The Chilean volcano Calbuco intensified its activity after having been calm in recent days, by the expulsion of ash to a height of 2,500 meters towards the Argentine territory. Calbuco, which erupted last week forced the Chilean authorities to start evacuation plans, some people who had temporarily entered the exclusion zone to feed animals and clean their houses had been covered with ashes. The massif is located in the tourist region of Los Lagos, about 900 kilometers south of Santiago.
Out of control: the Russian spacecraft could fall on Earth
The spacehip Progress M27M on takeoff from Baikonur.Shortly after the rocket lost communications and began to spin uncontrollably.
Shortly after takeoff Tuesday, communication with the unmanned spacecraft carrying supplies to the International Space Station was discontinued and so far could not be restored.
Which means that an uncontrolled fall to Earth now seems imminent.
The ship was carrying about three tons of cargo, including water, oxygen and food, heading for the International Space Station.
Weighing more than seven tons, and a possible impact area extending from Berlin in the north to the Malvinas / Falklands in the south.
Although Canadian astronaut Chris Hatfield, a former resident of the International Space Station, said in his Twitter account that the ship will burn in the atmosphere.
And the likelihood that, if not completely disintegrates, you might be struck by a fragment of which odds are about 1 in 2.2 trillion.
(The odds of someone being impacted, however, are much higher: 1 in 3200, according to rough estimates Orbital Debris Program at NASA for this type of events).
Type Progress ships have been part of the Russian space program since 1978.
For now, the technicians of the Russian space program are still trying to reestablish contact with the aircraft, which is spinning out of control as it orbits the earth.
But if they fail before they run out of batteries-what will happen in a matter of days-the ship will fall toward Earth.
The crew of the space station still have provisions for four months and are already provided other resupply missions.
Which means that, with any luck, the only consequence of failure will be the loss of Progreso.
And maybe some embarrassment for the Russian space program, which over the past four years has lost several ships and satellites, including another ship Progress crash in August 2011.
Hundreds of sea lion babies have appeared on the beaches of California in recent months.
In recent months hundreds of sea lion pups have appeared sick and hungry on the beaches of California, on the west coast of the United States, overwhelming animal rescue centers.
Scientists have long been trying to figure out what is causing these calves to separated from their mothers at an age where they can not feed themselves.
Now researchers at the University of Washington have published a study in which an explanation for this phenomenon occurs.
There is a huge mass of warm water about 1,600 kilometers long and 90 meters deep that extends along the west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico.
This accumulation of water in places where the temperature is about 2.7 ° C above average has been dubbed "the stain" (the blob, in English).
Heavy snowstorms last winter in Boston were caused by the same phenomenon that caused the warming of the Pacific, according to experts.
Heating the water causes fewer nutrients in the ocean, which at the same time has altered the distribution of marine life and has decimated the food chain.
For example, sea lions must swim further for fish and other animals that feed, thus leaving more time for their offspring alone, hungry venturing to the coast.
This phenomenon is also affecting sea birds, whose mortality has soared in recent times.
Furthermore, in Alaskan waters they have been sighted in recent months fish species that usually live hundreds of kilometers south Pacific.
Unusual
Scientists believe the hot spot is the result of an unusual high pressure system that has developed in late 2013 in the northeastern Pacific, calming ocean waters and causing them to not get cold in winter as usual.
The mass of warm water extending along the west coast of North America from Alaska to Mexico.Photo: NOAA
"Clearly, the hot spot is related to the high pressure system that appeared in the winter of 2013-2014," said the expert, who notes that climate changes were also caused by that system.
"This hot water has had a big impact on marine ecosystems of the ocean. It is a major problem for the food chain."
Scientists believes that what is happening on the west coast of North America could be related to a weather phenomenon that not much is known although it is considered to have a major impact on the climate of the planet: the so-called Swing by Pacific Decade (PDO, for its acronym in English).
The so-called Pacific Oscillation (PDO, for short) is characterized by warm equatorial waters in the eastern Pacific.Photo: NASA
Two phases
PDO consists of a negative and a positive phase, that each can extend for more than a decade.
The positive phase is characterized by a warming of the waters of the eastern Pacific to Ecuador.
According to experts, this implies an increase in global temperatures and the framework for oscillations of shorter duration, such as El Niño occurs.
The PDO can cause increased rainfall in places like California and milder winters northeastern North American continent.
JPL expert believes the hot spot of the American Pacific coast is somehow related to the increase in temperature of the waters of Ecuador and the possibility of the beginning of the positive PDO.
Another phenomenon
Dennis L. Hartmann, professor of atmospheric sciences at the University of Washington does not agree on this point Patzert, and argues that "stain" is caused by a similar but different event PDO.
According to Hartmann, the warming waters of the western Pacific, off the intersection of 180th meridian and Ecuador, which led to the emergence of the high pressure system northwest of North America, which in turn raised the hot water mass initially detected in Alaskan waters.
Sea lions must swim further for fish and other animals that feed.
Scientists agree that little is known of phenomena such as PDO, which was described less than two decades ago .
Violent riots in Baltimore after the funeral of African American Freddie Grey
Two police immobilize a citizen who participated in the riots.
The death of the young has sparked a series of riots in the city in the state of Maryland, which continued after the funeral resulting in at least seven members of the security forces being "seriously wounded" and several damaged vehicles by protesters according to the authorities.
The youth threw stones and bricks on a bus and destroyed a vehicle belonging to police in the northwest of the city, a few blocks from the place of burial, as police tried to contain the riots with tear gas.
