Monday, March 25, 2013
First Person: Sneaking Into Iraq, 10 Years Ago
Ten years ago, at the start of the war in Iraq, I left Turkey and walked for four nights, through monsoon-like rains, into Iraq. I was on assignment for TIME.
There was a small group of photographers camped out on the Turkish border with northern Iraq, in the small towns of Cizre and Silopi. I thought entering Iraq would be a cakewalk: All I needed to do was follow the U.S. troops as they made their second push into Iraq, this time from Turkey.
I thought wrong.
At the last minute, Turkey decided not to let the United States use its land as a staging area, so there'd be no U.S. troops to follow. Northern Iraq was only 3.7 miles (6 kilometers) away, but the situation was fluid and impossible to read. The other photographers and I had been in Turkey few weeks, trying to position to cover the war. Now we scrambled to try to come up with a plan.
Taking the Alternate Route
Everything that our group tried, from being smuggled in a potato truck to hiring a Turkish driver with political connections, was unproductive and ate up precious time in the face of fast-moving events.
Then, fearful of a rapid influx of Kurdish refugees, the Turks closed the border. I could see Iraq, but getting there was becoming physically impossible. The only way to cross the border would be illegal, and on foot.
The direct route, across the Tigris River, was too heavily fortified by Turkish soldiers to be practical. We'd have to take an alternate route, through Syria, which meant we'd now have to cross the Tigris twice, as well as a couple more country borders.
It was either this or go home. But there was no way I was going to miss covering the biggest war in my lifetime.
Then I got a call from a photojournalist named Chris Hondros, who'd hired a couple of locals to get him across the Tigris directly into northern Iraq. They'd left him in the river's muddy banks at the first sign of trouble. I had no idea where he was. All I could do was erase his texts in case I got questioned by Turkish authorities.
Eventually, the guys he hired fetched him back. He was unharmed, but so frustrated (and muddy) that he went to Kuwait to cover the war from there. Hondros would be killed covering the Libyan civil war in 2011.
Traveling Light
Another team, with CNN, had twice tried to cross the Tigris. On their first attempt the swift flow of the river separated them from their gear. On the second, that team took the longer, indirect route through Syria. Not only did they make it into Iraq, but somehow they managed to retrieve their TV gear on the other side.
The Turkish authorities didn't know what to make of a bunch of journalists gathered on the border, so they watched us closely. It's a Kurdish area, so they keep a close eye on it anyway, but you could always spot the government spies by their use of English and the nice cars they drove.
A colleague and I decided to ditch pretty much everything, leave it behind at the hotel. I carried only two lenses, two camera bodies, a broadband global area network (BGAN) satellite phone and my computer. Everything went into double plastic bags to protect it from the rain. No extra clothes or anything. Whatever we needed we'd buy on the other side.
We traveled only at night. We spent the day in safe houses in Syria. It was supposed to be a two-day trip, but the rains turned it into a sloppy and miserable slog. We first crossed the Tigris from Turkey to Syria.
The deep mud was treacherous, like something out of a movie. We tiptoed past both Syrian and Turkish guard posts, rolling through the mud at night and hiding in the day.
Getting Close
On our second night we were close to Iraq. We needed only to slip past a few more Syrian border posts and cross the river to get there. Then a thunderstorm hit. Every time the lighting struck the whole area would light up.
Passing by small villages was hazardous. I was worried someone would come out to see why the dogs were barking and discover us. Every approaching car would force us to dive into the nearest water-filled ditch. It didn't matter, we just had to hide.
We couldn't talk to our guides, as we shared no common language, so we got on a satellite phone and made a call back to Turkey, to a local guide who arranged the crossing. The guides decided we had to make the long, muddy walk back our last safe house and try again. The lighting made it too easy for us to be spotted.
That was probably the worst part of the trip, being so close and having to make the grueling walk back.
We rested for a day. The rain stopped. The last leg, walking to the river and trying to cross again, seemed manageable. From the Syrian side, the river looked narrow and Iraq seemed close. It looked easy, but it was anything but. The water was ice cold, and the river was mighty wide.
Our smuggler's boat looked like something you'd see kids using in a backyard pool. Like something you'd pick up at Toys"R"Us. Instead of kids, there were four of us adults kneeling and squashed together, using a stick with a piece of plywood nailed to it as a paddle.
The river suddenly seemed much wider. About halfway across tracer bullets and other assorted gunfire started bouncing around us. I started to panic. We had three likely and unpleasant outcomes: death by hypothermia, drowning, or bullet.
No Regrets
At this point, most of the world went into slow motion. Everything except the river's current and the bullets.
We couldn't move fast enough and the river wouldn't let us get to where we needed to go. We missed our intended landing point and were forced to abandon our boat in waist-deep water and wade the rest of the way into Iraq.
We needed to make our way to the Northern Iraqi police station and safety, but we didn't know how they would receive us. Thankfully, they welcomed us. The Kurdish police were happy to see foreign journalists in their country after living under Saddam Hussein's oppression for so many years.
I showed my passport, filled out a little paperwork, dried my clothes, caught a little sleep and was on my way to Erbil, the Kurdish region's capital, in the morning. I stayed in Iraq for a month, photographing Kurds trying to secure the oil-rich city of Kirkuk and American forces trying to secure Mosul.
Would I do it again? Probably not. Do I regret it? Not for a second. As a photojournalist, I wanted to record history. At least I knew I gave it my best. If I didn't, I would have had to answer to myself.
monsoon - 季风，雨季，暴雨
cakewalk - 小菜一碟
fluid - 易变的，不固定的，流动的
cover - 报道
scramble - 争夺，攀登
come up with - 提出（方案），追上，拿出
smuggle - 偷运，走私 smuggler - 偷运者，蛇头
influx - 流入，汇集
fortify - 构筑防御工事；加强
authority - 当局，权威
fetch - 去接，去取；到达，取来
frustrate - 阻挠，使受挫折
traveling light - 轻装
swift - 迅速的
retrieve - 回收
bunch - 一群，一束
keep a close eye - 严密监视
ditch - 抛弃，摆脱，挖沟
sloppy - 泥泞的，草率的，稀薄的
miserable - 不幸的，悲惨的
slog - 辛苦的工作
treacherous - 危险的，不忠的
tiptoe - 踮着脚走
slip - 悄悄通过，滑过
hazardous - 危险的
grueling - 劳累的，紧张的
mighty - 非常的，巨大的
squash - 挤进；挤入
plywood - 胶合板
tracer bullet - 曳光弹
assorted - 配合的，分类的
bounce - 弹跳；反弹
panic - 惊慌；恐慌
hypothermia - 低体温
wade - 涉水
oppression - 压制，压迫感
Sunday, March 24, 2013
First Person: Learning to Stop Hating Israelis
The tragedy in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is that the people in it live so physically close to one another, yet are so separated. Both sides believe the scary stereotypes and have little actual interaction. Walls are built of concrete to separate us, leading to even higher walls of fear and ignorance.
As President Barack Obama arrives in Israel for another go at Mideast peace–his first trip to the Jewish state as President–what is most needed is for ordinary people to realize that we aren’t doomed to live this way and that we can coexist. My painful journey has led me to this conclusion.
I grew up in Bethany, a town 3 miles east of Jerusalem. There was little for children to do other than play soccer in the streets. I was seven years old when I first saw on television young men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. I didn’t know the motivation or purpose for such acts, but they were exciting.
My first similar adventure was unsuccessful, as I stoned my Arab neighbors’ cars instead of Israeli cars. I quickly learned that stoning your neighbor’s car wasn’t a good idea–the spanking I received from my father made that clear.
The Israelis didn’t know who I was or where I lived, so I thought throwing stones at them was safe. A few weeks later some friends and I broke the window of an Israeli bus driving on a nearby road. An angry man came out of that bus shooting at us.
I grew up experiencing clashes with the Israeli army and learning what to do to survive. The book bag that I took to school contained not only books and pencils, but also onions. Sniffing an onion helps to keep you conscious when you’re hit with tear gas.
My life changed when my brother Tayseer, at age 18, was arrested at our home and then beaten when he refused to confess to the charge that he threw stones at soldiers. Tayseer was in prison for almost a year and died soon after his release, which our family doctor said was a result of the beating.
I was ten years old at the time, and watching my brother die left me bitter and full of rage. I felt it was my duty to avenge Taysee’s death.
Years of activism guided me in my mission. Writing and throwing stones became the norm of my life, and I convinced others to do the same to protest the Israelis’ occupation of the Palestinian territories and their treatment of Palestinians.
But the truth is that I never felt satisfied by my actions. Hatred and anger cannot heal a broken heart. And yet I continued on that path until I finished high school, when I decided to take Hebrew language courses to prepare for college and work in Jerusalem.
Those classes introduced me to Jews and Israelis who weren’t in uniform. For 18 years, all my interactions with Israelis had been with soldiers and settlers. Although there was a Jewish high school 200 meters from my own, I never met any of those students.
At first I was angry about studying Hebrew alongside Jewish students and refused to utter a word in class.
After I’d had a few encounters with Jewish students and learned new Hebrew words, I had an internal struggle in my heart and mind. There was the old me who was angry and bitter, alongside the new me who was curious to learn about the “enemy.”
With every conversation and with every interaction, my hatred faded further. It wasn’t the deep conversations, but the small ones that took place while practicing Hebrew that revealed the humanity in me and my Jewish classmates and conquered the divisions between us.
Eventually, I found a new mission for my life: bridging the gap between enemies. I started working with Israeli peace builders like Rami Elhanan, whose daughter was killed in a suicide bombing.
The Middle East peace process is at a stalemate, and people are losing hope in the dream of bringing an end to this conflict. Politicians are issuing one fiery statement after another explaining why we will not have peace. The international community is paralyzed. Many claim that extremists are on the rise and violence is unavoidable.
But the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace does not depend only on politicians signing an agreement. It also depends on citizens, who can make or break any such pact. The people should lead the politicians.
In my work as a conflict resolution specialist, I have found that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians are indifferent and ineffective. Indifference is the greatest enemy to peace and justice.
The antidote to that apathy is interaction. What Israelis and Palestinians need more than anything right now is to find ways of being with each other. We need to put cracks in the walls that separate people. We need to take classes together.
