 Spinner sharks are well known for how they hunt. They jump out of the water and dive to catch their pray. Lots of them have been spotted lately near Florida beaches and officials had to close down the beaches. The sharks are migrating too early and some marine biologists think that it is because of the ocean becoming warmer. If I were one of the people that go to the beach a lot I would protest to have something be done with the sharks. They could be controlled by having a small safe zone for swimmers and have something to keep the sharks at bay. I think this is also a possible sign of global warming even though I don't completely believe in it. http://news.discovery.com/animals/sharks/sharks-along-florida-coast-cause-beach-closures.htm
 A man, Gregory Lanier, was driving his truck with his bulldog in the passenger seat. He had a .380 pistol that he thought was unloaded on the floor between the driver and passenger's seat. His bulldog was jumping around and hit the gun which was loaded. The bullet went through Lanier's leg and hit the door on the other side. I think that driving with a gun that your not even sure if it's loaded or not and a jumpy little dog is stupid and shouldn't be done. http://news.discovery.com/animals/pets/bulldog-accidentally-shoots-owner-130228.htm
As the country begins to turn to the general election next November,
immigration remains a difficult issue for both political parties. During the
early Republican primary debates, candidates talked enthusiastically about mass
deportations and expanding, doubling, and even electrifying the U.S. southern
border fence to keep people out. As the field has narrowed, the leading
contenders have continued with a hard-line. Romney in particular, though widely
seen as a centrist candidate, has taken an unyielding stance on immigration,
supporting Arizona’s and Alabama’s restrictive laws and aligning himself with
their architect - well-known anti-immigrant official Kris Kobach.
The tone got so strident in the lead up to the Florida primary on January 31
that Florida Senator Marco Rubio (who many say is a potential candidate for Vice
President) chastised the Republican candidates for “harsh and intolerable and inexcusable”
anti-immigrant rhetoric.
The Democratic Party’s discourse has been more measured. Though all condemn
illegal immigration, most speak of immigrants as “folks ... just trying to
earn a living and provide for their families,” no different from so many
forebearers. But in concrete terms, President Obama has little to show
immigrants - and more importantly Hispanic voters - from his three plus years in
office.
During his time in the White House he failed to pass the Dream Act (which
would give undocumented individuals that came here as children the chance to
come clean by enrolling in a college or enlisting in the military), much less a
more comprehensive immigration reform. What the administration has done is
increase deportation to record levels, though now it is working to remove
otherwise law-abiding, unauthorized individuals from the deportation queue.
These conflicting positions and heated debates show that the politics
of immigration has changed little since the failed 2007 Comprehensive
Immigration Reform Act, championed at the time by Senators Edward Kennedy and
John McCain. Yet immigration itself has changed dramatically.
For over a decade, Mexicans have represented roughly a third of all
U.S.-bound migrants. In the mid-2000s roughly half a million Mexicans joined the
U.S. population each year (fairly evenly divided between legal and
illegal entries). But since then, migration from our southern neighbor has
declined greatly, to the point that in 2011 net inflows neared zero. The change
isn’t only happening with Mexican migrants. Inflows from other countries such as
China, and the Philipines show declines as well.
Many factors are behind this shift. One is economic - the downturn in the
U.S. economy and economic resilience in other places has altered the
cost-benefit analysis of leaving home. Particularly in countries such as
China, India, Korea, and Brazil, anecdotal evidence suggests that economic growth is luring back migrants, who
bring with them new skills and resources.
The decline in migration also comes in part from increased border
enforcement. Since 2004, the border patrol has doubled to some 20,000 strong,
with annual budget outlays reaching nearly $3.5
billion. The increased manpower have made at least some immigrants think twice
about facing the mortal danger of crossing through the desert.
But perhaps the most important shift, at least for Mexican immigration, is
demographic. Forty years ago, the average Mexican family had six children. This
number dropped steadily throughout the 1980s and 1990s, until by the turn of the
21st century they averaged just over two per
family (similar to the United States). This means that going forward, each year
fewer Mexicans will be coming of age and looking for jobs. Combined with rising
high school and college enrolments, fewer Mexicans need or want to come to the
United States - a trend likely to continue for the forseeable future.
This doesn’t mean that U.S.-bound migration will end, as economic
opportunities and family ties will still draw many north. It also doesn’t apply
to every country. Flows from Central America, Africa, and from other
places around the world continue unabated. But it does fundamentally change the
nature of U.S.-bound immigration, likely permanently. This has yet to feed into
U.S. political debates.
