Chad Clark's Open Journal : 2007-08-02

1) Russia claims North Pole.

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.jhtml;?xml=/news/2007/08/01/wpole101.xml

The claim is that:

  the underwater Lomonosov ridge was not merely a chain of mountains in
  international waters but was actually an extension of s continental
  shelf.Siberia


2) New underwater animals found in the Sable Gully.

An unmanned submersible found new species off the east coast of Canada.



The article reads:

  the strangest sight may have been the octopuses dubbed "Dumbo."  During
  the submersible robot's second dive, the operator suddenly swerved the
  camera to follow a one-metre-in-length octopus with large fins attached
  to its head.
  
  ...
  
  The discoveries continued. A researcher from Memorial University in
  Newfoundland collected a species of coral over 800 years in age. By
  examining the coral's growth, it's possible to tell years when it was
  cold or warm, Kenchington said.
  
  ...
  
  By extracting the coral's DNA, the scientist hopes to discover whether
  all the major stands of the coral along Canada's east coast are related.


3) Ontario introduces voluntary HPV vaccine for grade 8 girls.

The article comments some people claim the trials were not conducted
properly.  That may be (I don't know.)  but those seem to be the same
people claiming a HPV vaccine will encourage teenagers to have sex.

Texas rejected the vaccine "after social conservatives complained it would
lead to sexual promiscuity."

I don't see how that would happen.  There are still several other diseases
that can be transmitted through sexual intercourse.  Will the vaccine for
one cause people to forget about the rest?

The article points out:

  About 400 Canadian women die from cervical cancer every year, 140 of them
  in Ontario.  It is the second most common cancer in women aged 20 to 44,
  after breast cancer.


4) Orangutans change communication strategies to ask for food

The article reads:

  researchers in the University of St. Andrews School of Psychology,
  presented six captive zoo orangutans with two of their favorite treats
  food wheat bread bananas and along with two of their least favorite,
  "foods" yucky celery and leeks.

  The orangutans eagerly displayed interest in their food faves by pointing
  at them, or by trying to capture the scientists' attention through cage
  banging, clapping, swinging, waving and even blowing sputtered
  raspberries. Some of the large apes actually tried to trade celery and
  leeks for the bread and bananas.
  
  ...
  
  At first the exasperated orangutans communicated their displeasure by
  spitting or throwing the celery and leeks at the researchers. When
  partially understood, however, they narrowed their signal choices to only
  those that seemed to be working. Just like charades, if the onlookers
  seemed fully perplexed, the apes then switched strategies by utilizing
  completely different gestures than those that apparently failed.