I don’t know what the final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians will look like–one state, two states, or a confederation. I do know that no agreement will survive if the people from both sides don’t start a true reconciliation project.
Our division should never be between Israelis and Palestinians but rather between those who work tirelessly for peace and those who do not.
tragedy - 悲剧，不幸
scary - 恐怖的
stereotype - 陈规旧习，固定的形式，铅版
ignorance - 无知
ordinary - 普通的，平凡的
doom - 注定；命运
coexist - 和平共存
spank - 打屁股
clash - 冲突，碰撞声
sniff - 嗅
conscious - 意识
confess - 承认，坦白，告白
bitter - 痛苦的，味道苦的，（语言）辛辣的，敌意的
rage - 愤怒，猛烈，渴望
avenge - 为。。。报酬
activism - 行动主义
norm - 标准，规范
convince - 说服，使相信
protest - 抗议
hatred - 憎恶
Hebrew - 希伯来语（的），希伯来人（的）
utter - 发出声音；完全的
conquer - 打破（旧习），获得；征服
suicide - 自杀
stalemate - 僵局
fiery - 猛火的，热烈的
paralyze - 使无用，使瘫痪
pact - 条约，契约
indifferent - 漠不关心的，中立的
ineffective - 无力的，不起作用的
antidote - 对策，解毒剂
apathy - 冷淡，漠不关心
confederation - 同盟，联邦
reconciliation - 和解，调和，一致
As President Barack Obama arrives in Israel for another go at Mideast peace–his first trip to the Jewish state as President–what is most needed is for ordinary people to realize that we aren’t doomed to live this way and that we can coexist. My painful journey has led me to this conclusion.
I grew up in Bethany, a town 3 miles east of Jerusalem. There was little for children to do other than play soccer in the streets. I was seven years old when I first saw on television young men throwing stones at Israeli soldiers. I didn’t know the motivation or purpose for such acts, but they were exciting.
My first similar adventure was unsuccessful, as I stoned my Arab neighbors’ cars instead of Israeli cars. I quickly learned that stoning your neighbor’s car wasn’t a good idea–the spanking I received from my father made that clear.
The Israelis didn’t know who I was or where I lived, so I thought throwing stones at them was safe. A few weeks later some friends and I broke the window of an Israeli bus driving on a nearby road. An angry man came out of that bus shooting at us.
I grew up experiencing clashes with the Israeli army and learning what to do to survive. The book bag that I took to school contained not only books and pencils, but also onions. Sniffing an onion helps to keep you conscious when you’re hit with tear gas.
My life changed when my brother Tayseer, at age 18, was arrested at our home and then beaten when he refused to confess to the charge that he threw stones at soldiers. Tayseer was in prison for almost a year and died soon after his release, which our family doctor said was a result of the beating.
I was ten years old at the time, and watching my brother die left me bitter and full of rage. I felt it was my duty to avenge Taysee’s death.
Years of activism guided me in my mission. Writing and throwing stones became the norm of my life, and I convinced others to do the same to protest the Israelis’ occupation of the Palestinian territories and their treatment of Palestinians.
But the truth is that I never felt satisfied by my actions. Hatred and anger cannot heal a broken heart. And yet I continued on that path until I finished high school, when I decided to take Hebrew language courses to prepare for college and work in Jerusalem.
Those classes introduced me to Jews and Israelis who weren’t in uniform. For 18 years, all my interactions with Israelis had been with soldiers and settlers. Although there was a Jewish high school 200 meters from my own, I never met any of those students.
At first I was angry about studying Hebrew alongside Jewish students and refused to utter a word in class.
After I’d had a few encounters with Jewish students and learned new Hebrew words, I had an internal struggle in my heart and mind. There was the old me who was angry and bitter, alongside the new me who was curious to learn about the “enemy.”
With every conversation and with every interaction, my hatred faded further. It wasn’t the deep conversations, but the small ones that took place while practicing Hebrew that revealed the humanity in me and my Jewish classmates and conquered the divisions between us.
Eventually, I found a new mission for my life: bridging the gap between enemies. I started working with Israeli peace builders like Rami Elhanan, whose daughter was killed in a suicide bombing.
The Middle East peace process is at a stalemate, and people are losing hope in the dream of bringing an end to this conflict. Politicians are issuing one fiery statement after another explaining why we will not have peace. The international community is paralyzed. Many claim that extremists are on the rise and violence is unavoidable.
But the future of the Israeli-Palestinian peace does not depend only on politicians signing an agreement. It also depends on citizens, who can make or break any such pact. The people should lead the politicians.
In my work as a conflict resolution specialist, I have found that the majority of Israelis and Palestinians are indifferent and ineffective. Indifference is the greatest enemy to peace and justice.
The antidote to that apathy is interaction. What Israelis and Palestinians need more than anything right now is to find ways of being with each other. We need to put cracks in the walls that separate people. We need to take classes together.
I don’t know what the final agreement between Israelis and Palestinians will look like–one state, two states, or a confederation. I do know that no agreement will survive if the people from both sides don’t start a true reconciliation project.
Our division should never be between Israelis and Palestinians but rather between those who work tirelessly for peace and those who do not.
tragedy - 悲剧，不幸
scary - 恐怖的
stereotype - 陈规旧习，固定的形式，铅版
ignorance - 无知
ordinary - 普通的，平凡的
doom - 注定；命运
coexist - 和平共存
spank - 打屁股
clash - 冲突，碰撞声
sniff - 嗅
conscious - 意识
confess - 承认，坦白，告白
bitter - 痛苦的，味道苦的，（语言）辛辣的，敌意的
rage - 愤怒，猛烈，渴望
avenge - 为。。。报酬
activism - 行动主义
norm - 标准，规范
convince - 说服，使相信
protest - 抗议
hatred - 憎恶
Hebrew - 希伯来语（的），希伯来人（的）
utter - 发出声音；完全的
conquer - 打破（旧习），获得；征服
suicide - 自杀
stalemate - 僵局
fiery - 猛火的，热烈的
paralyze - 使无用，使瘫痪
pact - 条约，契约
indifferent - 漠不关心的，中立的
ineffective - 无力的，不起作用的
antidote - 对策，解毒剂
apathy - 冷淡，漠不关心
confederation - 同盟，联邦
reconciliation - 和解，调和，一致
Friday, March 22, 2013
Dead Whale Contains a Bounty of Life
A dead whale is a cozy place to live. In death, splayed over the seafloor, the massive marine mammals offer deep-sea organisms an embarrassment of blubbery and bony riches that feed entire communities of unusual creatures for decades.
One such bottom buffet was found in 2010 by researchers aboard the RRS James Cook as they guided a remotely operated vehicle over the seafloor around Antarctica's South Sandwich Islands, the first whalefall ever seen in the vicinity of the continent.
Even better, Natural History Museum, London marine biologist Diva Amon and colleagues now report in the journal Deep Sea Research Part II, the body of the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) was host to at least nine species that have never been seen before.
Dead whales that sink to the seafloor have a peculiar afterlife. Sharks, crabs, and other scavengers quickly hone in on the carcass and remove most of the whale's soft parts, such as the fat and muscle.
Then the whale's story takes a stranger turn. Bone-boring worms, clams, and other organisms—called "enrichment opportunists"—settle in and around the body to draw resources from the bones.
Once these ephemeral creatures have taken all they can from the whale, extensive mats of bacteria grow over the skeleton. These microbial pastures draw in snails that graze upon them. The first two phases pass relatively quickly, over the course of years, but the final stage can take decades to unfold.
A Rare Find
Whalefalls are seldom discovered. Since marine biologists first recognized them three decades ago, only six natural whalefall communities have been found.
Marine biologists have resorted to intentionally sinking whale carcasses to get a better understanding of the communities that take up residence on the huge bodies.
The reason behind the fascination is because these communities are unusual aggregations of organisms that seem to specialize in finding and thriving on a very rare resource.
In the case of the Antarctic minke whale found by Amon and her collaborators, the deceased cetacean was home to a new species of limpet, bone-eating "snotworms", woodlice-like creatures called isopods, and other unusual critters.
The carcass was entirely skeletonized when researchers found it. They expect that the whale's body had been laying on the seafloor for several decades before they stumbled on it.
Carcass Hopping
As desolate as the site looked, though, the whale's body still supported an array of life. The list of species found living around and within the whale included corals, anemones, squid, snails, isopods, and more, including a new species of worm in the genus Osedax. These worms make a living by burrowing into whale bones with the help of symbiotic bacteria in their gut.
This genus of worm was first discovered on the bodies of dead whales, in fact. But how the invertebrate evolved such a bizarre lifestyle is still a mystery.
Of the various species found on the whalefall, though, a new and as-yet-unnamed species of the limpet Lepetodrilus is among the most tantalizing. Species of this snail relative are often found among deep-sea hydrothermal vents and methane seeps—places where outpourings of chemical energy provide oases for life.
In fact, Amon and her coauthors report, the newly-discovered limpet species appears to be the same as those inhabiting hydrothermal vents found about 825 feet (250 meters) away from the whale carcass.
These limpets, the researchers suggest, might use whalefalls as "stepping stones" between hydrothermal vents, meaning that their kind is specially adapted to taking advantage of relatively short-lived seafloor environments, carcass-hopping to new habitats.
bounty - 赐物，奖金
cozy - 舒适的，安逸的
splay - 展开
embarrassment - 难堪，困惑
blubbery - 多脂肪的，肥胖的
bony - 骨质的，（鱼）多骨的
buffet - （火车站的）饮食柜台，（火车的）餐车；自助餐；（风，波浪等的）冲击，（命运等的）折磨
vicinity - 附近，周围
minke - 小须鲸
peculiar - 特殊的，奇怪的
afterlife - 来生，余生，晚年
scavenger - 腐食动物，清扫动物
hone - 用磨刀石磨
carcass - 死尸，残骸
bore - 穿孔
clam - 蛤，蚌
ephemeral - 短暂的
microbial - 微生物的
pasture - 牧草地
resort - 求助于或诉诸某事物，采取某手段或方法应急或作为对策
intentionally - 故意地
aggregation - 集团，集合
deceased - 死去的
cetacean - 鲸目动物
limpet - 帽贝
woodlouse - （潮虫 pl. woodlice）
critter - 动物
stumble - 偶然碰见，蹒跚
hop - 跳行
desolate - 荒凉的，孤寂的
array - 队列，阵列
anemone - 海葵
isopod - 等脚类的动物
genus - （生物分类）属
burrow - 挖（洞）
symbiotic - 共生，共存
gut - 消化管，肠
invertebrate - 无脊椎动物；无脊椎的，优柔寡断的
evolve - 发展，进化
tantalizing - 撩人的
hydrothermal - 热水的
vent - 通气孔
methane - 沼气
seep - 渗透，漏出
outpouring - 流出，流露出
One such bottom buffet was found in 2010 by researchers aboard the RRS James Cook as they guided a remotely operated vehicle over the seafloor around Antarctica's South Sandwich Islands, the first whalefall ever seen in the vicinity of the continent.
