A sad tragedy

Human carelessness caused the death of 7 elephants, including two baby elephants:

A speeding goods train crushed seven elephants to death in eastern India after the animals tried to rescue two calves that got stuck in the tracks, conservation officials said on Thursday.

The baby elephants became trapped as a herd was crossing the line in a densely forested area in the northern district of Jalpaiguri in West Bengal state late Wednesday night.

"Five elephants died immediately on the track while two others succumbed to their injuries on Thursday morning," said Atanu Raha, West Bengal's chief forest conservator.

The adults had crowded around the stricken calves to protect them when they were hit, he added. The two calves were among the dead.

Traffic was suspended overnight and the surviving members of the herd were still at the scene in the morning, watching over the dead and injured, he said.

More than 20 elephants had died in a little over a year in the area, which is a known corridor for the wild animals, the official said.

He said the train was traveling at 70 kilometers (43 miles) an hour when the speed limit was restricted to a maximum of 40kmph (25mph).

Link here.

The ageless hamburger

Seems like someone at McDonald’s has found a way to defy ageing!!

McDonald's Hamburgers Don't Age

Things that are made from organic material age and decay, especially when they stop being alive. A piece of home-baked bread, say, left on your kitchen counter, will get moldy relatively fast. Lord knows what some ground beef would smell like after a week. But the artist Sally Davies has been photographing one McDonald's hamburger and fries every day for 137 days. They look basically exactly the same.

Day 1:

Day 137:

How can the food sold at McDonald’s not rot away like normal food?  What do they add to it to keep it looking fresh for over 4 MONTHS?!?!

And how can whatever they add to it not adversely affect one’s body?

Link here.

The oil spill aftermath

Massive fish kills seem to happen more frequently and be much larger than usual, and since they occur in areas of the Gulf of Mexico that were soaked in oil, the BP oil spill is clearly to blame, no matter how hard they spin it.

Look at this picture:

It looks like the cracked pavement of some road, but it’s really millions of dead fish.

From Mother Nature Network:

In the South, the local news is packed with firsthand accounts of fisherman pulling in nets of dead, oil-soaked crabs, recreational boaters bumping into dead dolphins, and (pictured above) massive fish kills that extend as far as the eye can see.

The fish kill in Bayou Chaland last week occurred only days after an oil-soaked tide hit the marshes, but the Louisiana Department of Wildlife & Fisheries declared that there is no connection, and that the kill resulted from unseasonably warm weather.

The thing is, its always unseasonably warm in Louisiana in September. And while government officials are quick to point out that fish kills are common in Louisiana, none of those officials would deny the unusual characteristics of this event.

Fish kills, when they happen, generally consist of a hundred or so of one particular species. In this kill the numbers are in the millions, consisting of nearly every known species — from crabs and stingrays to eels and myriad fish species. Even a dead sperm whale (from a resident population that was said to have lived near the Macondo Well location) was found in the water.

BP and the government officials who seem to be covering for them would have us believe that the worst of the oil spill is over, but it doesn't take a genius to put two and two together. It will be decades before the marsh ecosystems of Louisiana will truly recover. So let's stop pretending it's not BP's fault.

From Fox8Live.com:

After the discovery of more dead fish in Plaquemines parish, the third in a week, parish president Billy Nungesser is demanding federal involvement when it comes to testing the waters in the parish hit by heavy oil.

"This whole area yesterday was full of dead fish, you can see now with the tide moving, they're moving around and being put in other places, But I mean it's causing us some concern about the number of fish that are turning up out here dead, and the frequency of that," said P.J. Hahn.

P.J. says fish kills are normal during this time of the year. What's not normal is how frequent swaths of dead fish are turning up, in area's once heavily oiled. Square miles of dead fish.

"Now millions of dead fish that have turned up in the area, and a variety: catfish, redfish, speckled trout we saw, it's just a number of varieties of fish," said Hahn.

The fish kill in Bayou Robinson is not too far from the previous two in Bay Joe Wise and Bay Chaland, and even though Wild Life and Fisheries has blamed the other fish kills on low tides and high temperatures, causing low oxygen levels, the parish still questions whether they could be related to the oil spill.

Something tells me we’ll hear countless more stories like these in the coming years.

The depletion of nature’s resources

Yet another discouraging story regarding our treatment of the planet’s gifts:

A study in Nature has concluded that as oceans warmed, phytoplankton—the tiny organisms that form the crucial first level of the entire marine food chain—were disappearing.