Politicians today are looking for ways to attract the now over twenty million
potential Hispanic voters, roughly 10 percent of electorate. Both Republicans and
Democrats face challenges in rallying this growing demographic. Republicans need
to cut into Obama’s wide margin (more than two-thirds) among Latino voters,
finding some way to gain their trust and backing. Democrats need to get out this
favorable Hispanic vote, as they are still the least likely of the main ethnic
groups to go to the polls.
Latinos have the potential to swing a close election. In fact, some analysts
suggest that Obama will likely win or lose a second term based on the turnout and electoral support he gets from this
constituency in the battlegrounds of Florida, Nevada, Colorado and New
Mexico. And though surveys show that Hispanics care most about the economy,
education, and healthcare, immigration matters to them as well -
particularly when it stirs worries of broader discrimination.
Whoever wins, the real challenge for tomorrow’s President will be how to deal
with the fundamental shifts within the U.S. migrant population. Changing
the rhetoric is a necessary start. Some politicians do see this.
During a CNN debate on national security, Newt Gingrich said "I don't see how the party
that says it's the party of the family is going to adopt an immigration policy
which destroys families that have been here a quarter of a century." But others
don’t.
Mitt Romney’s “self-deportation” solution to illegal immigration ignores the
underlying reality - that millions of America’s undocumented immigrants have
deep roots in American society that go far beyond employment. They won’t
voluntarily leave behind their families and their lives, even if they lose their
jobs. Only by reframing the debate can America hope to find a sustainable
solution that balances economic needs, family and community ties, and respect
for the law.
 A newly discovered owl species lives on just one Indonesian island and whistles a one-note “song” that rhymes with the name of its island.
The Rinjani Scops owl is found on the island of Lombok, according to a paper published in the
latest PLoS ONE. Its song sounds like “pok.” (Although sometimes it makes a “pooook” sound too.)
Its scientific name is Otus jolandae, after the wife of a
researcher.
The new species was long confused with a more widespread Indonesian owl because they share similar plumage. Two members of a research team, however,
have independently discovered that the vocalizations of the owls on Lombok are
unique and different from all other Indonesian owls.
“It was quite a coincidence that two of us identified this new bird species
on different parts of the same island, within a few days of being on the
island,” George Sangster, who led the study, was quoted as saying in a press
release. “That is quite a coincidence, especially considering that no-one had
noticed anything special about these owls in the previous 100 years.”
Sangster, a researcher at the Swedish Museum of Natural History, and his colleagues surveyed
neighboring islands and could find no evidence for the owl. They therefore believe that it is unique to Lombok.
In terms of its unique song, this owl whistles the “pok” note. Locals on the island refer to the bird now as “burung pok,” an onomatopoeic name reflecting the song note of the wide-eyed bird.
 Lots of people use 3-D printers to sculpt plastic. But some are using them to shape cells.
A team of researchers at Heriot-Watt University in Scotland, led by Will Shu, has built a printer that can lay down human stem cells in tiny spheres. Printing human cells has been done before, with bone marrow or skin. Those types of cells, however, are
resilient compared to the more delicate embryonic stem cells.
“The technique will allow us to create more accurate human tissue models which are essential to in vitro drug development and toxicity-testing. Since the majority of drug discovery is targeting human disease, it makes sense to use human tissues.” Shu said in a press release.
The scientists used a printer that has specialized valves, which are adjustable and control the rate at which the cells are released. That allowed them to put the stem cells where they are needed and keep them intact.
Stem cells are the building blocks of organs and tissues; they are “generic” cells that can become specific kinds when exposed to the right conditions. But one of the difficulties with them is that they are delicate; if the printer
doesn’t treat them gently they will lose their ability to differentiate into various cell types.
Shu and his team built a printer that forms the cells into tiny spheres, while keeping them alive.
In the longer term, the printer could help build organs for transplants or repair. Since the printer can put stem cells in a three-dimensional pattern, it could build a small “patch” for a heart or kidney that would be made from stem cells cloned from the patient.
Shu’s team worked in partnership with Roslin Cellab, a company that plans to commercialize the technology.
 Evidence is growing that dogs were once valued for their meat and regularly were consumed in California and likely other places throughout the world.“Dogs are reared (or were) largely for the flesh which they supply ... like the farmer’s yellow-legged chicken, when other meat is scarce,” wrote Stephen Powers of the U.S. Department of the Interior, referring to the practices of Yokut Native Americans in his 1877 “Geographical and Geological Survey of the
Rocky Mountain Region.”
