Roxanne Briean

Some 1,000 Red Crabs Wash Up in Huntington Beach

May 13, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

After the most recent event to take over Huntington’s Dog Beach, the long strand of sand could easily pull off the name Crab Beach.

On Wednesday afternoon, the water line was filled with washed-up little red crab critters – some dead, many still pinching their claws and squirming around. It was an interesting sight for people passing by Goldenwest Street, on the coast to the Bolsa Chica Wetlands inlet in Huntington Beach.

According to the estimations of the lifeguards, about 1,000 crabs arrived ashore with the tide. While their numbers are still impressive, they are still nowhere near the hundreds of thousands – close to millions – of crabs that washed the entire coastline last June.

However, beachgoers out for a walk with their dogs were still surprised by the invasion of red crabs. Step on one by mistake and you might just feel a little pinch, like Katie Glover, who was a first-time visitor from L.A.

Scientifically known as Pleuroncodes planipes, the pelagic red crabs or tuna crabs are just 1 to 3 inches long, and they look a lot like miniature lobsters or crawfish.

Their usual home is off Baja, but due to the El Niño conditions that push currents in from the south, the crabs have been washing up over the past few years along the Orange County coastline. Decades before that, the crabs were a rare sight in the area.

Locals reported that only last week, a handful were found washed-up in Seal Beach, and some more in Newport on Wednesday. But nothing compared with the massive wash-up from last year.

Beach agencies along the coast handled it differently. For example, Newport called for beach maintenance crews that came in and scooped up hundreds of thousands of crabs. Other beaches took a more lax stance, letting the sea gulls and tides take care of the little crabs.

A lot of them ended up in the dump, which is surprising for those who don’t know that the pelagic red crab has little meat for eating. One of the most off-putting things about them, however, is the fact that they emit a wretched stench when dead.

Even other animals, such as dogs walking on the beach, are not interested in the feast. It will be a while before the beach clears out, depending on whether or not more red crabs wash ashore.
Image Source: RT

Pebble Health Software Revamped

May 11, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The revolution of fitness trackers and smartwatches is upon us. Slowly but surely, Pebble becomes a worthy rival on the market, as its Time watches keep getting fitness upgrades.

Today, the company announced a new update for Android and iOS for the latest Pebble Health update. The Pebble app on the Time watches – Pebble Time, Time Steel, and Pebble Time Round – has been equipped with some welcome features.

And now that spring has finally arrived in New York City, it’s the perfect time to put those fitness trackers to good use. If you use a Pebble watch to count your paces or monitor your health, the version 3.12 of the smartwatch’s firmware has some new gifts for you.

Mobile Health Snapshot is one of the additions to the smartwatches, and it’s described as a “hub for fitness information and sleep data.” It features a collection of aggregated data by days, weeks and months.

You can also use Pebble Health for long runs and walks, which the phone auto-detects; after a run, the tracking information is delivered to the company’s mobile app.

Users can also opt to receive weekly digests on their watch about daily activity and step summaries, as well as information on naps, sleeping patterns, long walks, and the like. If you realize you have no motivation to exercise, the watch can also offer plus coaching info based on your previous performance.

The Pebble Time update also includes smart alarms designed to wake the wearer when “light” sleep is detected. Depending on sleep cycles, the alarm might go off up to a half hour before the normal wake-up call of the wearer, aiming for optimal restedness.

These features are not altogether new, as other trackers also offer them; however, not many people use them, and Pebble wants to change that. If you use it regularly, the Pebble app can help you regulate your sleep patterns so you get the optimal rest time.

Among the non-health updates for iOS users is the message-reply feature; Android users have been able to enjoy for a while now the fact that you can use the microphone of the Pebble Time watch to send quick replies, or answer a phone call with a text message.
Image Source: Get Pebble

Alabama Top Judge Ousted from Office over His Stance on Gay Marriage

May 7, 2016 By Roxanne Briean 1 Comment

Alabama’s top justice Roy Moore was removed from office and could face charges over his year-long fight against same-sex marriage.

