Denmark Claims Part Of The Arctic, Including The North Pole

Denmark, together with Greenland, today will claim around 350,000 square miles of the continental shelf in the Arctic Ocean, in an area around the North Pole that is slightly larger than the size of Texas and Oklahoma combined.

"The submission of our claim to the continental shelf north of Greenland is a historic and important milestone for the Kingdom of Denmark," Foreign Minister Martin Lidegaard said in a statement. "The objective of this huge project is to define the outer limits of our continental shelf and thereby — ultimately — of the Kingdom of Denmark." (Here is the statement in Danish.)

Denmark contends that its data show Greenland's continental shelf is connected to the Lomonosov ridge, a ridge beneath the Arctic Ocean, The Associated Press reports. A Danish geophysicist quoted by the news service called the North Pole "a tiny, tiny abstract spot" that lies in the area.

Denmark said it would file paperwork with the U.N. to support its claim.

Under the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea, nations are entitled to a continental shelf extending to a distance of 200 nautical miles from their coast. Claims beyond that distance must be supported by scientific and technical data.

The current claim, in an area north of Greenland, is Denmark's fifth: A partial submission — north of the Faroe Islands — was presented in April 2009; another, in the area south of the Faroe Islands, was submitted in December 2010. A third partial submission was made in June 2012 for an area south of Greenland, and one in November 2013 was made for an area northeast of Greenland. npr

Sea Otters Are Superheroes Of The Marsh

Fewer than 3,000 southern sea otters live in the wild, only a quarter of their population of 150 years ago. State and federal protections in recent decades have stabilized sea otter numbers. Now, researchers along California's central coast are learning that the otters also having a positive effect on the ecosystems where they live.

Elkhorn Slough is now a protected research reserve, but 20 years ago, there were no sea otters here, and the marsh was a mess.

Farmland runoff regularly pours into this estuary, loading it with man-made nutrients.

"It's sort of just like throwing ... a bunch of fertilizer in here," says Tinker. "You're going to get a bunch of algae growing, and that algae grows over top of the eelgrass and chokes it out."

This eelgrass was home to an entire food chain of animals — or it was, until the algae took over. Bugs would normally keep the algae in check, but with no sea otters around, the otters' favorite food — crabs — ate the bugs. And there are lots and lots of crabs.

"Within the marsh banks itself, there are all these holes," Tinker says. "Those are the crab condos ... that's what I call them."

Brent Hughes, a researcher at the University of California Santa Cruz, says there were so many crab condos, the muddy banks couldn't support themselves.

"This ecosystem is literally collapsing into the ocean," Hughes says. "The reason being is that we're losing the banks, and we're losing the marsh plants that are stabilizing it."

All this upheaval affects another animal: humans. Habitats like Elkhorn provide all sorts of ecological benefits: Fishermen benefit from natural fish nurseries; homes benefit from a natural barrier to storms and sea rise; the planet benefits from the carbon dioxide that marshland plants soak up.

That's where sea otters come in. Under decades of government protection, they're back, and eating crabs. That means the algae is down, the sea grass is up, and with crab condo vacancies, the muddy marshland banks are still here.

Tinker says even he was surprised by the turnaround.

"All of a sudden, they teach us this entire new thing about how there's a food web that sea otters are a part of that can actually make sea grass healthy even when there's nutrients," he says. "This was something we had no clue about." npr

hitchhiking genet

When some of the world’s largest mammals come your way, most animals steer clear. Not the genet. The small cat-like carnivore was captured on film riding around on the back of both a rhino and buffalo earlier this month in South Africa’s Hluhluwe-iMfolozi Park. Conservationists were very surprised when they reviewed photos snapped by their camera trap showing this hitchhiking behavior never seen in the mammal before.  smithsonianscience.org

thunder buddies

updated bird geneology

kid president

i'll always take a corndog.

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session beers

Session beers emphasize craft-beer taste with alcohol as low or lower than big-brand light beers.