Even better, Natural History Museum, London marine biologist Diva Amon and colleagues now report in the journal Deep Sea Research Part II, the body of the Antarctic minke whale (Balaenoptera bonaerensis) was host to at least nine species that have never been seen before.
Dead whales that sink to the seafloor have a peculiar afterlife. Sharks, crabs, and other scavengers quickly hone in on the carcass and remove most of the whale's soft parts, such as the fat and muscle.
Then the whale's story takes a stranger turn. Bone-boring worms, clams, and other organisms—called "enrichment opportunists"—settle in and around the body to draw resources from the bones.
Once these ephemeral creatures have taken all they can from the whale, extensive mats of bacteria grow over the skeleton. These microbial pastures draw in snails that graze upon them. The first two phases pass relatively quickly, over the course of years, but the final stage can take decades to unfold.
A Rare Find
Whalefalls are seldom discovered. Since marine biologists first recognized them three decades ago, only six natural whalefall communities have been found.
Marine biologists have resorted to intentionally sinking whale carcasses to get a better understanding of the communities that take up residence on the huge bodies.
The reason behind the fascination is because these communities are unusual aggregations of organisms that seem to specialize in finding and thriving on a very rare resource.
In the case of the Antarctic minke whale found by Amon and her collaborators, the deceased cetacean was home to a new species of limpet, bone-eating "snotworms", woodlice-like creatures called isopods, and other unusual critters.
The carcass was entirely skeletonized when researchers found it. They expect that the whale's body had been laying on the seafloor for several decades before they stumbled on it.
Carcass Hopping
As desolate as the site looked, though, the whale's body still supported an array of life. The list of species found living around and within the whale included corals, anemones, squid, snails, isopods, and more, including a new species of worm in the genus Osedax. These worms make a living by burrowing into whale bones with the help of symbiotic bacteria in their gut.
This genus of worm was first discovered on the bodies of dead whales, in fact. But how the invertebrate evolved such a bizarre lifestyle is still a mystery.
Of the various species found on the whalefall, though, a new and as-yet-unnamed species of the limpet Lepetodrilus is among the most tantalizing. Species of this snail relative are often found among deep-sea hydrothermal vents and methane seeps—places where outpourings of chemical energy provide oases for life.
In fact, Amon and her coauthors report, the newly-discovered limpet species appears to be the same as those inhabiting hydrothermal vents found about 825 feet (250 meters) away from the whale carcass.
These limpets, the researchers suggest, might use whalefalls as "stepping stones" between hydrothermal vents, meaning that their kind is specially adapted to taking advantage of relatively short-lived seafloor environments, carcass-hopping to new habitats.
bounty - 赐物，奖金
cozy - 舒适的，安逸的
splay - 展开
embarrassment - 难堪，困惑
blubbery - 多脂肪的，肥胖的
bony - 骨质的，（鱼）多骨的
buffet - （火车站的）饮食柜台，（火车的）餐车；自助餐；（风，波浪等的）冲击，（命运等的）折磨
vicinity - 附近，周围
minke - 小须鲸
peculiar - 特殊的，奇怪的
afterlife - 来生，余生，晚年
scavenger - 腐食动物，清扫动物
hone - 用磨刀石磨
carcass - 死尸，残骸
bore - 穿孔
clam - 蛤，蚌
ephemeral - 短暂的
microbial - 微生物的
pasture - 牧草地
resort - 求助于或诉诸某事物，采取某手段或方法应急或作为对策
intentionally - 故意地
aggregation - 集团，集合
deceased - 死去的
cetacean - 鲸目动物
limpet - 帽贝
woodlouse - （潮虫 pl. woodlice）
critter - 动物
stumble - 偶然碰见，蹒跚
hop - 跳行
desolate - 荒凉的，孤寂的
array - 队列，阵列
anemone - 海葵
isopod - 等脚类的动物
genus - （生物分类）属
burrow - 挖（洞）
symbiotic - 共生，共存
gut - 消化管，肠
invertebrate - 无脊椎动物；无脊椎的，优柔寡断的
evolve - 发展，进化
tantalizing - 撩人的
hydrothermal - 热水的
vent - 通气孔
methane - 沼气
seep - 渗透，漏出
outpouring - 流出，流露出
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
California Death Prompts Questions About Lion Attacks
An African lion killed a worker Wednesday at a wildlife sanctuary called Cat Haven in Dunlap, California.
Twenty-four-year-old Dianna Hanson of Seattle died after a 350-pound (160-kilogram) lion named Cous Cous escaped a smaller pen and attacked Hanson as she was cleaning its main enclosure, according to CNN. Hanson reportedly died quickly of a broken neck, and the lion inflicted other injuries after death. The Fresno County sheriff deputy shot and killed the lion in an effort to stop the attack, but it was too late, according to news reports.
We asked two leading big cat experts to weigh in on the tragedy: Craig Packer, a 2012 National Geographic Waitt grantee and ecologist at the University of Minnesota; and conservation scientist Luke Dollar, grant-program director of the National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative.
What was your reaction to the news?
Craig Packer: The young woman was apparently attacked when the lion broke out of its holding cage and caught her while she was cleaning out its enclosure. Fully-fledged zoos are always extremely careful to keep their staff out of harm's way with heavy duty holding facilities.
Luke Dollar: I hope we don't try to vilify a law-enforcement officer who was acting on short notice in an attempt to get medical attention to the victim as quickly as possible. The danger has to be removed.
The lion is a predator and its a big, powerful animal. Whether it intended to "attack and devour" the keeper or simply "played too rough" is not clear at present. What's certain is that these animals demand a great deal of respect and constant vigilance.
Is there any bigger takeaway from this incident?
CP: Lions attract a lot of attention: Lion Country Safari, the Lion King, Born Free, Chronicles of Narnia, the Cowardly Lion, etc. They are big fluffy mammals with cute cubs and affectionate family relationships.
Most of the time they seem relaxed and cuddly—so it's easy to forget that they react to meat with the reflexive instincts of a shark. Ten years ago Roy Horne (of Siegfried and Roy) was attacked by a tiger that they had handled for years—these attacks happen when people forget about the shark inside.
Can wild animals like lions be domesticated?
LD: To take a big cat and treat it as a pet is ill advised. It really is wonderful to love and respect these creatures, but it is truly folly [to think] that one can commune and be friends with them. We have learned that lesson over and over, whether it's with bears or big cats or venomous snakes.
We have this fascination [with dangerous animals such as lions] because of their potential lethality, but for some reason we still cross the line that should never be crossed. ... Anthropomorphization is a dangerous thing. These are wild animals—this is not Simba from the Lion King.
prompt - 提示，指点，激起；敏捷的
sanctuary - 保护区，避难所，神圣的场所
pen - 围栏
inflict - 施加（伤害，惩罚）
sheriff - 治安官，州长
deputy - 副手，代理人；副的，代理的
weigh in - 发表评论
tragedy - 悲剧
grantee - 被授予者
initiative - 主导权，主动，独创力
fledge - 喂养；（鸟）长羽毛
facility - 设施
vilify - 中伤
victim - 遇害者
devour - 狼吞虎咽的吃光
vigilance - 警戒
fluffy - 松软的，毛茸茸的
cub - 幼兽
affectionate - 深情的，慈爱的
cuddly - 不由得想搂抱的，可爱的
reflexive - 反射性的
ill-advised - 欠考虑的
folly - 愚蠢，愚蠢的行为
commune - 亲密交往
venomous - 有毒的
fascination - 迷恋，魅力
lethality - 杀伤力
Twenty-four-year-old Dianna Hanson of Seattle died after a 350-pound (160-kilogram) lion named Cous Cous escaped a smaller pen and attacked Hanson as she was cleaning its main enclosure, according to CNN. Hanson reportedly died quickly of a broken neck, and the lion inflicted other injuries after death. The Fresno County sheriff deputy shot and killed the lion in an effort to stop the attack, but it was too late, according to news reports.
We asked two leading big cat experts to weigh in on the tragedy: Craig Packer, a 2012 National Geographic Waitt grantee and ecologist at the University of Minnesota; and conservation scientist Luke Dollar, grant-program director of the National Geographic Society's Big Cats Initiative.
What was your reaction to the news?
Craig Packer: The young woman was apparently attacked when the lion broke out of its holding cage and caught her while she was cleaning out its enclosure. Fully-fledged zoos are always extremely careful to keep their staff out of harm's way with heavy duty holding facilities.
Luke Dollar: I hope we don't try to vilify a law-enforcement officer who was acting on short notice in an attempt to get medical attention to the victim as quickly as possible. The danger has to be removed.
The lion is a predator and its a big, powerful animal. Whether it intended to "attack and devour" the keeper or simply "played too rough" is not clear at present. What's certain is that these animals demand a great deal of respect and constant vigilance.
Is there any bigger takeaway from this incident?
CP: Lions attract a lot of attention: Lion Country Safari, the Lion King, Born Free, Chronicles of Narnia, the Cowardly Lion, etc. They are big fluffy mammals with cute cubs and affectionate family relationships.
Most of the time they seem relaxed and cuddly—so it's easy to forget that they react to meat with the reflexive instincts of a shark. Ten years ago Roy Horne (of Siegfried and Roy) was attacked by a tiger that they had handled for years—these attacks happen when people forget about the shark inside.
