The world's biome

Biomes are defined as "the world's major communities, classified according to the predominant vegetation and characterized by adaptations of organisms to that particular environment" (Campbell 1996). The importance of biomes cannot be overestimated. Biomes have changed and moved many times during the history of life on Earth. More recently, human activities have drastically altered these communities. Thus, conservation and preservation of biomes should be a major concern to all. For further information, please consult the references page.

Here we group biomes into six major types:

Freshwater

Marine

Desert

Forest

Grassland

Tundra

Conservation and preservation of biomes

A coral reef surrounds an island in French Polynesia.

Because we share the world with many other species of plants and animals, we must consider the consequences of our actions. Over the past several decades, increasing human activity has rapidly destroyed or polluted many ecological habitats throughout the world. It is important to preserve all types of biomes as each houses many unique forms of life. However, the continued heavy exploitation of certain biomes, such as the forest, freshwater, and marine, may have more severe implications.

Forests are important as they are home to the most diverse biotic communties in the world. Hidden within these biomes are potential medicines and many thousands of unseen and undiscovered species. Also, forests have a global climate-buffering capacity, so their destruction may cause large-scale changes in global climate.

Logging has depleted many old-growth temperate forests. The increased demand for homes, paper, and other wood products have not allowed for much conservation. More recently, people have begun to realize that logging has cleared much of these forests. Wiser use of the forests and efforts to replant trees have helped to slow down the depletion of these communities.

Tropical forests have fallen victim to timber exploitation, slash and burn farming, and clearfelling for industrial use or cattle ranching, particularly in Latin America. Our increasing demand for meat products has spurred these events. For years, this destruction was occuring at a rapid rate. Over half of the world's original tropical forests are already gone. Public attention to this exploitation have helped to alleviate the problem somewhat, though many challenges are still to be faced.

The freshwater and marine biomes are probably the most important of all the biomes. Their medium, water, is a major natural resource. Water is the basis of life, it supports life, and countless species live in it for all or part of their lives. Freshwater biomes supply us with our drinking water and water for crop irrigation. The world's oceans have an even greater effect on global climate than forests do. Water has a high capacity for heat, and because the Earth is mostly covered with water, the temperature of the atmosphere is kept fairly constant and able to support life. In addition to this climate-buffering capacity, the oceans contain several billion photosynthetic plankton which account for most of the photosynthesis occuring on Earth. Without these, there might not be enough oxygen to support such a large world population and complex animal life.

Freshwater biomes have suffered mainly from pollution. Runoff containing fertilizer and other wastes and industrial dumpings enter into rivers, ponds, and lakes and tend to promote abnormally rapid algae growth. When these algae die, dead organic matter accumulates in the water. This makes the water unusable and it kills many of the organisms living in the habitat. Stricter laws have helped to slow down this thoughtless pollution.

Overfishing and pollution have threatened to make oceans into ecological disaster areas. Industrial pollutants that are dumped upstream of estuaries have rendered many marine habitats unsuitable for life. Again, tighter regulations have been used to prevent further destruction of the ocean biomes.

By educating people about the consequences of our actions, we can all gain a better understanding of how to preserve the Earth's natural biomes. The areas that have been destroyed the most will never regain their original forms, but conservation will help to keep them from getting worse.

Biome Summary

Biome Summary

How to Read a Climograph
Every place on Earth has weather. However, different places on Earth have different types of "typical" weather. Some places are dry, some are wet, some are hot, some are cold, and some are a little of everything!

You can find out what the weather is like where you live by looking out the window or by stepping outside. Weather refers to temperature, precipitation (rain and snow), and the wind's direction and speed. Scientists who study the weather collect information from different places on Earth and come up with averages, or typical types of weather, for a particular place. This average, or typical type of weather that occurs during a year, is called the "climate."

A quick way to get an idea of the climate of a particular place is to look at a "climate-graph," or "climograph." A climograph is what scientists create to show a particular location's average temperature and precipitation during the year.

Below is a climograph for Moose Factory, Canada. To help you learn to read a climograph, the different parts of the climograph have been identified by number. A description of each of the numbered parts is given below.

1. The type of biome associated with the place.

2. The place where the temperature and precipitation were measured.

3. A scale used to indicate inches of precipitation.

4. The months of the year. The letters J, F, M, etc., stand for January, February, March, etc.

5. The temperature scale in degrees Fahrenheit.

6. A bar graph showing the average precipitation for each month. In this example, the average total precipitation is about 1 inch in January and nearly 4 inches in August. (Note: Values for this graph are found on the left-hand scale.)

7. A line graph showing monthly temperature during the year. In this example, the lowest temperature is about -5°F in January and the highest is about 45°F in July. (Note: Values for this graph are found on the right-hand scale.)

