Millions of Tons of Tsunami Refuse Could Reach US Coast

 First Published as "Millions of Tons of Tsunami Refuse Could Reach US Coast" on Technorati

image: JAMSTEC, IPRS, NOAA, NASA

Millions of tons of debris from the massive 9.0 earthquake and tsunami that devastated Japan in March, 2011 is making its way across the Pacific Ocean and will  eventually reach the west coast of the United States.

Following the record quake, crushing tsunami waves reached 133 ft (40.5 meters) in height and traveled up to six miles (10 km) inland. Nearly twenty thousand people were killed or have gone missing.
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When the massive waves retreated, they pulled out to sea millions of tons of demolished houses, cars, furniture and the remnants of thousands of lives. Some of these items will sink as they move across the ocean, but many will not.

A staggering five to twenty million tons of refuse, containing everything from house parts, appliances and the minutia of peoples' lives will likely begin to arrive at Midway Islands, which lies between Japan and Hawaii, sometime this winter. The debris plume is estimated to be two thousand miles long and a thousand miles long.

Debris Plume image: US Navy

The mass of floating refuse will reach Hawaii in the winter or spring of 2013 and finally wash ashore in 2014 along the beaches of North America's west coast from British Columbia and Alaska through Washington, Oregon and California. It is not expected to contain radioactive material.

This prediction is the result of a model ( .pdf) developed by Nikolai Maximenko, a senior researcher at the International Pacific Research Center in Hawaii. He studied thirty years of ocean currents using data from thousands of buoys dotting the ocean. Recently a Russian ship passing between Honolulu and Vladivostock, Russia spotted the Japanese debris field just where Maximenko's model predicted it would be.  You can view an animation of the projected path here.

Whatever remains of this giant plume of trash and debris will eventually make its' way to the infamous 'North Pacific Garbage Patch' a giant vortex of mostly chemical and plastic garbage from the US and Japan which accumulates and is trapped by ocean currents in a huge area of the Pacific Ocean.

This marine garbage collection point was predicted in 1988 by NOAA and verified in 1997. Estimates of size vary greatly but range from  270,000 sq mi (700,000 square kilometres) to more than 5,800,000 sq mi (15,000,000 square kilometers). There is also a garbage patch accumulating in the Atlantic.

Massive Study Proves Climate Change is No Hoax

 First published as, "Massive Study Proves Climate Change is No Hoax" on Technorati

An independent review of more than one and a half billion temperature records from fifteen sources over more than a century  clearly shows that the planet is warming. Researchers at the University of California, Berkeley have confirmed previous reports that global temperatures have risen by 1 degree Celsius or nearly two degrees Fahrenheit overall.


The team included a 2011 Nobel Prize winner in Physics, Saul Perlmutter and various climatologists and statisticians. Compiling a huge open database of temperature records, researchers found a striking correlation with earlier American and British studies and the data clearly supports the conclusions that warming is occurring.

This study is the most comprehensive and thorough to date and focused on some nagging questions about the debate. According to this statement:

" The most important indicator of global warming, by far, is the land and sea surface temperature record. This has been criticized in several ways, including the choice of stations and the methods for correcting systematic errors. The Berkeley Earth Surface Temperature study sets out to to do a new analysis of the surface temperature record in a rigorous manner that addresses this criticism. We are using over 39,000 unique stations, which is more than five times the 7,280 stations found in the Global Historical Climatology Network Monthly data set (GHCN-M) that has served as the focus of many climate studies."

Skeptics have long criticized the use of data sources considered of 'poor' reliability. However, the results remained surprisingly consistent regardless of the perceived accuracy of some reporting stations. Despite local variations, the overall trend remained the same as stations considered 'reliable'.
Researchers found that there is an 'urban heat effect' which is significant to the local area. However, as less than 1% of the global land area is urban, these 'heat islands' were not deemed significant to the planet's overall climate.

Confusing the issue is data that shows one third of stations, many in the US and northern Europe, reported cooling over the last seventy years.

These cooler readings could be due to local variations and expected background 'noise' in the data. It may also be evidence of uneven warming of the planet.
Changes in ocean currents, wind and storm patterns will undoubtedly cause some areas to experience colder, wetter winters and more severe storms. 

It also shows that in those areas experiencing warming, temperatures may have risen much higher than the global average of 1 degree Celsius.

In fact recent studies show temperatures at the poles continue to rise faster than other areas of the globe. Disproportional heating at the poles has contributed to the rapid disappearance of sea ice and thawing of permafrost, releasing even more CO2.

