Secret Service prostitution scandal

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http://news.yahoo.com/photos/obama-visits-colombia-for-americas-summit-slideshow/

U.S. Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano is facing questions Apr. 25 from a Senate panel on the Secret Service prostitution scandal that embarrassed the White House and overshadowed the president’s visit to a Latin American summit.

Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano arrives on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, April 25, 2012, to testify before the Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Secret Service prostitution scandal that embarrassed the White House and overshadowed the president’s visit to a Latin American summit. (AP Photo/Susan Walsh)

View of the Hotel Caribe, in Cartagena, Colombia. Two more Secret Service agents have resigned over the Colombia sex scandal and one more will have his security clearance permanently revoked, the elite presidential protection outfit said Tuesday. (AFP Photo/Manuel Pedraza)

A sex scandal involving Secret Service agents on US President Barack Obama’s trip to Colombia appeared to grow Sunday after visiting American soldiers were also linked to the use of prostitutes. (AFP Photo/Justin Sullivan)

Prostitutes walk on the square of the old city in Cartagena in this picture taken April 17, 2012. As many as 21 women were brought back to a hotel in Colombia by U.S. Secret Service and military personnel in an incident last week involving alleged misconduct with prostitutes, U.S. Senator Susan Collins said on Tuesday. Picture taken April 17, 2012. REUTERS/Stringer

U.S. Secret Service agents are pictured around President Barack Obama (C) as he greets audience members after sending off the Wounded Warrior Project’s Soldier Ride on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, April 20, 2012. The annual cycling event is for wounded soldiers to restore their physical health and to raise public awareness of the physical and psychological damages of war. REUTERS/Jason Reed (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY SPORT CYCLING)

U.S. President Barack Obama walks among Secret Service Agents upon his arrival in Detroit, Michigan, April 18, 2012. Obama is traveling to Ohio for an event on jobs and the economy and to Michigan for election fundraisers.     REUTERS/Jason Reed  (UNITED STATES – Tags: POLITICS)

A general view of the Hotel Caribe in Cartagena, Colombia, where the US Secret Service scandal occurred. Lawmakers will grill Homeland Security chief Janet Napolitano about the US Secret Service next week. (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

White House Press Secretary Jay Carney speaks during a briefing in Cartagena, Colombia. Carney told reporters that President Barack Obama had full confidence in the Secret Service. (AFP Photo/Mandel Ngan)

President Barack Obama is pictured on a large video screen during a three-way conversation with Brazil’s President Dilma Rousseff and Colombia’s President Juan Manuel Santos, not pictured, at the CEO Summit of the Americas in Cartagena, Colombia, Saturday April 14, 2012. Regional business leaders are meeting parallel to the sixth Summit of the Americas which brings together presidents and prime ministers from Canada, the Caribbean, Latin America and the U.S. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

A Colombian protester holds a paper with the words, “Obama, go with the hookers,” in reference to an incident in which members of U.S. President Barack Obama’s security team were sent home before the start of the Americas Summit he is attending in Cartagena April 14, 2012. Five members of the U.S. military assigned to support the Secret Service during Obama’s visit were sent home for allegations of misconduct – which Colombian police said involved prostitutes. Heads of state are meeting here from April 14-15.        REUTERS/Joaquin Sarmiento (COLOMBIA – Tags: POLITICS BUSINESS)

President Barack Obama waves upon arrival to Cartagena, Colombia, Friday April 13, 2012. Obama is in Cartagena to attend the sixth Summit of the Americas. At right is U.S. ambassador to Colombia Michael McKinley. (AP Photo/Dolores Ochoa)

U.S. President Barack Obama is accompanied by Colombia’s Vice Minister for Foreign Affairs Monica Lanzetta (L), as he arrives for the Americas Summit at the airport in Cartagena April 13, 2012. Heads of state meet at the summit from April 14 to 15.              REUTERS/Claudia Daut (COLOMBIA – Tags: POLITICS)

President Barack Obama is greeted at the airport as he arrives to Cartagena, Colombia, Friday April 13, 2012. Obama is in Cartagena to attend the sixth Summit of the Americas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Colombians observe as U.S. President Barack Obama’s car drives past along the coastal road to his hotel, soon after his arrival to attend the Americas Summit at the airport in Cartagena April 13, 2012. Heads of state meet at the summit from April 14 to 15. REUTERS/Joaquin Sarmiento (COLOMBIA – Tags: POLITICS)

President Barack Obama is escorted along a red carpet lined with military cadets as he arrives to Cartagena, Colombia, Friday April 13, 2012. Obama is in Cartagena to attend the sixth Summit of the Americas. (AP Photo/Carolyn Kaster)

Sudan nations at war

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http://news.yahoo.com/photos/sudan-intensifies-bombing-of-disputed-town-slideshow/

South Sudan’s president Salva Kiir said Apr. 24 its northern neighbor has “declared war” on the world’s newest nation, just hours after Sudanese jets dropped eight bombs on his country.