Arctic Tundra
Arctic tundra is found across northern Alaska, Canada, and Siberia. This biome has long cold winters and short cool summers. The Arctic tundra has low precipitation (less than 10 inches per year) and dry winds. These conditions make the Arctic tundra a desert-like climate (see climograph).

One unique characteristic of the Arctic tundra is permafrost--ground that is permanently frozen. Because the permafrost has no cracks or pores, nothing can penetrate it--neither plant roots nor water. The surface layer above the permafrost thaws each summer. This layer is called the active layer. Thickness of the active layer depends on its location in the tundra. The more northerly the location, the thinner the active layer is.

Curiously, during the summer Arctic tundra is characterized by lots of surface water. When snow melts, the water percolates through the active layer but is unable to penetrate the permafrost. Since the water has nowhere to go, the active layer becomes saturated and pools of water form on the surface. Another characteristic of the Arctic tundra is the limited amount of sunlight it receives due to the position of the Sun in the sky. Depending on the latitude, the Sun can remain below the horizon for up to 2 months, leaving the Arctic tundra in darkness. Although the sun remains in the sky 24 hours a day during the summer, it stays close to the horizon and provides only low intensity sunlight. Photos © 2000-www.arttoday.com

Arctic Tundra: Animals
Not many kinds of animals live year-round in the Arctic tundra. Most birds and mammals only use the tundra as a summer home. Mammals that do live year-round in the tundra include the muskox, Arctic wolf, and brown bear; and each has its own way of adapting to the extreme climatic conditions. Animals need to find ways to stay warm and to provide nourishment for themselves in order to survive the long, cold, winter months.

Animal adaptations
Migration and hibernation are examples of behavioral adaptations used by animals in the Arctic tundra. The fact that many animals do not live year-round in the tundra means they leave or migrate for a length of time to warmer climates.

Hibernation is a combination of behavioral and physical adaptations. For example, during the summer the brown bear's behavior is to eat just about anything it can find; then it hibernates, or sleeps, during the winter. The bear's physical adaptation allows the food eaten during the summer to be stored as a layer of fat underneath its skin. The layer of fat insulates the bear from the cold. While in hibernation the fat is slowly converted into energy that maintains life.

A physical adaptation used by the Musk Ox is the growth of two layers of fur--one short and the other long. Air is trapped in the short layer of fur and is warmed by body heat. The warmed air, trapped close to the body, acts as insulation from the cold. The layer of long fur protects the Musk Ox from the wind and water. In addition to thick layers of fur, the Musk Ox relies on another physical adaptation to help it survive. The hooves of the Musk Ox are large and hard. During the winter months, this adaptation allows the Musk Ox to break the ice and drink the water underneath.

Arctic Tundra: Plants
Plants need warmth and sunlight to grow and reproduce. In the Arctic tundra, warmth and sunlight are in short supply, even in the summer. The ground is frequently covered with snow until June, and the Sun is always low in the sky.

Only plants with shallow root systems grow in the Arctic tundra because the permafrost prevents plants from sending their roots down past the active layer of soil. The active layer of soil is free from ice for only 50 to 90 days.

Arctic plants have a very short growing season. However, in spite of the severe conditions and the short growing season, there are approximately 1,700 kinds of plants that live in the Arctic tundra. Some of the plants that live in the Arctic tundra include mosses, lichens, low-growing shrubs, and grasses--but no trees. In fact, "tundra" is a Finnish words which means "treeless".

Plant Adaptations
Growing close together and low to the ground are some of the adaptations that plants use to survive. This growing pattern helps the plant resist the effects of cold temperatures and reduce the damage caused by the impact of tiny particles of ice and snow that are driven by the dry winds. Photo © 2000-www.arttoday.com

Plants also have adapted to the Arctic tundra by developing the ability to grow under a layer of snow, to carry out photosynthesis in extremely cold temperatures, and for flowering plants, to produce flowers quickly once summer begins. A small leaf structure is another physical adaptation that helps plants survive. Plants lose water through their leaf surface. By producing small leaves the plant is more able to retain the moisture it has stored.

Deciduous Forest
The mid-latitude deciduous forest biome is located between the polar regions and the tropics. Because of its location, air masses from both the cold polar region and the warm tropical region contribute to the changes of climate in this biome. Photo © 2000-www.arttoday.com

Mid-latitude deciduous forests have both a warm and a cold season (see climograph). Precipitation ranges from 30 to 60 inches and is evenly distributed throughout the year. Much of the human population lives in this biome. Although evergreens are found in this biome, this biome is characterized by an abundance of deciduous trees.

"Deciduous" means to fall off, or shed, seasonally. Just as the name implies, these deciduous trees shed their leaves each fall. Lying on the forest floor, the leaves decay. As the leaves decompose, the nutrients contained in the leaves are absorbed by the soil. For this reason, the soils of this biome tend to be very fertile. Because this biome has fertile soil and a long, 5 to 6 month, growing season, many deciduous forests have been converted into agricultural regions.
Deciduous Forest: Animals
A wide variety of mammals, birds, insects, and reptiles can be found in a deciduous forest biome. Mammals that are commonly found in a deciduous forest include bears, raccoons, squirrels, skunks, wood mice, and, in the U.S., deer can be found in these forests. While bobcats, mountain lions, timberwolves, and coyotes are natural residents of these forests, they have nearly been eliminated by humans because of their threat to human life. Other animals that were native to this biome, such as elk and bison, have been hunted to near extinction.

Animal Adaptations
Migration and hibernation are two adaptations used by the animals in this biome. While a wide variety of birds migrate, many of the mammals hibernate during the cold winter months when food is in short supply.

Another behavioral adaptation some animals have adopted is food storage. The nuts and seeds that are plentiful during the summer are gathered by squirrels, chipmunks, and some jays, and are stored in the hollows of trees for use during the winter months. Cold temperatures help prevent the decomposition of the nuts and seeds.

Deciduous Forest: Plants
Trees of this biome include both broadleaf, deciduous trees, such as maple, oak, hickory, and beech, and evergreens, such as hemlock, spruce, and fir. A deciduous forest typically has three to four, and sometimes five, layers of plant growth.

Tall deciduous trees make up the top layer of plant growth, and they create a moderately dense forest canopy. Although the canopy is moderately dense, it does allow sunlight to reach the forest floor. This sunlight allows plants in the other layers to grow. The second layer of plant growth includes saplings and species of trees that are naturally shorter in stature. A third layer (or understory) would include shrubs. Forest herbs, such as wildflowers and berries, make up a fourth layer. During the spring, before the deciduous trees leaf out, these herbs bloom and grow quickly in order to take advantage of the sunlight. A fifth layer would include mosses and lichens that grow on tree trunks.

Plant adaptations
In the spring, deciduous trees begin producing thin, broad, light-weight leaves. This type of leaf structure easily captures the sunlight needed for food production (photosynthesis). The broad leaves are great when temperatures are warm and there is plenty of sunlight. However, when temperatures are cold, the broad leaves expose too much surface area to water loss and tissue damage. To help prevent this damage from occurring, deciduous trees make internal and physical adaptations that are triggered by changes in the climate.

Cooler temperatures and limited sunlight are two climatic conditions that tell the tree to begin adapting. In the Fall, when these conditions occur, the tree cuts off the supply of water to the leaves and seals off the area between the leaf stem and the tree trunk. With limited sunlight and water, the leaf is unable to continue producing chlorophyll, the "green" stuff in the leaves, and as the chlorophyll decreases the leaves change color. The beautiful display of brilliant red, yellow, and gold leaves, associated with deciduous forests in the fall, is a result of this process. Most deciduous trees shed their leaves, once the leaves are brown and dry.
Desert
The defining characteristic of a desert is that it is dry. Depending on its geographical location, the annual precipitation in a desert varies from half an inch to as much as 15 inches. Rainfall is usually very localized, and although it is frequently seasonal, it is difficult to predict when or where it will occur. At times in the Atacama Desert in Chile, years have passed with no measurable rainfall at all. However, that is not generally the case. Photo © 2000-www.arttoday.com

Deserts can be either hot such as the Australian Desert or cold such as the Gobi Desert. As with all biomes, the desert climate is determined by geographic conditions. Geographic conditions such as location, high atmospheric pressure, and proximity of mountain ranges determine just what type of desert it is.

Deserts may occur along the coast such as the Atacama and Namib deserts or in the interior of continents such as the Great Basin and Australian deserts, which are far from any source of water. Coastal deserts are located on west coasts of continents between 20° to 30° latitude. Prevailing winds blow in an easterly pattern and prevent the moisture from moving onto the land. Semiarid deserts, like the Great Basin Desert, are not only located far from moisture, but are frequently associated with high mountain ranges that produce a rainshadow effect. The rainshadow effect prevents available moisture from reaching the area. The great Gobi Desert of Mongolia has little rainfall because the Himalayan Mountains prevent rainfall from moving into this region.

Because all deserts are dry, they have large daily temperature variations. Temperatures are high during the day because there is very little moisture in the air to block the Sun's rays from reaching Earth. Once the Sun goes down, the heat absorbed during the day quickly escapes back into space. High daytime temperatures and low nighttime temperatures make survival in the desert very difficult.