In 1991, Lynn Snyder in a University of Tennessee publication, noted that
dogs often have a high fat content compared to other food sources and, unlike
wild animals, their fat content varies little between seasons. Dogs then would
have been an attractive food source, particularly during the winter and early
spring, when wild food sources were lean.
The latest evidence comes from a recent study of multiple 2,000-year-old
canine burials in California, with a focus on what are now the San Francisco Bay
and Sacramento Delta regions. The study, accepted for publication in the Journal
of Archaeological Science, represents the first to employ DNA analysis on
canines from archaeological sites in the golden state.
Some of the California canine remains previously had been attributed to
coyotes and wolves, but DNA determined the bones belonged to dogs.
Certain burials showed that the dogs had their hindquarters removed before
internment. Dog bones were also found buried with a wide range of associated
offerings, such as red ochre, quartz crystals, pipes, abalone shells and baskets
still containing seeds.
Native American tribes, such as the Ohlone, Coast Miwok and Patwin, dominated
the territories at the time. Differences in the dog burials could therefore
reflect differences in how dogs were valued and treated by the diverse
groups.
In some cases, it appears that dogs were ritually killed, with two lines of
evidence supporting that theory, according to lead author Brian Byrd of the Far
Western Anthropological Research Group.
“These include occasional removal of a portion of the individual and the
inclusion of rare, esoteric objects within the internment,” Byrd told Discovery
News. “If the dogs were just pets or companions that died of natural causes,
then we would not expect to find this pattern. Similarly, double internments are
unlikely to represent natural deaths, given the odds of two dogs dying at the
same time.”
Byrd and his team conducted isotopic analysis of the dog remains and found
that the animals, when alive, “had a diet similar to humans.” The dogs therefore
either scavenged food near human settlements, or were fed scraps and
leftovers.
Dogs may have been sacrificed as food for the dead or for other rituals. An
initiation ceremony among the Patwin, for example, involved wounding the person
and then covering that initiation wound with a bandage.
“This bandage has been dipped in the blood of a dog previously killed,” wrote
A.L. Kroeber in a 1932 University of California-published ethnography.
Ann Gayton, in another ethnography published by the University of California,
described what happened among Yokuts when upland groups congregated at the
foothill village of Chischas.
“The men arrived making skirmishes with their bows and arrows, killing dogs
and chickens with permission from the Chischas, and afterward paid the latter
with beads,” Gayton recorded. “Then they commenced to eat them with great
pleasure.”
Dogs fulfilled other roles too, including helping with hunting, guarding
villages, serving as beasts of burden and -- more in keeping with today’s view
-- serving as companions.“I think what is clear is that dogs were valued, and that their roles in
these societies were varied and complicated,” Byrd said.
Now that Facebook has gone public and is struggling to get a steady
valuation, the company is looking to find new ways to make its money and prove
its worth to investors.
One option Facebook is exploring is enhancing ad sales by more effective
targeting of increasingly specific demographic groups, using location data from moble devices and
information culled from the site.
The company will be targeting members' information more closely, and expects
personal data-sharing to double every decade.
We have to start by taking a look at the data in question. How much of a
danger to the consumer is the data that Facebook has? Exactly how much data does
it really have?
Peter Pasi, executive vice president at Emotive LLC, an Arlington, Va.-based
firm that focuses on digital outreach for political campaigns, says Facebook has
quite a bit.
"Facebook is the largest opt-in community of individuals in the world, and
boasts unparalleled reach," Pasi said. "In English, that means it's likely the
largest database of people ever built, and
contains more personal data than any other source."
We know that Facebook has a lot of information about us, both what we enter
ourselves and the data that our friends choose to put up about us.
No weapon has more clearly illustrated the debate over gun control than the semi-automatic assault rifle.
The weapon has been used in many mass shootings, yet is also one of the nation's most popular among gun owners with estimates of three to four million in private hands throughout the United States.
President Obama today urged Congress to pass comprehensive legislation that restricts military-style guns and ammunition, beefs up background checks and increases funds for mental health and school safety. Obama also signed 23 executive actions including more federal scientific research on gun violence and a modernized federal database system to track guns, criminals and the mentally ill.
If you are also interested in snakes you can watch the video below for a cool, funny, and interesting way to learn more.
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