You can review the data here  and draw your own conclusions. The evidence seems overwhelming but a vocal minority of skeptics and a lack of political courage continue to thwart any action as temperatures rise and we move ever closer to a possible climate 'tipping point'.

Heads Up! Another Satellite is Falling to Earth

Article first published as Heads Up! Another Satellite is Falling to Earth on Technorati.

Pieces of another crippled satellite, this one the German ROSAT, are expected to fall to Earth this weekend, with perhaps thirty fragments surviving re-entry, including a one and a half ton, heat-resistant mirror traveling at 280 mph (450 kph).


The orbit of ROSAT takes it over the highly populated area between 53 degrees north and 53 degrees south latitudes. You can follow the current orbit here and view re-entry statistical animations.

Odds of someone actually being struck by a piece of the defunct ROSAT satellite are about one in 2000. Those are higher than the one in 3200 chances of being hit by the UARS satellite last month.

The six ton UARS (Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite) fell out of orbit and plunged into the Pacific Ocean around midnight on Sept 23, 2011. It briefly captured the worlds attention and spawned sales of 'I Survived The UARS Satellite Crash' T-Shirts.

Earth's orbit is clogged with the debris of fifty years of space exploration. A cloud of space junk orbits our planet which consists of more than 370,000 items including chunks of old satellites and rocket booster engines. Occasionally, the orbits of some of these objects degrade to a point where they are captured by Earths' gravity and fall toward the ground. Most of these are small and burn up upon re-entry.

Scientists are concerned we may have reached a 'tipping point' where continuous collisions could make passing through Earth's orbit too dangerous, potentially ending space travel as we know it.
 
The problem reached a critical level when the Chinese tested an anti-satellite weapon in 2007 which may have added 150,000 new pieces to the debris field. This was followed by a collision of two orbiting satellites in 2009. These two events doubled the number of objects in the space junk cloud and may have brought us perilously close to being trapped on Earth.

This gauntlet of debris may pose too great a risk for astronauts to pass through, and recently forced six residents of the International Space Station to take shelter in two docked Russian Soyuz spaceships when a piece of space debris threatened to strike the station. 

 

United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) released a report in 2009 called 'Catchers Mitt' which looked closely at the problem.

Strategies to deal with this envelope of space trash have ranged from lasers, nets to giant space sweepers, but the problem continues to snowball and no action has been taken as yet.

images:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/4384863741/sizes/m/in/photostream/ 
European Space Agency: http://www.esa.int/

Group-Think: Peer Pressure Shown To Alter Memories

Our memories are effected by what others think

 Article first published as Group-Think: Peer Pressure Shown To Alter Memories on Technorati.

Why is eye witness testimony notoriously unreliable? Why is advertising and propaganda so effective? Researchers have shown (.pdf) that our memories can be strongly effected by what we believe others perceive, and these memories can persist even when the manipulation has been disclosed.

Thirty adults watched a documentary style video in small groups. After three days, they were brought back individually and given a memory test to check their accuracy and confidence in what they had seen.

Four days later, they returned to take another memory test, but this time, first they were 'allowed' to see others' answers to the test questions. They were hooked up to a functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) machine and shown false responses, supposedly by the other members of their small group.

The participants were tested again one week later and the results were striking. Over 68% of them had altered their memory of the event to conform with what they thought was the majority. Tests on control groups tested without social manipulation showed only 15% gave wrong answers.

Even after the full scope of the deception was revealed, more than 40% persisted in believing their falsified memory.

This shows how susceptible we are to group-think and peer pressure. It illustrates how easy it can be to manipulate someones' memories by convincing them that the majority saw it differently.

What causes this memory-shift? The MRI performed during the test on day seven provided some clues.

The MRI showed activity in the amygdala region of the brain, which effects how we remember social and emotional events. It seems to act as sort of a gatekeeper and influences the long and short term memories of the hippocampus.

This social and emotional influence over memory may have a survival component, allowing us to accept the guidance of the larger group, even when it conflicts with our own feelings.

Our tendency for 'herd mentality' may have contributed to the survival of our species, but we must guard against social memory-manipulation which could influence our opinions through advertising,  propaganda or tolerance for social injustice.

image: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ripton/2963675405/sizes/m/in/photostream/

No More Surprises: Cell Phone Companies Agree to Overage Warnings

http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelshupe/

 Article first published as No More Surprises: Cell Phone Companies Agree to Overage Warnings on Technorati.