Chris Lohring has been brewing craft beer professionally for more than two decades. In 2010, he founded Notch Brewing. The company's lineup includes a Czech pilsner, a Belgian saison, and an India Pale Ale. All of the brews are session beers – meaning their alcohol by volume, or A.B.V., is less than 5 percent.

"The only thing in the United States previous to session beer being available by smaller brewers was the light beers of the world, which are mass-marketed, flavorless beers," Lohring says. "You could call them a session beer, but to me, a session beer needs to have some flavor. It needs to entice you for that second pint."

All Day IPA is Founders' first session beer. It's sold in 15-packs instead of the traditional 12-pack. Kushak says Founders isn't promoting longer drinking sessions, but when they do come up, All Day IPA — with its 4.7 percent alcohol — is an alternative.

"Those situations where people were drinking throughout the day already existed. And so our goal was to take a very responsible approach to that," Kushak says. npr

Bill Adler with a young LL Cool J

Bill Adler (center) with LL Cool J (left) and Fab 5 Freddy at LL's mother's house in 1988.

Adler was the founding publicity director of Def Jam Records. One of his first assignments was getting pop music critics at daily newspapers to cover one of the label's new artists, LL Cool J. He worked at Def Jam for six years, before going independent and later running a gallery devoted to hip-hop photography. From these ventures, he accrued a massive archive, which now lives in a storage space in the basement of his building. Soon, however, it will also live online.

Adler sent Cornell University 500 vinyl recordings, as well as an impressive collection of books about rap music in several languages. One — in Polish — is a 600-page encyclopedia of rap. Another is a collection by French photographer Sophie Bramly.

"These are stupendous," Adler says, looking at a picture of Rick Rubin with Afrika Islam from the Zulu Nation. "Rick didn't even have a beard."

By the 1990s, music critic Jon Caramanica was writing for hip-hop lifestyle magazines like Urb and Vibe. Today he's a pop music critic for The New York Times. He says Adler recognized from the beginning that hip-hop culture was something worth archiving. npr

you cannot get the flu from a flu vaccine

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommends that everyone 6 months of age and older gets vaccinated against flu every year, with rare exceptions, such as those with severe, life-threatening allergies to flu vaccine ingredients or potentially those with a history of Guillain-Barré syndrome following a previous flu shot.

Myth #1: You should fear Ebola more than the flu.

Fact: Flu kills more people in a year in the U.S. than Ebola has killed in the history of the world.

Myth #2: You don't need the flu vaccine this year if you got it last year.

Fact: You need a new flu shot each year because the circulating strains change and immunity from the vaccine fades.

Myth #3: The flu shot is a "one size fits all" approach that doesn't make sense for everyone.

Fact: You have many flu vaccine options, such as the shot, including egg-free versions, and a nasal spray.

Myth #4: The flu shot makes some people able to only walk backward.

Fact: The condition of a young woman who could apparently only walk backward after getting a flu shot was found to be psychological, not neurological.

Myth #5: Deaths from the flu are exaggerated.

Fact: Thousands of people die from flu in the U.S. in a typical year, including more than 20,000 in the 2006-2007 season.

Myth #6: The flu vaccine can give you the flu.

Fact: The flu shot can't give you the flu because the virus it contains has been inactivated or severely weakened.

Myth #7: Flu vaccines contain dangerous ingredients, such as mercury, formaldehyde and antifreeze.

Fact: Flu shot ingredients are safe, but people with allergies to ingredients in some vaccines, such as gelatin, should avoid vaccines with those ingredients.

Myth #8: Pregnant women shouldn't get the flu vaccine.

Fact: Because influenza can cause miscarriages, pregnant women should get vaccinated against flu to lower the miscarriage risk.

Myth #9: Flu vaccines can cause Alzheimer's disease.

Fact: There is no link between flu vaccination and Alzheimer's; flu vaccines protect older adults who are at increased risk for flu-related health consequences.

Myth #10: Pharmaceutical companies make a massive profit off flu vaccines.

Fact: They're a tiny source of profit and are made by only a handful of companies.

Myth #11: Flu vaccines don't work.