In the oceans, ubiquitous microscopic phototrophs (phytoplankton) account for approximately half the production of organic matter on Earth…. We observe declines in eight out of ten ocean regions, and estimate a global rate of decline of ~1% of the global median per year.

Since 1950, the study found, the oceans have lost 40 percent of their phytoplankton. As these organisms account for the production of half the earth’s organic matter, this is not good. It’s like finding out that there’s half as much money in all the earth’s banks as we thought there was. But of course it’s worse than that. No one knows for sure what happens when the oceans are diminished like this—that’s the point. We’re in a new and dangerous place, without a clue.

Very scary news.  Almost half of the basic food in the oceans is gone.  When the other half is gone as well, what will fish (and marine mammals) feed on?  And when they start to die of starvation in large numbers, what will the millions (billions?) of people whose diet is based on fish eat?

Pandorum

Attracted to this title primarily by the always eye pleasing Dennis Quaid, the sweetly handsome Ben Foster and the insanely hot Cam Gigandet, Pandorum didn’t disappoint as a movie overall.

The gist: when Foster is suddenly reawakened from his cryo-sleep, the spaceship he boarded years earlier seems adrift and on the verge of structural collapse.  On top of that, it’s also overrun by a race of super-strong, vicious, carnivorous aliens who brutally hunt down any human being they encounter.  His job is to save the ship in order to save anyone else left alive, but a cryo-sleep-induced memory loss doesn’t help.

While the concept might sound trite, the script is overall quite original and well developed.  The cast does a good job and the moody photography helps the very good makeup and visual effects.

I checked out the special features on the DVD and one of the deleted scenes was the usual sequel-setup one now routinely appended to virtually every Hollywood production.  Thankfully, it ended up on the cutting room floor since it wouldn’t have added anything to the story and it would have ruined the ending.  After all, if they want to do a sequel, they have plenty of reasons to do it anyway.

A nice sci-fi movie that I would recommend.

Grade: 7

The Orphanage

The Orphanage tells the story of a family who moves into what used to be the orphanage where the mother spent her childhood only to discover that a lot of mysterious events that happened a long time ago are still unresolved.

A rather welcome addition to the thriller/horror genre, The Orphanage is quite original and avoids all the gore that’s become the staple of the genre or late, opting instead for a more old-school approach that limits what we are shown and plays with the audience’s anxiety.

The cast does a pretty good job, especially Belén Rueda, on whose shoulders the whole movie rests.  Of note are also the photography, with its dark tones, and the direction of Juan Antonio Bayona, who gained international fame thanks to this movie.

Grade: 7

Ban Ki-moon speaks up for us

The United Nations chief called on every country to abolish laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians:

U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon has called on countries to abolish laws that discriminate against gays and lesbians.

The U.N. Secretary-General says cultural concerns cannot justify discriminating against people because of their sexual orientation.

Dozens of countries around the world, particularly in Africa and Asia, prohibit same-sex relations.

Observers said they were unusually strong words on the subject from the head of the global body.

Link.

The Hangover

A surprise hit from the summer of 2009, The Hangover lives up to its expectations and delivers some solid laughs thanks to a tightly flowing script and solid performances from newly minted hottie Bradley Cooper and veteran character actors Ed Helms and Zach Galifianakis.

The three, together with the handsome Justin Bartha, head to Las Vegas for Bartha’s bachelor party where countless odd adventures are recounted in bits and pieces while our three heroes try to locate their missing friend in time for his wedding.

As for the supporting players, Jeffrey Tambor and Ken Jeong are very good, while Heather Graham is just average -- what happened to her? She seemed like a rising star just a few years back… --, but the one who really looks like he’s trying to hard is Mike Tyson.  I understand he’s trying to rehabilitate his image but I can’t see him having a bright future in Hollywood.

Given the success of the movie and Hollywood’s obsession with milking anything that works, a sequel is already in the works, but while I wouldn’t mind watching Cooper in just about anything, I cringe at the thought of how quickly they’ll screw this up.

Grade: 8

Heavenly Creatures

I was looking forward to watching Heavenly Creatures because it’s the movie that put the very talented Peter Jackson on the map and also introduced us to the great Kate Winslet.  Unfortunately, I cannot say I was too impressed with it.

The movie gets extra credit for being based on a true story, which makes what happened that much more terrible, but overall I found it pretty weak.