The demonstrators armed with stone-throwing and other objects, also damaged and burned several private cars and dumpsters.
Police have not provided the number of arrests that were made during the protests.
The case of Freddie Grey has reopened wounds between the African American community, that coming after the death of young Michael Brown in Ferguson (Missouri) last August, claiming that there is a noticeable disproportionate use of force by police officers regarding the black population.
A Young African American, 25, suffered a blow to the back in Baltimore (Maryland) after the Police arrest on 12 April, a situation to which Grey sought medical care that was never provided during its transfer to police station, and a week later died.
The Baltimore Mayor Stephanie Rawlings-Blake, issued a "call for peace"
The funeral, held at the New Shiloh Baptist Church, which seats 2,200 people filled with friends, neighbors and political representatives to accompany the family of Gray in his last goodbye.
A lone gray wolf takes a few seconds to look around.The picture was taken by one of the automatic cameras installed in the exclusion zone.
What once was the exclusion zone of one of the worst nuclear disaster in history today has become the peoples wildlife.
Automatic cameras installed in the Ukrainian part of the exclusion zone of Chernobyl are providing images never before seen in their home polluted landscape.
Although a deer like this would be a good candidate for a tracking collar however its logistically difficult to catch and install it.
The cameras are being installed in 84 locations, allowing a team of scientists record the type of animals passing through the area and those who make their home there.
This week the Ukrainian authorities reported that about 400 hectares of forests within the exclusion zone were affected.
In the first four months since the cameras were deployed, the team has "caught" more than 10,000 images of animals, suggesting that the 30-kilometer zone, established shortly after the explosion of a nuclear reactor radioactive material expelled in April 1986, is now home to a rich diversity of wildlife.
Packs of gray wolves have been captured on film throughout the exclusion zone.They seem to have adapted to the conditions, away from humans.Horses Przeswalskis an endangered species, were left deliberately loose in the area as part of a conservation project.The red fox is another species that appears to be taking advantage of the environment away from humans.A moose wounded, possibly by a poacher.The surrounding habitat offers a perfect backdrop for this deer ...... Especially when animals such as the lynx lurk.The boars are quite common in the area.They move in large groups and cause disorders in the first layer of soil in their search for food.There were no evidence that grizzly bears had returned to the area until these photos were taken.
The camera network is gathering data that will help scientists choose the most appropriate way to track and install tracking collars to monitor exposure level that the animal receives as it travels through the area..
Modern aircraft are increasing their capacity Internet connection, which could potentially allow remote access to the flight systems of the ship.
What appeared to be a new standard in service commercial airlines, born of his desire to satisfy users wishing to stay permanently connected to the Internet, it is now a concern.
The US government requested an Audit to conduct latent threats to the aviation sector.experts say that wi-fi in flight could open the door to terrorist attacks.
In fact, the GAO report, which was reviewed by the British newspaper The Guardian - admitted that a hacker traveling as a passenger could theoretically force a plane to land..
According to experts, it would not be easy.But it could happen.
"Modern aircraft are increasingly adding news internet connectivity. This connectivity can potentially allow remote access to the flight systems of the ship," said the GAO report.
According to this institution, the effort of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA, for its acronym in English) and the airlines to modernize the technology on board is a vulnerability that can be exploited for evil.
Same network
The report highlights that the cab and passengers are connected to the Internet through the same address network connection.
Cab and passengers are connected to the Internet through the same address network connection, which is not inviolable for a hacker.
And although the connection between the access system of passengers and aircraft systems is heavily monitored by firewalls (programs that block access to a network unknown), analysts point out that the same can not be assumed to be impenetrable.
"According to cybersecurity experts interviewed, the internet in the car shall be considered a direct link between the aircraft and the outside world, including malignant potential actors," says the report.
And we know that the FAA does not verify comprehensively the level of cyber security before certifying new aircraft that are able to operate commercially.
Furthermore, other vulnerabilities detected also contained the ability to prevent and detect unauthorized entry into the vast network of computers and communication systems that the FAA uses to track flights worldwide access.
The recommendations
The GAO report acknowledges that the Federal Aviation Administration has taken steps to improve their cybersecurity policies, but "there is scope for further changes," particularly because the responsibility of this institution is diluted among several attached units.
Last month another report from the Supreme Audit Office revealed that the guidance systems of the aircraft were under "an unnecessary risk of being hacked."
Among the recommendations to the FAA to reduce the risk levels are:
Evaluate the development model of security against cyber threats
Create a committee to oversee cyber security activity of all offices of the FAA in the United States, and which includes the Security Office of the FAA as a permanent member.
Develop a joint plan with the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST, for its acronym in English), to incorporate methodology, standards and technology to improve the functioning of the FAA.
The nightmare
Last January, we noted in a previous report that "there is a significant weakness in the area of flight control, threatening the ability of the FAA to ensure the safety of the operations of national airspace system continuously" .
"there is a significant weakness in the area of flight control, threatening the ability of the FAA to ensure the safety of the operations of national airspace system continuously".
Last month another report revealed that the guidance systems of the aircraft were under "an unnecessary risk of being hacked."
The nightmare begins to form in the minds of the American authorities.
The worst scenario we are facing is one where a terrorist with a laptop is among the passengers on an airplane and takes control of the plane using the wi-fi network.
A remote possibility, but today it can not be ruled out.
D-day: in the morning of June 6, 1944 Allied forces landed in Normandy.The other side was the Nazi troops.
