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Sea otters eat sea urchins, protect kelp forests that trap CO2 from atmosphere - but can they catch up to man-made pollution?


Smart Sea Otter Stacks Cups
Sea Otter Pup
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"Nature does nothing uselessly. " - Aristotle
Global warming? Sea otters to the rescue!
Global warming is reaching new records, ice caps continue to melt at an alarming rate, and measures taken by authorities are as rare as they are questionable. But as cute as they are, where do otters step in? Well, as I was telling you, otters like to feast on sea urchins. Sea urchins eat kelp, and kelp forests trap and store massive amounts of CO2 from the atmosphere. A kelp forest ‘guarded’ by otters can absorb as much as 12 times the amount of CO2 from the atmosphere than one without an otter population.
Published in the respectable online journal Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment, the research that came to this conclusion didn’t go unnoticed at all, as professor Chris Wilmers from the University of California, Santa Cruz, explains: “Right now, all the climate change models and proposed methods of sequestering carbon ignore animals. But animals the world over, working in different ways to influence the carbon cycle, might actually have a large impact.” He elaborates: “If ecologists can get a better handle on what these impacts are, there might be opportunities for win-win conservations scenarios, whereby animal species are protected or enhanced, and carbon gets sequestered.” read more »
Inspirational. "Thank you" "hand in hand" "staring at crowd" "iPhone5 countdown" "cool" "Endeavor's showtime" - Photos of Moment

Thanks for the help
Queens Park Rangers' Ryan Nelsen (right) uses a boost from Chelsea's Fernando Torres to get the advantage on a header.



A crowd of customers counts down to 8 a.m. at the Apple Store on 5th Ave. in New York City.


Seen from the U.S. Bank Tower in downtown Los Angeles, the space shuttle Endeavor passes the Hollywood sign as the retired space shuttle makes the rounds of Los Angeles and Orange County landmarks before landing at LAX.
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*update* September 24, 2012 Endeavour: Astronauts hope shuttle will inspire future generations Of the folks assembled at the United Airlines hangar at Los Angeles International Airport last week to watch Endeavour's arrival, three had firsthand experience with the space shuttle. read more »
Photos. A lot of courage to be ideologically consistent over decades, always stands up for "Liberty, Peace & Prosperity"
'Ron Paul finally gets his moment at the Republican Convention
Ron Paul RNC Tribute Video -
20 years in congress, he never votes for tax increase, budget increasing ceiling, "it's the american story - charting your own path, forging new wave forward, not because it's the easy way but because it's the right way for those with dedication, character, faith, conviction... sometimes the lonely path pave the way forward for millions"'
"Full Unedited Ron Paul Speech at We Are The Future Rally - Tampa Sun Dome - Aug 26 2012"
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50yrs ago, an eternal beauty taken by darkness. What's changed- scary rising temp. of Earth; what hasn't- Monroe is still loved





News / Marilyn Monroe's Death 50 Years On: What's Changed, What Hasn't
One change is certain - the temperature of Earth has been obviously and continuously rising particularly in the last 50 years:

Data on global land-ocean temperature anomalies indicate that Earth has been warming approximately 0.36 Fahrenheit (0.2 degrees Celsius) per decade for the past 30 years. This rapid warming has brought global temperature to within about 1.8 degrees F (1 degree C) of the maximum estimated temperature during the past million years.
2012 London Olympics opening ceremony: Queen as Bond Girl, uninvited guest "UFO" moves slowly across sky

Olympic rings lit with pyrotechnics - 2012 Summer Olympics Opening Ceremony in London

The Olympic cauldron burns during the Opening Ceremony on July 28.

Sir Steve Redgrave hands off the Olympic torch to seven young athletes representing Britain’s hopes for the future.

A person dressed as Queen Elizabeth II parachutes into the Olympic stadium during the Opening Ceremony.
A blimp or a glowing UFO above the opening ceremony of the London Olympics??

Becks Bond? David Beckham passes under Tower Bridge driving a speedboat named 'Max Power' which carries the Olympic Torch with its torchbearer.
Photos: bullfighter stare-down, lizard "spiderman", little girl at Olympics, 5000 ducks on a stroll, bird tugs on alligator tail

An intense stare-down: Bullfighter Juan Jose Padilla kneels down in front of a bull during the last bullfight of the San Fermin festival in Pamplona, Spain.

Adventure-loving Andy Lewis, 26, slacklines at Fisher Towers playground in Utah's Moab Desert. The spectacular location, with towers ranging from 35 to 800 feet...

Just in time for the film premiere on July 3. The Mwanza Flat Headed Agama lizard bears a striking resemblance to Spider-Man and even captures his crouching pose perfectly, albeit in Kenya rather than the Big Apple. (Let's not tell him Lizard is the villain in the latest flick.)

A young girl squeezes between honor guard soldiers to get a glimpse of the Olympic torch on Saturday in Staffordshire, England.

Just 5,000 ducks out for a stroll. A farmer snarls traffic in China as he herds his huge flock three-quarters of a mile to a pond. With only the help of a colleague and long stick, the man claims he didn't lose one bird on the trip.
"Just the two of us": loving panda mom Shin Shin takes good care of her new baby, first panda cub born in Japan in 24 years


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Born to 7-year-old Shin Shin on July 5, the panda--a male--is the first born at the zoo in Taito Ward as a result of natural breeding. “Even though she is a new mother, Shin Shin takes very good care of her cub,” said Yutaka Fukuda, deputy director of the zoo. “I'm sure she will be a good mother.” read more »

