In an effort to avoid regulation, wireless providers have agreed to notify customers who are reaching their limits on voice, data, text and international roaming charges.

In a joint statement with the FCC, Consumers Union and CITA, a large wireless industry association, the major cell companies announced they will provide free warnings that users are about to incur overage charges on these commonly used services.

CITA members include wireless industry heavyweights such as AT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile, Sprint and TracFone.
Half these notifications must be working by Oct. 17, 2012, with the remainder up and running by April 17, 2013. This is good news for consumers.  According to this report, by the Wireless Consumer Association International, about 13.5 percent of customers will go over their plan's voice limit, and almost one in five (18%) will exceed their data limit.

Cell phone customers have long complained about 'bill shock', when unknowingly exceeding their plan limits. Companies have made billions off these charges, and agreeing to these notifications was only done to avoid mandates from Washington. The joint statement quotes President Obama,

“Far too many Americans know what it’s like to open up their cell-phone bill and be shocked by hundreds or even thousands of dollars in unexpected fees and charges... Our phones shouldn’t cost us more than the monthly rent or mortgage. So I appreciate the mobile phone companies’ willingness to work with my Administration and join us in our overall and ongoing efforts to protect American consumers by making sure financial transactions are fair, honest and transparent.”

The FCC and Policy Council for Consumers Union praised the agreement, saying more than 97% of wireless customers will benefit from the new rules and urged the companies to implement the notifications quickly.
CITA President and CEO said,

..."Today’s initiative is a perfect example of how government agencies and industries they regulate can work together under President Obama’s recent executive order directing federal agencies to consider whether new rules are necessary or would unnecessarily burden businesses and the economy.”

Because compliance is 'voluntary', the Consumers Union said, they are going to work closely with the FCC to make sure companies comply, "and we're pleased the Commission is keeping this proceeding open to help ensure compliance."

So, today cell phone customers enjoy a rare victory against surprise overages and Americans get a rare example of government, industry and consumer groups working together to protect users.

Broken Windows? Ubuntu Linux Saves the Day

Ubuntu Live CD Desktop

Article first published as Broken Windows? Ubuntu Linux Saves the Day on Technorati.

You may have heard about Linux. Perhaps you imagined it as a clunky DOS-like command line system, used by uber-geeks in dark basements and server rooms to perform their geeky techno-magic.

In truth, Linux has matured into an easy to use operating system, complete with a vast eco-system of free software that rivals Windows and Mac in simplicity and beauty. It rarely needs a reboot and viruses are virtually unknown.

Canonical has just released Ubuntu 11.10, it's latest version of the popular Ubuntu Linux distribution. It calls itself 'Linux for Human Beings' and it aims to be one of the most newbie friendly Linuxes. It's innovative 'Unity' GUI (graphical user interface) is designed for simplicity and functionality.

Ubuntu is not shareware or spyware. It is a full-featured system which is provided free of charge through 'Open Source' licensing.

Open Source is a philosophy as much as a license. It gives developers the right to use and build upon the progress of previous developers. Unlike proprietary software, the source code is provided for review, modification and distribution.

This type of collaborative development leads to rapid progress and innovation. Linux runs everything from desktop systems and smart phones to toasters and super-computers.

You don't have to install Ubuntu to try it out on your computer. Many Linux distributions are offered as 'Live CDs/DVDs which run completely off your CD/DVD player. They come with a full library of software pre-installed for everything from a MS Office compatible Office suite to photo editing and email.
 
Linux Mint is based on Ubuntu, but includes popular software, like Flash, Java and proprietary video drivers by default.

Simply download and burn the .iso (disk image) to a CD/DVD. Drop it in your computers' CD/DVD drive and reboot. Most everything works 'out of the box.' Video, sound, wifi, printers and networking. You can explore Linux and enjoy all the free software without risk. Simply eject the disk when your done and the computer reboots as before.

These live CDs are a great tool for malware infected Windows computers. In a pinch, they can provide you with a fully functional and secure system, loaded with the latest software and hardware drivers. Use them to back up files from a dying hard drive or fix a borked master boot record. At least you will have a working system until you can get Windows fixed (again).

Use a Live Linux CD to clean an infected Windows system yourself. Boot using a live CD and simply visit a reputable online virus scanner like TrendMicro, Bitdefender, Kaperskey, or use a free malware detection tool kit like the Kaspersky Rescue Disc.