Fact: Flu vaccines reduce the risk of flu, though their effectiveness in any particular year varies.

Myth #12: Flu vaccines don't work for children.

Fact: Flu vaccines effectively reduce the risk of flu for children ages 6 months and up.

Myth #13: Flu vaccines make it easier for people to catch pneumonia or other infectious diseases.

Fact: Flu vaccines reduce the risk of pneumonia and other respiratory illnesses or complications from the flu.

Myth #14: Flu vaccines cause heart problems and strokes.

Fact: Flu shots reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular events.

Myth #15: Flu vaccines can damage a protective barrier between the blood and the brain in young children, hindering their development.

Fact: Flu vaccines have been found safe for children 6 months and older.

Myth #16: Flu vaccines cause narcolepsy.

Fact: A European vaccine against the swine flu in 2009 was linked to narcolepsy, but the U.S. seasonal flu vaccine does not cause narcolepsy.

Myth #17: The flu vaccine weakens your body's immune response.

Fact: The flu vaccine prepares your immune system to fight influenza by stimulating antibody production.

Myth #18: The flu vaccine causes nerve disorders such as Guillain-Barré syndrome.

Fact: Only the 1976 swine flu vaccine was linked to Guillain-Barré syndrome, and influenza is more likely to cause the nerve disorder than the flu vaccine; the CDC says those with the Guillain-Barré should consult a doctor before getting the flu shot.

Myth #19: The flu vaccine can cause neurological disorders.

Fact: Neurological side effects linked to flu vaccination are extremely rare (see Myth #18); children with neurological disorders are actually at the highest risk for flu complications.

Myth #20: Influenza isn't that bad. Or, people recover quickly from it.

Fact: Influenza can cause fever, muscle aches, cough, headaches and a sore throat for one to two weeks.

Myth #21: People don't die from the flu unless they have another underlying condition already.

Fact: Otherwise healthy people do die from the flu. The elderly and young children are most vulnerable.

Myth #22: People with egg allergies can't get vaccinated against flu.

Fact: People with egg allergies can get a flu shot but should consult their doctor or allergist on options if their allergy is severe.

Myth #23: If I get the flu, antibiotics will help me get better.

Fact: Antibiotics can't treat a viral infection.

Myth #24: The flu shot doesn't work for me, personally, because last time I got it, I got the flu anyway.

Fact: The flu shot cannot offer 100 percent protection against the flu, but it reduces your risk of getting it. Many people mistake symptoms from colds and other illnesses for the flu.

Myth #25: I never get the flu, so I don't need the shot.

Fact: You can't predict whether you'll get the flu.

Myth #26: I can protect myself from the flu by eating right and washing my hands regularly.

Fact: A good diet and good hygiene are healthful habits that reduce the risk of illness but cannot prevent the flu on their own.

Myth #27: It's OK if I get the flu because it will make my immune system stronger.

Fact: Even if the flu in a future season resembles a strain you've had before, the protection is likely to be incomplete and fades over time. Flu weakens your immune system while your body is fighting it and puts others at risk.

Myth #28: If I do get the flu, I'll just stay home so I'm not infecting others.

Fact: You can transmit the flu without showing symptoms.

Myth #29: Making a new vaccine each year only makes influenza strains stronger.

Fact: There's no evidence flu vaccines have a major effect on virus mutations.

Myth #30: The side effects of the flu shot are worse than the flu.

Fact: The most common side effects of the flu shot are mild, such as headache, fatigue, cough, low fever and arm soreness lasting a couple of days. Fewer than one in a million people experience severe allergic reactions.

Myth #31: The "stomach flu" is the flu.

Fact: The stomach flu refers to a variety of gastrointestinal illnesses unrelated to influenza.

Myth #32: If you haven't gotten a flu shot by November, there's no point in getting one.

Fact: Getting the flu shot any time during flu season will reduce your risk of getting the  npr

NASA Photos Show New Signs Of A Lake On Mars

Signs of water currents and sediments are seen in the latest photos NASA's Curiosity rover sent home from Mars, the space agency said Monday. The images suggest "ancient Mars maintained a climate that could have produced long-lasting lakes," NASA says.

