Strange fish has a see-through head

The barreleye (Macropinna microstoma) has extremely light-sensitive eyes that can rotate within a transparent, fluid-filled shield on its head. The fish’s tubular eyes are capped by bright green lenses. The eyes point upward (as shown here) when the fish is looking for food overhead.

A bizarre deep-water fish called the barreleye has a transparent head and tubular eyes. Since the fish’s discovery in 1939, biologists have known the eyes were very good at collecting light. But their shape seemed to leave the fish with tunnel vision.

Now scientists say the eyes rotate, allowing the barreleye to see directly forward or look upward through its transparent head .

The barreleye (Macropinna microstoma) is adapted for life in a pitch-black environment of the deep sea , where sunlight does not reach. They use their ultra-sensitive tubular eyes to search for the faint silhouettes of prey overhead.

Scientists had thought the eyes were fixed in an upward gaze, however. This would make it impossible for the fish to see what was directly in front of them, and very difficult for them to capture prey with their small, pointed mouths.

Bruce Robison and Kim Reisenbichler of the Monterey Bay Aquarium Research Institute use videos from the institute’s remotely operated vehicles (ROVs) to study barreleyes off Central California. At depths of 2,000 to 2,600 feet (600 to 800 meters), the ROV cameras typically showed these fish hanging motionless in the water, their eyes glowing a vivid green in the ROV’s bright lights. The video also revealed a previously undescribed feature of these fish — its eyes are surrounded by a transparent, fluid-filled shield that covers the top of the fish’s head.

Most existing descriptions and illustrations of this fish do not show its fluid-filled shield, probably because this fragile structure was destroyed when the fish were brought up from the deep in nets.

via Strange fish has a see-through head – LiveScience- msnbc.com.

Remote-controlled planes could spy on British homes

Police could soon use unmanned spyplanes like those used to track enemy troops in Iraq and Afghanistan for surveillance operations on British homes.

The Home Office has suggested that the remote-controlled drones could be used to help police gather evidence and track criminals without putting officers at risk.

The miniature aircraft could be fitted with cameras and heat-seeking equipment, allowing police to carry out aerial reconnaissance from a control room.

They also have the benefit of being quieter than conventional helicopters or spotter planes and are much cheaper to run due to their fuel economy.

However, their use is likely to provoke opposition from people sceptical of Britain’s increasing use of surveillance equipment, who fear they represent yet another example of the expansion of a Big Brother state.

Plans to introduce the unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) is outlined in the Home Office’s Science and Innovation Strategy.

It states: “Unmanned Aerial Vehicles are likely to become an increasingly useful tool for police in the future, potentially reducing the number of dangerous situations the police may have to enter and also providing evidence for prosecutions and support police operations in ‘real time’.”

It adds: “We need to investigate how such vehicles could be used, and their ability to provide high quality evidence for convictions.”

Ministers are speaking to the Civil Aviation Authority about the introduction of UAVs, some of which measure just 2ft across.

There are safety concerns over the devices, some of which have been prone to crashing in use in battlefield situations.

via Remote-controlled planes could spy on British homes – Telegraph.

Why not just make everyone wear a web cam 24/7 … for their own protection, of course?

Botched launch ends U.S. satellite’s mission

The U.S. government’s first attempt to map carbon dioxide in Earth’s atmosphere from space ended early on Tuesday after a botched satellite launch from California, officials said.

The $278 million Orbiting Carbon Observatory blasted off aboard an unmanned Taurus rocket from Vandenberg Air Force Base at 4:55 a.m. EST (0955 GMT), headed for an orbital perch about 400 miles above the poles.

The 986-pound (447-kg) spacecraft was tucked inside a clamshell-like shroud to protect it during the ride into space. But three minutes into the flight, the cover failed to separate as expected, dooming the mission.

“As a direct result of carrying that extra weight we could not make orbit,” said John Brunschwyler, the Taurus program manager with manufacturer Orbital Sciences Corp.

The spacecraft, also built by Orbital Sciences, fell back to Earth, splashing down into the southern Pacific Ocean near Antarctica.

The mission was NASA’s first aboard a Taurus rocket, which debuted in 1994 and has had six successful flights and one failure.

Scientists were counting on the new satellite to hone in on how carbon dioxide, suspected of being a trigger of global climate change, is cycling through the planet.

“For the science community it’s a huge disappointment,” NASA launch director Chuck Dovale said.

via Botched launch ends U.S. satellite’s mission | Reuters.

UFO Examiner: UFO witness videotapes craft near remote FL hunting camp

Three men at a remote hunting camp near the Gulf of Mexico spotted a strange light in the sky. One chased the object on a 4-wheeler and captured the anomaly using both video and a digital still camera.

David Smith rode three miles through the woods tracking the object until he located an open area which gave him a better view. His digital still photos were not looking good, so he switched to video. The video shows the object “morphing” – changing shape. David also noticed that the object emitted a sound each time it changed shape – which was picked up on the video.

