The website, http://www.eol.org/ - very intersting!
Provides Online Indexing of All Life on Earth
Stephen Leahy, Inter Press Service (IPS)BROOKLIN, Canada,
Feb 27 (IPS) - Free, authoritative and online: 1.8 million species.That is the ultimate goal of the Encyclopedia of Life project, which put its first 30,000 species on the Internet this week. This ambitious global project will provide the details of every known species -- habitat, range, life cycle, pictures, and more -- and archive everything online so anyone can access this important information about life on Earth.From sharks to mushrooms to bacteria, the Encyclopedia of Life will provide scientifically verified information that will satisfy both a grade school child's curiosity or enable a university researcher -- or amateur naturalist -- to make a scientific breakthrough, says James Edward, new executive director of the Encyclopedia of Life (EOL) project headquartered in Washington, DC at the Smithsonian Institution.Each species page has a built in content slider that allows you to select how much information you want to see on the page. And there is plenty of detail, including links to at least 1 million pages of digitized scientific information that is normally only available in the big 10 natural history museums located in the developed world."Anyone can access this for free no matter where they are," Edward told IPS.Anyone who can read English, that is. "We're hoping to get translations into other languages," he added.In the near future, there will be regional editions of the EOL: EOL Colombia or EOL Netherlands, with all information in Spanish and Dutch and provided by local experts.Unlike traditional encyclopedias, EOL will be interactive and continually updated. Indeed, it has the potential to become a powerful investigative tool on its own. If the public participates, the EOL could become a global species monitoring system to track responses to climate change.Around the world, species' habitats are altering dramatically, forcing birds to migrate sooner, or becoming too dry or too hot to support certain plants. There is no chance the scientific community can keep pace with the speed and breadth of these changes. The only possible way is through observations by non-scientists who can check the EOL to see if that frog they saw this morning is in its normal habitat or has shifted its range."If someone in Ecuador sees a frog they've never seen before, they can quickly check the EOL to see if it's endemic or from neighboring countries. If not, then it may be a new species," said James Hanken, director of Harvard's Museum of Comparative Zoology, and chair of the EOL Steering Committee.So many species are going extinct before they can even be identified, but the EOL will make it much easier to identify them, Hanken told IPS."We can't protect things (species/habitat) without knowing what is there," he said.In a few months' time, species experts will be happy to receive information -- pictures, videos, text -- from the public about their observations. The EOL will have a form to complete which will be reviewed, checked, and if warranted, incorporated into the EOL.Right now Edward, Hanken and others would like people to tell them what they think about the EOL as it currently stands. Suggestions and ideas are welcome about anything from the page structure to the font colors, says Edwards.Perhaps the most intriguing aspect of the EOL is the notion that it is a macroscope -- the opposite of the common microscope. As such, the EOL will offer the biggest picture yet of the Earth's amazing biodiversity. It will make visible patterns previously unseen, illuminate relationships, and identify knowledge gaps.It could map the distribution of human disease vectors, such as crows, mosquitoes, and the West Nile virus. Life spans of related species could be compared to understand what truly governs longevity. With the mysterious, ongoing loss of honey bee populations, the EOL could point the way to alternative pollinators.It will hopefully revolutionize teaching and learning of the life sciences. And such a revolution is urgently needed.Better understanding of biodiversity -- the sum total of living, interacting species -- is critical to the survival of humans, who too often ignore the vital services that other species provide. There is no oxygen for us to breathe without plants. No plants also means no food. Trees clean water and air, regulate temperature, and prevent flooding and much more. However, the world is in the midst of an extinction crisis with one species vanishing every three hours. And the rate is accelerating. It will take a decade to complete the EOL and perhaps 40,000 to 50,000 existing species will have gone extinct before it's complete. Up to 30 percent of all species on Earth are likely to vanish by 2050 due to unsustainable human activities, according to the 2006 Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Scientists do not know how many species are "enough" to keep ecosystems that we depend on functioning. Recent research reported by IPS last November shows that if a forest loses too many unique species, it can reduce the total number of plants in that forest by half. It's a sobering finding: some species are irreplaceable, but we don't know what they are. "We hope the EOL will spark a new generation of budding biologists and will help people develop a better appreciation of the natural world," says Hanken.
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Monday, February 25, 2008
Ralph Nader
Being 3 years older, I feel that I have grown up with Ralph Nader my entire adult life! He is now 74 years old and STILL causing trouble for everyone. He has GREAT credentials having graduated from Princeton and then Harvard Law - by the way, the same schools which graduated Michele Obama - who is no slouch herself! If you’re interested, you may learn all about Ralph at Wikipedia’s online encyclopedia at: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ralph_Nader .
Ralph Nader is, I think, a delema for most people - like why does he think like he does? What are his motives? As the son of a psychologist - and certainly not one myself, I have always been fascinated by the human mind and how others think. In the case of Nader, I’m reminded of the observation that young people tend to think in ‘black and white’ regarding life. As people get older their experiences tend to teach them to moderate their attitudes and life becomes various shades of grey. I’ve always felt that Nader still sees things as black and white, right and wrong, yes and no - with no maybes.
