The new map design follows a series of historical and ongoing arguments about ownership, and the race for resources, in the frozen lands and seas of the Arctic.

The potential for conflicts is increasing as the search for new oil, gas and minerals intensifies.

The move to comprehensively map the region illustrates the urgent need for clear policy-making on Arctic issues – an area rich in natural resources. The Durham map shows (click here to view the map):

1. where boundaries have been agreed
2. where known claims are
3. the potential areas that states might claim

Director of Research at the International Boundaries Research Unit (IBRU), Martin Pratt says: “The map is the most precise depiction yet of the limits and the future dividing lines that could be drawn across the Arctic region.

“The results have huge implications for policy-making as the rush to carve up the polar region continues.

“It’s a cartographic means of showing, and an attempt to collate information and predict the way in which the Arctic region may eventually be divided up. The freezing land and seas of the Arctic are likely to be getting hotter in terms of geopolitics; the Durham map aims to assist national and international policy-makers across the world.”

It’s a year since Russia planted a flag on the seabed, underneath the North Pole, highlighting its claim to a huge chunk of the Arctic.

The Russian demands relate to a complex area of law covered by the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS). Under that law, any coastal state can claim territory 200 nautical miles (nm) from their shoreline (Exclusive Economic Zone, EEZ) and exploit the natural resources within that zone. Some coastal states have rights that extend beyond EEZ due to their continental shelf. Areas of the seabed beyond the continental shelf are referred to as ‘The Area’ and any world state – landlocked or not – has equal rights in this area.

The continental shelf is the part of a country’s landmass that extends into the sea before dropping into the deep ocean. Under UNCLOS, if a state can prove its rights, it can exploit the resources of the sea and the seabed within its territory.

Russia claims that its continental shelf extends along a mountain chain running underneath the Arctic, known as the Lomonosov Ridge. Theoretically, if this was the case, Russia might be able to claim a vast area of territory.

The IBRU map shows what is currently possible and what might be permissible in terms of territorial claims under international law. It also highlights the areas of land and sea where clashes of interest are likely.

A new survey by the US Geological Survey estimates that a fifth of the world’s undiscovered, technically-recoverable resources lie within the Arctic Circle. The Lomonosov Ridge is just one area of contention between countries. Other disputes involve Canada, USA, (Greenland) Denmark, Iceland and Norway.

The problem with claims is that they must be verified by geological, geomorphological and bathymetric analysis (sub-sea surveys), and it’s not an easy or quick process to verify claims.

The new map will help politicians to understand areas of maritime jurisdiction and the methodology employed could be vital in helping to settle future sea territorial disputes.

Conservationists want laws to protect the North Pole region and climate change is likely to bring further pressure as ice melts and the seas open up to exploration.

Source: Durham University.

Rhett Butler of Mongabay.com, a leading tropical-forest Web site, and Laurance argue that the sharp increase in deforestation by big corporations provides environmental lobby groups with clear, identifiable targets that can be pressured to be more responsive to environmental concerns.

Above image caption: Forest clearing in the Peruvian Amazon

Credit: Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com

Usage Restrictions: Credit: Rhett A. Butler, mongabay.com

“Rather than being dominated by rural farmers, tropical deforestation is increasingly driven by major industries—especially large-scale farming, mining, and logging,” said Laurance. “Although this trend is pretty scary, it’s also much easier to target a handful of global corporations than many millions of poor farmers.”

The United Nations estimates that some 13 million hectares (33 million acres) of tropical forest are destroyed each year; but these numbers mask a transition from mostly subsistence-driven to mostly corporate-driven forest destruction, say Butler and Laurance.

According to the authors, a global financial market and a worldwide commodity boom are creating conditions ripe for corporate exploitation of the environment. Surging demand for grain, driven by the thirst for biofuels and rising standards of living in developing countries, is also fueling this trend.

“Green groups are learning to use public boycotts and embarrassment to target the corporate bad guys,” said Butler. “And it works—we’re already seeing the global soy, palm oil, and timber industries beginning to change their approach. They’re realizing they can’t run roughshod over the environment—it’s just too risky for them.”

“In addition, some massive financial firms, including Goldman Sachs, JP Morgan Chase, Citigroup, and Bank of America, have altered their lending practices after coming under fire from environmentalists,” said Butler.

