At long last (after losing two lawsuits to environmental experts), the US Federal Government has officially recognized that the polar bear's rapidly-shrinking population qualifies it as an endangered species. US Department of the Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne complained that he had no choice, the way the law was written (as though that were the problem). He also declared that his action didn't imply that the government was going to have to do anything to address our output of greenhouse gasses. He, like many others, seem to think that the the current condition of our climate is simply part of a natural cycle of warming (and cooling), and that the addition of millions of tons of pollutants into our atmosphere over the past two centuries is somehow irrelevant.
Even some who admit that human activity is having a negative impact on the earth's climate (even more severe and more lasting than in 1816, the "year without a summer", following the eruption of the Tambora volcano in In... [more]

I don't get out enough. But when I do, I most always learn something.
Attending a party last week, I saw something new: Between the bar area and dance floor was a connecting room, and passing through it, I noticed many party-goers lining the walls, each in isolation checking emails on their Blackberries.
Checking emails- in the middle of a party?
Before wireless portable devices, when you went to a social event, you had to jump in and give yourself over to the experience. In this scenario of forced socialization, very often you actually met someone new and perhaps pursued some unplanned adventure.
Now, if people at a party look unfamiliar or uninteresting, you don't really need to engage. You can simply step out, check your email, and see if you can't find a more reassuring, recognizable face to hook up with across town.
You have to wonder, does this new behavior fulfill the promise of the digital world by opening up channels of communication, or is does i... [more]

Elephants - largest land animal living at present and the downward stream of giant mammals, which include the mammoths are another endangered species on earth. They are existent on this earth for millions of years,. Adults sometimes weigh about six tons.
Two species of the elephants are found: one is the larger and plentiful African Elephants and the other is the smaller and fewer Asian Elephants or the Indian Elephants. The number of the African elephants has rapidly decreased due to ivory trade, which is used for jewelry, carvings, etc. Less than 50,000 Asian elephants are there in the world.
Elephants presently found on earth are the descendants of the "trunked" family of mammals. Elephants help light-dependant plants grow and survive by creating roadways, elephant dung acts as the fertilizer for many plants in the forest, and other wild animals find water in the wells dug by the elephants in search of water.
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