Can wild animals like lions be domesticated?
LD: To take a big cat and treat it as a pet is ill advised. It really is wonderful to love and respect these creatures, but it is truly folly [to think] that one can commune and be friends with them. We have learned that lesson over and over, whether it's with bears or big cats or venomous snakes.
We have this fascination [with dangerous animals such as lions] because of their potential lethality, but for some reason we still cross the line that should never be crossed. ... Anthropomorphization is a dangerous thing. These are wild animals—this is not Simba from the Lion King.
prompt - 提示，指点，激起；敏捷的
sanctuary - 保护区，避难所，神圣的场所
pen - 围栏
inflict - 施加（伤害，惩罚）
sheriff - 治安官，州长
deputy - 副手，代理人；副的，代理的
weigh in - 发表评论
tragedy - 悲剧
grantee - 被授予者
initiative - 主导权，主动，独创力
fledge - 喂养；（鸟）长羽毛
facility - 设施
vilify - 中伤
victim - 遇害者
devour - 狼吞虎咽的吃光
vigilance - 警戒
fluffy - 松软的，毛茸茸的
cub - 幼兽
affectionate - 深情的，慈爱的
cuddly - 不由得想搂抱的，可爱的
reflexive - 反射性的
ill-advised - 欠考虑的
folly - 愚蠢，愚蠢的行为
commune - 亲密交往
venomous - 有毒的
fascination - 迷恋，魅力
lethality - 杀伤力
Tuesday, March 19, 2013
Monster Comet may have Mars in its Crosshairs
Mars may have a really bad day next year on October 19th. That’s when there is a very slight chance a newly discovered comet may impact our neighboring planet, says NASA.
Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) was discovered by Australian Robert H. McNaught, a prolific comet and asteroid hunter just two months ago and NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , in Pasadena, Calif., has been constantly refining the comet’s exact trajectory ever since.
Latest orbital calculations have the icy visitor passing by Mars at only 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) – only two-and-a-half times the distance that the outer moon Deimos orbits.
Astronomers watching the icy interloper predict that as more observations are accumulated over time, it’s more and more likely Mars is going to dodge the bullet and only get a close shave . The possibility of impact however has not been completely ruled out yet, says NASA, giving the comet a 1 in 600 chance of walloping the Red Planet.
If Siding Spring would hit, the force of impact may truly be monumental. Based on observations to date the comet nucleus could be a real monster – as big as 9 miles (15 km) to 31 miles (50 km) wide. With it’s velocity clocked at 35 miles (56 km) per second, the energy force of the collision could be measured in the billions of megatons, resulting in a crater hundreds of miles wide. This could be an impact that rivals the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago on our planet and would be bright enough to be even seen with the naked eye from Earth.
Chances are however that it will just barely miss the planet, but comet Siding Spring may still become visible through binoculars and backyard scopes for us Earthlings in the Southern Hemisphere around mid-September 2014. It should also produce quite a sky show as seen from the surface of Mars.
Current brightness magnitudes estimate that the comet will be very bright to even the digital eyes of the two working Mars rovers – Opportunity and Curiosity. Can hardly wait to see the amazing photos from these intrepid robotic explorers!
So it will definitely be worth watching what the comet does in the coming weeks and months- whether it impacts Mars or not.
asteroid - 小行星
trajectory - 天体轨道，弹道
ever since - 从此以后
interloper - 非法入侵者
dodge - 躲开，避免
bullet - 炮弹，小球
shave - 掠过；剃须
rule out - 排除
wallop - 猛击，冲过去
velocity - 速度
crater - 环形山，喷火口
binocular - 双筒望远镜；双眼用的
scope - 范围，视野
earthling - 地球人
magnitude - 光度，震级，巨大
intrepid - 大胆的
Comet C/2013 A1 (Siding Spring) was discovered by Australian Robert H. McNaught, a prolific comet and asteroid hunter just two months ago and NASA’s Near-Earth Object Program Office at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory , in Pasadena, Calif., has been constantly refining the comet’s exact trajectory ever since.
Latest orbital calculations have the icy visitor passing by Mars at only 31,000 miles (50,000 kilometers) – only two-and-a-half times the distance that the outer moon Deimos orbits.
Astronomers watching the icy interloper predict that as more observations are accumulated over time, it’s more and more likely Mars is going to dodge the bullet and only get a close shave . The possibility of impact however has not been completely ruled out yet, says NASA, giving the comet a 1 in 600 chance of walloping the Red Planet.
If Siding Spring would hit, the force of impact may truly be monumental. Based on observations to date the comet nucleus could be a real monster – as big as 9 miles (15 km) to 31 miles (50 km) wide. With it’s velocity clocked at 35 miles (56 km) per second, the energy force of the collision could be measured in the billions of megatons, resulting in a crater hundreds of miles wide. This could be an impact that rivals the one that wiped out the dinosaurs 65 million years ago on our planet and would be bright enough to be even seen with the naked eye from Earth.
Chances are however that it will just barely miss the planet, but comet Siding Spring may still become visible through binoculars and backyard scopes for us Earthlings in the Southern Hemisphere around mid-September 2014. It should also produce quite a sky show as seen from the surface of Mars.
Current brightness magnitudes estimate that the comet will be very bright to even the digital eyes of the two working Mars rovers – Opportunity and Curiosity. Can hardly wait to see the amazing photos from these intrepid robotic explorers!
So it will definitely be worth watching what the comet does in the coming weeks and months- whether it impacts Mars or not.
asteroid - 小行星
trajectory - 天体轨道，弹道
ever since - 从此以后
interloper - 非法入侵者
dodge - 躲开，避免
bullet - 炮弹，小球
shave - 掠过；剃须
rule out - 排除
wallop - 猛击，冲过去
velocity - 速度
crater - 环形山，喷火口
binocular - 双筒望远镜；双眼用的
scope - 范围，视野
earthling - 地球人
magnitude - 光度，震级，巨大
intrepid - 大胆的
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Psychological Challenges of a Manned Mission to Mars
We all have them—a sibling who "borrows" your clothes without returning them, a co-worker who never puts your stapler back where she found it, a spouse who refuses to pick up his socks.
Now imagine being stuck with such a person in a room the size of an RV for 17 months. If the Inspiration Mars Foundation is successful in its bid to launch a woman and a man to fly by the red planet in 2018, privacy is one of many psychological issues crew members will have to deal with.
The foundation, led by space tourist Dennis Tito, formally announced its plan on Wednesday at a Washington, D.C., press conference.
The all-American crew would consist of two people past childbearing age due to the radiation doses they would be exposed to by using current equipment. Technological constraints also dictate the number of people that could go on this mission, said Jane Poynter.
Poynter was one of the first Biosphere 2 crew members and is a co-founder of Paragon Space Development Corporation, which is developing the life-support system for the foundation's Mars mission. The foundation is also in talks with the National Geographic Society about a potential partnership on the mission.
While humans have a long history of setting off into the unknown on our own planet and in the immediate vicinity, space travel beyond low-Earth orbit and the moon—and what it means for the mental well-being of human crews—is a new frontier.
"I think these will be bigger challenges than technology challenges," said Jason Kring, a researcher at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida who studies how humans perform in extreme environments.
Feelings of isolation and boredom, the knowledge that Earth is so very far away, and long periods of confinement are some of the mental issues researchers worry about for crew members.
A Whole New World
In Earth-orbiting missions, such as to the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts have real time communication with friends, family, and ground teams.
ISS inhabitants can receive visitors and crews can be resupplied with their favorite foods, said Nick Kanas, a psychiatrist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
"Now fast forward to Mars—you can't talk to anybody in real time," said Kanas, who has studied psychological issues in astronauts for NASA.
"If you have a fire you have to deal with it yourselves," he said. "You can't evacuate anyone if they develop issues ... You're really isolated."
Isolation was the hardest part of living in Biosphere 2, a self-contained habitat meant to simulate Earth's various environments in the Arizona desert, said Poynter.
"We weren't as prepared as we should have been for being isolated," she said. Some of Biosphere 2's crew members developed depression or mood swings, and psychologists were brought in to help those individuals cope.
But the members toughed out their two-year stints, Poynter said, adding that she will advocate for the Mars crew to get training in how to deal with psychological challenges.
Mission planners will also be talking to NASA and to people who have spent extended periods of time at the ISS about how to plan for such hardship, she said.
Size Might Matter
Embry-Riddle's Kring and UCSF's Kanas both questioned the wisdom of the proposed two-person Mars crew.
"I think two is a setup for problems," said Kanas. "You can get along with anybody for a month, but you're talking about a year and a half or longer, and it's different."
Kring said that if the teammates got upset with each other, there would be no one to help smooth things over or take up any slack workwise.
There have been instances in the Russian cosmonaut program in which crew members in space got mad at one another and didn't speak for months, he said.
Poynter added that there were team members in Biosphere 2 who didn't speak to each other for 18 months beyond what was essential to keep their habitat running.
Crew members would be able to communicate with people on Earth, but interactions between crews in space and teams on the ground can develop their own set of problems.
Kanas's research has shown that crews in space will sometimes displace negative feelings onto ground teams. That can result in crews feeling like no one on the ground cares about them, he said.
Russian investigators have found that teams in space might also withhold some information from ground personnel, giving support personnel on Earth an incomplete picture of what's happening on the spacecraft, Kanas noted in an article published in 2010 in the Journal of Cosmology.
The Right Stuff
But experts say that some psychological issues can be avoided or mitigated with proper crew selection and training.
David F. Dinges, a psychology researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, thinks a two-person crew could work, depending on the people involved.
"It sort of depends on which two people and the nature of the habitat and the nature of what they have to do," he said.
There's no hard-and-fast list of characteristics that make a good crew member, said UCSF's Kanas, who has helped NASA screen astronaut candidates.
In general, good crew members are those who enjoy both working alone on projects and socializing, Kanas said.
This is so crew members can go off and give themselves and their teammates a break from each other, but then come together for meals or to work out a problem.
"You don't want introverts and you don't want extroverts," Kanas said.