In the huge Gale Crater where Curiosity has been exploring, the water and sediment flow might have been massive enough to build a mountain — the 3-mile-high Mount Sharp — NASA researchers say. But they acknowledge that they're still working to solve the mystery of how the mountain formed in a crater.

"If our hypothesis for Mount Sharp holds up, it challenges the notion that warm and wet conditions were transient, local or only underground on Mars," said Curiosity deputy project scientist Ashwin Vasavada of NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena. "A more radical explanation is that Mars' ancient, thicker atmosphere raised temperatures above freezing globally, but so far we don't know how the atmosphere did that."

This isn't the first time NASA has announced signs of water at Gale Crater.

One year ago, NASA analysts saw sedimentary rocks that led them to believe the Martian lake had held freshwater.

And back in 2012, the space agency said images taken by Curiosity showed gravel-like rocks that were smoothed by water and pushed into the shape of an alluvial fan.

"A River Ran Through It," the rover's operators tweeted back then. "I found evidence of an ancient streambed on Mars, similar to some on Earth."

npr

to the nummulosphere!

stars

king krule

Kids' Drawings Speak Volumes About Home

When children reach 6 years old, their drawings matter.

Not because of those purple unicorns or pinstripe dragons but because of how kids sketch themselves and the very real people in their lives.

In a new study, researchers found that children who experienced chaos at home — including high levels of noise, excessive crowding, clutter and lack of structure — were more likely to draw themselves at a distance from their parents or much smaller in size relative to other figures.

In some cases, these kids drew themselves with drooping arms and indifferent or sad faces.

Their drawings were a reflection of this simple fact: Chaos at home meant parents were interacting with them less and, in many cases, the interactions that were happening were shorter and interrupted.

As a result, kids ended up with a depreciated sense of self, says Roger Mills-Koonce, who led the study with Bharathi Zvara at UNC-Chapel Hill. To be clear, Mills-Koonce did not blame parents or caretakers but called this kind of stress in the home a "function of poverty." npr

dogs with mustaches

Cat That Looks Like Hitler

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wes anderson star wars

Is HIV Evolving Into A Weaker Virus?

Viruses are masters at mutating.

So the big concern with deadly viruses, like Ebola and hepatitis C, is that they will evolve into more dangerous forms over time.

It looks like just the opposite is happening with HIV — although it's happening slowly.

"HIV can generate any mutation in the book, on any day," says virologist Philip Goulder at the University of Oxford.

Over a 10-year period, HIV has picked up mutations that make it slightly less virulent in parts of southern Africa, Goulder and his team reported Monday in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

That means it could take a little longer for some people to develop AIDS if they don't get HIV treatment. The mutations push back the average time to develop AIDS in Botswana from about 10 years to about 12.5 years, Goulder says.

"It doesn't sound like a big deal," he says. "But those changes in the virus occurred in just 10 years. If we roll forward a few decades, the evolution of the virus could have a massive effect. We'll have to see if the trend continues."

Right now, though, HIV is still deadly and dangerous, Goulder is quick to point out.

"Although these findings are good news and a step in right direction," he says, "it may be decades, even centuries, before HIV stops causing AIDS. That's a long, long way down stream." npr

Want To Perk Up Your Love Life? Put Away That Smartphone

70 percent of women in a recent survey said smartphones were interfering in their romantic relationship....

The study, published Monday in the journal Psychology of Popular Media Culture, says technology and the screens that consume us are creating "technoference" in couples.

That ranges from picking up the phone while partners are casually hanging out to checking Facebook while in the middle of an argument.

You see it everywhere, says Sarah Coyne, psychologist at Brigham Young University and an author of the study. Like at a restaurant where couples have their phones, "both of them, on the table, right there. I think that is so easy for them to pick it up if it buzzes."