Justice Roy Moore, the chief of the Alabama Supreme Court, was suspended by the Alabama Court of the Judiciary for allegedly hindering the acceptance of same-sex marriage across the state.

On Friday, the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission charged Justice Moore with the violation of judicial ethics when he opposed gay marriage.

According to the commission, Moore obstinately opposed same-sex marriage in Alabama though the U.S. Supreme Court and a federal judge in Mobile deemed it legal in the state last year. Moore instructed other judges to ignore the rulings and decline to issue marriage licenses to LGBT couples.

The commission received a complaint against Moore from the Southern Poverty Law Center. The judicial group decided that the case was serious enough to be forwarded to the Alabama Court of the Judiciary, which suspended the justice.

Justice Moore’s crusade against same-sex marriage began early last year when he told a local newspaper that the state’s power over marriage stem’s from God’s authority, so the concept of marriage cannot be redefined through state and federal orders.

In March 2015, the Alabama Supreme Court blocked all marriages as Justice Moore asked judges to refuse to issue marriage licenses. Three months later, Justice Moore argued that he and his colleagues as public officials are merely ministers of God with the scope of punishing the wicked and shielding the righteous.

“You cannot serve two masters: you must pick — God or Satan,” he added.

Yet, the man’s bold statements were not enough to get him suspended. This January’s move, however, was. Five months ago, he issued an order that defied the law and tried to halt the issuance of licenses to LGBT couples across the Yellowhammer State.

In a four-page order, he used his authority to reinforce his previous order that barred all probate judges from producing licenses to same-sex couples. Citing the Alabama Sanctity of Marriage Amendment, he also reminded judges that they are ministers of God and they have a ‘ministerial duty’ to oppose licensing gay marriages across their state.

Moore argued that the gay-marriage-legalizing Obergefell ruling was issued by the Supreme Court in a different federal circuit which doesn’t include Alabama.

But the SPLC was irked by Justice Moore’s religious beliefs and filed a complaint with the Alabama Judicial Inquiry Commission against him. As a result the commission, which has a grand jury status, removed him from office. If no settlement is reached, Justice Moore risks to be tried before the Alabama Court of the Judiciary.

Image Source: Wikimedia

The Importance of Bees

April 17, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Bees are crucial for the environment.

On the 7^th of May, people are going to have the opportunity of celebrating Bee Day. The tiny yellow and black insects are crucial for the good of the environment, yet the importance of bees is diminished by the high polluters who don’t want to change their harmful ways just for the sake of some insects. Even if we’re talking about the insects that are pollinating the trees, giving us honey, and preserving entire ecosystems.

“Bees are really fun, even though we’re talking about stinging insects, they’re really fun to watch and see how they work. For some people, it’s just a nice hobby, and for others, they would like them for pollination in their garden. Bees are struggling. We’re at a time where overall bees have struggled so more people are wanting to get involved to help them out.”

Declared Kirk Tubbs, the class instructor from the “Tubb’s Berry Far” in Twin Falls. The Farm will hold a celebration on the 7^th of May where participants will be able to learn all about the importance of bees.

Bees are the main pollinators for a wide variety of plants and flowers. Almost a third of all the food we eat is being pollinated by bees. Without the honey-producing insects, we would lose a great amount fruits and vegetables, the entire ecosystem being affected.

A bee’s body I covered in tiny hairs that carry pollen from a plant to another, helping them reproduce. According to one study, bees are personally responsible for $200 billion worth of food every year.

Unfortunately, ever since 2006, the population of bees in the United States has started to severely decrease. At first, the beekeepers blamed parasites and other viruses, but then they observed that commercial hives nationwide were starting to complain about the disappearance of almost 90 percent of their insects.

Then, they started to investigate neonicotinoids, which are a sort of pesticides that affect that nervous system of bees. After consuming tainted nectar, the insects become confused and disoriented, making them forget where their hive is.

Furthermore, beekeepers are also considering extremely long and cold winters, the lack of genetic diversity in commercial hives, and a shortened supply of nectar on the fields as probable causes for the alarming decrease in bee population nationwide.