Embry-Riddle's Kring adds that crew members should also be comfortable with fluid situations and be able to deal with differences in how others live and work.
Having a sense of humor also helps. When a group of Kring's students entered a Utah facility meant to simulate living and working on Mars for two weeks, individuals with a sense of humor were able to keep the group laughing.
That helped to diffuse tensions that surfaced among a team that, even though they got along very well before they went inside, developed issues within days of starting their simulated mission, Kring said.
Audacity
It would be ideal if the Inspiration Mars Foundation's two-person crew were an attached couple, said Paragon's Poynter: "It's immeasurably helpful to have someone who you know and who you trust."
That setup would also help address any concerns of a romantic relationship developing between male and female crew members.
Poynter said she would love to go to Mars with her husband, former Biosphere 2 crew member and Paragon co-founder Taber MacCallum. "When we were in the Biosphere, we would sit on the beach," she said, "[and] just imagine ourselves hurtling towards Mars or being on the surface of Mars."
manned - 载人的（宇宙飞船等）
mission - 特务飞行，使命
stapler - 订书器
spouse - 配偶者
RV - Recreational Vehicle 旅行房车
stuck - 被缠住，动不了
inspiration - 灵感，鼓励
bid - 出价，投标，努力争取
childbearing - 分娩；能分娩的
dose
constraint - 制约，束缚
dictate - 支配，控制
Now imagine being stuck with such a person in a room the size of an RV for 17 months. If the Inspiration Mars Foundation is successful in its bid to launch a woman and a man to fly by the red planet in 2018, privacy is one of many psychological issues crew members will have to deal with.
The foundation, led by space tourist Dennis Tito, formally announced its plan on Wednesday at a Washington, D.C., press conference.
The all-American crew would consist of two people past childbearing age due to the radiation doses they would be exposed to by using current equipment. Technological constraints also dictate the number of people that could go on this mission, said Jane Poynter.
Poynter was one of the first Biosphere 2 crew members and is a co-founder of Paragon Space Development Corporation, which is developing the life-support system for the foundation's Mars mission. The foundation is also in talks with the National Geographic Society about a potential partnership on the mission.
While humans have a long history of setting off into the unknown on our own planet and in the immediate vicinity, space travel beyond low-Earth orbit and the moon—and what it means for the mental well-being of human crews—is a new frontier.
"I think these will be bigger challenges than technology challenges," said Jason Kring, a researcher at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in Florida who studies how humans perform in extreme environments.
Feelings of isolation and boredom, the knowledge that Earth is so very far away, and long periods of confinement are some of the mental issues researchers worry about for crew members.
A Whole New World
In Earth-orbiting missions, such as to the International Space Station (ISS), astronauts have real time communication with friends, family, and ground teams.
ISS inhabitants can receive visitors and crews can be resupplied with their favorite foods, said Nick Kanas, a psychiatrist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).
"Now fast forward to Mars—you can't talk to anybody in real time," said Kanas, who has studied psychological issues in astronauts for NASA.
"If you have a fire you have to deal with it yourselves," he said. "You can't evacuate anyone if they develop issues ... You're really isolated."
Isolation was the hardest part of living in Biosphere 2, a self-contained habitat meant to simulate Earth's various environments in the Arizona desert, said Poynter.
"We weren't as prepared as we should have been for being isolated," she said. Some of Biosphere 2's crew members developed depression or mood swings, and psychologists were brought in to help those individuals cope.
But the members toughed out their two-year stints, Poynter said, adding that she will advocate for the Mars crew to get training in how to deal with psychological challenges.
Mission planners will also be talking to NASA and to people who have spent extended periods of time at the ISS about how to plan for such hardship, she said.
Size Might Matter
Embry-Riddle's Kring and UCSF's Kanas both questioned the wisdom of the proposed two-person Mars crew.
"I think two is a setup for problems," said Kanas. "You can get along with anybody for a month, but you're talking about a year and a half or longer, and it's different."
Kring said that if the teammates got upset with each other, there would be no one to help smooth things over or take up any slack workwise.
There have been instances in the Russian cosmonaut program in which crew members in space got mad at one another and didn't speak for months, he said.
Poynter added that there were team members in Biosphere 2 who didn't speak to each other for 18 months beyond what was essential to keep their habitat running.
Crew members would be able to communicate with people on Earth, but interactions between crews in space and teams on the ground can develop their own set of problems.
Kanas's research has shown that crews in space will sometimes displace negative feelings onto ground teams. That can result in crews feeling like no one on the ground cares about them, he said.
Russian investigators have found that teams in space might also withhold some information from ground personnel, giving support personnel on Earth an incomplete picture of what's happening on the spacecraft, Kanas noted in an article published in 2010 in the Journal of Cosmology.
The Right Stuff
But experts say that some psychological issues can be avoided or mitigated with proper crew selection and training.
David F. Dinges, a psychology researcher at the University of Pennsylvania Perlman School of Medicine, thinks a two-person crew could work, depending on the people involved.
"It sort of depends on which two people and the nature of the habitat and the nature of what they have to do," he said.
There's no hard-and-fast list of characteristics that make a good crew member, said UCSF's Kanas, who has helped NASA screen astronaut candidates.
In general, good crew members are those who enjoy both working alone on projects and socializing, Kanas said.
This is so crew members can go off and give themselves and their teammates a break from each other, but then come together for meals or to work out a problem.
"You don't want introverts and you don't want extroverts," Kanas said.
Embry-Riddle's Kring adds that crew members should also be comfortable with fluid situations and be able to deal with differences in how others live and work.
Having a sense of humor also helps. When a group of Kring's students entered a Utah facility meant to simulate living and working on Mars for two weeks, individuals with a sense of humor were able to keep the group laughing.
That helped to diffuse tensions that surfaced among a team that, even though they got along very well before they went inside, developed issues within days of starting their simulated mission, Kring said.
Audacity
It would be ideal if the Inspiration Mars Foundation's two-person crew were an attached couple, said Paragon's Poynter: "It's immeasurably helpful to have someone who you know and who you trust."
That setup would also help address any concerns of a romantic relationship developing between male and female crew members.
Poynter said she would love to go to Mars with her husband, former Biosphere 2 crew member and Paragon co-founder Taber MacCallum. "When we were in the Biosphere, we would sit on the beach," she said, "[and] just imagine ourselves hurtling towards Mars or being on the surface of Mars."
manned - 载人的（宇宙飞船等）
mission - 特务飞行，使命
stapler - 订书器
spouse - 配偶者
RV - Recreational Vehicle 旅行房车
stuck - 被缠住，动不了
inspiration - 灵感，鼓励
bid - 出价，投标，努力争取
childbearing - 分娩；能分娩的
dose
constraint - 制约，束缚
dictate - 支配，控制
vicinity - 附近
frontier - 新的领域，国界
boredom - 倦怠
confinement -局限，监禁
psychiatrist -精神病医生
emeritus - 名誉退休的
evacuate - 撤退
stint - 限制，兵役
advocate - 主张，提倡
slack - 松弛的，不活跃的
cosmonaut - 宇航员
personnel - 职员，队员，人事部
mitigate - 镇静，减轻（刑罚）
introvert - 内向的人；内向的 extrovert - 外向的人；外向的
audacity - 豪放，大胆
frontier - 新的领域，国界
boredom - 倦怠
confinement -局限，监禁
psychiatrist -精神病医生
emeritus - 名誉退休的
evacuate - 撤退
stint - 限制，兵役
advocate - 主张，提倡
slack - 松弛的，不活跃的
cosmonaut - 宇航员
personnel - 职员，队员，人事部
mitigate - 镇静，减轻（刑罚）
introvert - 内向的人；内向的 extrovert - 外向的人；外向的
audacity - 豪放，大胆
Saturday, March 9, 2013
My Pet's Demise: A Flood of Sympathy—And Criticism
I am truly overwhelmed by the responses to my story about our cat, Rosie, and the decision that it was time to end her life.
People have written to say they were moved to tears. They told their own stories about saying goodbye to a beloved pet, and their stories made me cry.
Of course, I was also called an "indulgent man child first discovering that other beings have worth" and—on fark.com—a "douche." (Although nine out of ten commenters said I wasn't a douche, so I take that as a ringing endorsement of my non-douchiness.)
Why such a response? Why the criticisms? And how is life without our cat Rosie?
Here are my thoughts.
The outpouring of comments, I think, is because we don't really talk about what it's like to end a pet's life. Even the euphemisms we use are detached: "put to sleep," "put down." Yet euthanasia is not something you do with detachment.
I kept thinking, "All our cat wants from us is love, full bowls of food and water, and a cozy place to curl up. And now I'm making a decision that goes way beyond that pact. I'm taking the pet's life, and I can't communicate that to her, I can't discuss it with her, I just have to do it."
But I didn't want to do it. I wanted to believe in the power of magical thinking: "Maybe she'll start using the litter box properly again. Or maybe fate will intervene and she'll expire of 'natural causes.'"
(As an aside, I will also tell you that one of the things we don't talk about is how much euthanasia can cost. Our wonderful vet in Montgomery County, Maryland, would have charged over $500. When he said we could certainly look for other, less expensive options, I found some animal-welfare groups that would euthanize a pet for around $100, but they were all too far away. I even looked up "do-it-yourself pet euthanasia" on the Internet. [Don't judge me: I'm a reporter, and I was curious.] Every site I found advised against it.)
The criticisms of my story typically focused on my statement that I didn't expect pet euthanasia to be so hard. I really, truly didn't think I would lose control and begin sobbing. I didn't expect to see my pet's life pass before my eyes: Searching for a tiny orange kitten all over the house and finding her hidden under a dresser ... with a little cat poo by her side. Our daughters standing outside on a stormy night and calling her in: "Rosie, Rosierosierosie!"—and of course she wouldn't come, and I'd think, "She's a goner," and then she'd show up in the morning, perhaps having used up one of her nine lives but looking none the worse for a night outside. Even trying to sneak a pill into her mouth when she had an infection (oy, don't ask!).
