults are titanium caskets that hold gold disks inscribed with the original texts of Scientology founder L. Ron Hubbard, according to the Daily Mail.

The symbols seen on the desert floor are reportedly there to help guide Scientologists returning to Earth after fleeing the planet to escape a future "Armageddon," writes the Daily Mail.

The Church of Scientology did not respond to requests for comment, according to the Daily Mail. Sweeney is the author of "The Church of Fear: Inside the Weird World of Scientology" (Silvertail Books) scheduled to be published in January 2013.

Why Quick Thinking Leads to Bad Decisions

CREDIT: Shutter / VLADGRIN

Why Quick Thinking Leads to Bad Decisions
Nov 7, 2012 | Live Science

When people make hasty decisions, they tend to make more mistakes. Now, a new study on monkeys explains why: Brain cells become hypersensitive to new information, even bad information, making us likelier to draw faulty conclusions.

"When we try to do things too quickly, we tend to make more errors and then when we slow down we tend to be more accurate," said study co-author Richard Heitz, a neuroscientist at Vanderbilt University. "Your brain sees things differently when you're placed into a situation where you have to make snap decisions."

The findings, which are detailed in the Nov. 7 issue of the journal Neuron, could shed light on the faulty decision-making of people with schizophrenia or other mental disorders.

To explain the phenomenon, Heitz and his colleagues trained two macaque monkeys to play a game in which they had to pick out the letter L in a sea of Ts or vice versa.

Before each round, a colored circle flashed on the screen to indicate whether the macaques would be rewarded for speed or accuracy.

In the speed test, the monkeys only received a tasty squirt of juice if they found the right letter quickly. In the accuracy test, monkeys got a squirt of juice no matter how long it took for them to find the right letter, but had a "timeout" if they made a mistake.

The researchers then recorded the activity of neurons in the brain region responsible for higher reasoning, the prefrontal cortex.

When the monkeys learned the next trial would be a speed test, the electrical activity from those neurons increased even before starting the test, like cars revving their engines in preparation for a race. During the speed trials, the team found that neurons responsible for visual processing fired more strongly when the monkeys indicated they had found the right letter. The neurons were more sensitive, as if the objects on the screen actually appeared brighter to the brain when it had to make decisions quickly, Heitz told LiveScience.

That higher sensitivity may sound good, but "because they're amplified, you may react to them as if they're more important than they actually are," meaning even faulty answers could be seen as the correct ones, he said.

Trunk talk: Elephant in S. Korea imitates human speech

Trainer Kim Jong-Gap (L) speaks to Koshik,
a 22-year-old male Asian elephant at the
Everland Zoo in Yongin, 49 kms (29 miles)
south of Seoul on November 2, 2012.
(AFP Photo/Kim Jae-Hwan)

Trunk talk: Elephant in S. Korea imitates human speech
Nov 3, 2012 | RT.com

For many years the Everland Zoo in South Korea claimed their 22-year-old elephant, Koshik, was using his trunk to imitate human speech. International scientists finally confirm the elephant indeed has a unique ability to pick up words.

The 5.5 tonne Asian elephant has learned to reproduce five Korean words. The animal puts his trunk in his mouth and produces words "annyeong" (hello), "anja" (sit down), “aniya” , "nuwo" (lie down) and "joa" (good), the scientists said in a joint paper published online in Current Biology.

Though Korean has fewer consonants than many European languages and thus may be easier to be reproduced by an animal, Koshik’s ability is still an unprecedented phenomenon, scientists say. Koshik reproduces vowels much better, with a rate of similarity of 67 per cent, the researchers said. Consonants are a bigger challenge for him.

Researchers said the sound frequency of his “words” matches that his trainers. This, according to the researchers, is the best evidence that Koshik is deliberately imitating human speech.

There’s still no evidence that the animal actually understands what he is “saying,” even despite him obeying commands to sit and lie down by zoo employees in Korean.