 

Sudanese armed forces raise their weapons during a visit by President Omar al-Bashir in Heglig, Sudan, Monday, April 23, 2012. Sudanese warplanes bombed a market and an oil field in South Sudan, killing at least two people hours after Sudanese ground forces reportedly crossed into South Sudan with tanks and artillery, elevating the risk of all-out war between the two old enemies. Al-Bashir vowed Monday to press ahead with his military campaign until all southern troops or affiliated forces are chased out of the north.(AP Photo)

In this Sunday, April 22, 2012 photo, fire billows up from an oil field that caught on fire in Heglig, Sudan. An official says Sudanese jets bombed three areas in South Sudan’s Unity State, including a major oil field. South Sudan military spokesman Col. Philip Aguer said Antonov bombers accompanied by MiG 29 jets bombed the town of Abiemnom in Unity State and the Unity State oil field. (AP Photo/Abd Raouf)

A policeman walks past the smoldering remains of a market in Rubkona near Bentiu in South Sudan, Monday, April 23, 2012. A boy was killed and at least two people were wounded Monday when Sudanese aircraft bombed an area near the town of Bentiu in South Sudan, an official and witness said, increasing the threat of a full-scale war breaking out between the two nations. (AP Photo/Michael Onyiego)

South Sudan’s President Salva Kiir, right, reviews honor guard with Chinese President Hu Jintao, left, during a welcoming ceremony at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, China, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. (AP Photo/Alexander F. Yuan)

A South Sudan’s army, or the SPLA, soldier sits in a truck on the frontline in Panakuach, Unity state, April 24, 2012.   REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (SOUTH SUDAN – Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

A South Sudan’s army, or the SPLA, soldier prepares food on the frontline in Panakuach, Unity state, April 24, 2012.   REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (SOUTH SUDAN – Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

A South Sudan’s army, or the SPLA, soldier walks on the frontline in Panakuach, Unity state, April 24, 2012.   REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (SOUTH SUDAN – Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY CIVIL UNREST TPX IMAGES OF THE DAY)

South Sudan’s army, or the SPLA, soldiers talk on the frontline in Panakuach, Unity state, April 24, 2012.   REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic (SOUTH SUDAN – Tags: POLITICS CONFLICT MILITARY CIVIL UNREST)

Soldiers of South Sudan’s SPLA army stand in line at a military base in Bentiu April 22, 2012.  REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

South Sudan’s SPLA soldiers hold up their weapons as they shout at a military base in Bentiu April 22, 2012.  REUTERS/Goran Tomasevic

A wounded soldier of the South-Sudan’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) is treated at the Rubkona Military Hospital in Rubkona, South Sudan. South Sudan’s army said on Sunday it had completed its pullout from an oil field seized from Sudan, ending a deadly standoff which forced thousands of civilians to flee. (AFP Photo/Adriane Ohanesian)

A South Sudan People’s Liberation Army soldier sits next to a machine gun on a vehicle in Heglig on April 17. South Sudan’s army said Sunday it had completed its pullout from an oil field seized from the rival Sudanese regime, ending a bitter standoff which forced thousands of civilians to flee. (AFP Photo/Adriane Ohanesian)

Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir waves to supporters after receiving victory greetings at the Defence Ministry, in Khartoum April 20, 2012. South Sudan said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from the disputed Heglig oil region more than a week after seizing it from Sudan, pulling the countries back from the brink of a full-blown war. Sudan quickly declared victory, saying its armed forces had “liberated” the area by force as thousands of people poured onto the streets of Khartoum cheering, dancing, honking car horns and waving flags. REUTERS/ Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah (SUDAN – Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS)

A soldier (top) is carried by a supporter during a celebration march outside Sudan’s Defence Ministry in Khartoum April 20, 2012. South Sudan said on Friday it would withdraw its troops from the disputed Heglig oil region more than a week after seizing it from Sudan, pulling the countries back from the brink of a full-blown war. Sudan quickly declared victory, saying its armed forces had “liberated” the area by force as thousands of people poured onto the streets of Khartoum cheering, dancing, honking car horns and waving flags. REUTERS/Mohamed Nureldin Abdallah (SUDAN – Tags: MILITARY CONFLICT POLITICS SOCIETY)

A wounded soldier of the South-Sudan’s Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) rests outside the Rubkona Military Hospital in Rubkona, South Sudan. The Heglig violence was the worst since South Sudan won independence in July. (AFP Photo/Adriane Ohanesian)

A soldier wounded as South Sudan took control of the Heglig oil field, rests at a military hospital in Khartoum April 13, 2012. Sudan’s army said it was advancing on the disputed town of Heglig on Friday in an attempt to oust South Sudanese forces from the oil-producing area after the south said it would withdraw only if the United Nations intervened.              REUTERS/ Stringer (SUDAN – Tags: POLITICS MILITARY HEALTH)

This photo of Saturday, April 14, 2012, shows the aftermath of a bombing by the Sudanese Air Force in Bentiu, South Sudan. Two Sudanese Sukhoi fighters dropped 6 bombs in the Bentiu area, killing five and wounding four others. Sudan and the newly formed South Sudan continued to battle Monday April 16 2012 over a disputed oil rich border area. (AP Photo/Michael Onyiego)

This photo of Saturday, April 14, 2012, shows Sudan Peoples Liberation Army (SPLA) troops at their position in the Unity Oil Field near to the front lines at Heglig, South Sudan. Two Sudanese Sukhoi fighters dropped 6 bombs in the Bentiu area, killing five and wounding four others. (AP Photo / Michael Onyiego)

South Sudan People’s Liberation Army soldiers guard a group of Sudanese prisoners of war from the Sudanese armed forces (SAF) in Juba on April 15, 2012. South Sudan’s army vowed Tuesday to hold their positions in a contested oil field seized from Khartoum’s army, one week after the outbreak of bitter fighting that has raised fears of a wider war. (AFP Photo/Waakhe Wudu)

A Sudanese soldier on patrol last week in the town of Talodi in South Kordofan, about 50 km from the disputed frontier with South Sudan. Sudanese warplanes bombed a UN peacekeepers’ base, damaging it but causing no casualties in the first such attack since a recent escalation of fighting with South Sudan, officials say. (AFP Photo/Ashraf Shazly)

Missing girl Madeleine may be alive

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http://news.yahoo.com/photos/missing-girl-madeleine-may-be-alive-slideshow/

British police on Apr. 25 asked Portugal to reopen the case of missing girl Madeleine McCann, saying that as the fifth anniversary of her disappearance approaches there is a possibility she is still alive.

http://news.yahoo.com/photos/missing-girl-madeleine-may-be-alive-slideshow/

FILE – This March 2007 file photo released by the McCann family Friday, May 4, 2007, shows 3-year-old British girl Madeleine McCann. London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday April 25, 2012 say it’s possible missing girl Madeleine McCann is alive and they will release a new image of the girl, who went missing on a family vacation in the Algarve coast in Portugal in May 2007. (AP Photo/McCann Family, File

Missing British girl, Madeleine McCann, is seen in this handout photograph made available May 26, 2007. REUTERS/Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Handout

This undated image released by the Metropolitan Police shows composite photos of four year old missing child Madeleine McCann and an age progression computer generated image of her at 9 years old. London’s Metropolitan Police said Wednesday April 25, 2012, they will release a new image of the girl, who went missing on a family vacation in the Algarve coast in Portugal in May 2007. Police say they still have regular contact with her parents and continue to investigate. (AP Photo/Metropolitan Police/Teri Blythe)

Gerry, left, and Kate McCann, parents of four years old Madeleine McCann, missing in the Portuguese town of Praia Da Luz since May, present a picture of their daughter during a press conference in Berlin, Wednesday, June 6, 2007. The parents of missing Madeleine McCann on Wednesday March 19, 2008 accepted an apology and more than $1 million in damages over tabloid newspaper stories suggesting they had caused their daughter’s death. (AP Photo/Sven Kaestner, FILE)

MADRID, SPAIN – OCTOBER 19:  Kate McCann and Gerry McCann pose during the launch of Kate McCann’s book “Madeleine” at the Wellington Hotel on October 19, 2011 in Madrid, Spain. Kate and Gerry McCann’s daughter Madeleine has been missing since the evening of May 3, 2007 while the family were on holiday in Portugal.  (Photo by Carlos Alvarez/Getty Images)

Kate McCann, whose daughter Madeleine went missing during a family holiday to Portugal in 2007, attends a news conference at the launch of her book in London May 12, 2011. REUTERS/Chris Helgren

Kate and Gerry McCann pose after speaking about the disappearance of their daughter Madeleine at a news conference in Quorn, central England, November 2, 2010.REUTERS/Darren Staples

Gerry and Kate McCann, front, arrive to testify at the Leveson inquiry at the Royal Courts of Justice in central London, Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. McCanns’ daughter Madeleine went missing from her family’s holiday flat in the Algarve, shortly before her fourth birthday in 2007. The Leveson inquiry is Britain’s media ethics probe that was set up in the wake of the scandal over phone hacking at Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World newspaper, which was shut in July after it became clear that the tabloid had systematically broken the law. (AP Photo/Lefteris Pitarakis)

New Zealand honors its soldiers

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Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day on Apr. 25, when the First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915. The day is marked with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.

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Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public stand around the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Army personell stand around the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

People place poppies on the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public march past the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

A Maori warrior signals the arrival of veterans, dignitaries and members of the public to the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

War veterans and military personell stand next to the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

A solider guards the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

People pay their respects around the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

People make their way past the Auckland War Memorial Museum for the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

People place poppies on the Cenotaph at the Auckland War Memorial Museum during the ANZAC Day Dawn Service on April 25, 2012 in Auckland, New Zealand. Veterans, dignitaries and members of the public today marked ANZAC (Australia New Zealand Army Corps) Day, when First World War troops landed on the Gallipoli Peninsula, Turkey early April 25, 1915, commemorating the event with ceremonies of remembrance for those who fought and died in all wars.  (Photo by Phil Walter/Getty Images)

Swiss unveil mind-controlled robot

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Swiss scientists have demonstrated how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. The demonstration on Apr. 24 involved a partially tetraplegic patient at a hospital in the southern Swiss town of Sion who imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot at the university 100 kilometers (62 miles) away.

A spectator moves out of the way as Mark-Andre Duc, seen on the computer screen, directs a robot at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. From the hospital 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, Duc imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot. Swiss scientists demonstrated with this test how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Mark-Andre Duc, a partially tetraplegic patient, is seen on a laptop screen as he talks to scientists in Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. From a hospital 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, he imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot. Swiss scientists demonstrated with this test how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Mark-Andre Duc, a partially tetraplegic patient, is seen on a computer screen as he talks a scientist in Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. From the hospital 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, he imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot. Swiss scientists demonstrated with this test how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

A scientist waves to Mark-Andre Duc, a partially tetraplegic patient, at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. From the hospital 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, Duc, imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot. Swiss scientists demonstrated with this test how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Swiss billionaire philanthropist Ernesto Bertarelli, fourth from left, follows a robot controlled by Mark-Andre Duc, a partially tetraplegic patient at Switzerland’s Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, Switzerland, Tuesday, April 24, 2012. From the hospital 100 kilometers (62 miles) away, Duc imagined lifting his fingers to direct a robot. Swiss scientists demonstrated with this test how a partially paralyzed person can control a robot using brain signals alone. (AP Photo/Anja Niedringhaus)

Newly discovered purple crabs

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Four new species of colorful crustaceans have been discovered in the Philippines, a recent study says. The crab’s brilliant hues may simply help the species recognize its brethren, said study author Hendrik Freitag, of the Senckenberg Museum of Zoology in Dresden, Germany.

A purple crab stares down the camera in the Philippine island of Palawan in an undated picture. The colorful crustacean, dubbed Insulamon palawanense, is one of four new species in the Insulamon genus described in a recent study. (Photograph courtesy Hendrik Freitag)

A male I. palawanense is seen on a rock in Palawan. The species is widespread throughout the Philippine island, unlike the other three newfound species, which are restricted to small home creeks or rivers. (Photograph courtesy Hendrik Freitag)

Large Insulamon males—such as this I. johannchristiani, another of the newfound species—sport a reddish color, possibly to signal their power. Smaller, less dominant Insulamon males and females are purple. (Photograph courtesy Hendrik Freitag)

Ohio man’s fossil find in Kentucky stumps experts

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Associated Press – 20 hrs ago

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — Experts are trying to figure out what a fossil dubbed “Godzillus” used to be.

The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in northern Kentucky is more than 6 feet long and 3 feet wide. To the untrained eye, it looks like a bunch of rocks or a concrete blob. Experts are trying to determine whether it was an animal, mineral or a form of plant life from a time when the Cincinnati region was underwater.

Scientists at a Geological Society of America meeting viewed it Tuesday at the Dayton Convention Center in Ohio.

“We are looking for people who might have an idea of what it is,” said Ben Dattilo, an assistant professor of geology at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne.

Scientists say the fossil is 450 million years old. University of Cincinnati geologist Carl Brett said it’s the largest fossil ever extracted from that era in the Cincinnati region.

In this April 20, 2012, photo, amateur paleontologist Ron Fine, of Dayton, Ohio, discusses the fossil he discovered with Carl Brett, center, and David Meyer, professors of Geology at the University of Cincinnati, at Caster Library on the campus in Cincinnati. Experts in the U.S. are trying to figure out what the 450 million-year-old fossil dubbed “Godzillus” used to be. The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in Kentucky is more than 6 feet long. (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gary Landers) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

“This is the ultimate cold case,” said Ron Fine, the Dayton, Ohio, amateur paleontologist who spotted the fossil on a hillside last year and gave it its name.

“Like Godzilla, it’s a primordial beast that found its way to the modern era,” Fine said. Now 43, he’s been collecting fossils since age 4, and said he saw part of this one on a hillside off Kentucky 17 nearly a year ago.

“Most fossils around here are small, the size of your thumbnail or your thumb,” he said. “This thing’s huge.”

He said it could be an early form of seaweed or kelp.

This April 20, 2012, photo, shows a fossil at Caster Library on the campus in Cincinnati. Experts in the U.S. are trying to figure out what the 450 million-year-old fossil dubbed “Godzillus” used to be. The 150-pound fossil recovered last year in Kentucky by amateur paleontologist Ron Fine is more than 6 feet long. (AP Photo/The Cincinnati Enquirer, Gary Landers) MANDATORY CREDIT; NO SALES

“This one has us stumped,” said David Meyer, another UC geology professor. Fine shared his find last September at a meeting of the Dry Dredgers, a group of amateur geologists.

Meyer, who wrote a book called “A Sea Without Fish” about the era, said the fossil has intricate patterns that remind him of “goose flesh. Some of its surface also looks like scales. But this thing is not boney. It is not a fish.”

He guesses it could have been something like a sponge.

“Cincinnati was covered by a sea, 100 to 200 feet deep,” Meyer said. “Primitive shellfish lived in it. But no fish.”

8 Great Home Remedies for Allergy Sufferers

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Posted on April 26, 2012 by admin

Winter into spring, summer into fall; each change of season unfortunately brings a new round of irritants for allergy sufferers to contend with. For many, prescription drugs are the solution for treating their symptoms. But there are several drug-free remedies that can bring you relief and build up your immunity to the very allergens that make you miserable. These remedies range from tasty food items you can drink or spread on your favorite food, to simple changes you can make to your home living environment. If you’re sneezing while reading this, grab a Kleenex, and check out these eight effective home remedies for allergy sufferers. (Photo by Brooke Novak)

1. Local honey

   One of the most effective ways to prevent seasonal allergy symptoms is to introduce locally made honey to your diet. Honey made as close to your locality as possible will contain the same allergens you breathe in daily. Introducing your body to small amounts of those allergens by drinking even small amounts of local honey — you can try having a teaspoon mixed in with a glass of apple cider vinegar or cup of herbal tea for instance — will help your body build immunity to the local allergens. The honey should be raw, unpasteurized, and unheated. Babies under the age of 1 should never consume raw honey, as there is a risk of infant botulism. Your neighborhood Whole Foods Market will most likely stock local raw honey.

2. Apple cider vinegar

   Apple cider vinegar is one of the oldest health remedies, dating back to 400 B.C. when Hippocrates, the “Father of Medicine,” used it to treat his patients. Allergy sufferers dealing with excess mucus in their sinuses, throat, and chest, should consider drinking apple cider vinegar daily, as it helps the body remove phlegm and toxins. It’s also rich in enzymes and potassium, and strengthens the immune system. Combining diluted apple cider vinegar with a teaspoon of local honey will help with its taste, which isn’t unpleasant, but can take some getting used to.

3. Air filter

   Filtering the air circulation in your home will help remove allergens that otherwise fill the air that you breathe. The American College of Allergy, Asthma, and Immunology reports that “50% of all illness is aggravated or caused by polluted indoor air.” A high-efficiency particulate air or HEPA filter, which you can buy at a good grocery store or your local Home Depot, will capture more than 99% of particles 0.3 microns in diameter or larger that enter it. You’ll want to be sure to replace the filter consistently, as often as once a month, especially if you have pets.

4. Nose strips

   We believe nose strips are nothing less than a miracle of science. Once you fit one over your nose, the strip expands, opening up the nasal passages allowing you to breathe much easier. They’re great for those suffering from sinus allergies, as well as people who snore. Breathe Right has the corner on the market for nose strips, even offering menthol strips for additional relief, and currently offer the highest quality, most effective brand of nose strip.

5. Nasal irrigation

   There has been some alarming news recently regarding the danger of nasal irrigation. But the necessary precautions you need to take before flushing out your sinuses, using either a neti pot or a squeeze bottle, are simple and effective. Irrigating your nose with a saline solution, sold in packets at drug stores, removes irritants that get stuck in the nose and make breathing difficult. Always use distilled or previously boiled water with the saline solution. Do not use tap water. Recently, in Louisiana, two deaths occurred when neti pot users used tap water to irrigate their sinuses and contracted a brain infection from an amoeba common in rivers and lakes.

6. Peppermint tea

   You can’t really say anything bad about peppermint tea. Hot peppermint relieves stuffed up sinuses and irritated mucous membranes. The essential oil of peppermint works as a decongestant, while substances in the leaves relax the muscles, reduce inflammation, and even battle the growth of certain bacteria. Inhaling the steam from a hot cup of peppermint tea is another way allergy sufferers can find some relief. But be aware that the menthol in peppermint can cause young children to choke.