The screenplay isn’t badly written and the acting is impressive, not only from Winslet, but from Melanie Lynskey, her partner in crime, and Sarah Peirse, who plays Lynskey’s mother.

The visual effects and makeup are quite good for what was, I’m sure, a fairly low budget, but whenever there was a “fantasy” sequence, I always felt somewhat jolted out of the film.

Like I said, the elements are pretty much all there, but something’s missing and I can’t quite put my finger on what exactly, but I wasn’t impressed.

Grade: 6

The easy way out

This t-shirt says it all about our addiction to medication.

Click to enlarge:

Hope in the fight against HIV?

At last some good news in the decades long fight against this terrible disease:

Loyola University researchers have identified the key components of a protein called TRIM5a that destroys HIV in rhesus monkeys.

The finding could lead to new TRIM5a-based treatments that would knock out HIV in humans, said senior researcher Edward M. Campbell, PhD, of Loyola University Health System.

[…]

In 2004, other researchers reported that TRIM5a protects rhesus monkeys from HIV. The TRIM5a protein first latches on to a HIV virus, then other TRIM5a proteins gang up and destroy the virus.

Humans also have TRIM5a, but while the human version of TRIM5a protects against some viruses, it does not protect against HIV.

Researchers hope to turn TRIM5a into an effective therapeutic agent. But first they need to identify the components in TRIM5a that enable the protein to destroy viruses. “Scientists have been trying to develop antiviral therapies for only about 75 years,” Campbell said. “Evolution has been playing this game for millions of years, and it has identified a point of intervention that we still know very little about.”

Let’s hope they succeed.  It’s about time that we beat this monster.

The rise of the superbugs

Worrisome news in the fight against pathogens:

An infectious-disease nightmare is unfolding: A new gene that can turn many types of bacteria into superbugs resistant to nearly all antibiotics has sickened people in three states and is popping up all over the world, health officials reported Monday.

The U.S. cases and two others in Canada all involve people who had recently received medical care in India, where the problem is widespread. A British medical journal revealed the risk last month in an article describing dozens of cases in Britain in people who had gone to India for medical procedures.

[…]

Scientists have long feared this — a very adaptable gene that hitches onto many types of common germs and confers broad drug resistance.

"It's a great concern," because drug resistance has been rising and few new antibiotics are in development, said Dr. M. Lindsay Grayson, director of infectious diseases at the University of Melbourne in Australia. "It's just a matter of time" until the gene spreads more widely person-to-person, he said.

[…]

What can people do?

Don't add to the drug resistance problem, experts say. Don't pressure your doctors for antibiotics if they say they aren't needed, use the ones you are given properly, and try to avoid infections by washing your hands.

The gene can spread hand-to-mouth, which makes good hygiene very important.

It's also why health officials are so concerned about where the threat is coming from, said Dr. Patrice Nordmann, a microbiology professor at South-Paris Medical School. India is an overpopulated country that overuses antibiotics and has widespread diarrheal disease and many people without clean water.

"The ingredients are there" for widespread transmission, he said. "It's going to spread by plane all over the world."

Very scary indeed.  If a superbug attacks you, you have no defenses.  And if the medicines we know fail to kill it?  Than what?

The BP well is dead

Finally, yesterday BP cemented the oil well in the Gulf of Mexico that caused the biggest man made environmental catastrophe in the history of the world:

The well that spewed millions of gallons of oil into the Gulf of Mexico is finally dead, but residents will be feeling the pain for years to come.

A permanent cement plug sealed BP's well nearly 2.5 miles below the sea floor, five agonizing months after an explosion sank a drilling rig and led to the worst offshore oil spill in U.S. history.

Retired Coast Guard Adm. Thad Allen, the federal government's point man on the disaster, said Sunday that BP's well "is effectively dead" and posed no further threat to the Gulf. Allen said a pressure test to ensure the cement plug would hold was completed at 5:54 a.m. CDT.

But there is still plenty of oil in the water, and some continues to wash up on shore. Many people are still struggling to make ends meet with some waters still closed to fishing. Shrimpers who are allowed to fish are finding it difficult to sell their catch because of the perception — largely from people outside the region — that the seafood is not safe to eat. Tourism along the Gulf has also taken a hit.

What happens next to the millions of life forms whose biosphere has been wrecked can only be guessed.