“Environmental groups are using carrots as well as sticks,” said Laurance. “Many multinational corporations are developing greener products because they’re more profitable. For example, the market for eco-friendly timber products is expected to be worth tens of billions of dollars in the U.S. by 2010.”

“We argue that the public and green groups need to send a loud, clear message to the corporate sector,” said Laurance. “There’s just no profit in destroying the natural world.”

Source: Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute

On Tuesday, the team discussed the research in progress concerning an ongoing investigation of perchlorate salts detected in soil analyzed by the wet chemistry laboratory aboard the Phoenix Lander.

“Finding perchlorates is neither good nor bad for life, but it does make us reassess how we think about life on Mars,” said Michael Hecht of NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif. Hecht is the lead scientist for the Microscopy, Electrochemistry and Conductivity Analyzer, the instrument that includes the wet chemistry laboratory.

Image credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University of Arizona/Texas A&M University
Image acquired by NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander shows the trench informally called “Snow White.”

Two samples were delivered to the Wet Chemistry Laboratory, which is part of Phoenix’s Microscopy, Electrochemistry, and Conductivity Analyzer. The first sample was taken from the surface area just left of the trench and informally named “Rosy Red.” The second sample, informally named “Sorceress,” was taken from the center of the “Snow White” trench.

“The Phoenix project has decided to take an unusual step” in talking about the research when its scientists are only about half-way through the data collection phase and have not yet had time to complete data analysis or perform needed laboratory work, said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona, Tucson. Scientists are still at the stage where they are examining multiple hypotheses, given evidence that the soil contains perchlorate.

“We decided to show the public science in action because of the extreme interest in the Phoenix mission, which is searching for a habitable environment on the northern plains of Mars,” Smith added. “Right now, we don’t know whether finding perchlorate is good news or bad news for possible life on Mars.”

Perchlorate is an ion, or charged particle. It is also an oxidant, that is, it can release oxygen, but it is not a powerful one. Perchlorates are found naturally on Earth at such places as Chile’s hyper-arid Atacama Desert.

The suspects in the retail hacking ring are accused of stealing and selling more than 40 million credit and debit card numbers from major American retail stores.

Investigators say the charges include conspiracy, computer intrusion, fraud and identity theft.

Three of those arrested are U.S. citizens. Albert “Segvec” Gonzalez, of Miami, is charged with computer fraud, wire fraud, access device fraud, aggravated identity theft and conspiracy for his role in the scheme. Christopher Scott and Damon Patrick Toey, both of Miami, face related charges. Of the other suspects, three are from the Ukraine, two from China, and one each from Estonia and Belarus. One individual is only known by an alias online, and his place of origin is unknown.

The DOJ says the numbers were stolen in an elaborate scheme using a technique called “wardriving” and hacking into the wireless computer networks of major retailers — including TJX Companies, BJ’s Wholesale Club, OfficeMax, Boston Market, Barnes & Noble, Sports Authority, Forever 21 and DSW. After getting inside those networks, “sniffer” programs were installed that grabbed the card numbers, along with password and account information on the retailers’ credit and debit processing networks.

The indictment alleges that after they collected the data, the conspirators concealed it in encrypted computer servers controlled in Eastern Europe and the United States. They allegedly sold some of the credit and debit card numbers, via the Internet, to other criminals in the United States and Eastern Europe. The stolen numbers were “cashed out” by encoding card numbers on the magnetic strips of blank cards. The defendants then used these cards to withdraw tens of thousands of dollars at a time from ATMs. Gonzalez and others were allegedly able to conceal and launder their fraud proceeds by using anonymous Internet-based currencies both within the United States and abroad, and by channeling funds through bank accounts in Eastern Europe.
“So far as we know, this is the single largest and most complex identity theft case ever charged in this country,” said Attorney General Michael Mukasey. “It highlights the efforts of the Justice Department to fight this pernicious crime and shows that, with the cooperation of our law enforcement partners around the world, we can identify, charge and apprehend even the most sophisticated international computer hackers.”

The flu bug is the target of new seasonal vaccines announced today by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.

The influenza vaccines include new strains of the virus likely to appear during the 2008-2009 season. The strains were identified in a group effort with the FDA, the World Health Organization, U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and other institutions after study of virus samples and patterns collected around the globe during the last year.