As I wrote, I assumed it would be a simple decision to say, "Time for her to go"—and in fact it was a difficult decision that I just couldn't make. I'd say, "Nobody else would clean up as much cat urine as we have!" Then I'd say, "What a whiner I am. So it's a little cat urine—how can I take her life away because of that?" I kept calling our daughters, who now live in Colorado, to say, "Well, I think it's time," and they'd say, "Dad, we understand. Do what you have to do." And I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Like many caregivers, I was focused on the here and now: We have to attend to an aging cat that has trouble making it to the litter box. I lost sight of the fact that over 20 years, our mostly silent cat (Rosie rarely meowed, or even purred) had so deeply insinuated herself into our family's life.
So how is life without our cat? A week after saying goodbye to Rosie, I still expect to see her around the house. At night, when I sprawl on the sofa to watch TV, I keep thinking she'll be there, trying to figure out if, at age 20, she has the get-up-and-go to jump on the couch. Some nights she did. Some nights I'd give her an assist. And while my wife frequently mocks my taste in TV, Rosie always let me pick the show—and never complained.
Rosierosierosie, I really do miss you!
demise - 逝去
sympathy - 同情
indulgent - 放纵的，宽容的
douche - 灌水
endorsement - 保证，担保
outpouring - 流出，流露
euphemism - 委婉
detach - 分离，拆开
euthanasia - 安乐死 euthanize - 使安乐死
cozy - 舒适的，安逸的
curl up - 蜷缩
pact - 协定，条约
litter - 动物的窝，碎屑
intervene - 出面，介入，干涉
expire - 离世，期满，失效
vet - 兽医
welfare - 福利
sob - 呜咽；哭诉
kitten - 小猫
dresser - 梳妆台
sneak - 偷窃；偷偷溜走
infection - 感染症
urine - 尿
whiner - 抱怨的人
caregiver - 护理者
meow - 喵喵叫
purr - 猫发咕噜声
insinuate - 慢慢进入，迂回潜入
mock - 嘲笑
People have written to say they were moved to tears. They told their own stories about saying goodbye to a beloved pet, and their stories made me cry.
Of course, I was also called an "indulgent man child first discovering that other beings have worth" and—on fark.com—a "douche." (Although nine out of ten commenters said I wasn't a douche, so I take that as a ringing endorsement of my non-douchiness.)
Why such a response? Why the criticisms? And how is life without our cat Rosie?
Here are my thoughts.
The outpouring of comments, I think, is because we don't really talk about what it's like to end a pet's life. Even the euphemisms we use are detached: "put to sleep," "put down." Yet euthanasia is not something you do with detachment.
I kept thinking, "All our cat wants from us is love, full bowls of food and water, and a cozy place to curl up. And now I'm making a decision that goes way beyond that pact. I'm taking the pet's life, and I can't communicate that to her, I can't discuss it with her, I just have to do it."
But I didn't want to do it. I wanted to believe in the power of magical thinking: "Maybe she'll start using the litter box properly again. Or maybe fate will intervene and she'll expire of 'natural causes.'"
(As an aside, I will also tell you that one of the things we don't talk about is how much euthanasia can cost. Our wonderful vet in Montgomery County, Maryland, would have charged over $500. When he said we could certainly look for other, less expensive options, I found some animal-welfare groups that would euthanize a pet for around $100, but they were all too far away. I even looked up "do-it-yourself pet euthanasia" on the Internet. [Don't judge me: I'm a reporter, and I was curious.] Every site I found advised against it.)
The criticisms of my story typically focused on my statement that I didn't expect pet euthanasia to be so hard. I really, truly didn't think I would lose control and begin sobbing. I didn't expect to see my pet's life pass before my eyes: Searching for a tiny orange kitten all over the house and finding her hidden under a dresser ... with a little cat poo by her side. Our daughters standing outside on a stormy night and calling her in: "Rosie, Rosierosierosie!"—and of course she wouldn't come, and I'd think, "She's a goner," and then she'd show up in the morning, perhaps having used up one of her nine lives but looking none the worse for a night outside. Even trying to sneak a pill into her mouth when she had an infection (oy, don't ask!).
As I wrote, I assumed it would be a simple decision to say, "Time for her to go"—and in fact it was a difficult decision that I just couldn't make. I'd say, "Nobody else would clean up as much cat urine as we have!" Then I'd say, "What a whiner I am. So it's a little cat urine—how can I take her life away because of that?" I kept calling our daughters, who now live in Colorado, to say, "Well, I think it's time," and they'd say, "Dad, we understand. Do what you have to do." And I couldn't bring myself to do it.
Like many caregivers, I was focused on the here and now: We have to attend to an aging cat that has trouble making it to the litter box. I lost sight of the fact that over 20 years, our mostly silent cat (Rosie rarely meowed, or even purred) had so deeply insinuated herself into our family's life.
So how is life without our cat? A week after saying goodbye to Rosie, I still expect to see her around the house. At night, when I sprawl on the sofa to watch TV, I keep thinking she'll be there, trying to figure out if, at age 20, she has the get-up-and-go to jump on the couch. Some nights she did. Some nights I'd give her an assist. And while my wife frequently mocks my taste in TV, Rosie always let me pick the show—and never complained.
Rosierosierosie, I really do miss you!
demise - 逝去
sympathy - 同情
indulgent - 放纵的，宽容的
douche - 灌水
endorsement - 保证，担保
outpouring - 流出，流露
euphemism - 委婉
detach - 分离，拆开
euthanasia - 安乐死 euthanize - 使安乐死
cozy - 舒适的，安逸的
curl up - 蜷缩
pact - 协定，条约
litter - 动物的窝，碎屑
intervene - 出面，介入，干涉
expire - 离世，期满，失效
vet - 兽医
welfare - 福利
sob - 呜咽；哭诉
kitten - 小猫
dresser - 梳妆台
sneak - 偷窃；偷偷溜走
infection - 感染症
urine - 尿
whiner - 抱怨的人
caregiver - 护理者
meow - 喵喵叫
purr - 猫发咕噜声
insinuate - 慢慢进入，迂回潜入
mock - 嘲笑
Tuesday, March 5, 2013
Six Ways Sequestration Will Hurt Parks, Wildlife
Lovers of the United States' landscape, wildlife, and parks will feel the pain of mandatory spending cuts set to take effect this Friday, warn leaders of the nation's land agency.
At a press conference just days short of the March 1 deadline, Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, outlined how so-called "sequestration" will hurt the country in general and national parks in particular.
1. Hits to the national wallet. The national parks return more than $10 for every dollar invested by the taxpayer, Salazar pointed out. The park system is a profit center as productive as any in our economy. In 2011, Maine's Acadia National Park drew 2.4 million visitors, contributed $186 million to the state's economy, and supported 3,000 jobs. Yellowstone National Park drew 3.4 million visitors, contributed $333 million, and supported 5,000 jobs. Everglades National Park drew 934,000 visitors, contributed $147 million, and supported 2,400 jobs. And these are just three of the 398 national parks, monuments, memorials, reserves, preserves, historic sites, seashores, lakeshores, and battlefields across the country.
"In 2011," summarized Salazar, "279 million visitors came to our national parks, pumped 30 billion dollars into the economy, and supported 252,000 jobs."
The report for 2012, just out, shows that park visitation grew by three million, to 283 million.
The park system is also doing its part to address the U.S. trade imbalance. Last year, according to Salazar, the parks drew 62 million international visitors and $152 million in foreign capital. International visitors stay longer in the parks and spend more.
Before the specter of sequester rose, the Park Service set a goal of attracting a hundred million foreign visitors by the end of 2021.
The sequester will require a 5 percent cut in the budget of each park. While this might not seem like a devastating percentage, the secretary said, in fact it would strike at the heart of the limited discretionary funds available to the Park Service.
In the context of the Department of Interior as a whole, he said, it would be like closing down the entire Bureau of Land Management.
2. Campground and cave closures in the Southeast. As examples of the belt-tightening required of every park to achieve a 5 percent cut, Director Jarvis picked the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where five campgrounds and picnic areas will be closed; the Blue Ridge Parkway, where seven contact stations will shut down; and Mammoth Cave National Park, where a portion of the cave tours will be eliminated. That may be good news for the bats, but not for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who explore these caverns each year.
3. Unhappy kids in the Northeast. At Cape Cod National Park, the Provincetown Visitor Center will be closed. At Independence National Historical Park, the interpretive program will be cut in half.
"And at Gettysburg," said Jarvis, "this year being the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, we'll be reducing our education programs. Twenty-four hundred kids from the towns in the area will not be able to participate."
4. Empty silos in the Midwest. The Minuteman Missile Site in South Dakota will close all tours, turning away 50,000 annual visitors. The Cold War, in that sense, will grow a little colder.
5. Snowy park roads in the West. The month of March, just as the sequester would hit, is when many parks open. It's also when the National Park Service hires "seasonals," the men and women who fight fires, provide extra law enforcement for peak months, and do search-and-rescue-hiring that will have to be curtailed. Also in March, water systems are reactivated and snowy roads are plowed.
"In the Rocky Mountain region, in Yellowstone and Glacier, we will be delaying plowing of the roads to open those up, sometimes as much as a month," Jarvis said.
"That delay will have a direct impact on gateway communities around Cody or Jackson Hole, or up in Glacier at Whitefish. The communities there, they know their season starts the day the roads open and closes the day the roads close. That can be as much as a million dollars a day lost to the local economy."
At Grand Teton National Park, the Jenny Lake Visitor Center will close. In Yosemite, plowing of the Tioga Road, a principal route over the Sierra Nevada, will be delayed, affecting 2,000 to 3,000 travelers a day. Delays in plowing the road to Wonder Lake, in Alaska's Denali National Park, will affect as many as 4,000 visitors a day.
