Scientists: Giant cannibal shrimp invasion growing
An invasion of giant cannibal shrimp into America's coastal waters appears to be getting worse.
Researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported Thursday that sightings of the massive Asian tiger shrimp, which can eat their smaller cousins, were 10 times higher in 2011 than in 2010.
“And they are probably even more prevalent than reports suggest, because the more fisherman and other locals become accustomed to seeing them, the less likely they are to report them,” said Pam Fuller, a USGS biologist.
The shrimp, which can grow to 13 inches long, are native to Asian and Australian waters and have been reported in coastal waters from North Carolina to Texas.
They can be consumed by humans.
"They're supposed to be very good. But they can get very large, sorta like lobsters," Fuller said.
While they may make good eatin' for people, it's the eating the giant shrimp do themselves that worries scientists.
"Are they competing with or preying on native shrimp," Fuller asked. "It's also very disease-prone."
To try to get those answers, government scientists are launching a special research project on the creatures.
“The Asian tiger shrimp represents yet another potential marine invader capable of altering fragile marine ecosystems,” NOAA marine ecologist James Morris said in a statement. “Our efforts will include assessments of the biology and ecology of this non-native species and attempts to predict impacts to economically and ecologically important species of the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico.”
Scientists are uncertain how many of the giant shrimp are in U.S. waters.
In 1998, about 2,000 of the creatures were accidentally released from an aquaculture facility in South Carolina. Three hundred of those were recovered from waters off South Carolina, Georgia and Florida within three months.
Farming of the giant shrimp ended in the United States, but they were caught again off Alabama, North Carolina, Louisiana and Florida.
Five were caught off Texas last year, according to Tony Reisinger, country extension agent for the Texas Sea Grant Extension Service.
Scientists don't know if there is a breeding population in U.S. waters. Tiger shrimp females can lay 50,000 to a million eggs, which hatch within 24 hours. Or the shrimp may be carried here by currents or in ballast tanks of marine vessels.
The latest study will look at the DNA of collected specimens.
“We’re going to start by searching for subtle differences in the DNA of Asian tiger shrimp found here – outside their native range – to see if we can learn more about how they got here,” USGS geneticist Margaret Hunter said in a statement. “If we find differences, the next step will be to fine-tune the analysis to determine whether they are breeding here, have multiple populations, or are carried in from outside areas.” - CNN
NOTE: I can attest that I have eaten Asian Tiger Shrimp...they are fantastic! The local fish mongers here in Baltimore have been selling these prawns for decades....and they are HUGE! Lon
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Manipulative Extraterrestrials rather than human beings control Earth
Why do our efforts as humans beings to affirm our quality-of-life seem to have been frustrated? If you asked yourself, your friends, neighbours, family members and others, you might find out some basic generalities. As humans, we prefer peace to war. We prefer to have our rights protected, rather than subverted. We tend to prefer to have our environment protected rather than destroyed. We tend to also prefer a caring society rather than to have a “survival of the fittest society” in which people who are not financially successful, are basically left to rot.
As humans, we tend to embrace concern for the welfare of others and other species, from our pets, to wildlife. We also value “material comforts” but not to the point that it sacrifices our fundamental concerns for our quality-of-survival. Yet, as human beings, we seem to be also “governed” by values which our alien to our sensibilities.
Our environment is being destroyed; war rages despite our desires for peace; and people are being left to rot in our communities, and globally. In Canada, for example, virtually 100% of Canadians polled wanted aboriginal treaty rights settled. Yet, in a supposedly developed democracy as Canada, there seems to be no hope for such a settlement. Why?
Dr. Michael Salla and his colleagues suggest that the apparent alien values which seem to be controlling humanity’s governance are literally ‘alien’. According to Dr. Salla, Earth’s problems can be tracked to an “unacknowledged extraterrestrial presence”, and that reality forms a major challenge in the public grasping political challenges for the affirmation of human quality-of-living on Earth.
Dr. Salla writes in Exopolitics: Political Implications Of The Extraterrestrial Presence
: “The military-industrial-extraterrestrial complex (MIEC) of interests currently controls most information concerning the extraterrestrial presence; and [also] dominates government institutions around the planet; financial interests; the mass media, and is responsible for systemic global problems.”In this report, Dr. Salla describes “the main extraterrestrial races most commonly referred to in the literature, [and] who appear to have most strategic significance for the evolution and sovereignty of humanity, and [for] their impact on a range of systemic global problems.” Dr. Salla cites problems from environmental problems to war to the drug trade aimed at destabilizing communities, through mass-intoxications and an ensuing culture of violence.