“One of the biggest challenges in the fight against influenza is producing new vaccines every year,” said Jesse L. Goodman, M.D., M.P.H., director of FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research. “There is no other instance where new vaccines must be made every year. The approval of flu vaccines is a part of FDA’s mission to promote the health of Americans throughout the year.”

While many Americans reported getting the flu last year, even after receiving a flu shot, experts say vaccination remains the cornerstone of preventing the contagious respiratory illness caused by influenza viruses.

The CDC says an average of 5 to 20 percent of the U.S. population gets the flu annually. Of those, more than 200,000 are hospitalized from flu complications and there are about 36,000 flu-related deaths.

The 44-pounder found roaming the streets of Voorhees recently was thought to be many things.

First called Princess Chunk by rescuers, it was soon found out that “she” was a “he”, and he was no regular stray.

That’s when the story took a sad turn, and the cat’s former owner stepped in to announce how he came to end up on the streets.

His real name was Powder, and until Donna Oklatner lost her home to foreclosure, he lived there happily with her other fur children, Powder’s twin brother Puff, a dog named Cody, and a rabbit called Honey Bunny.

Oklatner told local media she could only care for one of the animals when she had to move, and the others were adopted out. The arrangement hit a snag when Powder’s new owner had to go out of town, and the hefty cat was returned to her. Still unable to keep him, Oklatner gave Powder to friends who promised to take him to the local animal shelter. Within days, his furry face was making headlines after the Camden County Animal Shelter took him in.

Powder’s former owner says he ate only Fancy Feast and dry food, no table scraps. She suspected he had a thyroid problem but could not afford to have him tested.

While a local newspaper reports Powder has been adopted, the Camden County Animal Shelter website says otherwise. The shelter says hundreds of people have applied to adopt the cat, who they say is just two pounds shy of the world record. The shelter also reports it is completely full and hopes those interested in Powder will consider another of the shelter’s 300 animals that need homes.

Powder’s story took him to national fame with appearances on NBC’s “Today Show”, “Live with Regis and Kelly,” and “Good Morning America.”

Animal shelters across the country report many pets are being turned in by owners who can no longer care for them in these tough economic times, many of whom, like Powder’s owner, have lost their homes to foreclosure.

The rare white tigers were born last month at the Safari Zoological Park in Caney, Kansas, just north of the Oklahoma border.

When their mother refused to have any contact with the little ones, the park’s resident Golden Retriever “Isabella” stepped in and took over their care and feeding.

Isabella was perfect for the role of wet nurse since she had just weaned a litter of puppies.

The Safari Zoological Park is a privately owned conservation program that is home to tigers, lions, bears, primates and other animals. The park invites interested individuals to sponsor a particular animal, or one of its ongoing habitat projects.

“People have a hard time adhering to diets and our research shows that choosing eggs for breakfast can dramatically improve the success of a weight loss plan,” said Nikhil V. Dhurandhar, Ph.D., lead researcher and associate professor in the laboratory of infection and obesity at Pennington Biomedical Research Center, a campus of the Louisiana State University system. “Apparently, the increased satiety and energy due to eggs helps people better comply with a reduced-calorie diet.”

Significant Weight Loss Related to Egg Breakfast

Compared to the subjects who ate a bagel breakfast, men and women who consumed two eggs for breakfast as part of a reduced-calorie diet:

* lost 65 percent more weight
* exhibited a 61 percent greater reduction in BMI
* reported higher energy levels than their dieting counterparts who consumed a bagel breakfast [1]

The egg and bagel breakfasts provided the same number of calories and had identical weights (energy density), which is an important control factor in satiety and weight loss studies.

The researchers also found that blood lipids were not impacted during the two month study. They found that blood levels of HDL and LDL cholesterol, as well as triglycerides, did not vary compared to baseline cholesterol blood levels in subjects who ate either the bagel or egg breakfasts. These findings add to more than 30 years of research that conclude that healthy adults can enjoy eggs without significantly impacting their risk of heart disease.

New Emphasis on the Importance of High-Quality Protein

This study adds to the growing body of research which supports the importance of high-quality protein in the diet. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition (AJCN) published a special issue in May 2008, which contains nine articles that focus on the value of high-quality protein in the American diet. A major finding was that not getting enough high-quality protein may contribute to obesity, muscle wasting (loss) and increased risk of chronic disease.