The study surveyed 143 married or cohabiting heterosexual women and asked them about their phone, TV, computer and tablet habits. It also asked about how their partner used technology, if there was any conflict about using technology, and about their satisfaction with their relationship and life overall.

They also reported that of five scenarios presented to them, the most common interference was seeing a partner pick up his phone during "couple leisure time," with 62 percent of women reporting this happened at least once a day.

Forty percent of women said their men would get distracted by the TV during a conversation at least once a day, while a third said he would take out his phone in the middle of a conversation or during a meal together. A quarter said their partner would actually send texts or emails to another person while they were having a face-to-face conversation.

But worse than the intrusions was the way they made the women feel; they found, as you might expect, that conflict over technology was associated with poorer relationships, which in turn were associated with lower life satisfaction.

npr

santa jaws

CDC Considers Counseling Males Of All Ages On Circumcision

In the past 15 years, studies in Africa have found that circumcision lowers men's risk of being infected with HIV during heterosexual intercourse by 50 to 60 percent. Being circumcised also reduces men's risk of infection with the herpes virus and human papillomavirus.

Those health benefits prompted the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention's proposed recommendation that doctors counsel parents of baby boys and teenagers, as well as men, on the benefits and risks of circumcision.

"The compiling of the different data sources may really be sufficient for someone who is a heterosexual male to consider the benefit of circumcision," Dr. Susan Blank, a pediatrician and chairwoman of the American Academy of Pediatrics' circumcision task force, told Shots.

In 2012, the American Academy of Pediatrics said for the first time that the benefits of circumcision outweigh the risks, and that insurers should pay for the procedure. npr

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Ebola In The Air: What Science Says About How The Virus Spreads

Here's an Ebola puzzle for you: If the virus isn't airborne, why do doctors and nurses need to wear full protective suits, with face masks, while treating patients?

After we dug through studies and talked to scientists, the answer slowly emerged.

Ebola does spread through the air. But not through the airborne route.

h goodness! No wonder there's been such a kerfuffle about how the virus is transmitted.

The story began quite innocently at Harvard University way back in the 1930s. William Wells was a hotshot engineer there at the time. He was figuring out a slew of important ideas about infectious disease, like the fact that UV light kills bacteria.

One day in 1933, Wells discovered that pathogens (he was studying bacteria) get trapped in tiny droplets of fluid — maybe some mucus when you sneeze or some saliva when you cough. The pathogens stay alive in the fluid and can move through the air inside these droplets.

Clearly this is one way infections spread. But Wells didn't stop there.

He knew that liquid drops don't last for long in the air. They take one of two courses:

1. Large droplets fall to the ground because of gravity. (Just like rain.)

2. Small drops start evaporating as they fall. Eventually, they become so light that they float in the air. (Just like fog.)

"It appears, therefore, that transmission of infection through air may take one of two forms depending upon the size of the infected droplet," Wells wrote in the American Journal of Epidemiology in 1934. He gave these two routes names:

1. Droplet route: The pathogen falls to the ground in large droplets. The pathogen doesn't make it very far away from the source of the fluid, but if you intercept the drop's path, you could get infected.

2. Airborne route: The pathogen is lifted up into the air inside tiny droplets. The pathogen floats and can move long distances with air currents. If you inhale this mist, you could get infected.

Over the years, the first term didn't really stick with the media or general public. But the second one sure has. And what we've ended up with is one term that often gets used to describe both routes of transmission.

But oh, how they are different! npr

dogs are awesome

After a stray dog in Ecuador met a team of Swedish adventure athletes, he grew so attached to the squad that he ran for miles and swam along to keep up with them. Now Arthur the dog is world-famous — and it all started with a meatball.

Sweden's Peak Performance team was in Ecuador this month to compete in the Adventure Racing World Championship, in which athletes hike, kayak, and bike during a 430-mile endurance race through the Amazonian rain forest. It's the kind of race where athletes try to keep moving day and night (see an example).

Just before starting one stage, the team's Mikael Lindnord made friends with a dog, sharing a meatball with him. Lindnord thought that would be the end of it — but then the dog followed him, and essentially forced his way onto the team.