Desert: Animals
At first glance, deserts may appear to be without animal life. However, deserts are home to many reptiles, insects, birds, and small mammals. The kangaroo mice of North America and the bilby and red kangaroo of Australia are just a few examples of small mammals that live in the desert. Most large animals have not adapted to desert life. Their size prevents them from finding shelter from the Sun's heat and they are not able to store water for future use. Animals that do survive in the desert have developed a number of adaptations. Photo: Red Kangaroo.

Animal adaptations
The most universal behavioral adaptation used by small mammals, reptiles, and insects to deal with high temperatures is staying in the shadow (shade) of plants or rocks, thus avoiding the direct rays of the Sun. These animals also seek shelter by burrowing into the ground. Just as a basement room is cooler than an above-ground room, a burrow, even a few feet underground, can decrease the temperature by several degrees. Another behavioral adaptation used by desert animals is to remain inactive during the hot daylight hours. They hunt at night when temperatures are cool and when there is less risk of losing precious body water. Animals that use this adaptation are referred to as nocturnal. Some animals get all of the water they need from the insects, bulbs, and seeds they eat. They will not drink water even when it is available. Photos © 2000-www.arttoday.com

Some animals have developed salt glands, a physical adaptation that allows the secretion of salt without the loss of water. The absence of sweat glands, and the concentration of urine are other physical adaptations made by desert animals. Because fat intensifies heat, a unique physical adaptation of some desert animals is the storage of fat in humps or tails, rather than throughout the entire body.

Boimes

There are many different kinds of plants and animals on the Earth, but only certain kinds are naturally found at any particular place. (We are not counting zoos here!) For example, cacti are found in the desert, polar bears are found in the Arctic, and elephants are found in central Africa and India. So, why don't people living in south Texas have to be on the lookout for snow leopards, or why don't kids in Minnesota have to worry about finding giant boa constrictors in their back yards? It is because these animals are not adapted to live in the average weather conditions found in Texas or Minnesota.

These average weather conditions, such as the range of temperature and rainfall that typically occur in a particular location like Minnesota, are called the climate of that location. Some climates are hot, some are cold, some are wet and some are dry. "Adapted" means that a plant or animal has inherited certain characteristics that enable it to live in one type of climate or another. For example, polar bears have a layer of fat under their skin and a heavy fur coat to help them withstand arctic cold. They would have a difficult time trying to survive in a hot climate.

Plants and animals don't live in isolation, but they live together with other plants and animals in an interdependent group called an ecological community. If you think about it for a moment, you will realize that all of the plants and animals in a particular ecological community must be adapted to the same climate so that they can all live in the same location.

A distinct ecological community of plants and animals living together in a particular climate is called a "biome." Scientists have divided the broad spectrum of climates and ecological communities found on Earth into biomes in different ways - some with many divisions, some with only a few. Here is a commonly found grouping:

Arctic Tundra
Mid-Latitude Deciduous Forest
Desert
Tropical Rainforest
Tropical Savannah
Taiga

The locations of these different biomes across the face of Earth are shown in different colors in the map* above. The Arctic tundra is light tan (ice is white). Mid-Latitude deciduous forests are greenish-yellow and yellowish-green. Deserts are mostly gray. Tropical rainforests are green. Tropical savannahs are light green and dark yellow. Areas of taiga are dark green and gray-green. To find out more about each of the biomes, just click on one of the spots on the map or use the navigational bar at the right of the page.

One Million Americans Studying Abroad

In 2005, the U.S. Senate declared 2006 the “Year of Study Abroad.” However, last year only about 200,000 U.S. students traveled abroad, representing only a little more than one percent of the total number of enrolled undergraduates in the nation. According to many members of Congress, that statistic is far too small.

The recent Senator Paul Simon Study Abroad Foundation Act — inspired by the work of the late Senator Paul Simon (D-IL) — was introduced to Congress in March, and proposes a dramatic increase in the number of American college students who study abroad.

That number is expected to reach one million annually by 2017.

One goal of the legislation, which is based on recommendations published by the 2004 bipartisan Lincoln Study Abroad Commission, is to make studying abroad the standard for college students, not the exception.

The Act works to promote study abroad programs in developing countries, especially those in Africa and Asia.

Kerry Bolognese of the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC), a higher-education alliance of over 200 public universities and land-grant institutions, said that thirty-six percent of all American students studying abroad travel to one of four European countries, while less than 6,000 travel to China or India.

“[The bill] is trying to bring out the entrepreneurial spirit of faculty and administrators in developing countries,” he said. “We’re confident that the supply is there, [because] the demand is already there.”

Bolognese, who also worked as a consultant for the House Foreign Affairs Committee from 1984 to 1992, said that many students want to go to developing countries but cannot, because few programs exist there.

On the other hand, Jennifer Poulakidas, vice president of congressional affairs at NASULGC, said that while some programs do exist for study in developing and non-traditional countries, many schools do not put much emphasis on these programs.

