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POPSGreat Whites Hang Out in 'Shark Cafe' It had long been assumed shark species at the top of the ocean food chain that roam the high seas looking for food and mates did so almost randomly. But using satellite tagging, acoustic monitoring of shark "hot spots" and genetic samples, a research team led by Professor Barbara Block of Stanford University found to their surprise that the eastern Pacific's great whites are real homebodies. Over an eight year period, nearly 100 sharks were electronically tagged, and even more had tissue samples taken by scientists working from a ship. Sticking to a schedule They found that the sharks consistently migrate along the same paths and stick to a schedule. Between August and December, the great whites, which can grow up to six metres and weigh three tonnes, stalk waters off the coast of central and northern California, feasting on seals and sea lions. Their preferred hunting grounds in this area are known as the "red triangle", notes the study.
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POPSGreat White Sharks Have Their Own Cafe
"Over an eight year period, nearly 100 sharks were electronically tagged, and even more had tissue samples taken by scientists working from a ship. Not only do the sharks consistently migrate along the same paths, they stick to a schedule too. Between August and December, the Great Whites -- which can grow up to six metres (20 feet) and three tonnes -- stalk waters off the coast of central and northern California, feasting on seals and sea lions. Their preferred hunting grounds in this area are known as the "red triangle", notes the study, published in the British journal Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Starting in January, they head for the deep blue around Hawaii some 4,000 kilometers (2,500 miles) to the west, where they are found in largest numbers between April and July. But some -- especially males -- loiter at a halfway point known as the "White Shark Cafe", with females coming and going for what scientists presume is a bit of shark intimacy. The new findi
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POPSFinally a Consumer Fights Back.
Although, I don’t relate to this woman's belief system, I DO relate to her as a consumer. All of us who have struggled with credit card debt and job losses know the frustrations of climbing a greased pole. The banks have been putting the screws to us for a long time. As a child, I would hear adults talking about LOAN SHARKS. On TV there were stories of bones being broken for non-payment by such LOAN SHARKS who charged exorbitant interest fees. I was glad to find out, this technique was illegal and US banks could never resort to such tactics to coerce payment. In adulthood, I learned quickly, that there were legal procedures of torture, no physical bone breaking but just as vexing. In Capitalism, the torture is mental and longer lasting. Today’s banks use teaser loans to lure us, once we’re captured by their come-ons they pounce and raise the APR's so high, that there is no escape from debt. I salute this lady who didn't take it lying down! She threw a few punches back!
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POPSConvergent evolution
The huge fossil teeth of megalodon had been known for centuries and were once believed to be the fossilized tongues of dragons. Agassiz, noting that great white shark teeth and the fossil megalodon teeth were both serrated, lumped megalodon into the same genus, Carcharodon, (from the Greek karcharos, meaning sharp or jagged, and odous, meaning tooth). Agassiz was not, however, making an evolutionary judgment. In 1835, a young Charles Darwin was just then visiting the Galapagos Islands. There would be no theory of evolutionary descent for nearly 25 years. In fact, the brilliant Agassiz, who later became a professor at Harvard and the leading figure of natural history in the United States, forever resisted Darwin’s revolutionary ideas. Rejecting biological evolution, Agassiz defined species as a “thought of God.” His classification scheme signified nothing about shark origins. But over the next century, the idea that great whites evolved from megalodon took hold. << more at the
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POPSWhat's the Hurry on Health Care? My apologies to wonderful car salesmen...I mean you no disrespect. But these guys in D.C. are disrespecting you. And us. Foisting on us the biggest lemon in history, and insisting that if we sign fast, we won't even notice. Again, take it from a guy who's been rushed and made to look stupid: Sharks don't let you wait. They attack. And attack fast. And we're all easy bait. But I hope not stupid bait. Because we must be seeing the warning signs. And enough of us must be asking the right questions. Because, the more the signs, the more the questions, the more they say, calm down, all is good, just sign here. Which has me saying, hey, stick this whole thing...here. Didn't we just do this? Last fall? When Hank Paulson said just sign-sign-sign this rescue deal? And it wasn't such a deal? Have we forgotten the quick bailouts that themselves needed bailing out? Have we learned nothing from rushing space launches when we shouldn't have?
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POPS"Origins of Life in a Lab": From Amino Acids to Apes with iPods 
There are still one or two (billion years of) steps between amino acids and apes with Apple iPods, but we've got those as well. Studies have shown in exhaustive detail how amino acids combine to create larger units called nucleotides. These posed the ultimate jigsaw puzzle: once they come together into RNA, we've seen how it can evolve and improve (and we do mean SEEN: the Scripps Institute rigged up RNA replicators and watched them evolve before their eyes) and eventually arrive at DNA, but we didn't know how the darn things made RNA to begin with. Emphasis on "didn't" - University of Manchester scientists decided to solve the problem, and please note that when U of M decides on something they don't mess around: they spent a full ten years smashing together the pre-life pieces until they eventually fit together. Just as they would have done in early Earth's oceans, which were a couple of orders of magnitude bigger than a beaker and for whom ten years is barely a blink.
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POPS"Courtesy Loans" or Loan Sharks Banks are ever more charging their users more and more fees for less and less service, but it's been revealed that one service charge accounts for more than half of banks' profits; overdraft fees. As a "Courtesy", banks now tend to loan people money to pay for overdrafts to their accounts, rather than returning the payment, but that "Courtesy" comes at a steep price — a mafia loan-like price. I faced the precursor to this problem; my bank giving me phantom service charges to make my cheques bounce, so they could charge exorbitant NSF fees, and then reverse the "erroneous" service charge, so everything seems all nice and legal. I didn't go so far as to sue the bank, since I resolved the issue that day (and closed out my account), but despite them trying to keep the issue quiet, I made sure to speak very loudly about just how the bank screwed me. I hope they lost a lot of customers that day.
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POPSPew Brings Survivors to Congress to Advocate Protections for Sharks
This wasteful practice is banned in the U.S., but loopholes in the law hamper its effectiveness, and many other countries still allow finning. "You are more likely to be killed by lightning than a shark. Up to 73 million sharks are killed around the world annually. In contrast, only a handful of people die every year from the 50-70 shark attacks worldwide." A recent report from the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) classified 35 out of 64 known pelagic (open ocean) shark and related ray species around the world as Threatened or Near Threatened with extinction. According to the report, overfishing is the primary reason for the threatened status of a number of shark species in U.S. waters, including great whites, three species of thresher sharks, makos, porbeagles, oceanic whitetips, and three species of hammerheads. In advocating for the Shark Conservation Act, introduced by Senator John Kerry (D-Mass.) in April and passed by the House of Representatives
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POPSPictures inside the mouths of sharks at feeding time You don't want to be here. 'We tie fish scraps onto fishing lines (no hooks) and bait lemon sharks in as close as possible. 'When one opens its mouth to "snap" at the fish, I take the shot. These snaps literally last a fraction of a second, so timing is critical. 'Recently, the technique has been changed. These days, all surface shots of lemon sharks are done via "polecam", with cameras mounted at the end of long poles. 'This prevents any possible accident.' In October, Eric be travelling to Japan on an expedition to photograph sperm whales (assuming he is still alive).
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