The team says that after six days, they "crossed the finish line with 5 members instead of 4 as the 12th top team in the world."

After some uncertainty, Lindnord managed to work out a way to bring his new best friend back to live with his family in Sweden: He and his teammates opened a Paypal account and mounted a Twitter campaign to raise money to bring Arthur home. They've also had him treated for a nasty wound to his back that he had suffered months before they met in him the rainforest. npr

Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai: New centre of the sporting world?

Where once, sport looked west for investment and inspiration, now it looks east.

The oil-rich billionaires of the Gulf have planted a flag at the heart of the sporting landscape in recent years. They have invested their inconceivable wealth across an array of sports into all corners of the world and now they are using their influence to bring sport to the region, as a global statement of their ambition.

Dubai has one billionaire per 200,000 people

Three Gulf states are at the heart of this extraordinary revolution: Qatar, Abu Dhabi and Dubai. In Dubai alone, you will find one billionaire in every 200,000 people.

In Abu Dhabi, a rival state in the United Arab Emirates, the figures are just as extraordinary. It is in the process of building the jaw-droppingLouvre Abu Dhabi,  having paid the world-famous Paris museum more than £400m just to use the name. While in Qatar, more than 14% of households have at least £1m of private wealth in the bank.

And it is that wealth, that influence, which has lured sport to the Gulf.

Take last week, for instance. On Monday, the row over Qatar's right to stage the 2022 World Cup rumbled on. On Tuesday, Doha in Qatar won the right to host the 2019 World Athletics Championships. From Thursday to Sunday, Rory McIlroy duelled with Henrik Stenson at theEuropean Tour's season-ending showpiece in Dubai.

Emirates Airways spent £172m on sponsors

Lewis Hamilton, Nico Rosberg and the rest of the Formula 1 circus were in Abu Dhabi from Thursday before contesting the final Grand Prix of the season on Sunday at the ostentatious Yas Marina Circuit, built at a cost of about £900m ($1.5bn).

The region is fast becoming a sporting hub like no other. Qatar, for example, will host world championships in boxing, swimming, squash, handball and para-athletics in the next 12 months as well as staging almost 40 other sporting events. bbc

Who are the families behind the wealth?

Abu Dhabi is ruled by Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan. His half brother, Mansour bin Zayed bin Sultan bin Zayed bin Khalifa Al Nahyan (better known as Sheikh Mansour) is the man who bought Manchester City in 2008.

The family have ruled the emirate since the 18th century and pride themselves on 'respect for heritage, culture, tradition.'

The ruling family are complex with Sheikh Mansour one of 19 sons born to Abu Dhabi's long-term ruler Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan. His mother, one of six wives, had six sons, making her part of this vast family the most influential.

In terms of wealth? It is almost limitless. It is estimated that the family have as much as $1tn in overseas assets alone. Their investment in City represents loose change, in relative terms, even if they have pumped in excess of £1bn into the club since 2008.

Their football interests extend elsewhere, however. A company owned by Sheikh Mansour has recently agreed to fund the redevelopment of Real Madrid's iconic Santiago Bernabeu stadium  to the tune of £312m.

The work will include the creation of a hotel and shopping centre. But perhaps it is their move to expand into the United States that is more interesting.

In 2013, Major League Soccer and the iconic New York Yankees announced a pioneering deal to create an MLS franchise in New York in time for the start of the 2015-16 season - New York City FC was born. 

It is a development that could give Abu Dhabi a footing and profile in the United States that was previously unimaginable. A few months later, it was announced Sheikh Mansour and Manchester City added Australian side Melbourne Heart.

"You could look at things like the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the Abu Dhabi golf championships and the investment in Manchester City as some of their most prominent global marketing assets," said Ben Faber, senior director at Fast Track Middle East, the company tasked with delivering City's fan loyalty programmes.

Roger Federer and Andre Agassi played tennis on the helipad of the Burj Al Arab hotel in Dubai in 2005

Lewis Hamilton claimed his second world title after victory at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi