Robber fly - Nature photographer Thomas Shahan specializes in amazing portraits of tiny insects. It isn't easy. Shahan says that this Robber Fly (Holcocephala fusca), for instance, is "skittish" and doesn't like its picture taken.

Eye-popping bug photos

Nature by Numbers (Video)

"A Summary" – Apr 2, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Intelligent/Benevolent Design, EU, South America, 5 Currencies, Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Middle East, Internet, Israel, Dictators, Palestine, US, Japan (Quake/Tsunami Disasters , People, Society ...), Nuclear Power Revealed, Hydro Power, Geothermal Power, Moon, Financial Institutes (Recession, Realign integrity values ..) , China, North Korea, Global Unity,..... etc.) -
"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)


“ … Here is another one. A change in what Human nature will allow for government. "Careful, Kryon, don't talk about politics. You'll get in trouble." I won't get in trouble. I'm going to tell you to watch for leadership that cares about you. "You mean politics is going to change?" It already has. It's beginning. Watch for it. You're going to see a total phase-out of old energy dictatorships eventually. The potential is that you're going to see that before 2013.

They're going to fall over, you know, because the energy of the population will not sustain an old energy leader ..."

(Live Kryon Channelings was given 7 times within the United Nations building.)

"Update on Current Events" – Jul 23, 2011 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) - (Subjects: The Humanization of God, Gaia, Shift of Human Consciousness, 2012, Benevolent Design, Financial Institutes (Recession, System to Change ...), Water Cycle (Heat up, Mini Ice Ace, Oceans, Fish, Earthquakes ..), Nuclear Power Revealed, Geothermal Power, Hydro Power, Drinking Water from Seawater, No need for Oil as Much, Middle East in Peace, Persia/Iran Uprising, Muhammad, Israel, DNA, Two Dictators to fall soon, Africa, China, (Old) Souls, Species to go, Whales to Humans, Global Unity,..... etc.)

"Recalibration of Free Choice"– Mar 3, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Caroll) - (Subjects: (Old) Souls, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, Shift of Human Consciousness, Black & White vs. Color, 1 - Spirituality (Religions) shifting, Loose a Pope “soon”, 2 - Humans will change react to drama, 3 - Civilizations/Population on Earth, 4 - Alternate energy sources (Geothermal, Tidal (Paddle wheels), Wind), 5 – Financials Institutes/concepts will change (Integrity – Ethical) , 6 - News/Media/TV to change, 7 – Big Pharmaceutical company will collapse “soon”, (Keep people sick), (Integrity – Ethical) 8 – Wars will be over on Earth, Global Unity, … etc.) - (Text version)

“… 4 - Energy (again)


The natural resources of the planet are finite and will not support the continuation of what you've been doing. We've been saying this for a decade. Watch for increased science and increased funding for alternate ways of creating electricity (finally). Watch for the very companies who have the most to lose being the ones who fund it. It is the beginning of a full realization that a change of thinking is at hand. You can take things from Gaia that are energy, instead of physical resources. We speak yet again about geothermal, about tidal, about wind. Again, we plead with you not to over-engineer this. For one of the things that Human Beings do in a technological age is to over-engineer simple things. Look at nuclear - the most over-engineered and expensive steam engine in existence!

Your current ideas of capturing energy from tidal and wave motion don't have to be technical marvels. Think paddle wheel on a pier with waves, which will create energy in both directions [waves coming and going] tied to a generator that can power dozens of neighborhoods, not full cities. Think simple and decentralize the idea of utilities. The same goes for wind and geothermal. Think of utilities for groups of homes in a cluster. You won't have a grid failure if there is no grid. This is the way of the future, and you'll be more inclined to have it sooner than later if you do this, and it won't cost as much….”



"Fast-Tracking" - Feb 8, 2014 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - (Reference to Fukushima / H-bomb nuclear pollution and a warning about nuclear > 20 Min)

Obama unveils landmark regulations to combat climate change

Obama unveils landmark regulations to combat climate change
In a bid to combat climate change, US President Barack Obama announced the Clean Power Plan on Monday, marking the first time power plants have been targeted by mandatory regulations on carbon dioxide emissions in the US.
Google: Earthday 2013

Thursday, June 27, 2013

“We literally mean that YOU have to start to talk to your body” – (CC channeled through Aisha North)

Aisha North, June 26, 2013

Aisha North
We would like to delve a little further into the recent energetic upgrades you have all been through. And, as we mentioned earlier, these missives of information are not only affecting you, but they will continue to affect everyone around you in one way or the other. As you are all well versed in these phenomena by now, you are all very familiar with the effects this will have on your physical setup, in the way of nausea, aches and pains. For some, this will seem to have intensified lately, while for others, these waves seem to subside as fast as they arrive. However, there might be a way to lessen your symptoms somewhat. But in order for us to explain this, we need to go back to the actual effect of all of these missives, and the reason for them being beamed into you in the first place.