The Paul Simon Act is important, she said, because it will “turn light to some programs that are currently taking place.”

Studying can also be cheaper in non-traditional countries than in others, Poulakidas said. For example, one semester-long program in Mexico, travel included, is cheaper than one semester at Michigan State University.

“There are a lot of different reasons — intellectual curiosity, cultural interests, and even sometimes pocketbook expenses — that come into play when looking at non-traditional destinations,” Poulakidas said.

This year marks the second in a row that study abroad bills have been introduced in Congress.

Representatives Tom Lantos (D-CA) and Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) introduced this year’s bill in the House, while Senators Dick Durbin (D-IL) and Norm Coleman (R-MN) did the same in the Senate. The House bill currently has 46 bipartisan co-sponsors; the Senate bill has 37.

The new bill authorizes $80 million for grants to students, colleges and universities, and non-governmental organizations that provide study abroad programs. It will also create an independent government entity, the Senator Paul Simon Foundation, to administer the program. The foundation would have the authority to leverage funds from the private sector.

Rebecca Hovey firmly believes in the importance of studying abroad. She works for the School for International Training (SIT), an accredited college in Vermont that focuses on intercultural education.

“It is a profound learning experience to realize that the way we think about such basic things as family, work, cultural norms, and our relationship to nature can be so different in another setting,” Hovey said.

The SIT actively works with other countries to ensure students from the U.S. have a positive impact abroad.

The school advocates unique courses that are not found in America and are taught by local faculty and administrators abroad.

Hovey continued, “[Studying abroad] can really change the way you look at the world.”

Competition

Umbra's student design competition with a difference

Design students: if your school doesn't have one of these, push for it! Housewares manufacturer Umbra regularly sponsors a design competition at Pratt where winners can actually earn royalties, the financial dream of many a post-grad designer, with winning designs.

This year's winners have just been announced; click here for the glory details.

All hail the cocktail umbrella

The cocktail umbrella: Does it really do anything? It definitely opens and closes like a real umbrella, so it seems the dead-end functional charm of the miniature rain shield has single-handedly managed to keep it alive over the years. In celebration of this long summer weekend, we leave you with a tribute to the cocktail umbrella.

Party store uses subway grates for promotion

This rogue ad effort for a party store cleverly makes use for those nasty subway grate, passing-train blasts of air. Great tag line: "Surprise Party Specialists," which is perfectly nice until an unsuspecting jittery person suffers a heart attack or, more realistically, until those streamers turn black (we're guessing about 10 minutes in NYC).

Sony busts out flexible color OLED screen prototype

Ahh the elusive flexible display, an all-time ID student favorite. We're no longer asking "what" but "when," as in "when will Sony be implementing its sweet new flexible, full-color OLED TFT display technology?" Apparently, there are plans to launch a new line of miniature TVs later this year with next-generation flat-panel OLEDs in the works. Overall, Sony will use these developments to achieve slimmer, lighter, and more flexible devices.

Lazy mom pushes stroller while on a Segway

Fresh Dialogue 23: Designing Audiences

Next Tuesday, AIGA/NY is presenting a great event looking at graphic design through the eyes of three designers: Stefan Bucher (Daily Monster), Eric Rodenbeck (Mappr), and Katie Salen (Karaoke Ice)--all moderated by Ze Frank. Here's the pitch:

In a user-centric world where Nike iD, Flickr and YouTube rule the roost, this trio has kept pace, designing not just for but with their audiences. Playing with the notion of designer as visual storyteller, they craft conversations where their viewers are suddenly participants. See how each of them has redefined that joyous, contentious relationship between design and its consumers in a variety of mediums.

Free tickets to Designing the Future: Japan's Tech Revolution

In two weeks (Friday June 8 & Saturday June 9) the Japan Society in New York will be hosting a two-day symposium on design and technology in Japan. The line up is great, featuring presenters from Toyota, Motorola, Panasonic, WIRED, Harvard Business School and others. The event will include a healthy dose of robotics, including a concert by a robotic orchestra. The best part is that Core77 readers can get FREE tickets. To do so email Ryohei (ryamamoto-at-japansociety.org) and simply ask for the ticket. The first 20 respondents get them.

The event is part of Tech Epoch - an 11-day summit showcasing Japan's technological innovation, with interactive demonstrations, cutting-edge robotics, innovative automotives, multimedia performances, lectures, symposia, and family and student workshops. Various events are taking place throughout NYC in the first two weeks of June.

Klaus Rosburg, rapidly prototyping

Klaus Rosburg of Sonic Design has created the Capitol Light, a miniature version of the original. Scaled down from 165 feet to 165 millimeters, this charming gesture "brings not only humor, but also light to todays world politics." Bonus plug for all: Cimquest offered a complimentary print on their Dimension 3D printer during this past week's symposium; Klaus picked up the lamp part right there and then!