He has always been that way when his first ascension to the limelight involved the announcement of the great hazards to anyone driving the rear engined Corvair produced by General Moters. It certainly did have problems as an automobile for people used to driving front engined cars, but they weren’t insurmountable. Never-the-less he blasted General Motors which resulted in the Corvair to become a collector’s item in greater demand than the VW ‘Beetle’.
I used to subscribe to Consumer’s Report until Mr. Nader took charge and had the magazine report on his idea of the “safety” of products tested rather than their design, reliability and value. For example, he downgraded kitchen stoves which had front mounted controls simply because children could reach and turn on the burners. That, of course would be a good warning, but he neglected to consider the hazard of one having to reach across hot burners to the back of the stove to turn them off in case of emergency.
Mr. Nader reminds me of commander Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) in the classic movie, “The Caine Mutiny”. Nader fails to see the mechanisms of how change is enacted through interaction and negotiation rather than through arbitrary mandate and the exertion of power.
At first, I have to admit, that I figured that the Republicans paid Mr. Nader to enter the race - much as they had the slanderous book, “The Swift boats”, when Sen. Kerry ran for office. But, upon review, I think that Mr. Nader, true to form, sees black and white and somehow thinks he can change things in Washington.
However, can one reasonably assume that Ralph Nader, on the side of good and wonderful would ever be able to negotiate and compromise with the myriad of factions throughout the world to maintain world peace - or even domestic prosperity? Does he really have the temperament?
As of today, we have two Democrats and one Republican to choose from for our next President. Of the Democrats, we have a return to a wiser form of our old Clinton presidency (who was not bad in my opinion.) Or we can have “hope for a change from the same old way of doing business in Washington”!
I’m inspired by Obama - yes, by the rhetoric!. Afer all, what have we to lose? Otherwise the best we can expect is more of the same - perhaps not in the Presidency, but in the Congress!
As an Arizonan, I expect my vote next November to be worthless and the state will support Sen. McCain for the presidency.
His election would be, in my opinion, a disaster for the American people and the future of our nation. I hope and assume that the rest of the American people will chose either Hilary or Barack to be our next president - despite the efforts of the Republican party, Senator McCain or the pathetic efforts of Ralph Nader.
Ralph Nader is, I think, a delema for most people - like why does he think like he does? What are his motives? As the son of a psychologist - and certainly not one myself, I have always been fascinated by the human mind and how others think. In the case of Nader, I’m reminded of the observation that young people tend to think in ‘black and white’ regarding life. As people get older their experiences tend to teach them to moderate their attitudes and life becomes various shades of grey. I’ve always felt that Nader still sees things as black and white, right and wrong, yes and no - with no maybes.
He has always been that way when his first ascension to the limelight involved the announcement of the great hazards to anyone driving the rear engined Corvair produced by General Moters. It certainly did have problems as an automobile for people used to driving front engined cars, but they weren’t insurmountable. Never-the-less he blasted General Motors which resulted in the Corvair to become a collector’s item in greater demand than the VW ‘Beetle’.
I used to subscribe to Consumer’s Report until Mr. Nader took charge and had the magazine report on his idea of the “safety” of products tested rather than their design, reliability and value. For example, he downgraded kitchen stoves which had front mounted controls simply because children could reach and turn on the burners. That, of course would be a good warning, but he neglected to consider the hazard of one having to reach across hot burners to the back of the stove to turn them off in case of emergency.
Mr. Nader reminds me of commander Queeg (Humphrey Bogart) in the classic movie, “The Caine Mutiny”. Nader fails to see the mechanisms of how change is enacted through interaction and negotiation rather than through arbitrary mandate and the exertion of power.
At first, I have to admit, that I figured that the Republicans paid Mr. Nader to enter the race - much as they had the slanderous book, “The Swift boats”, when Sen. Kerry ran for office. But, upon review, I think that Mr. Nader, true to form, sees black and white and somehow thinks he can change things in Washington.
However, can one reasonably assume that Ralph Nader, on the side of good and wonderful would ever be able to negotiate and compromise with the myriad of factions throughout the world to maintain world peace - or even domestic prosperity? Does he really have the temperament?
As of today, we have two Democrats and one Republican to choose from for our next President. Of the Democrats, we have a return to a wiser form of our old Clinton presidency (who was not bad in my opinion.) Or we can have “hope for a change from the same old way of doing business in Washington”!
I’m inspired by Obama - yes, by the rhetoric!. Afer all, what have we to lose? Otherwise the best we can expect is more of the same - perhaps not in the Presidency, but in the Congress!
As an Arizonan, I expect my vote next November to be worthless and the state will support Sen. McCain for the presidency.
His election would be, in my opinion, a disaster for the American people and the future of our nation. I hope and assume that the rest of the American people will chose either Hilary or Barack to be our next president - despite the efforts of the Republican party, Senator McCain or the pathetic efforts of Ralph Nader.
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