For as you know, they are not set up in order to make you feel weak and unable to function, but to many, this will seem to be the only effect they have, and so all of this will be looked upon as nothing more than a nuisance and a bother. However, underneath all of this creaking and groaning from your body, there is something far more interesting going on. But again, the symptoms from it will mask this very well unless you are able to tune into the inner layer as it were, and disregard all of these signals of distress. For even if your body will sound and feel like it is very perturbed and even irritated, it is in fact going full steam ahead with these waves of informational energy, and it is doing its best to keep going ahead every time it gets some new ”orders” from this information. For this is not only about ”retuning”, this is in fact all about ”rebuilding” yourself, and much of this work is going on in your neural pathways. For the whole command structure to call it that, or rather, your communication structure, is what is getting a huge tune up these days, and as such, the usual pathways of information that you already have within are apt to be more than a little confused, hence, the symptoms of irritation and distress.

Let us explain. As you know, the physical body you inhabit is a very complex structure indeed, and not even your scientists have figured out a way to completely explain every process that is going on within you in detail. For this whole structure is infinitely more complex than any structure you yourselves have constructed, and even the most advanced kind of your computers is no match for the intelligence you have in just one single cell of your body. For just within that single cell, there is so much information stored and so many complex processes going on at all times, it is enough to keep many a scientists busy trying to figure it all out. And in between them, the billions of cells in your body have so many stories to tell, not only about each and every individual, but most of all about the way they all talk to each other. For remember, there is a huge conversation going on within you each and every day, as not one single cell in your body is working alone. They are all a part of this immense fine-tuned orchestra, and they need to connect so that they can stay fine-tuned at all times, no matter what external circumstances that might arise. For remember, you live a very complex life in a very complex world, and as such, the signals that enter your body in so many ways will all add their voice to this internal choir. So yes, you are walking around within something that is truly a marvel, and now, this marvel will only increase as your body is going through such a metamorphosis it will be hard to comprehend.

You have perhaps all heard about how a human brain uses only a small percentage of its capacity. Well, not only is your brain starting to unfold its full abilities now, but also the rest of your body. And what this will entail, is this; you are not only becoming more ”intelligent” in your mental capacity, as in being able to access fields of knowledge and feats of abilities hidden up until now, now your physical body will start to do the same. In other words, this inner dialogue will increase in not only speed, but also in complexity to a level that far surpasses the old one. And what will this mean? This will simply mean that your body will be far, far better to respond and adjust to anything that might arise, and it will in effect become super adept at fixing itself and at keeping itself in ”ship shape” as they say, in a manner that far surpasses the mode it has been in up until now.

In addition, the more immaterial part of you, that is the YOU that inhabits this outer physical layer, will become capable of literally having a conversation with this physical layer in way that simply was not possible before. Remember, the two of you are literally a ”match made in heaven” as we have talked about earlier, and now, you will be able to start to understand what we mean by that. For as the higher aspects of you have now started to literally ”move in ” to this physical body, the two of you need to get to know each other, and so, you have to start to have a conversation. And what do we mean by that? We literally mean that YOU have to start to talk to your body, and your body will also have to learn to listen to you. Remember, we have talked much about the importance of heeding the signals your body is giving you, but now, your body also needs to start to listen to your wisdom.

We hasten to add that this does not in any way mean that you must completely disregard any signals of distress your body is giving you. No, what we mean by this is that you need to talk to your body about it. And yes, we do mean that in a very literal way. For remember, your body is also very new to this, as it has been used to function in the same way forever. But now, when so many new pathways and possibilities start to open, they can be easy to overlook, also for your body. So that is why we describe this as a teamwork to be carried out both by YOU and by your body, and in order for this to start to take place, the two of you need to start to communicate even more.

And this brings us back to where we started, namely the physical manifestations from all of these energetic downloads in the form of symptoms that will arise. Remember, the body has in many ways been programmed to react in a certain way to stimuli, and it will continue to do so even when the opportunity arises to react in a brand new way. For that is how this physical vehicle has been set up. In order to optimize the output, it has learned to make use of patterns, as in setting up a sequence of actions that will be followed automatically every time something is instigated, either by will or as a rule. In other words, your body will conserve energy by setting up loops that will come into effect every time a similar situation arises. That is how you ”learn” the things you do in your life, like walking, talking, writing – anything that is habitual. It is a set pattern, and the same setup of cells are set into motion automatically.  But now, you have all been given access to a whole new set of possibilities, so you and your body must in effect ”retrain” yourselves to respond in a new way. We do not mean that you need to start from scratch as it were in everything, but you must realize that this means that there are many set patterns within your body that needs to be reassessed. And to start with the easiest one, we suggest you start with the notion that every time the energies increases, your body will ”need” to react in a certain way, whether that be with headaches, back aches, nausea or what have you.