6. Thistles and pythons and carp and wild boars. Jarvis reminded the press that national parks need constant defending from invasive plants and animals. Funding cuts will compromise control programs throughout the park system, he said, including efforts to remove yellow star thistle from Yosemite, Burmese pythons from the Everglades, and feral pigs from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
People planning to visit national parks in the months ahead are urged to check the National Park Service's website for information on closures.
mandatory - 强制的，命令的
sequestration - 隔离，扣押，没收
invest - 投资，花费
address - 处理
specter - 幽灵
budget - 经费
devastating - 破坏性的
discretionary - 任意的，自由决定的
campground - 露营地
closure - 取缔，关门
interpretive - 解释的
fight fires - 救火
enforcement - 执行，强制
rescue - 救出
curtail - 消减（费用），缩短（时间）
plow - 除雪，耕地
thistle - 蓟
python - 大蟒
carp - 鲤鱼
boar - 公猪，野猪
invasive - 入侵的
compromise - 违背，使陷入危险
feral - 野生的
urge - 提倡，强调
At a press conference just days short of the March 1 deadline, Jonathan Jarvis, director of the National Park Service, and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar, outlined how so-called "sequestration" will hurt the country in general and national parks in particular.
1. Hits to the national wallet. The national parks return more than $10 for every dollar invested by the taxpayer, Salazar pointed out. The park system is a profit center as productive as any in our economy. In 2011, Maine's Acadia National Park drew 2.4 million visitors, contributed $186 million to the state's economy, and supported 3,000 jobs. Yellowstone National Park drew 3.4 million visitors, contributed $333 million, and supported 5,000 jobs. Everglades National Park drew 934,000 visitors, contributed $147 million, and supported 2,400 jobs. And these are just three of the 398 national parks, monuments, memorials, reserves, preserves, historic sites, seashores, lakeshores, and battlefields across the country.
"In 2011," summarized Salazar, "279 million visitors came to our national parks, pumped 30 billion dollars into the economy, and supported 252,000 jobs."
The report for 2012, just out, shows that park visitation grew by three million, to 283 million.
The park system is also doing its part to address the U.S. trade imbalance. Last year, according to Salazar, the parks drew 62 million international visitors and $152 million in foreign capital. International visitors stay longer in the parks and spend more.
Before the specter of sequester rose, the Park Service set a goal of attracting a hundred million foreign visitors by the end of 2021.
The sequester will require a 5 percent cut in the budget of each park. While this might not seem like a devastating percentage, the secretary said, in fact it would strike at the heart of the limited discretionary funds available to the Park Service.
In the context of the Department of Interior as a whole, he said, it would be like closing down the entire Bureau of Land Management.
2. Campground and cave closures in the Southeast. As examples of the belt-tightening required of every park to achieve a 5 percent cut, Director Jarvis picked the Great Smoky Mountains National Park, where five campgrounds and picnic areas will be closed; the Blue Ridge Parkway, where seven contact stations will shut down; and Mammoth Cave National Park, where a portion of the cave tours will be eliminated. That may be good news for the bats, but not for the hundreds of thousands of visitors who explore these caverns each year.
3. Unhappy kids in the Northeast. At Cape Cod National Park, the Provincetown Visitor Center will be closed. At Independence National Historical Park, the interpretive program will be cut in half.
"And at Gettysburg," said Jarvis, "this year being the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Gettysburg, we'll be reducing our education programs. Twenty-four hundred kids from the towns in the area will not be able to participate."
4. Empty silos in the Midwest. The Minuteman Missile Site in South Dakota will close all tours, turning away 50,000 annual visitors. The Cold War, in that sense, will grow a little colder.
5. Snowy park roads in the West. The month of March, just as the sequester would hit, is when many parks open. It's also when the National Park Service hires "seasonals," the men and women who fight fires, provide extra law enforcement for peak months, and do search-and-rescue-hiring that will have to be curtailed. Also in March, water systems are reactivated and snowy roads are plowed.
"In the Rocky Mountain region, in Yellowstone and Glacier, we will be delaying plowing of the roads to open those up, sometimes as much as a month," Jarvis said.
"That delay will have a direct impact on gateway communities around Cody or Jackson Hole, or up in Glacier at Whitefish. The communities there, they know their season starts the day the roads open and closes the day the roads close. That can be as much as a million dollars a day lost to the local economy."
At Grand Teton National Park, the Jenny Lake Visitor Center will close. In Yosemite, plowing of the Tioga Road, a principal route over the Sierra Nevada, will be delayed, affecting 2,000 to 3,000 travelers a day. Delays in plowing the road to Wonder Lake, in Alaska's Denali National Park, will affect as many as 4,000 visitors a day.
6. Thistles and pythons and carp and wild boars. Jarvis reminded the press that national parks need constant defending from invasive plants and animals. Funding cuts will compromise control programs throughout the park system, he said, including efforts to remove yellow star thistle from Yosemite, Burmese pythons from the Everglades, and feral pigs from Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.
People planning to visit national parks in the months ahead are urged to check the National Park Service's website for information on closures.
mandatory - 强制的，命令的
sequestration - 隔离，扣押，没收
invest - 投资，花费
address - 处理
specter - 幽灵
budget - 经费
devastating - 破坏性的
discretionary - 任意的，自由决定的
campground - 露营地
closure - 取缔，关门
interpretive - 解释的
fight fires - 救火
enforcement - 执行，强制
rescue - 救出
curtail - 消减（费用），缩短（时间）
plow - 除雪，耕地
thistle - 蓟
python - 大蟒
carp - 鲤鱼
boar - 公猪，野猪
invasive - 入侵的
compromise - 违背，使陷入危险
feral - 野生的
urge - 提倡，强调
Ancient Lost Continent Discovered in Indian Ocean
Evidence of a drowned "microcontinent" has been found in sand grains from the beaches of a small Indian Ocean island, scientists say.
A well-known tourist destination, Mauritius is located about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) off the coast of Africa, east of Madagascar. Scientists think the tiny island formed some nine million years ago from cooling lava spewed by undersea volcanoes.
But recently, researchers have found sand grains on Mauritius that contain fragments of the mineral zircon that are far older than the island, between 660 million and about 2 billion years old.
In a new study, detailed in the current issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists concluded that the older minerals once belonged to a now vanished landmass, tiny bits of which were dragged up to the surface during the formation of Mauritius.
"When lavas moved through continental material on the way towards the surface, they picked up a few rocks containing zircon," study co-author Bjørn Jamtveit, a geologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, explained in an email.
Most of these rocks probably disintegrated and melted due to the high temperatures of the lavas, but some grains of zircons survived and were frozen into the lavas [during the eruption] and rolled down to form rocks on the Mauritian surface."
Prehistoric Atlantis
Jamtveit and his colleagues estimate that the lost microcontinent, which they have dubbed Mauritia, was about a quarter of the size of Madagascar.
Furthermore, based on a recalculation of how the ancient continents drifted apart, the scientists concluded that Mauritia was once a tiny part of a much larger "supercontinent" that included India and Madagascar, called Rodinia.
The three landmasses "were tucked together in one big continent prior to the formation of the Indian Ocean," Jamtveit said.
But like a prehistoric Atlantis, Mauritia was eventually drowned beneath the waves when India broke apart from Madagascar about 85 million years ago.
Ancient Rocks
Scientists have long suspected that volcanic islands might contain evidence of lost continents, and Jamtveit and his team decided to test this hypothesis during a layover in Mauritius as part of a longer research trip in 1999.
The stop in tropical Mauritius "was a very tempting thing to do for a Norwegian in the cold month of January," Jamtveit said.
Mauritius was a good test site because it was a relatively young island and, being formed from ocean lava, would not naturally contain zircon, a tough mineral that doesn't weather easily.
If zircon older than 9 million years was found on Mauritius, it would be good evidence of the presence of buried continental material, Jamtveit explained.
At first, the scientists crushed rocks from Mauritius to extract the zircon crystals, but this proved difficult because the crushing equipment contained zircon from other sites, raising the issue of contamination.
"That was a show stopper for a while," Jamtveit said.
A few years later, however, some members of the team returned to Mauritius and this time brought back sand from two different beaches for sampling.
The scientists extracted 20 zircon samples and successfully dated 8 of them by calculating the rate that the elements uranium and thorium inside of the samples slowly break down into lead.
"They all provided much older ages than the age of the Mauritius lavas," Jamtveit said. "In fact they gave ages consistent with the ages of known continental rocks in Madagascar, Seychelles, and India."
Missing Evidence?
Jérôme Dyment, a geologist at the Paris Institute of Earth Physics in France, said he's unconvinced by the work because it's possible that the ancient zircons found their way to the island by other means, for example as part of ship ballast or modern construction material.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which are not given by the authors so far," said Dyment, who did not participate in the research.
"Finding zircons in sand is one thing, finding them within a rock is another one ... Finding the enclave of deep rocks that, according to the author's inference, bring them to the surface during an eruption would be much more convincing evidence."
Dyment added that if Mauritia was real, evidence for its existence should be found as part of a joint French and German experiment that installed deep-sea seismometers to investigate Earth's mantle around Réunion Island, which is situated about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Mauritius.
"If a microcontinent lies under Réunion, it should be depicted by this experiment," said Dyment, who is part of the project, dubbed RHUM-RUM.
More Dismembered Continents to Be Found?
But Conall Mac Niocaill, a geologist at the University of Oxford in the U.K. who was also not involved in the study, said "the lines of evidence are, individually, only suggestive, but collectively they add up to a compelling story."
The zircons "produce a range of ages, but all yield ages older than 660 million years, and one is almost 2 billion years old," he added.
"There is no obvious source for them in Mauritius, and they are unlikely to have been blown in by the wind, or carried in by human activity, so the obvious conclusion is that the young volcanic lava sampled some older material on their way through the crust."
Based on the new findings, Mac Niocaill and others think other vanished microcontinents could be lurking beneath the Indian Ocean.
In fact, analyses of Earth's gravitational field have revealed other areas in the world's oceans where the rock appears to be thicker than normal and could be a sign of continental crusts.
"We know more about the topography of Mars than we do about the [topography] of the world's ocean floor, so there may well be other dismembered continents out there waiting to be discovered."
drowned - 沉没的，淹死的
grain - 微粒，谷粒
destination - 目的地
lava - 岩浆，熔岩
spew - 喷出，呕吐
mineral - 矿物；含矿物的
zircon - 锆石
drag - 拖拽
A well-known tourist destination, Mauritius is located about 1,200 miles (2,000 kilometers) off the coast of Africa, east of Madagascar. Scientists think the tiny island formed some nine million years ago from cooling lava spewed by undersea volcanoes.
But recently, researchers have found sand grains on Mauritius that contain fragments of the mineral zircon that are far older than the island, between 660 million and about 2 billion years old.