7. Bare floors

   Carpets are the perfect home for dust mites and microscopic crud that make people with allergies miserable. Some folks believe carpets are actually good for allergy sufferers because they trap the airborne particles that cause allergy symptoms. However, the trade-off is that the aforementioned tiny pests will happily breed in a carpet, getting on your skin and into your nostrils. Consider throw rugs that compliment your hard wood floors and can be washed in hot water as an alternative to wall to wall carpeting. Regular vacuuming and damp-mopping of the bare floors will also help control the microbes that cause sneezing and other allergy symptoms.

8. Wasabi

   Spicy foods can provide temporary, and tasty relief from allergy symptoms. Wasabi, a member of the horseradish family, is a pale-green paste served as a condiment with many Japanese dishes. A constituent found in wasabi and horseradish called allyl isothiocyanate promotes the flow of mucus. Some allergy sufferers take a 1/4 teaspoon of horseradish as needed to alleviate their symptoms. But doesn’t a meal at a good sushi restaurant, with a box of Kleenex close at hand, sound like a lot more fun?

Can World’s ‘Most Threatened’ Tribe Be Saved?

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Stephanie Pappas, LiveScience Senior Writer

Date: 25 April 2012 Time: 04:00 AM ET

The indigenous Awá people of Brazil are in a protracted legal battle to protect their lands from illegal settling and logging. Amerintxia is is probably the oldest Awá. She lives on her own in a small palm shelter, along with her many pets. She still gathers her own food in forest. CREDIT: ©D Pugliese/Survival

A new international campaign hopes to save a group of people who have been dubbed “the most threatened tribe in the world” — the Awá tribe of Brazil — from encroaching outsiders who are gobbling up their land.

Skilled HuntersCredit: ©D Pugliese/SurvivalFrom a young age, all Awá learn how to hunt. They are extremely skilled marksmen.

The Awá live in the Brazilian state of Maranhão on lands set aside for their hunter-gatherer lifestyle. But according to the tribal advocacy group Survival International, which is leading the new campaign, the tribe is increasingly under threat by illegal settlement and logging on their lands. One reserve set aside for the tribe, the Awá Territory, is one-third deforested, its trees stripped by illegal logging operations, some with sawmills operating only miles from Awá land.

Pet MonkeyCredit: ©D Pugliese/SurvivalAmererintxia sits with one of her pet monkeys in a hammock, which the Awá make from palm tree fibres.

“When the forest is destroyed, they either flee or they simply die,” said Survival’s field director Fiona Watson, who has worked with and interviewed many of the 360 surviving Awá who are in contact with society. On her last visit, she told LiveScience, “They were saying to me, ‘We’re suffering from hunger now.'” [Photos: One-of-a-Kind Places on Earth]

Awá Gathering TripCredit: ©D Pugliese/SurvivalThe Awá live in extended family groups. Families go on gathering trips where everybody collect nuts and berries.

Tribal life under threat

The issue of indigenous people’s land rights is an international one. Survival International estimates more than 150 million tribal people currently live in 60 countries worldwide. The most voiceless of these are uncontacted tribes, people who live without interaction with the outside world.

Monkey on Her BackCredit: ©D Pugliese/SurvivalBaby monkeys spend much time with Awá women and children enjoying the physical contact. Many monkeys like to sit on their owners’ heads

Uncontacted tribespeople are often romanticized as “primitive” people who aren’t aware of the outside world, which is a myth, according to Survival. In fact, many are purposefully avoiding society after deadly run-ins with civilization in the past. Not only do clashes between native peoples and settlers sometimes result in violence, uncontacted people lack immunity to common diseases and can be felled by a simple flu virus.

Baby on Board Credit: ©D Pugliese/SurvivalLike many Amazonian Indians, Awá carry young babies in slings – traditionally made from palm fibres – but nowadays from cloth.

Survival estimates that there are about 100 uncontacted Awá in addition to the 360 or so who have semi-settled in villages on their legally protected land. After first contact with the Awá in 1973, the Brazilian government has opened up the region where the tribe has long roamed. After iron ore was discovered in the area, the European Community and the World Bank even helped fund a railway and other developments in the region.

Tribe Member and DevastationCredit: ©SurvivalHemokoma’á stands in smouldering forest  in the Awá  territory – 31% has been burned and destroyed by illegal invaders.

“This acts like a magnet for settlers to pour in, and ranchers, so Awá land started to be invaded,” Watson said.

Land rights battle

The Awá’s right to their land was formally recognized in 2005, making mining and other activities by outsiders illegal; but satellite photos of the forest reveal that these rights are not being honored. Illegal logging has left the scar of deforestation on the land. This is especially devastating to the Awá, who depend on the forest for their survival, Watson said.

Tribal GirlCredit: ©SurvivalA tribal girl nicknamed “Little Butterfly” bathes in a stream near her community

“When you talk to the Awá, it’s just so clear how much the forest means to them,” she said. “They just get everything from it.”