If the decline continues, people may learn about the importance of bees too little, too late. Without them, there would be a shortage of cotton, coffee, fruits, vegetables, even dairy, and meat seeing as they are the primary pollinator of alfalfa fields.

Image source: Wikimedia

Climate Change Awareness on Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day

April 12, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

What a good day it is to be an ice cream lover. No matter what you’re facing today – any life or work challenges, and puddles you might step in – you must remember one thing and one thing only: today you can get a free ice cream cone.

Did your dentist tell you to come back for a root canal? Thanks to Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day, you can forget about that for at least the 3 to 5 minutes it takes for you to finish your ice cream cone.

Then you probably should get that root canal done.

Besides the more official International Day of Human Space Flight – which celebrates 55 years since Yuri Gagarin went on the first space trip – April 12 also brings something more tangible to celebrate: Free Cone Day at Ben & Jerry’s.

Check out their website to see all the locations across the U.S. where you can claim your free scoop(s) from 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. today.

You can simply walk in and ask for your refreshing ice cream with no strings attached – you don’t have to buy one to get one or pay for some secret coupon no-one is telling you about. The company has been keeping the tradition since 1979, and you might even get seconds if you play nice.

What’s even cooler is that this is the second year when Ben & Jerry’s is using its Free Cone Day to raise awareness and educate people on climate change.

Besides this cool video they published in 2015, you can also go to their website to sign an online petition for “a more effective transition to 100 percent clean energy.”

More than anything else that happened last year, 2015 was the year of climate change, peaking with the United Nations Climate Summit (COP21), which took place in Paris in December.

B&J and thousands of other companies got together and asked their fans to sign over 3.5 million petitions for 100% clean energy by 2050, all before the critical negotiation happened.

On the website of the popular ice cream, the company writes:

“Thanks to all of those who stood up for what they believed in, signed the petition and took action on climate, a landmark agreement was signed by 196 countries with the goal of holding average global temperature rise to no more than 1.5 degrees Celsius. This was the first major step in a critical journey towards a healthier climate future.”

See you at the Free Cone Day!
Image Source: Ben & Jerry

You Can Control Your Lutron Lights With Amazon’s Alexa Voice Control

April 7, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

Lutron Electronics, one of the first pioneers in lighting control, has partnered Amazon to integrate its affordably-priced Caséta Wireless system with Amazon’s Alexa. The result is a beautiful and convenient voice control of your home lighting.

By using the free Lutron app, homeowners can adjust the light from anywhere inside or outside the house; they can also use the Lutron Pico® remote control, or select third-party devices.

And now, after the integration with Amazon, customers who own an Amazon Tap, Echo, Echo Dot, or Amazon Fire TV can simply use their voice to control their Caséta Wireless system.

Combining Alexa-enabled devices with Caséta Wireless is an ideal match, as the Alexa-powered gadgets are mostly located in areas where people spend their time when they’re at home – such as the kitchen or the living room.

Whether you’re helping the kids with homework, doing crafts, or watching the TV, all of these occasions are more comfortable and relaxing if the right light is on. All you need to do is adjust it to your linking by the sound of your voice. For those who prefer it, it can also be done by the tap of a button.

Matt Swatsky, director of product management at Lutron, explained that “asking Alexa to control your lights is undeniably powerful and can simplify things like coming home with arms full of kids, pets, and groceries.”

At the same time, Alexa can also be useful to senior citizens who don’t have a lot of mobility. Swatsky added that a smart home is no longer about the wow factor – the products can also change peoples’ lives.

On the other side of the partnership, Charlie Kindel, Director of Amazon Alexa Smart Home, said the Amazon team is “excited that Lutron customers can now control their lights simply by asking Alexa.”

When Caséta Wireless was introduced in 2014, it helped people overcome two problems regarding smart home lighting: the installation challenges and the compatibility with LEDs.

Due to its design, the system doesn’t require in-wall installation or a neutral wire – this saves homeowners the cost and hassle of having to add one.

And as Swatsky pointed out, Caséta Wireless comes with a powerful Pico remote, which is ideal for when you can speak to Alexa. Are the kids asleep or is your spouse in the middle of an important phone call?