Other species of animals, such as parrots and mockingbirds, are known for imitating human speech. However the scientists say Koshik's ability is different, as he uses his trunk to “speak”.

Koshik the elephant was separated from two other elephants at the age of five. Zoo trainers believe that since then he began to try to reproduce human speech to bond with his new human family. The “talking” elephant became a local celebrity and was soon mentioned by international scientists, prompting a study of his speaking talents.

In 1983, employees of a zoo in Kazakhstan claimed their teenage elephant named Batyr could reproduce jaw-dropping 20 phrases in Russian, however this claim has not been confirmed as there’s been no study on the case.

Hundreds of racing pigeons vanish in UK 'Bermuda triangle' of birds

Hundreds of racing pigeons vanish in UK 'Bermuda triangle' of birds
Aug 24, 2012 | Daily Mail UK


Pigeon racers are mystified after hundreds birds disappeared in an they have now dubbed the Bermuda Triangle.

Only 13 out of 232 birds released in Thirsk , North Yorkshire, on Saturday by a Scottish pigeon racing club made it back to Galashiels, Selkirkshire.

It follows a summer in which hundreds more have vanished in the same area.

Keith Simpson, of the East Cleveland Federation, said pigeon racers across the region had all suffered massive losses since the season started in April - with many losing more than half of their birds.

Some fanciers are considering stopping flying the birds until they establish why so many failed to return.

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Scottish pigeon racer Austin Lindores said: "When they fly down to the Thirsk, Wetherby and Consett area we call it the Bermuda Triangle because something always seems to happen.

"This is not the first time it has happened in that area. I won't be racing there again."

The loss of homing pigeons, which can be worth up to £200,000, has baffled experts, but the most popular theory is the abnormal number of summer showers, sending birds off course as they attempt to fly around the downpours.

Unusually high levels of solar activity distorting magnetic fields and even signals from Menwith Hill spy base, near Harrogate , an electronic monitoring station, have also been blamed.

Wendy Jeffries, president of the Thirsk Social Flying Club, said: "I just don't know what it is down to.

"The weather wasn't too bad around here on Saturday. It has been an atrocious year. I am down to ten young birds out of 29 and the people I have talked to are the same."

The high numbers of birds going missing in the region have also been linked to the high numbers of pigeons being released within minutes of each other at weekends, meaning different groups of pigeons send each other off course.

Darlington pigeon racer Stuart Fawcett, who has been racing pigeons for more than 30 years, said: "It is the worst year in the memory of people who have been racing for 60 years.

"The area being talked about is very heavily congested with pigeons because the raptor problem became so great elsewhere that races have moved to east England."

Bonobo chimp makes stone tools like early humans did

Bonobo chimp makes stone tools like early humans did
Aug 23, 2012 | Phenomenica

Bonobo Kanzi.
 
After learning sign language or making up “words” for things like banana or juice, Kanzi, the 30-year-old male bonobo chimp, continues to impress researchers with his new skill of making stone tools like early humans did.

Eviatar Nevo of the University of Haifa in Israel and his colleagues sealed food inside a log and watched Kanzi try to extract it.

While a companion bonobo attempted the problem a handful of times, and succeeded only by smashing the log on the ground, Kanzi took a longer and arguably more sophisticated approach, New Scientist reported.

Both had been taught to knap flint flakes in the 1990s, holding a stone core in one hand and using another as a hammer. Kanzi used the tools he created to come at the log in a variety of ways: inserting sticks into seams in the log, throwing projectiles at it, and employing stone flints as choppers, drills, and scrapers. In the end, he got food out of 24 logs, while his companion managed just two.



Perhaps most remarkable about the tools Kanzi created is their resemblance to those made by early Homo: wedges and choppers, and scrapers and drills.

Though it’s hard to say whether all bonobos possess similar skills, the findings will fuel the ongoing debate over whether stone tools mark the beginning of modern human culture, or predate our Homo genus.

They appear to suggest the latter – though critics will point out that Kanzi and his companion were taught how to make the tools.

ANI