That includes food — babaçu nuts and açaí berries as well as fresh meat — and medicines and supplies, such as the resin of the maçaranduba tree, which is used to make torches. [See Video of Awá Life]

Damaged LandCredit: ©SurvivalThe charred remains of burned forest on Awá land, only several kilometers from an Awá community

As the forest vanishes, the Awá are trapped in a legal battle to save it. In 2009, a federal judge ruled that illegal settlers had to leave the Awá territorieswithin 180 days. A legal appeal by one of the largest cattle ranchers in the region delayed the ruling. In December 2011, a second federal judge ruled that colonists and ranchers had to leave the land by December 2012. Survival fears that continued legal wrangling will delay these departures, too. If the case continues in the legal system, it could take 20 or 30 years for the Brazilian Supreme Court to decide it. By that time, it will be too late for the Awá.

Awá ManCredit: ©SurvivalTakwarentxia with his pet monkey. He, his wife and baby son were contacted in 1992, far from the their territory. They were on the run, fleeing from gunmen who murdered some of their family group.

“Time is not on their side,” Watson said.

Violence and protection

In addition, reports from Awá tribe members and from the Brazilian Indian affairs office FUNAI suggest that this land controversy can all-too-easily turn deadly. In 1988, for example, townspeople in west Bahia, Brazil, met a lone native man who turned out to be of the Awá tribe. The man, Karapiru, had been living alone in the forest since 1975, when ranchers killed his daughter and wounded him and his son. The ranchers had taken his son, leaving Karapiru to believe him dead.

Tribal RitualCredit: ©SurvivalDuring the karawara ritual Awá women decorate the men with parrot feathers and soft white down from the king vulture. They clap and sing so the men go into a trance, and can travel to the sky  to meet their  ancestral spirits

“It’s a violent part of the Amazon,” Watson said. “You have bows and arrows against guns.”

Other tribes have also been haunted by violent clashes. In August 2011, FUNAI officials were alarmed to find evidence of a fight between drug traffickers and uncontacted native people, who went missing after the violence.

Watson and her colleagues are hoping that their new campaign will put pressure on Brazil to honor the Awá’s legal right to their land and provide the funding needed to enforce the protected areas’ borders.

“Little Butterfly” PlaysCredit: ©SurvivalApãranã (“Little Butterfly”) swings from a liana over a creek where children bathe and play. The Awá fish in the streams on their land, and especially appreciate turtle meat.

“It’s a very simple, direct message to the Minister of Justice,” Watson said. “The land belongs to the Awá.”

Editor’s note: This article has been updated to correct the funding source of the Carajás development program. The European Community contributed funding.

 

Awá Man with BowCredit: ©SurvivalAwá men are skilled hunters who handmake their own bows and arrows. Awá tribespeople depend on the forest for their hunter-gatherer lifestyle

Family TimeCredit: ©SurvivalA family take a break during a walk in the forest to collect fruit

Awá HunterCredit: ©SurvivalA young man rests in the forest on a hunting expedition. Many  family groups go off on extended hunts lasting several weeks, where they sleep in palm leaf shelters in the forest and make torches out of tree resin

Asteroid Mining Venture Backed by Google Execs, James Cameron Unveiled

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by Mike Wall, SPACE.com Senior Writer

Date: 23 April 2012 Time: 09:00 PM ET

Small, water-rich near-Earth asteroids can be captured by spacecraft, allowing their resources to be extracted, officials with the new company Planetary Resources say. CREDIT: Planetary Resources, Inc

A newly unveiled company with some high-profile backers — including filmmaker James Cameron and Google co-founder Larry Page — is set to announce plans to mine near-Earth asteroids for resources such as precious metals and water.

Meet Planetary ResourcesCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Planetary Resources will help sustain humanity’s future by accessing the vast resources of space, company officials say.

Planetary Resources, Inc. intends to sell these materials, generating a healthy profit for itself. But it also aims to advance humanity’s exploration and exploitation of space, with resource extraction serving as an anchor industry that helps our species spread throughout the solar system.

“If you look at space resources, the logical next step is to go to the near-Earth asteroids,” Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Eric Anderson told SPACE.com. “They’re just so valuable, and so easy to reach energetically. Near-Earth asteroids really are the low-hanging fruit of the solar system.”

Accessible ResourcesCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Many asteroids are in Earth-like orbits that offer accessible resources

Planetary Resources is officially unveiling its asteroid-mining plans at 1:30 p.m. EDT (1730 GMT) Tuesday (April 24) during a news conference at Seattle’s Museum of Flight.

Precious metals and water

Two of the resources the company plans to mine are platinum-group metals and water, Anderson said.