You can still access the system via the remote, which can be mounted on a wall or placed on a tabletop pedestal.
Image Source: Smarthome Reviewed

Committed Conservation Could Save Endangered Tiger Populations

April 4, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

According to researchers at the University of Minnesota, populations of endangered tigers could double over the next six years if we keep up with the conservation efforts.

Tigers are one of the most endangered species in the world, and they’re threatened with extinction due to the poaching of hundreds each year. At the moment, estimates show that only 3,200 tigers are left in the wild in the swamps, forests, and jungles of thirteen Asian countries.

Thanks to satellite data gathered between 2001 and 2014, a team of researchers has discovered the rate of tiger habitat has continued by at a far slower rate than before.

Over the fourteen years of data the researchers analyzed, the rate of decline was of 7.7 percent, which means that tigers had enough remaining wild habitat to double in numbers to as many as 6,400 specimens by the year 2022 – but only if the currently forested areas remain untouched.

Lead study author Anup Joshi from the University of Minnesota explained that the study revealed a lot less forest loss than expected. Scientists were surprised by how intact the areas were because the tiger range countries are also some of the fastest-growing economies in the world.

Moreover, Nepal and India have seen an incredible increase in tiger populations (31 percent and 61 percent respectively). This was encouraged by a combination of active community involvement, reforestation programs, and increased protection for endangered species.

The study shows that the goal of doubling wild tigers by 2022 can still be reached if “there is a will and good protection is going on,” said Joshi.

On the other hand, there are also countries like Laos, Indonesia, and Malaysia where forest loss rates have reached a staggering 98 percent. According to researchers, this has likely been caused by a harmful mix of lax law enforcement and the development of palm oil plantations (these are associated with widespread deforestation).

What’s more, tiger habitats in Kerinci Seblat and Bukit Tigapuluh on the island, and in Taman Negara-Belum in Malaysia reported a 67 percent decline in forest-covered areas. And in the Cambodian Northern Plains, there is only enough forest left to support the habitat of 174 tigers.

Therefore, the study recommends regular monitoring every two years in the 29 conservation landscapes identified to be crucial for tiger survival, as well as a fund of $750 billion expected to be invested annually in infrastructure projects in tiger range countries over the next ten years.
Image Source: Kids National Geographic

How To Hide Planet Earth From Aliens with a Laser Defense System

April 1, 2016 By Roxanne Briean 1 Comment

We still don’t know for sure if we’re alone in the universe, and while some people would like to welcome any aliens we might make contact with, others are worried about how defenseless and vulnerable we are in the face of the unknown.

A new study proposed that we use a laser defense system to conceal the entire planet Earth, should any advancing alien civilizations spot our solar system and us in it.

Several prominent scientists have long debated the possibility that intelligent life on other planets – if it does exist – could be doing the same thing we are – looking for life outside in the universe.

One of the most popular techniques is analyzing the way light varies when a planet moves in front of a star it circles. By using this method, the Kepler mission has already found more than 1,000 planets, many of which are similar in size to Earth. These researchers speculate that alien civilizations could be using the same technique and locate Earth.

Moreover, our planet is at the right distance from our Sun, making it an ideal ‘habitable zone,’ which means the Earth is a promising new place for relocation, should anyone need one.

If extraterrestrial life and if does find us, several scientists are concerned their arrival could mean an utter depletion of the Earth’s resources.

So why not find a way to protect ourselves? According to Professor David Kipping and graduate student Alex Teachey from Columbia University, we could use a laser defense system to hide our planet from any unwanted attention (we’re looking at you, aliens).

When and if the laser’s controlled beam is directly pointed at an alien-populated star, it will make up for the difference in light. Researchers believe that “a consistent emission of 30 MW laser for 10 hours once a year could mask the transit signal (dip in light),” at least in visible light.

Roughly the same amount of energy is collected by the International Space Station (ISS) every year. For a chromatic mask that would be effective in all wavelengths, it is required a much larger tunable laser array that’s capable of 250 MW of total power.