5000 Darwin letters go online

Photo: The Megatherium Skeleton includes some key fossils supplied by Darwin and shows how his earliest research helped to further the programme of natural theological science

The Darwin Correspondence Project has a new web site. The main feature of the site is an online database with the complete, searchable, texts of around 5,000 letters written by and to Charles Darwin up to the year 1865. This includes all the surviving letters from the Beagle voyage - online for the first time - and all the letters from the years around the publication of Origin of species in 1859.

Enjoy this historic footprint of design in the first new major content area on Darwin and design in nature with a list of letters that discuss design in nature. For instance, with letters between Charles Darwin and the Anglican clergyman Charles Kingsley (a strong supporter of Darwin and a proponent of design) and letters discussing work by the Scottish statesman George Douglas Campbell, the duke of Argyll, an advocate of design and a leading critic of Darwin.

Eastman Chemical's innovation & design site

When (or if) you think about innovation within the chemicals industry, names like DuPont, Dow Chemical or maybe a big conglomerate like GE come to mind. But did you know that the relatively tiny Eastman Chemical Company (not to be confused with Eastman Kodak) has put together a state-of-the-art innovation and design site featuring conversations and interviews with leading innovators that the company is calling A Smorgasbord of Ideas:

"The Eastman Innovation Lab isn't your every day corporate website; it's an unconventional, sometimes irreverent (but always relevant) resource for designers. That's why we interview some of the design world's most creative and influential thinkers - you can listen to their opinions, and not ours. Designers, brand owners and educators - people who look at the world differently - help us bring you a smorgasbord of ideas. Some of them use Eastman materials; some do not. That's not as important as what they know, and what they have to say.

From Yves Béhar, founder of the San Francisco design firm, fuseproject, and storyteller extraordinaire, to Marc Rosen, renowned cosmetics packaging designer, to Robyn Waters, author of "The Trendmaster's Guide", we offer an eclectic mix of viewpoints from people we respect and you'll enjoy... The menu is constantly evolving and expanding. So stop by our smorgasbord often and check out what's new. Watch out for the pickled herring."

Be sure to check out the "intricately curvaceous" POM Wonderful bottle with an "ergonomically correct" handle, made to resemble three pomegranates stacked one on top of the other.

How to build a Space Shuttle

Talk about complicated! Here's a pretty awesome photo essay on how they put all the components together for a Space Shuttle launch. Just getting the thing onto the launchpad takes up to eight hours.

Witness the design process of VW's Tiguan

Volkswagen has put up an element on their German website called the "Tiguan Base," where you can see the development of their new Tiguan auto concept, from early sketches right up to the real thing.

Focus on ecology

Fisheries focus on ecology, hygiene

Basa catfish are readied for processing at the Hung Vuong Seafood Export and Import Co. According to the Ministry of Fisheries, total investment in seafood products is expected to reach over VND17 trillion (US$1.1 billion) by 2010. — VNA/VNS Photo The Anh

HA NOI — The 2006-10 strategy of the Ministry of Fisheries for developing the aquaculture sector has placed emphasis on measures to protect marine ecology and ensure food safety while promoting seafood exports.

Fisheries Minister Ta Quang Ngoc said at a two-day conference that ended yesterday in Ha Noi that his ministry would take immediate steps to supply more raw materials for the export-oriented processing industry.

Under the ministry’s programme, total investment in growing aquacultural products is expected to reach more than VND17 trillion (US$1.1 billion) by 2010. Ngoc also called for investment in breeding, feed production, an application of advanced technology.

Ngoc said his ministry has proposed that the Government increase budget allocation for infrastructure and for research and development, especially in applications of bio-technology.

The ministry programme is aimed at promoting aquaculture on an industrial scale and ensuring standard waste treatment and aquacultural disease prevention.

In the near future, to promote the growth of the aquacultural products sector, the ministry will set up disease supervision systems and procedures for inspecting water supplies in breeding areas in order to increase the ability to quickly detect any disease outbreaks.

Strong development of the aquacultural sector would depend on a clean ecological environment, Ngoc said, so his ministry would put more investment into irrigation and improving the environment.

The ministry would also disseminate a list of banned antibiotics and train farmers how to grow aquacultural products without using them, said Luong Quang Phiet, an expert from the Ministry of Science and Technology.