Jump Start the Morning with Eggs

Jackie Newgent, registered dietitian and chef, stresses the importance of obtaining adequate high-quality protein when advising consumers about weight loss. “Eggs are a good source of all-natural, high-quality protein, so they can help keep you satisfied longer, making it easier to resist tempting snacks,” said Newgent. “Nearly half of an egg’s protein, and many of the other nutrients, are found in the yolk, so make sure to eat the whole egg for maximum benefits.”

Newgent suggests these nutrition tips for a successful weight loss plan:

- Manic Monday: Make a batch of hard-cooked eggs on Sunday, so you’ll have all-natural, high-quality protein meals for your on-the-go schedule during the week. Plus, eggs are incredibly affordable. At an average of $1.93 per dozen (or $0.16 per egg), [5] eggs are one of the most affordable high-quality protein foods in the marketplace.

- In-a-Minute Morning Meal: In less than 60 seconds, you can prepare an egg breakfast to help jump start your day. Simply beat one whole egg in a microwave-safe mug then cook in the microwave oven on high for 60 seconds. Slide the egg onto a whole grain English muffin. Add flavor with a sprinkling of fresh herbs, salsa, or cheese. Serve fresh seasonal fruit slices, like peaches in the summer, on the side for a balanced meal.

Source: Edelman Public Relations.

At last report, the National Hurricane Center said the storm was moving slowly across the Lone Star State to the east of Houston on a path toward central Texas. Rainfall from the storm was expected to be in the range of three to five inches, with isolated downpours in some locations as high as 10 inches over portions of southeastern Texas.

Edouard’s winds have died down to near 50 miles per hour with higher gusts. The storm is expected to become a tropical depression by early Wednesday.

A tropical storm warning remains in effect from Cameron, Louisiana to San Luis Pass, Texas.

Map Courtesy: National Hurricane Center

“We have water,” said William Boynton of the University of Arizona, lead scientist for the Thermal and Evolved-Gas Analyzer, or TEGA. “We’ve seen evidence for this water ice before in observations by the Mars Odyssey orbiter and in disappearing chunks observed by Phoenix last month, but this is the first time Martian water has been touched and tasted.”

Photo credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/University Arizona/Texas A&M University

With enticing results so far and the spacecraft in good shape, NASA also announced operational funding for the mission will extend through Sept. 30. The original prime mission of three months ends in late August. The mission extension adds five weeks to the 90 days of the prime mission.

“Phoenix is healthy and the projections for solar power look good, so we want to take full advantage of having this resource in one of the most interesting locations on Mars,” said Michael Meyer, chief scientist for the Mars Exploration Program at NASA Headquarters in Washington.

The soil sample came from a trench approximately 2 inches deep. When the robotic arm first reached that depth, it hit a hard layer of frozen soil. Two attempts to deliver samples of icy soil on days when fresh material was exposed were foiled when the samples became stuck inside the scoop. Most of the material in Wednesday’s sample had been exposed to the air for two days, letting some of the water in the sample vaporize away and making the soil easier to handle.

“Mars is giving us some surprises,” said Phoenix principal investigator Peter Smith of the University of Arizona. “We’re excited because surprises are where discoveries come from. One surprise is how the soil is behaving. The ice-rich layers stick to the scoop when poised in the sun above the deck, different from what we expected from all the Mars simulation testing we’ve done. That has presented challenges for delivering samples, but we’re finding ways to work with it and we’re gathering lots of information to help us understand this soil.”

Since landing on May 25, Phoenix has been studying soil with a chemistry lab, TEGA, a microscope, a conductivity probe and cameras. Besides confirming the 2002 finding from orbit of water ice near the surface and deciphering the newly observed stickiness, the science team is trying to determine whether the water ice ever thaws enough to be available for biology and if carbon-containing chemicals and other raw materials for life are present.

The mission is examining the sky as well as the ground. A Canadian instrument is using a laser beam to study dust and clouds overhead.

“It’s a 30-watt light bulb giving us a laser show on Mars,” said Victoria Hipkin of the Canadian Space Agency.

A full-circle, color panorama of Phoenix’s surroundings also has been completed by the spacecraft.

“The details and patterns we see in the ground show an ice-dominated terrain as far as the eye can see,” said Mark Lemmon of Texas A&M University, lead scientist for Phoenix’s Surface Stereo Imager camera. “They help us plan measurements we’re making within reach of the robotic arm and interpret those measurements on a wider scale.”

Source: NASA - The University of Arizona.