It might sound complicated, but we suggest you do it the easy way by literally TALKING to your body. You might choose to do this silently, or you might choose to say it out loud, but what we suggest you do, is simply to start having a conversation with your body. And no, it is not in the form of criticism or rebuke, that is not a good idea. Remember, your body only wants what is good for you, and we do mean that in every sense of the word. Your body is doing all it can to protect the YOU within, and as such, every action it takes is taken with a good intention. The effects it will have may not always be positive, as you all know. However, now the time has come for you to ”sit down with your body” and give it some pep talk. It might sound strange, ridiculous even, but trust us, it will have some rather interesting effects.

Remember, the body is your ally, not your enemy, so even if the signals it is sending out may be more than a little irritating, even debilitating for some, it is no good to attack it for it. Rather, you must show it you understand the reason for it, perhaps even thank it for all it has done for you. After all, it is the only reason you can even be here in the first place, for without this physical body, you would not be able to be here and do the work that you do. So try to do this, even if it might seem silly, and see what happens. For now, you can tell your body that it can ”let down the guard ”a little bit. It does not need to go all crazy on you every time it senses a change in the energies, and you can tell it just that.

Again, this is not about disregarding all signals of distress that may arise, for not all of them are related to this ”energetic distress”, so always remember to pay attention to what your body is trying to tell you. But the lesson for today is this: the next time your body starts to ring the ”energetic alarmbells”, just talk to it and tell it that it does not need to do this any more. It can relax a little bit, and even if ”things” feel strange and unusual to the body because all of these new ”pathways” opening up, it does not need to be afraid. It is safe, and YOU are safe, and together, the two of you will become infinitely stronger than ever before. For not only will YOU become the one you truly are, your body is also evolving into something even more intelligent and capable than before. So again we say, you are truly a match made in heaven, and now, the time has come to start to play the new game of BEing one also with your physical body.

Related Articles:

"The NINE Aspects of the Human Being" – June 21, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) - New

"The Recalibration of 'Shoulds' " – Jan 26, 2012 (Kryon channelled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Religion/Worship, Lightworkers, Food, Health, Prescription Drugs, Homeopathy, Innate (Body intelligence), New Age movement, Global Unity, ... etc.) (Text version)

“… In this new energy, there is something else that you can try if you are in this category. Do the following with safety, intelligence, common sense and logic. Here is the challenge: The principle of homeopathy is that an almost invisible tincture of a substance is ingested and is seen by your innate. Innate "sees" what you are trying to do and then adjusts the body's chemistry in response. Therefore, you might say that you are sending the body a "signal for balance." The actual tincture is not large enough to affect anything chemically - yet it works!

The body [innate] sees what you're trying to do and then cooperates. In a sense, you might say the body is healing itself because you were able to give it instructions through the homeopathic substance of what to do. So, why not do it with a major drug? Start reducing the dosage and start talking to your cells, and see what happens. If you're not successful, then stop the reduction. However, to your own amazement, you may often be successful over time. ...”


"The Quantum Factor" – Apr 10, 2011 (Kryon channeled by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: Galaxies, Universe, Intelligent design, Benevolent design, Aliens, Nikola Tesla (Quantum energy), Inter-Planetary Travel, DNA, Genes, Stem Cells, Cells, Rejuvenation, Shift of Human Consciousness, Spontaneous Remission, Religion, Dictators, Africa, China, Nuclear Power, Sustainable Development, Animals, Global Unity.. etc.) - (Text Version)

"..... DNA - A Quantum Force 

Now we get to the core truth, don't we? So I will tell you. The ninety percent of DNA which is quantum, is filled with information, both esoteric and timeless. It is a quantum blueprint for everything you are and have been since you arrived on the planet the first time. DNA contains instruction sets for your life; everything from your full Akashic Record - every single lifetime you have had - to the benevolent creator's fingerprint within the seeds of creation itself. Every single talent you ever had is there, even if you don't have any of those today... the record is there. Every predisposition of weakness and strength are there. Biologically, every single instruction to every single stem cell is there. . ..."

"..... DNA is a Dynamic Molecule, not a static one.

Humanity is stuck in the 3D portion of their biological thinking. In your 3-D life, you simply accept the chemistry you're given. You act as though the three percent gene producing part is all there is. You believe it is a chemical protocol that is unchangeable and simply "you." You don't see it for the way it's designed. It's dynamic and always has been. It's not set, but will continue to simply repeat what it does unless there is another quantum influence on it.

Therefore you live with the 3 percent as though it were all there is, and since it just "came with your body" and seems to control everything, you never talk to it. Many of you come in with pre-dispositions based upon the karma which is put upon you from your past lives. You don't come in clean [without karmic energy]. Instead, you arrive with pre-dispositions, fears and phobias. Some are positive. Perhaps you come in as a prodigy continuing your last life... the 8-year-old who can paint like a master and do brushstrokes that take 30 years to develop. What does that tell you about what must be in the DNA?