Platinum-group metals — ruthenium, rhodium, palladium, osmium, iridium, and platinum — are found in low concentrations on Earth and can be tough to access, which is why they’re so expensive. In fact, Anderson said, they don’t occur naturally in Earth’s crust, having been deposited on our planet over the eons by asteroid impacts.

“We’re going to go to the source,” Anderson said. “The platinum-group metals are many orders of magnitude easier to access in the high-concentration platinum asteroids than they are in the Earth’s crust.”

Leo Space TelescopeCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Planetary Resources has developed a space telescope with remote sensing capability. Data gathered from near-Earth asteroids will assist in analyzing the composition of the bodies to determine a commercial value.

And there are a lot of precious metals up there waiting to be mined. A single platinum-rich space rock 1,650 feet (500 meters) wide contains the equivalent of all the platinum-group metals ever mined throughout human history, company officials said.

“When the availability of these metals increase[s], the cost will reduce on everything including defibrillators, hand-held devices, TV and computer monitors, catalysts,” Planetary Resources co-founder and co-chairman Peter Diamandis said in a statement. “And with the abundance of these metals, we’ll be able to use them in mass production, like in automotive fuel cells.

 Near-Earth AsteroidCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Near-Earth asteroids contain a vast supply of natural resources

Will audacious asteroid mining projects like those of Planetary Resources open up a new space frontier?

Yes! Humanity is taking the next giant leap to the stars.

Maybe – Asteroid mining is super cool, but only results will matter.

No! Let’s not strip-mine the solar system after the damage we’ve done to Earth.

Many asteroids are rich in water, too, another characteristic the company plans to exploit. Once extracted, this water would be sold in space, providing significant savings over water launched from the ground.

Asteroid water could help astronauts stay hydrated and grow food, provide radiation shielding for spaceships and be broken into its constituent hydrogen and oxygen, the chief components of rocket fuel, Anderson said.

Swarm of Spacecraft on an AsteroidCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Swarms of low-cost robotic spacecraft will enable extraction of resources from near-Earth asteroids.

Planetary Resources hopes its mining efforts lead to the establishment of in-space “gas stations” that could help many spacecraft refuel, from Earth-orbiting satellites to Mars-bound vessels.

“We’re really talking about enabling the exploration of deep space,” Anderson said. “That’s what really gets me excited.” [Future Visions of Human Spaceflight]

In addition to Page, Planetary Resources counts among its investors Ross Perot Jr., chairman of The Perot Group and son of the former presidential candidate; Eric Schmidt, executive chairman of Google; K. Ram Shriram, Google board of directors founding member; and Charles Simonyi, chairman of Intentional Software Corp., who has taken two tourist flights to the International Space Station.

Cameron serves the company as an adviser, as does former NASA space shuttle astronaut Tom Jones.

Planetary Resources, Inc. plans to send robotic probes out to prospect near-Earth asteroids, gauging their potential stores of water and platinum-group metals. CREDIT: Planetary Resources, Inc.

View full size image

The plan

The company is not ready to break ground on an asteroid just yet. Before that can happen, it needs to do some in-depth prospecting work.

Of the roughly 8,900 known near-Earth asteroids, perhaps 100 or 150 are water-rich and easier to reach than the surface of the moon, Anderson said. Planetary Resources wants to identify and characterize these top targets before it does anything else.

Thousands of AsteroidsCredit: Planetary Resources, Inc.Nearly 9,000 near-Earth asteroids are known today, and more than 1,500 of them are easier to reach than the surface of the moon, researchers say

To that end, it has designed a high-performance, low-cost space telescope that Anderson said should launch to low-Earth orbit within the next 18 to 24 months. This telescope will make observations of its own but also serve as a model for future instruments that will journey near promising asteroids and peer at them in great detail.

The prospecting phase should take a couple of years or so, Anderson added.

“We will then, at that time, determine which of these objects to pursue first for resource extraction, and what mission we’ll be facilitating,” he said. “Before you decide where to put the gas station, you’ve got to understand where the trucks are going to be driving by.”

Mining activities will be enabled by swarms of unmanned spacecraft, according to company materials. Planetary Resources will focus on near-Earth asteroids, with no immediate plans to extend its reach to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter or to the surface of the moon, Anderson said.

He declined to estimate when Planetary Resources would begin extracting metals or water from space rocks, saying there are too many variables to lay out a firm timeline. But a recent study sponsored by Caltech’s Keck Institute for Space Studies estimated that a 500-ton near-Earth asteroid could be snagged and dragged to the moon’s orbit by 2025, at a cost of about $2.6 billion.

Whatever Planetary Resources’ exact schedule may be, Anderson said the company is already well on its way to making things happen.

“We’re out there right now, talking to customers,” Anderson said. “We are open for discussions with companies — aerospace companies, mining companies, prospecting companies, resource companies. We’re out working in that field, to really open up the solar system for business.”