Archive

Archive for May 2, 2011

Texas Drought worst since 1895

May 2, 2011 7 comments

timesrecordnews

The drought in Texas, during March, was the worst since 1895.

That is about the time my parents were born 120 years ago.

I never thought it could be worse than the drought of the 1950s, but it is. Drive out into grazing country where mesquite aren’t too thick and all you can see is dry, cracked soil with an occasional fire ant or a gopher mound in the sandier soil.

Comparing the current drought with the seven-year drought in the 1950s, old-timers say the current drought sapped the soil of moisture faster than it did in the 1950s.

It just stopped raining last July, and pasture after pasture was hit by wildfires.

Right now, there is no potential to produce hay, harvest wheat or plant cotton or grain sorghum this May. Unless there is a week of rain fairly soon there is no hope for agriculture this year.

The Texas Ag Extension Service says that, despite a few recent showers in some areas, the cotton growing in Texas and Oklahoma is still in a drought. Any crop planted in southern Texas earlier in the year that got up out of the ground is now being sand blasted by hot, dry winds.

Wildfires have burned at least 1.5 million acres in the state since Jan. 1.

In addition to grazing losses, ranchers are facing rangeland stock water tanks that are dry or nearly dry. Streams are not flowing and lakes and big tanks are turning to deep mud.

Future of forensic science: New laser beam that analyses a single hair can reveal what you had for breakfast

May 2, 2011 Comments off

dailymail

A new laser can tell scientists what you ate for breakfast – just by looking at one of your hairs.

The beam gives unprecedented sensitivity to chemical analysis and allows researchers to create an hour-by-hour picture of what an individual has eaten.

They can even tell where a person has been by examining the chemicals which are in their hair.

Scroll down for video

Breakthrough: A laser beam that 'hole punches' a single strand of hair has given scientists unprecedented sensitivity to chemical analysisBreakthrough: A laser beam that ‘hole punches’ a single strand of hair has given scientists unprecedented sensitivity to chemical analysis

Previous techniques had burned hair samples but the new method breaks them down instead and Read more…

Categories: Uncategorized

Scientists Seek More Accurate Cargo Scanners

May 2, 2011 Comments off

globalsecuritynewswire

Scientists in North Carolina are pursuing new cargo scanning technology capable of more accurately identifying nuclear- and radiological-weapon ingredients by making use of newly discovered atomic “fingerprints,” Duke University said on Thursday (see GSN, April 28).

The High Intensity Gamma-Ray Source generates beams that interact in specific ways with radioactive materials including uranium and plutonium. Such interactions might someday be used to identify weapon-grade uranium and other dangerous atomic materials amid benign radiation sources, Duke University nuclear physicist Mohammad Ahmed said in a press release. Ahmed’s team is examining the distinct patterns in which the atomic nuclei of different materials emit neutrons when exposed to the beam. Read more…

The Strange World of NSA Mind Control

May 2, 2011 Comments off

batr.org

SARTRE, Contributing Writer

The surveillance society is a secretive apparatus of intrusion and deception. An enigma within a disinformation perception of reality is at the core all activities of spooks. One of the most pervasive and all reaching agencies is the NSA. The National Security Administration officially is a cryptologic intelligence agency whose primary function is Signals Intelligence Directorate (SID), which produces foreign signals intelligence information, and the Information Assurance Directorate (IAD), which protects U.S. information systems. The General Accounting Office defines the nature of the structure of the NSA.

“The National Security Agency (NSA) is a combat support agency within the Department of Defense (DOD) established by presidential directive in 1952. NSA has two separate missions: signals intelligence and communications security. For signals intelligence, NSA manages all U.S. signal collection and processing and produces signals intelligence in accordance with DOD and DCI priorities. For communications security, NSA provides leadership, products, and services to U.S. agencies that need to protect their information and communication systems from foreign exploitation. NSA is headed by a three-star flag officer, who reports to the Secretary of Defense. About 80 percent of the NSA workforce is civilian.”

A relative comparison, back in 1996 and pre-911 government of the size and disclosed budgets of intelligence Read more…