Perhaps you come in as the composer, the pianist, the prodigy, the violinist, just waiting until your hands can go on the fingerboard or can reach up and fret the notes. Perhaps you come in knowing how to play the piano, just waiting for your hands to get big enough to do what you used to do... without any lessons. How do you explain that, dear ones? The answer is that all this is contained in the dynamic quantum instruction sets of your DNA... the part you never talk to it. .."

EU to cut subsidies to big farms

BBC News, 26 June 2013

Related Stories
French farmers, like this one in Laqueuille,
typically have smaller holdings than in the UK
European Union negotiators have agreed a package of reforms to agricultural subsidies which will see big farms lose up to 30% of their payout.

Ministers reached a deal with Euro MPs and the European Commission.

However, environmentalists say many of the green measures in the original proposals have been swept away.

The Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) and rural development payments account for nearly 40% of the EU's long-term budget.

The plan is to spend about 50bn euros (£42bn; $65bn) annually on agriculture in 2014-2020.

Under the deal reached on Wednesday, some of the money withheld from big industrial farms will be redistributed to smaller farms, with an emphasis on those that use eco-friendly methods.

Sugar shortages

The deal still has to be approved by EU governments and the European parliament.

Officials are confident that that will happen, because ministers and parliamentarians have been involved in the negotiating process, says the BBC's Europe correspondent Chris Morris, in Brussels.

Negotiators also agreed to end EU sugar production quotas which critics say have distorted the market for years, and created artificial shortages.

The definition of an "active farmer" has also been contentious. The current payments system is largely based on land area and past subsidy levels, meaning that landowners like airports and sports clubs, which do not farm, have been getting subsidies on the basis of their grasslands or other eligible land areas.

The ministers have agreed on a "short mandatory negative list comprising airports, railway services, waterworks, real estate services and permanent sports and recreational grounds".

Our correspondent says the UK agriculture minister abstained in voting on one of four new regulations, arguing that some member states wanted to go back to the days of butter mountains and wine lakes.

In the 1970s and 80s the CAP took up a bigger share of the EU budget because there were more subsidies for farmers simply to produce. That led to wasteful overproduction.

Wednesday, June 26, 2013

Cambodian tailorbird: A new species seen in Phnom Penh

BBC News, 26 June 2013

Studies to differentiate the new species from other tailorbirds included
analyses of their songs

Related Stories

A species of bird that is completely new to science has been discovered - hiding in plain sight in Cambodia's capital Phnom Penh.

The Cambodian tailorbird (Orthotomus chaktomuk), as it has been named, was first spotted in 2009 during routine checks for avian flu.

More specimens have since been found in regions around the city and discerned from similar tailorbird species.


Tailorbirds are in the warbler family, and get their name from the meticulous preparation of their nests, weaving leaves together.

A detailed set of tests - from the birds' plumage to their songs and their genes - has now shown that O. chaktomuk is in fact a separate, new species.

It is exceptionally uncommon for undiscovered bird species to be found in urban contexts, but Oriental Bird Club council member Richard Thomas said that earlier in the year, he "went and saw this remarkable new tailorbird myself - in the middle of a road construction site".

The authors of the paper suggest that O. chaktomuk inhabits a small area, made up largely of dense scrubland in the floodplain of the Mekong river - at the edge of which Phnom Penh lies.

Birdwatchers do not tend to target this kind of ecosystem because most of the species it supports are abundant and widespread elsewhere in Southeast Asia.

"The modern discovery of an un-described bird species within the limits of a large populous city - not to mention 30 minutes from my home - is extraordinary," said study co-author Simon Mahood of the Wildlife Conservation Society.

"The discovery indicates that new species of birds may still be found in familiar and unexpected locations."

Because of the small and shrinking nature of the birds' habitat, the team has recommended that the bird be listed as "Near Threatened" on the International Union for Conservation of Nature's Red List.

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Now, what about all of those other types of Humans, and how did they leave? I'm  going to give you an attribute of something that exists even today. This is difficult for my partner, for he has not heard this before. This information has not been brought in this fashion before. Go slowly, my partner.


The variety of species on this planet comes and goes accordingly as they are needed for the energy they create. So one of the tasks of Gaia is to create and eliminate species. When they are no longer needed for the purpose of Gaia's development, they cease to exist and they die out. If new life is necessary, if new concepts of life are needed, Gaia is cooperative and they are then created. The actual creation of species is something that environmentalists have not clearly seen. That is to say the mechanics of how it works is not fully recognized as something that is strongly coordinated with your weather. But you have already seen the mechanics of some of this in your long-term studies, for you have already noted the coming and going of many species through the ages. It's ongoing.


The Appropriateness of the Elimination of Species


Now, along come Humans and they see all this coming and going of living things, but they want to save them all - all the species that exist. For in their linear mind, all species should remain and exist, since they are here. The attribute of Gaia, however, is to eliminate them, cull them out, to bring in new ones. I just gave you the mechanics of the reasons species come and go. It's appropriate and is a natural building process for new species.


When the Pleiadians started to create the grids of the planet, Gaia cooperated in what was to come, knew the purpose, and what was needed for survival of this new spiritual Human. Gaia knew this since the energy of Gaia had seen it before [reason given below]. So the old attribute, which needed many kinds of Human Beings, slowly died out. It was natural. There was not a war. There were no horrible plagues. There were no volcanoes or tsunamis that consumed them. Through attrition, appropriateness, and 110,000 years, they disappeared.


So approximately 110,000 years ago, there was only one kind left, and this is science, for everything that you study will bear this out, and anthropologists have already seen it and have asked, "What happened back then at this time that would have eliminated these other kinds of Human variety?" It's a puzzle in science that I have just answered, for science looks only for physical events as triggers. But instead, it's the marriage of Gaia consciousness that you call "Mother Nature," which facilitated this. It's the same today when you see a variety of species diminish as Humans take over a greater portion of the earth. I'll call this "the appropriate elimination of unique life forms, which allow for the growth of global awareness and quantum evolution." Some species only exist to allow others to climb the ladder of nature, then they disappear. Gaia knows what the ladder looks like. You don't. ... ”


Barack Obama pledges to bypass Congress to tackle climate change

US president says country is already paying price of inaction and backs nuclear energy and fracking in comprehensive strategy

guardian.co.uk, Suzanne Goldenberg, US environment correspondent,  25 June 2013

Barack Obama addresses students at Georgetown University. 'I refuse to
 condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond
fixing,' he said. Photograph: Michael Reynolds/EPA

Barack Obama has taken an historic step forward in confronting climate change, asserting his power as US president to cut carbon pollution and protect future generations from catastrophic global warming.

In a speech on Tuesday at Georgetown University, delivered outdoors on a sweltering hot day, Obama went further than any previous US president in outlining a comprehensive strategy for dealing with climate change. He also said he would continue to press the issue as a priority of his second term even in the face of implacable opposition from Republicans in Congress.

"I refuse to condemn your generation and future generations to a planet that's beyond fixing," Obama said to a gathering of students.
The high costs of climate change were already apparent, Obama said, in hurricanes, droughts, and wildfire. "Americans across the country are already paying the price of inaction," he said.

He went on to reaffirm America's commitment to cutting its greenhouse gas emissions by 17% from 2005 levels by the end of the decade.

Obama outlined a broad range of measures to cut greenhouse gas emissions and promote the development of renewable energy, protect coastlines and cities from flooding and sea-level rise, and encourage efforts to reach a global climate deal.

But his boldest move by far was the decision to bypass a deadlocked Congress and issue an executive memo to the Environmental Protection Agency, calling for new rules curbing greenhouse gas emissions from power plants.

Obama said it was well past the time to stop the "limitless dumping of carbon pollution" from coal-fired power plants. "It's not right, it's not safe and it needs to stop," he said.

Power plants are responsible for a third of America's greenhouse gas emissions. Campaigners had been pressing Obama for a year to curb emissions for coal-fired power plants.

However, the measure ran into fierce opposition from Republicans and industry, even before Obama had delivered his speech.

Obama took on another contentious issue – the Keystone tar sands pipeline, which campaigners have cast as the defining environmental issue of the day.

The president gave no indication of how he will decide on the project, which would open up Canada's vast store of carbon. However, he offered campaigners a measure of reassurance, saying climate implications would be critical to making a final determination. "The net effects of pipeline impact on our climate will be absolutely critical in determining if the project is allowed to go forward," he said.

However, not all of Obama's speech will prove popular with environmental campaigners, or even his fellow Democrats.

The president embraced America's natural gas boom, made possible through fracking, as a transition fuel. He also reiterated support for nuclear power.

As some analysts noted, Obama failed to mention putting a price on carbon dioxide emissions. White House officials have flatly rejected a "carbon tax", and there was no indication whether Obama would support a version of a carbon tax now pending in the Senate.

But there was overwhelmingly strong support among an environmental community that has often been frustrated and disappointed with the president on climate change.

"They are following through on what we asked for," said Kevin Kennedy, who directs the US climate programme for the World Resources Institute. "You can't be serious about reducing US greenhouse gas emissions if you are not going to take on existing power plants."

The Sierra Club, which has pushed Obama hard to reject the Keystone XL pipeline, was effusive. "This is the change Americans have been waiting for on climate. President Obama is finally putting action behind his words," said Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club – although he went on to ask the president to stop the pipeline.

Obama claimed climate change as one of his core issues in his inauguration address. He stoked expectations even further in his state of the union address in February, telling Congress to act on climate change – or he would.