Back at camp, the three realized there were two objects in the sky. The two men who remained at camp watched one object, while David chased and photographed the second.

via UFO Examiner: UFO witness videotapes craft near remote FL hunting camp.

The Pulse Smart Pen

A very expensive pen with some unique features:

Synthetic Biology: Drew Endy

Famed Social Sciences Author Jared Diamond Predicts 49 Percent Chance of Civilization Collapse

Jared Diamond is no doom-and-gloomer; he’s a Pulitzer Prize winning author of thoughtful, carefully researched books about the rise and fall of societies. Diamond is best known for Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed and Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies, both of which are among my top-recommended books of all time.

When you read these books, you’ll quickly realize that Diamond is perhaps the world’s top expert on what might be called the “holistic, interdependent nature of complex societies.” Rather than limiting his perspective to immediate, short-term actions and consequences (as most national leaders and corporations do), Diamond intelligently examines the long-term, interdependent factors that lead to any society’s success or failure.

I’ve personally read both of Diamond’s books mentioned above, and they have strongly influenced my own views about the future (or lack thereof) of western civilization. What Diamond and I both agree on is that complex civilizations are quite fragile, and short-terming thinking can easily doom a society or civilization to irreversible collapse. (Another interesting book to read on this subject, although it’s quite technical and a bit older, is The Collapse of Complex Societies by Joseph Tainter.)

Collapse can come from many vectors. Many collapses are environmental, such as the collapse of the Anasazi Indians in North America or the collapse of the Tiwanaku in South America.

Other causes of collapse include man-made accelerations of environmental change; the classic example being the rampant deforestation of Easter Island by its inhabitants.

It is the Easter Island example that perhaps most closely resembles the short-sightedness of modern western civilization. At the expense of future generations, today’s CEOs, bankers and politicians are destroying our future in so many ways (financial, chemical, environmental, plundering of fossil fuels, etc.) that it is a challenge to imagine a scenario where western civilization even survives in its current form.

Jared Diamond, in fact, has publicly declared he sees only a 51 percent chance of western civilization surviving. You can hear this from his own mouth in this video interview:

via Famed Social Sciences Author Jared Diamond Predicts 49 Percent Chance of Civilization Collapse by Mike Adams the Health Ranger.

Borneo Monster, a Giant 100 – Foot – Long Snake, Haunts the Baleh River

Some Believe Giant Snake Picture a Digital Manipulation; Others Believe that a Legend Has Returned

Borneo is blessed with some of the thickest forests on the planet. A lot can hide in those forests. Some do not believe that the forests are a blessing at all, especially those that believe the reports and take as genuine the images on the pictures of a 100 foot snake haunting the Baleh River in Malaysia. That 100 foot giant snake is the stuff of legend and the definition of nightmare. … It is being called the Borneo Monster. And many believe the photos making their way around the internet are doctored or photoshopped. But the Borneo Monster, according to villagers (and relayed to the world via The Daily Mail) along the Baleh River, is nothing new or the construct of a good photo-editing computer program. The legend of the 100 foot – long snake has been around forever. He is called Nabau.

Nabau is a shape-shifter. Natives of Borneo vouch for his existence. He is usually seen to have the head of a dragon. He has seven nostrils. And, of course, Nabau is huge, a giant, a 100 foot snake with a dragon’s head.According to the villagers, Nabau has returned. Many claim to have seen it. Some even point to the fact that pictures of the 100 foot snake have been taken at various locations, which proves that the Borneo Monster is moving about. …

via Borneo Monster, a Giant 100 – Foot – Long Snake, Haunts the Baleh River – Associated Content.

The Vatican claims Darwin’s theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity

The Vatican has admitted that Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution should not have been dismissed and claimed it is compatible with the Christian view of Creation.

Archbishop Gianfranco Ravasi, head of the Pontifical Council for Culture, said while the Church had been hostile to Darwin’s theory in the past, the idea of evolution could be traced to St Augustine and St Thomas Aquinas.

Father Giuseppe Tanzella-Nitti, Professor of Theology at the Pontifical Santa Croce University in Rome, added that 4th century theologian St Augustine had “never heard the term evolution, but knew that big fish eat smaller fish” and forms of life had been transformed “slowly over time”. Aquinas made similar observations in the Middle Ages.

Ahead of a papal-backed conference next month marking the 150th anniversary of Darwin’s On the Origin of Species, the Vatican is also set to play down the idea of Intelligent Design, which argues a “higher power” must be responsible for the complexities of life.

The conference at the Pontifical Gregorian University will discuss Intelligent Design to an extent, but only as a “cultural phenomenon” rather than a scientific or theological issue.

Monsignor Ravasi said Darwin’s theories had never been formally condemned by the Roman Catholic Church, pointing to comments more than 50 years ago, when Pope Pius XII described evolution as a valid scientific approach to the development of humans. …

via The Vatican claims Darwin’s theory of evolution is compatible with Christianity – Telegraph.

Huge flying submarine hovers for 40 min in Brazil, alien with red eyes, 3 toed feet

Low quality, but it has a ring of truth. Interesting.