EU exports promoted

Two Vietnamese-German joint ventures, Viet Nam Bremen GmbH and German Bremen GmbH, will be established in Bremen, Germany, to promote Viet Nam’s seafood in the EU, according the Ministry of Fisheries. The Viet Nam Association of Seafood Exporters and Processors (VASEP) would hold a large stake in each of the two companies, which would act as intermediaries for the supply of Viet Nam seafood to the EU market. According to the ministry, 20 per cent of Viet Nam’s aquacultural products, including fish and shrimp products, were currently exported to the EU. Thanks to product quality and hygiene, the Viet Nam seafood sector has a firm foothold in the market. To ensure the quality of seafood exported to EU, the ministry will establish a laboratory in HCM City for product inspections prior to shipment to the EU.

Food hygiene and safety standards were becoming stricter in export markets, Phiet said.

Areas across the country used for aquaculture have more than doubled over the past six years, to 960,000ha in 2005, an average increase of 13.8 per cent a year. Meanwhile, output has increased more than two-thirds over the same period to 1,437,000 tonnes.

The seafood sector has earned $517.5 million from exports so far this year, an increase of 4.67 per cent over the same period last year, reported the Fisheries Ministry. March alone contributed $185 million to the total turnover.

Eco-fragile zone

Power plant zaps eco-fragile zone

TROUBLED WATERS: The plant is allegedly increasing water temperature.

Lush green forests and fishermen out at work. It's to preserve this idyllic picture that the Ministry of Environment forests declared the Dahanu region, which is situated 125 km north of Mumbai, an eco-fragile zone in 1991.

But not everything is picture perfect in Dahanu. A CNN-IBN investigation has found that the Reliance Energy-owned Dahanu Thermal Power station is violating thermal emission norms.

Fishermen allege that the 500-MW thermal plant is ruining their lives. "Boiler water woh samudar mein phek rahein hain, aur ash ka pani bhi paani chod diya hai. (They are releasing boiler water and even flyash into the sea)," said fisherman Praveen Chamre.

"Isse sara chota chota machi mar raha hai (This is killing all the small fish)," he alleged.

However, when a Maharashtra Pollution Control Board (MPCB) team visited the site, it found only a 5-degree Celsius difference--just within permissible limits.

Unconvinced by the MPCB's findings, the CNN-IBN team joined a group of environmentalists and took independent readings. As soon as the thermometer was put in the water, the mercury shot up.

"The water temperature here is 37 degree Celsius," said environmental activist Hemant Babu.

The temperature was two degrees above the maximum permissible limit agreed upon in the consent form, which allows Reliance to operate in this region.

The MPCB claimed that the limit has been relaxed to 10 degrees Celsius, but experts said that even a slight change in temperature is fatal for marine ecology.

"Even a change of two degrees in temperature can have a severe effect, 10 degrees is like pouring hot water," said Dr Rashneh Pardiwala, director of the Centre for Environment Research and Education.

The violation has angered C.S. Dharmadhikari, the chairperson of the Dahanu Taulka Environment Protection Authority (DTEPA). Dharmadhikari said he was never informed of any relaxation and has threatened drastic action.

"If we find that there is a violation, we can even shut the plant down," said Dharmadhikari. This could mean a blackout in Mumbai simply because Reliance Energy is not obeying the rules.

But the worst sufferers are the fisher-folk of Dahanu. With the fish gone, the community now collects bits of coal that falls from barges.

Snowpacks

Smaller snowpacks are silver lining in the cloud of recent drought years

ALLEN BEST


BOULDER - It turns out that even drought can have a silver lining, one that reduces global warming.

Scientists from the University of Colorado-Boulder say thinner snowpacks, such as those experienced in recent years in the Rocky Mountains and the Sierra Nevada, result in less insulation of forest soils, cooling them and slowing the metabolism of microbes within the soils.

With larger snowpacks, those microbes are working harder and release large amounts of carbon dioxide, one of the key greenhouse gases attributed to the world's warming climate.

"I view this as a small amount of good news in a large cloud of bad news," said Russell Monson, a professor in the university's ecology and evolutionary biology department. Results of the study appeared in the journal Nature. The experiments were conducted on Niwot Ridge, which is located on the Front Range between Boulder and Granby.

Additional research at Niwot Ridge by other scientists finds that spring has been arriving up to a month earlier due to warmer temperatures. Increased heat and less moisture stresses the trees, resulting in them being able to absorb less carbon dioxide. Monson noted that more carbon is stored in forests, in hilly or mountainous terrain, than other ecosystems.

Carbon dioxide levels hovered at around 250 parts per million for thousands of years, but began climbing rapidly with the Industrial Revolution which began in the 1700s. Current levels are at 380 parts per million.

150 megabits per second download

Comcast CEO shows off 150 megabits per second download
Las Vegas, May 9 (AP): Comcast Corp. Chief Executive Brian Roberts dazzled a cable industry audience on Tuesday, showing off for the first time in public new technology that enabled a data download speed of 150 megabits per second, or roughly 25 times faster than today's standard cable modems.