Since then, however, there have been mixed signals from the White House on climate change. The White House delayed a range of environmental rules, and Obama told supporters at a number of fundraisers that the politics of climate change were hard.

With Tuesday's speech, however, Obama appears to have firmly adopted climate action as his own brand.

The significance of Tuesday's strategy, however, will only become apparent in time.

Administration officials briefing reporters on the climate plan said the White House hoped to propose the rules for existing power plants by June 2014, finalising the rules one year later. They said proposed rules for new plants could be forthcoming as early as September.

That timetable could set in place mechanisms to deliver meaningful cuts in greenhouse gas emissions by the time Obama leaves office.

But there are bound to be legal and political challenges, and it was not immediately clear how stringent the new power plant rules would be.

It was also unclear how the actions promised by Obama would play out in the long term.

Most analysts believed at the time that America's original 17% emissions target was too low to avoid serious climate change. There was even greater uncertainty about whether America would be on track for the even more ambitious mid-century target of an 80% cut in emissions. That would depend on the stringency of the EPA measures, and how quickly the new rules could be adopted, Kennedy said.



Related Article:


Tuesday, June 25, 2013

Fracking raises risk of contaminated drinking water: study

France24, 24 June 2013

Protestors stage a demonstration against fracking in San Francisco,
California on May 30, 2013. 

AFP - New evidence that fracking may contaminate drinking water was published Monday in a study sure to add fuel to the fight over the controversial method of extracting natural gas from cracks in rocks.

Researchers at Duke University analyzed 141 drinking water samples from private water wells across the gas-rich Marcellus shale basin in northeastern Pennsylvania.

They found methane concentrations were six times higher and ethane concentrations were 23 times higher at homes within a kilometer of a shale gas well.

Propane was detected in 10 samples, all of them from homes within a kilometer of drilling.

"The methane, ethane and propane data, and new evidence from hydrocarbon and helium isotopes, all suggest that drilling has affected some homeowners' water," said study author Robert Jackson, an environmental sciences professor.

Two previous studies by Duke scientists found direct evidence of methane contamination in water wells near shale-gas drilling sites in northeastern Pennsylvania.

A third study conducted in Arkansas by US Geological Survey scientists found no evidence of drinking water contamination from shale gas production.

The ethane and propane contamination data are "new and hard to refute," Jackson said.

"There is no biological source of ethane and propane in the region and Marcellus gas is high in both, and higher in concentration than the Upper Devonian gas found in-between," he said in a statement.

Hydraulic fracturing, known as fracking, has led to a massive expansion of natural gas production in the United States but has been banned in other countries such as France due to environmental concerns.

The gas is extracted after cracking open hydrocarbon-rich shale by pumping water, sand and chemicals into the deep wells at high pressure.

So far there has been no evidence found of well water contamination by fracking fluids.

However, the researchers said it's possible that faulty well construction led the drinking water to be contaminated by gas released during the process.

"Our studies demonstrate that distances from drilling sites, as well as variations in local and regional geology, play major roles in determining the possible risk of groundwater impacts from shale gas development," said Avner Vengosh, a professor of geochemistry and water quality at Duke.

"As such, they must be taken into consideration before drilling begins."

The study was published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Saturday, June 22, 2013

Plants 'seen doing quantum physics'

BBC News,  Jason Palmer, Science and technology reporter, 21 June 2013

Related Stories

Deep within plants' energy-harvesting
machinery lie distinctly quantum tricks
The idea that plants make use of quantum physics to harvest light more efficiently has received a boost.

Plants gather packets of light called photons, shuttling them deep into their cells where their energy is converted with extraordinary efficiency.

A report in Science journal adds weight to the idea that an effect called a "coherence" helps determine the most efficient path for the photons.

Experts have called the work "a nice proof" of some contentious ideas.

Prior work has shown weaker evidence that these coherences existed in relatively large samples from plants.

But the new study has been done painstakingly, aiming lasers at single molecules of the light-harvesting machinery to show how light is funnelled to the so-called reaction centres within plants where light energy is converted into chemical energy.

What has surprised even the researchers behind the research is not only that these coherences do indeed exist, but that they also seem to change character, always permitting photons to take the most efficient path into the reaction centres.

Until very recently, quantum mechanics - a frequently arcane branch of physics most often probed in laboratory settings at the coldest temperatures and lowest pressures - would not have been expected in biological settings.

The fact that plants and animals are extremely warm and soft by comparison would suggest that delicate quantum states should disappear in living things, leaving behaviour explicable by the more familiar "classical physics" that is taught in school.

But the new results join the ranks of a field that seems finally to be gaining ground: quantum biology.

'Something shocking'

Niek van Hulst of the Institute of Photonic Sciences in Castelldefels, Spain, and colleagues studied the light-harvesting complexes of purple bacteria to address the question.