If you choose to keep Linux on your computer, most Live CDs will walk you through installation, either completely replacing Windows or along side it (called dual-booting).

So head on over and download one of these great free systems. Explore thousands of free software titles from games to utilities.  Keep the live CD handy to rescue malware crippled Windows computers or retrieve data from an unbootable hard drive.

You don't have to be a geek to enjoy the freedom that Linux systems offer. They are simple to use, virtually virus free and solid as a rock.

And while you're at it, take a moment to remember Dennis Ritchie, a father of C and Unix, upon which most modern computing is based. He passed away last week, but these fundamental contributions will live on. RIP and thank you from all of us.

Large and Dangerous Volcano Awakes in Iceland

Katla eruption in 1918

Article first published as Large and Dangerous Volcano Awakes in Iceland on Technorati.

Airlines are nervously watching for another volcanic eruption in Iceland which could dwarf last years' eruption of closely related Eyjafjallajokull. In 2010, ash grounded planes and caused the most widespread interruption of air travel since World War II.  Katla, a much larger and potentially more dangerous volcano is showing signs of a possible imminent eruption.

Nearby Eyjafjallajokull erupted last year, disrupting air traffic over Europe, costing airlines almost 2 billion dollars and stranding passengers in airports all over the world. These neighbors appear to influence activity in the other and eruptions at Eyjafjallajokull have historically been shortly followed by eruptions at Katla.

The magma chamber inside Katla may be ten times as big as Eyjafjallajokull and in addition to spewing tons of gritty ash, it sits beneath the Myrdalsjökull ice sheet which has caused devastating flooding in previous eruptions. Earthquakes under Katla have been growing in strength, with a magnitude 4 quake recorded last week.

Katla has historically erupted approximately every 50 years, but it has been nearly a century since the last eruption in 1918. At that time, the eruption lasted over a month, blocked out the sun, killed off crops and livestock and sent a huge torrent of water over nearby farms.

An eruption of Laki in 1783 released plumes of toxic smog which rode the jet stream and killed thousands in the British Isles. Ash blocked sunlight causing temperatures to drop by 2 degrees Celsius or 3.6 degrees Fahrenheit across Europe. North America shivered under one of the coldest winters on record in 1784, with reports of the Mississippi River freezing in New Orleans.

Iceland's history is one of fire and ice. It is home to more than 22 volcanoes, seven of which are active. Ice sheets and glaciers cover approximately 11,260 square miles or about 11% of the land.

Evacuation plans have been drafted and emergency housing for the displaced have been set aside, but officials are concerned that there may be very little warning, perhaps less than an hour, to evacuate the population if Katla blows.

How Do Viruses Sneak Into Your Computer?

 Article first published as How Do Viruses Sneak Into Your Computer? on Technorati.

contreraspcrepair.com - CC

When was the last time you updated Java, Adobe Reader, Flash or Internet Explorer? These four programs are responsible for 95% of malware infections on Windows computers.

Researchers at the Center for Strategic and International Studies  have monitored over a half million infections over the past three months, utilizing 50 different exploits distributed by 44 different servers. Most malware attempted several different exploitation techniques, searching for known bugs in unpatched software.

The results showed that the vast majority of vulnerabilities in Windows computers were in out-of-date third-party software. The worst offenders were Java, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash and Internet Explorer.

More disturbing is a whopping 85% of infections were the result of 'drive-by' downloads. These slip into the machine by simply visiting a compromised website or viewing infected .pdf or flash files.

Unsurprisingly, Internet Explorer exploits continue to be common intrusion methods, accounting for 10% of infections, and two-thirds of other infections occurred while using IE.

But don't think your safe just because you are using Firefox, Chrome or Safari. One third of intrusions occurred while using one of these other popular browsers.
Windows XP users accounted for 41% of malware infections, with Vista not far behind at 38%. Windows 7 is better, but still accounts for 16% of exploited machines.

Using a secure browser can help, but the real vulnerabilities exist in add-on programs. Worst is unpatched Java, accounting for 37% of infections. Out-of-date Adobe Reader is not far behind at 32% and old versions of Flash are responsible for about 16%.

Fewer, but still significant numbers of users have been exploited through Quicktime (2%) and disturbingly, Windows Help & Support HCP (3%).

The most important statistic in the study was that almost all exploits (95%) were the result of running out of date versions of one of four specific  programs: Java, Adobe Reader, Adobe Flash or Internet Explorer.