The cost of modems that would support the technology, called ``channel bonding,'' is ``not that dissimilar to modems today,'' he told The Associated Press after a demonstration at The Cable Show. It could be available ``within less than a couple years,'' he said.

The new cable technology is crucial because the industry is competing with a speedy new offering called FiOS, a TV and Internet service that Verizon Communications Inc. is selling over a new fiber-optic network. The top speed currently available through FiOS is 50 megabits per second, but the network is already capable of providing 100 Mbps and the fiber lines offer nearly unlimited potential.

The technology, called DOCSIS 3.0, was developed by the cable industry's research arm, Cable Television Laboratories. Instead of using one TV channel to transmit data, it uses four, quadrupling the maximum download speed. The laboratory said last month it expected manufacturers to begin submitting modems for certification under the standard by the end of the year.

In the presentation, ARRIS Group Inc. chief executive Robert Stanzione downloaded a 30-second, 300-megabyte television commercial in a few seconds and watched it long before a standard modem worked through an estimated download time of 16 minutes.

Stanzione also downloaded the 32-volume Encyclopaedia Britannica 2007 and Merriam-Webster's visual dictionary in under four minutes, when it would have taken a standard modem three hours and 12 minutes.

``If you look at what just happened, 55 million words, 100,000 articles, more than 22,000 pictures, maps and more than 400 video clips,'' Roberts said. ``The same download on dial-up would have taken two weeks.''

Other cable industry executives, including Time Warner Inc. Chief Executive Richard Parsons, News Corp. President Peter Chernin and Viacom Inc. Chief Executive Philippe Dauman, cheered the demonstration during a panel afterward.

Brian Dietz, spokesman for the conference host, the National Cable and Telecommunications Association, said the demonstration was the key technological advance showcased at the conference.

``It's an exponential step forward and we're very excited,'' Roberts said. ``What consumers actually do with all this speed is up to the imagination of the entrepreneurs of tomorrow.''

HI

A negative thinker see a difficulty in every opportunity, A positive thinker see an opportunity in every difficulty, Wish u an optimistic life..

World's Largest Marine Sanctuary Created

World's Largest Marine Sanctuary Created
By John Heilprin, Associated Press
June 16, 2006 — President Bush plans to designate a vast new marine sanctuary Thursday, extending stronger federal protections to the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands and its endangered monk seals, nesting green sea turtles and other rare species.

The nation's newest national monument, which will be given a native Hawaiian name based on suggestions from state residents, covers an archipelago stretching 1,400 miles long and 100 miles wide in the Pacific Ocean.

The region is home to more than 7,000 species, at least a fourth of them found nowhere else.

The decision to create the nation's 75th national monument immediately sets aside 140,000 square miles of largely uninhabited islands, atolls, coral reef colonies and underwater peaks known as seamounts to be managed by federal and state agencies.

Conrad C. Lautenbacher, head of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, which will manage nearly all of it, said the new protected area would dwarf all others.

"It's the single-largest act of ocean conservation in history. It's a large milestone," Lautenbacher said. "It is a place to maintain biodiversity and to maintain basically the nurseries of the Pacific. It spawns a lot of the life that permeates the middle of the Pacific Ocean."
A negative thinker see a difficulty in every opportunity, A positive thinker see an opportunity in every difficulty, Wish u an optimistic life..

Liquid with power of light

Scientists bend liquid with power of light
Chicago, Mar 27 (AFP) A group of scientists have found a way to bend and direct liquid using only the force of light, according to a study that will be published Friday.

The French and American physicists used a laser beam to produce a surprisingly long and steady jet of soapy liquid that was narrower than a human hair. When directed at a different angle, it pushed the liquid into a hump-like shape.

It is believed to be the first time a laser had been used to generate bulk flow in fluids.

The discovery could lead to advances in biomedical and biotechnological research by offering a new way to control the flow of fluids through extremely narrow channels.

The discovery was made by accident while University of Chicago professor, Wendy Zhang, was visiting colleagues at the University of Bordeaux.

Zhang, who studies fluids, was invited into a lab where scientist Jean-Pierre Delville had observed a strange and unexpected result after completing a previous experiment involving the behavior of the same fluid under a less intense laser beam.

Delville turned up the laser power just to see what it could do, much the same way a motorist might test the performance of a powerful car on a deserted road.

"He turned up the power and then saw this amazing thing," Zhang said. "Because he has a lot of experience with optics, he realised that what he saw was strange." Zhang took the concept back to Chicago and started working out the theory of what happened with a graduate student, Robert Schroll, who is lead author of the study to be published in the Physical Review Letters on March 30. (AFP)

A negative thinker see a difficulty in every opportunity, A positive thinker see an opportunity in every difficulty, Wish u an optimistic life..