The weird world of quantum mechanics

Quantum mechanics starts with the simple
idea that energy does not come in just any
amount; it comes in discrete chunks, called
quanta. But deeper into the theory, some
truly surprising - and useful - effects crop up

Superposition: A particle exists in a number
of possible states or locations simultaneously
- strictly, an electron might be in the tip of
your finger and in the furthest corner of the
Universe at the same time. It is only when
we observe the particle that it 'chooses' one
particular state

Entanglement: Two particles can become
entangled so that their properties depend on
each other - no matter how far apart they get.
measurement of one seems to affect the
measurement of the other instantaneously -
an idea even Einstein called "spooky"

Tunnelling: A particle can break through an 
energy barrier, seeming to disappear on one
side of it and reappear on the other. Lots of 
modern electronics and imaging depends on
this effect
These are literally like antennas that gather up light, and are arranged like adjacent rings.

When laser light is shone on just one isolated ring, some of it is re-released in the form of what is called fluorescence.

But what the team saw is that over time, that amount of fluorescence rose and fell - a sign that the energy was coming and going elsewhere: a coherence.

This is linked to the quantum mechanical notion of a "superposition": that a particle can effectively be in multiple places at once - or try multiple paths simultaneously.

"What you see here is this photon comes in, and it sees many energy pathways," explained Prof van Hulst.

"Where does it go? It goes to the one that's most efficient, the one where this quantum effect tells you it has the highest probability (of being put to use)," he told BBC News.

But the soft, flexible, warm conditions at room temperature mean that, as things move and jiggle - as life tends to do - that most efficient path can change. Remarkably, so did the evident path along the rings.

"Nature is very robust at keeping this up no matter what happens - this for me is something shocking," Prof van Hulst continued.

"The result is that this fluffy stuff at room temperature where everything is variable, it just works - with an efficiency of 90%: way, way better than any solar cell we can make ourselves."

'Several questions'

Rienk van Grondelle of the Free University Amsterdam called the work "a very nice proof that the ideas that existed about these coherences are actually correct".

"The system is able to overcome this problem by sampling two or three of those pathways at the same time and simply use the one that is best - I think it's very, very beautiful," he told BBC News.

Other researchers are less convinced. Daniel Turner of the University of Toronto has been working on similar problems and says that the study's primary proof - the comings and goings of the fluorescence - are "not necessarily directly relevant to how photosynthesis works in natural conditions".

"There are still several questions regarding how the results of this and other… measurements of highly purified protein extracts relate to the natural sunlight conditions experienced by photosynthetic organisms," he told BBC News.

Even the notion of what is meant by "quantum effects" in relation to biology, he said, was still up for debate.

But for Prof van Grondelle, the paper is another impressive addition to this debate.

"Of course (the acceptance of quantum effects in biology) is not going to come from one single paper," he said.

"It will take more evidence, and maybe more elaborate evidence that this is really happening. But this is how science goes."

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"THE NEXT 18 YEARS"–  Dec 2, 2012 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) (Subjects: You are looking  at a Quantum event, clearing a filter - Portal pineal , Higher self to step forward and communicate to You, Still remains in 3D but exposure to multi dimensions, Evolution of humanity, Intent, Mayan Calendar, Midpoint on 21-12-2012, 26.000 Years, Milky Way, Nostradamus, 1987, Beginning to a New Time, Channellers/Teachers, Center of Galaxy – Black hole, Bridge of Swords, Pleiadians, Children, Inventions – The discoveries (e.g. : Airplanes - Medicines – Radio ...): These new Discoveries were given all over the planet when Human consciousness was ready for it, New Inventions are coming, the timing depends on how the middle East problems are solved, Biology reaction of quantum energy; new radio of the future, seeing quantum energy, when it is revealed all science books will have to be rewritten, This will be an AHA moment – be possible to communicate with the rest of Galaxy, NASA, Church/religion will be effected the most by these discoveries, The quantum discovery will see the grid, life, gardens and will redefine life, DNA (3 billion pieces) evolving piece DNA are chancing, Gaia/Humanity are linked, new instruments will start to reveal the DNA variance, Evolution revealed: Autistic children have born with the removal of their 3D structure in the brain, Gaia/Spirit are testing these quantum beings  (Evolved DNA), Universe central clock = Rifs,  Globally there will be only 5 currencies, Wars on earth will be declared barbaric, Middle East, Global Unity, .. etc.)


"THE MISSING PIECE" – May 26, 2013 (Kryon Channelling by Lee Carroll) -  NEW: This information is not available on the Kryon audio site, and the transcription is presented for the first time!

Friday, June 21, 2013

Biofueled Airbus makes air show entrance

France24 – AFP, 20 June 2013

An Airbus A321 aircraft using Biojet A-1 Total/Amyris, a biofuel produced from
 an innovative sugar-processing technology, is parked on the tarmac at Le Bourget
airport, near Paris on June 20, 2013 during the 50th International Paris Air Show.