Alex explained that we could also cloak the atmospheric signatures that show there’s biological activity on Earth, such as oxygen, which would need only a peak laser power of just 160 kW per transit.

This way, we could make Earth look lifeless to another civilization, should such a civilization be searching for life in the amazing vastness of space.
Image Source: Space

The ‘Two Face’ of Super-Earth Exoplanets

March 31, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

The study of exoplanets has been a focus of scientists and astronomers for years, whether it has been for merely understanding the surrounding solar systems or for finding another planet such as ours. A planet that could host the human race one day or a planet that could already be the home of intelligent life forms.

But looking for such planets is a long and tenuous road, and the discoveries on the way may find their worth in equally amazing results. We may not be finding life or homes, but instead, we are finding secrets of how the universe works, how it was formed and maybe even how we came to be.

On that note, an international group of astronomers has recently completed the mapping of the surface of a very peculiar exoplanet. Named 55 Cancri e, this particular exoplanet was the topic of scientific discussion recently after the Hubble Space Telescope was able to study the composition of its atmosphere through a new method of observation and analysis.

Now, it will make an even better topic of discussion as while the researchers were keeping their eyes on it, they noticed something astounding. Starting with the readings that described a very high margin of temperature swings on the surface of 55 Cancri e, scientists soon realized that this constant see-saw of heat has led the planet of developing a two-faced feature. One half of the planet is almost completely solid while the other half is nearly completely buried in lava. As a result, the hot side can score temperatures up to 2,500 degrees Celsius (roughly 4,500 Fahrenheit) while the cool side only goes as far as 1,100 degrees Celsius (2,000 Fahrenheit).

A year on 55 Cancri e lasts only 18 hours. One half is always facing the star it orbits, similarly to how the Moon does around our own Earth. While the scorched face of this exoplanet has lost any traces of an atmosphere, scientists believe that the ‘cool’ side may still detain traces, despite its still hot temperatures. Researchers mentioned that the loss of its atmosphere may have been determined by the fact that heat is never being efficiently transferred from the scorched face and into the other one.

55 Cancri e remains one very exciting starting point of study for astronomers as it’s one of the closest exoplanets to our solar system, making its observation a little less difficult.

Image Source: 1

Twitter Is Introducing a Way to Make Itself More Accessible to the Visually Impaired

March 30, 2016 By Roxanne Briean Leave a Comment

While it is not groundbreaking, but still a well-intended feature that requires a small amount of community effort, Twitter is introducing a way to make itself more accessible to the visually impaired. In essence, it is not a feature that will work regardless of circumstances and what device an individual uses, but at least in the case of screen readers and braille displays, Twitter makes it easier. The way that is achievable is through a feature that allows all users to post images along with a description of up to 420 characters.

While the text-only tweets are not an issue that can’t be handled by screen readers, for example, the photos you post are. The new feature allows anyone who posts a photo to Twitter to add the brief description that will make it more accessible to the visually impaired. However, although it’s being pushed to both iOS and Android devices, it is not a feature that will turn on automatically. If you wish to enable it, you can do so through Twitter’s accessibility settings.

While many other social platforms and different parts of the internet already have means of making themselves accessible to visually impaired individuals, provided they have access to specialized tools, Twitter had not yet done plenty in that direction.

Following Twitter’s studies on the matter of post reach and post engagement and their statistics which suggest that tweets that contain photos result in 313% higher engagement from the public, the company decided to truly attempt to include the entirety of its users in its count. As long as the users of Twitter add an image description along with their photos, any visually impaired person will be able to make use of assistive technology in order to understand what the picture is about, even if they cannot see it.

According to some reports, this new feature can easily turn into something that can expand its own utility, being ground for more complex things such as Twitter search or identifying specific tweets.

Some individuals, however, frown upon the way the feature is made available and believe that plenty of people with either miss it while others will not recur to using it out of comfort – considering it has to be turned on manually. Of course, if someone knows a person with a visual disability, they will be more likely to remember to turn it on whereas other content creators may not.

Image Source: 1

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