So when was the last time you updated these commonly used browsers or plugins? If your not sure, here are links to their update sites:

Java
Adobe Flash
Adobe Reader
Internet Explorer

UPDATE THESE NOW!

Is Bank of America's Website Under Attack?

10/05/11 Screenshot of B of A website

Article first published as Is Bank of America's Website Under Attack? on Technorati.

For nearly a week now, the Bank of America website has been experiencing 'problems' and the homepage warns of possible slow page loads,  "We value your business and appreciate your continued patience. Most of our site is working normally, but you may experience occasional delays."

Bank of America has denied they are being targeted in a coordinated attack but the timing is certainly suspicious.

Speculation is rampant that B of A is being targeted by a distributed denial of service' (DDoS) attack, where an army of compromised computers simultaneously and repeatedly flood a website with bogus page requests until it slows to a crawl or crashes completely. DDoS is a low-level attack, not actually a security breach. It simply overwhelms a website with traffic making it inaccessible.

The problems started soon after B of A came under heavy criticism for their new policy to charge debit card users a five dollar monthly fee. This has produced a strong reaction from users and throughout the blogosphere.

There is also the growing 'Take Back Wall Street' protest, which has spread from NY City, across the country. It expresses the frustration many feel toward the banking systems' roll in the financial crisis.

A prominent hacker group, 'Anonymous' has pledged to support the protesters by attacking NYSE on Oct 10 in retaliation for the arrests of hundreds of protesters.
Historically, computer malware has been used to steal credit card numbers and passwords, but recently, hackers have turned their bot-net army toward websites to make a political statement.

There is even a downloadable program circulating online to voluntarily join a botnet and participate in DDoS attacks against perceived hacker and free speech foes.

Pay-Pal and Mastercard were targeted after they refused to process donations for Wikileaks editor and Internet whistle-blower, Julian Assange.

Other prominent targets of politically motivated dDos attacks include the Music Recording and Motion Picture Industry websites and the US Copyright Office.
Bank of America's lack of transparency about the problem has fueled speculation and concern.  If this is a simple DDoS attack against B of A, and not an actual server compromise, you may have trouble accessing the website, but customers' data should still be safe.

Breakthrough Drug May Kill All Viruses

Article first published as Breakthrough Drug May Kill All Viruses on Technorati.

Influenza Virus - cdc.gov

Researchers at MIT have made a remarkable breakthrough. They have developed a new anti-viral drug that appears to kill every virus they have tried it against, without harming healthy cells or the patient.

They have successfully tested it against a wide range of viral ailments including the common cold, polio and Ebola.

The new drug is called DRACO (Double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) Activated Caspase Oligomerizer) and works by inducing infected cells to kill themselves before the virus can spread.

When viruses invade cells they produce long strands of dsRNA (double strand RNA) which are not normally produced in people or animals. These unusual dsRNA strands are only found in virus-infected cells.

MIT researcher Todd Rider had the novel idea to combine two drugs: One identifies and attaches itself to these distinctive dsRNA strands and the other tricks the cell to 'commit suicide' (apoptosis). This is a normally occurring bodily defense against damaged cells which prevents cancers, auto immune and inflammatory diseases. In fact the average adult body destroys more than 50 billion damaged cells each day.

This combination of therapies, identifying infected cells and inducing them to kill themselves has produced a highly effective and wide spectrum drug that should, theoretically, work against all viruses.

So far it has been effective against all fifteen different viruses they have tried it on. Testing on mice showed DRACO totally cleared the H1N1 virus, cause of the 'swine flu' outbreak in 2009.

Rapid deployment of effective anti-viral drugs, even for newly discovered viruses, can be the difference between a catastrophic pandemic, like the 1918 Spanish flu outbreak that killed 50 million worldwide and a minor outbreak, quickly  contained and extinguished.

There are a few anti-viral drugs available today. They tend to be targeted to very specific viruses and are vulnerable to resistance through rapid generic mutations, common in viruses.

Viruses have been linked to serious and chronic medical conditions such as Type 1 diabetes and atherosclerosis, a leading cause of heart attacks.

DRACO may revolutionize medical treatment for viral infections, much as antibiotics led to treatment of routine bacterial infections which were often fatal a century ago. In fact, life expectancy increased by eight years between 1944 and 1972, largely due to the availability of antibiotics.

Finally, real hope exists for the victims of viral infections, from the common cold to AIDS.

Press Announcement is here and technical details can be found here.