Saturno Contro

I’ve appreciated Ferzan Ozpetek’s work since his first effort, Hamam (Steam: The Turkish Bath).  The follow up, Le Fate Ignoranti (The Ignorant Fairies), was a lot better and his La Finestra di Fronte (Facing Windows) was absolutely great. It was therefore only natural that I would have to check out his Saturno Contro (Saturn in Opposition).

Once again, Ozpetek creates a charming, warm, inviting portrayal of a group of friends and their many interactions, both before and after a dramatic event changes the world as they know it.

The script is good and deals with a topic very dear to any gay person, [SPOILER ALERT] what happens when your lover dies and you have very little saying in the eyes of the government? [/SPOILER ALERT] But it’s developed intelligently and tactfully.

The cast features many of the usual players in an Ozpetek movie, which ends up being refreshing since it’s like seeing old friends getting together again.

The score, always a very important element in an Ozpetek creation, once again feels like one of the characters.

A very good movie that made me long for the warm circle of friends I left behind when I moved to this country to follow my heart.

Grade: 8

The Kids Are All Right

What a wonderful cinematic treat this was.  Watching it reminded me of why I like this art form so much and made me wistfully long for more films of this caliber rather than empty sequels and bloated summer juggernauts whose only goal is to swell the coffers of the Hollywood bigwigs who then rarely greenlight gems like these anyway.

The Kids Are All Right tells the story of a family headed by a lesbian couple whose kids secretly decide to meet the sperm donor who is their biological father, radically changing their family’s dynamics.

A very simple incipit that cannot do justice to the range of emotions this witty and original script elicits.  Happiness, concern, sadness, excitement are but a few of the many feelings the wonderful cast brings about.

Julianne Moore and Mark Ruffalo are great, but Annette Bening shines above all. It would be criminal if she didn’t land an Oscar nomination for her work here (or even a long overdue first win).  The kids are played very well by Mia Wasikowska and Josh Hutcherson, whose talent and striking good looks virtually guarantee a career as a brooding heart throb.

Despite the gay theme, this is a movie that plays to any audience, and one of its best traits is indeed the nonchalance with which the lesbian couple’s daily life is portrayed.

A must see and, admittedly biased by the gay theme, but mostly because it’s such a perfect concoction, a tiny masterpiece in its own right.

Grade: 10

Coraline

From Henry Selick, the director of The Nightmare Before Christmas, which is a verified masterpiece, comes Coraline, another very good (stop-)animated feature centered around a little girl.

Coraline just moved into a new home with her busy parents, who seem to have very little time to spend with her. Her curiosity will bring her to make eccentric new friends and discover a parallel world in which things look different and strangely inviting. Is what she sees too good to be true?

The stop-animation technique, quite rarely used and radically different from the digital animation style that now dominates the marketplace, succeeds in creating a beautifully engrossing environment in which our very relatable heroine lives rich and dangerous adventures.

A very good movie for the whole family as adults will surely not be bored by a script that is equal parts smart and original.

Grade: 8

The Body, by Stephen King

A rather good novel from one of my favorite authors, The Body does have a couple odd parts where I feared I might not get into it, but I’m glad I stuck with it, because it turned out to be pretty good.

And then I even found out that it was the novel on which the successful movie Stand By Me was based, which I’ve now added to my Netflix queue and look forward to watch.

The novel tells the story of four friends who decide to go on a weekend trip to try to locate the supposed body of a kid who disappeared a few days earlier. Their adventures that weekend and the dynamics of their relationships shape the rest of the story.

The end result is quite enjoyable.

Grade: 7

Lady Gaga

Reading this confirmed to me that Lady Gaga is the real deal and not just a flash in the pan:

Lady Gaga taught herself to play piano by ear at the age of four.

Prodigious young Stefani Germanotta (her actual name) had already written her first piano ballad by the age of 13. The following year, she was performing at open mike nights in NYC clubs.

At 17, Germanotta’s musical talents enabled her to be one of only 20 students accepted to the Tisch School of Arts at New York University. Less than 3 years later, a major record label signed her as a professional songwriter, setting her up for the pop success that she continues to experience today.

To reiterate:

• She taught herself
• To play piano
• By ear
• A the age of FOUR!!
• She had written her first piano ballad by age 13.

Impressive doesn’t begin to describe it.

She is so talented, original, and creative that it’s impossible to imagine what she’ll be able to accomplish throughout her life.