AFP - An Airbus airliner flew from southern France to the Paris Air Show on Thursday with one fuel tank partially filled with farnesane, a biofuel made from sugar cane as the industry experiments with green technology.

The gambit was to show that the fast-growing air transport sector is eager for clean fuels, but the ability for green fuels to compete with petroleum-based kerosene that spews tonnes of CO2 and other pollutants into the atmosphere remains way off.

The sugar fuel was developed by Amyris, a US company owned by the French oil major Total, and could be on the market starting next year.

Other key partners in the demonstration were Air France and Safran, which built the engine used in the test.

"Technically there are solutions, but economically it has not taken off, that is for sure," said Pierre Porot, a biofuel specialist at the French institute IFP Energies Nouvelles.

Parked on the Le Bourget airport tarmac, the A321 looked quite similar to more conventional passenger planes and attracted hardly as much attention as the sleek combat jets sitting nearby.

It was only the second time a plane has flown with this kind of fuel, the first being in Brazil, where Total produces farnesane.

The flight, which lasts about an hour when commercial planes make it, used 10 percent farnesane, consuming about four tonnes of sugar cane.

But developers said use of sugar for fuel would not affect food markets, a usual complaint against biofuel technology..

"Sugar cane is not considered a food product by the (UN) Food and Agriculture Organization, it does not compete therefore with food sources," said Philippe Marchand, head of Total's biofuel unit.

For now however the main issue is cost.

Experts contacted by AFP estimated that existing "biokerosenes" cost between 30 and 50 percent more than the normal fuel.

So while airlines like Lufthansa and KLM have begun to incorporate biofuels in their operations, and a flight using only biofuel took place in Canada late last year, no carriers use it in significant quantities.

"Test flights are easy because they need only a few thousand litres of fuel," noted Claire Curry, an analyst at Bloomberg New Energy Finance (BNEF).

"But to obtain large quantities you have to build refineries costing $200-300 million and the problem is finding the money," she said.

Total's Marchand is not deterred however, and once the new fuel has been certified, he intends to expand production facilities to Europe.

"French beet farmers are very interested in diversifying their activities because of the weakness in the ethanol market," he said.

Philippe Boisseau, head of Total's New Energies division said: "In four to five years, the goal is to make the fuel with non-edible parts of plants. To transform cellulose into non-food sugars that are then turned into biojet" fuels.

Other possible end products include biodiesel, cosmetics, medicines and even perfumes.

The cost issue could reverse meanwhile, because standard kerosene prices and carbon taxes will likely climb higher, forcing airlines to come up with alternatives.

Major aircraft manufacturers such as Airbus, Boeing and Embraer have said they are mulling joint programmes to develop biokerosene, since their futures also depend on a sustained source of jet fuels.

Environmental groups are bringing pressure to the air industry too. On Thursday, the French activist group Reseau Action Climat denounced the pollution generated by constantly growing traffic.

"Flying is the most polluting means of transport. Measured by passenger and by kilometre travelled, it is three times worse for the climate than cars," the group said.

Total hopes to have its farnesane fuel certified by the end of the year, and possibly have planes flying with sugar-based fuel in 2014.

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An ENN laboratory in Hebei province. (Photo/Xinhua)

Thursday, June 20, 2013

German, Japanese firms to improve electric car batteries

Deutsche Welle, 20  June 2013


Three companies from Germany and Japan say they're teaming up to revolutionize batteries to be used in electric vehicles. The firms aim to extend the travel range and reduce the weight of their batteries.

German car parts giant Bosch as well as Mitsubishi and GS Yuasa of Japans announced on Thursday that they had decided to set up a joint venture to develop lithium-ion batteries for electric cars.

"These batteries are fundamental for future forms of mobility, such as plug-in hybrid or all-electric vehicles," the firms said in a joint statement.

They added that the research and development project would start operations in Stuttgart, Germany, in early 2014, with production expected to kick off four years later.

The three companies said they planned to drastically boost the capacity of lithium-ion batteries to enable electric cars to travel about 400 kilometers (249 miles) once charged. That would be a major improvement on the 180 to 240 kilometers achieved so far.

Two times lucky?

GS Yuasa spokesman Yasushi Yamamoto pointed out that the joint venture also aimed at reducing the weight and volume of the batteries in question.

Germany's Bosch will contribute the quality management and development of control systems, while GS Yuasa will be responsible for manufacturing and Mitsubishi for marketing. Bosch will hold a 50-percent stake in the venture, with the two Japanese companies each investing a 25 percent stake.

For Bosch it's the second foray into the future-oriented market of electric car batteries. It had a first go at it back in 2008 when it teamed up with Samsung SDI of South Korea. But the alliance broke up in September of last year as it became obvious that the partners' business plans did not match.

hg/ipj (Reuters, dpa)