In a new study, detailed in the current issue of the journal Nature Geoscience, scientists concluded that the older minerals once belonged to a now vanished landmass, tiny bits of which were dragged up to the surface during the formation of Mauritius.
"When lavas moved through continental material on the way towards the surface, they picked up a few rocks containing zircon," study co-author Bjørn Jamtveit, a geologist at the University of Oslo in Norway, explained in an email.
Most of these rocks probably disintegrated and melted due to the high temperatures of the lavas, but some grains of zircons survived and were frozen into the lavas [during the eruption] and rolled down to form rocks on the Mauritian surface."
Prehistoric Atlantis
Jamtveit and his colleagues estimate that the lost microcontinent, which they have dubbed Mauritia, was about a quarter of the size of Madagascar.
Furthermore, based on a recalculation of how the ancient continents drifted apart, the scientists concluded that Mauritia was once a tiny part of a much larger "supercontinent" that included India and Madagascar, called Rodinia.
The three landmasses "were tucked together in one big continent prior to the formation of the Indian Ocean," Jamtveit said.
But like a prehistoric Atlantis, Mauritia was eventually drowned beneath the waves when India broke apart from Madagascar about 85 million years ago.
Ancient Rocks
Scientists have long suspected that volcanic islands might contain evidence of lost continents, and Jamtveit and his team decided to test this hypothesis during a layover in Mauritius as part of a longer research trip in 1999.
The stop in tropical Mauritius "was a very tempting thing to do for a Norwegian in the cold month of January," Jamtveit said.
Mauritius was a good test site because it was a relatively young island and, being formed from ocean lava, would not naturally contain zircon, a tough mineral that doesn't weather easily.
If zircon older than 9 million years was found on Mauritius, it would be good evidence of the presence of buried continental material, Jamtveit explained.
At first, the scientists crushed rocks from Mauritius to extract the zircon crystals, but this proved difficult because the crushing equipment contained zircon from other sites, raising the issue of contamination.
"That was a show stopper for a while," Jamtveit said.
A few years later, however, some members of the team returned to Mauritius and this time brought back sand from two different beaches for sampling.
The scientists extracted 20 zircon samples and successfully dated 8 of them by calculating the rate that the elements uranium and thorium inside of the samples slowly break down into lead.
"They all provided much older ages than the age of the Mauritius lavas," Jamtveit said. "In fact they gave ages consistent with the ages of known continental rocks in Madagascar, Seychelles, and India."
Missing Evidence?
Jérôme Dyment, a geologist at the Paris Institute of Earth Physics in France, said he's unconvinced by the work because it's possible that the ancient zircons found their way to the island by other means, for example as part of ship ballast or modern construction material.
"Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence, which are not given by the authors so far," said Dyment, who did not participate in the research.
"Finding zircons in sand is one thing, finding them within a rock is another one ... Finding the enclave of deep rocks that, according to the author's inference, bring them to the surface during an eruption would be much more convincing evidence."
Dyment added that if Mauritia was real, evidence for its existence should be found as part of a joint French and German experiment that installed deep-sea seismometers to investigate Earth's mantle around Réunion Island, which is situated about 120 miles (200 kilometers) from Mauritius.
"If a microcontinent lies under Réunion, it should be depicted by this experiment," said Dyment, who is part of the project, dubbed RHUM-RUM.
More Dismembered Continents to Be Found?
But Conall Mac Niocaill, a geologist at the University of Oxford in the U.K. who was also not involved in the study, said "the lines of evidence are, individually, only suggestive, but collectively they add up to a compelling story."
The zircons "produce a range of ages, but all yield ages older than 660 million years, and one is almost 2 billion years old," he added.
"There is no obvious source for them in Mauritius, and they are unlikely to have been blown in by the wind, or carried in by human activity, so the obvious conclusion is that the young volcanic lava sampled some older material on their way through the crust."
Based on the new findings, Mac Niocaill and others think other vanished microcontinents could be lurking beneath the Indian Ocean.
In fact, analyses of Earth's gravitational field have revealed other areas in the world's oceans where the rock appears to be thicker than normal and could be a sign of continental crusts.
"We know more about the topography of Mars than we do about the [topography] of the world's ocean floor, so there may well be other dismembered continents out there waiting to be discovered."
drowned - 沉没的，淹死的
grain - 微粒，谷粒
destination - 目的地
lava - 岩浆，熔岩
spew - 喷出，呕吐
mineral - 矿物；含矿物的
zircon - 锆石
drag - 拖拽
disintegrate - 破裂；使破裂，使分化
dub - 称为
tuck - 挤进，塞进
suspect - 怀疑，猜疑
layover - 短暂停留，中途下车
tempting - 诱人的
extract - 取出，拔出
contamination - 污染
show stopper - 被长时间的掌声所打断的表演
uranium - 铀
thorium - 钍
lead - 铅
ballast - 压舱物
enclave - 孤立的异文化圈，飞地
seismometer - 地震检波器
situate - 使位于
collectively - 全体地，共同地
lurk - 潜伏，隐藏
topography - 地形
dub - 称为
tuck - 挤进，塞进
suspect - 怀疑，猜疑
layover - 短暂停留，中途下车
tempting - 诱人的
extract - 取出，拔出
contamination - 污染
show stopper - 被长时间的掌声所打断的表演
uranium - 铀
thorium - 钍
lead - 铅
ballast - 压舱物
enclave - 孤立的异文化圈，飞地
seismometer - 地震检波器
situate - 使位于
collectively - 全体地，共同地
lurk - 潜伏，隐藏
topography - 地形
Friday, March 1, 2013
A History of Balloon Crashes
A hot-air balloon exploded in Egypt yesterday as it carried 19 people over ancient ruins near Luxor. The cause is believed to be a torn gas hose. In Egypt as in many other countries, balloon rides are a popular way to sightsee.
The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Apparently, they landed safely. But throughout the history of the sport, there have been tragedies like the one in Egypt.
1785: Pioneering balloonist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and pilot Pierre Romain died when their balloon caught fire, possibly from a stray spark, and crashed during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were the first to die in a balloon crash.
1923: Five balloonists participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a multi-day race that dates to 1906, were killed when lightning struck their balloons.
1924: Meteorologist C. LeRoy Meisinger and U.S. Army balloonist James T. Neely died after a lightning strike. They had set off from Scott Field in Illinois during a storm to study air pressure. Popular Mechanics dubbed them "martyrs of science."
1995: Tragedy strikes the Gordon Bennett Cup again. Belarusian forces shot down one of three balloons that drifted into their airspace from Poland. The two Americans on board died. The other balloonists were detained and fined for entering Belarus without a visa.
1989: Two hot air balloons collided during a sightseeing trip near Alice Springs, Australia. One balloon crashed to the ground killing all 13 people on board. The pilot of the other balloon was sentenced to a two-year prison term for "committing a dangerous act." Until today, this was considered the most deadly balloon accident.
2012: A balloon hit a power line and caught fire in New Zealand, killing all 11 on board. Investigators later determined that the pilot was not licensed to fly and had not taken proper safety measures during the crash, like triggering the balloon's parachute and deflation system.
2012: A sightseeing balloon carrying 32 people crashed and caught fire during a thunderstorm in the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia. Six died; many other passengers were injured.
explode - 爆炸
tear-tore-torn - 破裂；撕
hose - 胶皮管
tragedy - 悲剧
stray - 意外的；离群者；走失
participate - 参加
meteorologist - 气象学者
dub - 授予称号
martyr - 殉教者，殉难者
Belarus - 白俄罗斯 Belarusian - 白俄罗斯的；白俄人（语）
drift - 漂流
on board - 船上，车里
detain - 拘留
collide - 相撞
commit - 犯罪，承诺
investigator - 调查者，研究者
proper - 适宜的
trigger - 引发
parachute - 降落伞；跳伞
deflation - 收缩
The sport of hot-air ballooning dates to 1783, when a French balloon took to the skies with a sheep, a rooster, and a duck. Apparently, they landed safely. But throughout the history of the sport, there have been tragedies like the one in Egypt.
1785: Pioneering balloonist Jean-Francois Pilatre de Rozier and pilot Pierre Romain died when their balloon caught fire, possibly from a stray spark, and crashed during an attempt to cross the English Channel. They were the first to die in a balloon crash.
1923: Five balloonists participating in the Gordon Bennett Cup, a multi-day race that dates to 1906, were killed when lightning struck their balloons.
1924: Meteorologist C. LeRoy Meisinger and U.S. Army balloonist James T. Neely died after a lightning strike. They had set off from Scott Field in Illinois during a storm to study air pressure. Popular Mechanics dubbed them "martyrs of science."
1995: Tragedy strikes the Gordon Bennett Cup again. Belarusian forces shot down one of three balloons that drifted into their airspace from Poland. The two Americans on board died. The other balloonists were detained and fined for entering Belarus without a visa.
1989: Two hot air balloons collided during a sightseeing trip near Alice Springs, Australia. One balloon crashed to the ground killing all 13 people on board. The pilot of the other balloon was sentenced to a two-year prison term for "committing a dangerous act." Until today, this was considered the most deadly balloon accident.
2012: A balloon hit a power line and caught fire in New Zealand, killing all 11 on board. Investigators later determined that the pilot was not licensed to fly and had not taken proper safety measures during the crash, like triggering the balloon's parachute and deflation system.
2012: A sightseeing balloon carrying 32 people crashed and caught fire during a thunderstorm in the Ljubljana Marshes in Slovenia. Six died; many other passengers were injured.
explode - 爆炸
tear-tore-torn - 破裂；撕
hose - 胶皮管
tragedy - 悲剧
stray - 意外的；离群者；走失
participate - 参加
meteorologist - 气象学者
dub - 授予称号
martyr - 殉教者，殉难者
Belarus - 白俄罗斯 Belarusian - 白俄罗斯的；白俄人（语）
drift - 漂流
on board - 船上，车里
detain - 拘留
collide - 相撞
commit - 犯罪，承诺
investigator - 调查者，研究者
proper - 适宜的
trigger - 引发
parachute - 降落伞；跳伞
deflation - 收缩
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