Michael Salla “distinguishes between these extraterrestrial races on the basis of their belonging to one of either two distinct categories. The first category contains extraterrestrial races which with Earthbound operatives form “MIEC”. Dr. Salla claims an “extensive set of interlocking agreements between these races and operatives suggests, the existence of a military-industrial-extraterrestrial complex of interests.”
Dr. Salla elaborates that: “The systemic global problems caused by the MIEC are an increasing burden and immediate threat to human freedom and sovereignty.” Dr. Salla includes shape-shifting aliens as the “humanized face of aliens” in his research. Dr. Salla suggests that “the alternative is [for human beings to find strategies] to work with those extraterrestrials outside the MIEC, that have emancipatory and ethical rather than a manipulative and control agenda. - lecanadian
The Myth and Mystery of UFOs
Extra-Planetary Experiences: Alien-Human Contact and the Expansion of Consciousness
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The first “vampire” patient in Vietnam
Dr. Nguyen Duy Hung, Secretary General of the Vietnam Dermatology Association, told VietNamNet that the patient is only five years old and she comes from Soc Son district, Hanoi.
The patient was hospitalized over a month ago, with acute wounds on her skin. There are hundreds of blisters, with liquid inside, and scars on the girl’s body, particularly on exposed parts like face, neck, arms and legs. The skin that is covered by clothing looks normal.
These scars have deformed the girl’s face, arms and legs. Her fingernails and toes are atrophied because of scars.
The patient is also very hairy and she does not develop normally. She is only 13 kilos in weight and has anemia.
Doctors made a lot of tests and diagnosed that the girl contracted a rare innate disease called Porphyrin syndrome. This is a genetic disease.
According to Dr. Hung, this disease is uncommon in the world, with around 200 cases recorded worldwide so far.
The doctor says that this disease is also called “vampire” disease because the skin of patients gets injured when it touches sunlight, leaving terrifying scars and atrophied limbs.
Dr. Hung adds that there is no measure to treat this disease to the very roots. Doctors can help deal with anemia and skin wounds, and in some cases they can perform bone marrow transplant.
The doctor says that this is the first “vampire” patient treated at the Central Dermatology Hospital, or perhaps the first in Vietnam.
The patient is the youngest child in a family with four children. The patient’s second brother had similar symptoms but he died at the age of seven.
The patient has left hospital but the family and the hospital has maintained communications. The patient will be examined periodically.
This disease can be detected very early, during pregnancy.
This disease can be mistaken with other skin diseases. - vietnamnet
NOTE: the images are just too gruesome...so I decided to leave out. Lon
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Man rescued from back garden hole after spirit told him to dig for treasure
The regional Tactical Rescue Team and other emergency personnel worked on Friday night to get a man out of a large hole in the backyard of his Elkhart, Indiana home. According to the 25-year-old man's father, a spirit had told him to dig for treasure, and that's what he did for three days before becoming mired in dirt and water.
The father said the spirit told his son there was gold buried in the backyard of the home, which they are renting. The father helped him dig for three days until hitting water, which the son was sucked into and became stuck up to his knees. The father made it out alright.
Firefighters, who arrived at the scene at around 6:30 p.m., found a hole about eight-feet deep that became a tunnel at the bottom. They used a vacuum truck to suck out the water and sand and used plywood to hold up the side walls.
At around 8:30 p.m. the rescuers were able to pull the man up on a ladder. He walked a short distance to a waiting ambulance where he was given IV liquids and taken to Elkhart General Hospital. The father said his son is under observation and is doing OK.
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U.S. Military requesting 'magic bullets'
It sounds like something from a science fiction film, but soon, a ‘magic bullet’ that floats around in the air waiting for its target could become science fact.
This far-fetched sounding piece of ammunition isn’t designed to kill, though.
Called ‘Nonlethal Warhead for Miniature Organic Precision Munitions’, there isn’t even a prototype yet - but it’s on the U.S Army’s wish list.
It’s been requested through the U.S Government’s ‘Small Business Innovation Research’ program, which encourages companies to research and build products in return for a potential commercial deal.
For the floating bullet, the Army admits that ‘this effort will require innovative research and advancements in non-lethal technologies which can be packaged within a very small volume and weight’ and suggests that designers should consider ‘mechanical, such as rubber balls; acoustic; chemical; electrical; or dazzle’.
The idea certainly isn’t pie in the sky, as the U.S Army already has a ‘kamikaze’ robotic drone dubbed Switchblade, which quietly hovers before dive-bombing and blowing up a target.
It launches from a tube before its wings fold out as it flies into the air.
The U.S. Army is paying manufacturer AeroVironment $4.9million for the drones to help it develop a new way of killing suspected militants.
The drones have a miniature electric motor and transmit live video from overhead, which helps soldiers identify the enemy.
The operators can then send a message to the drone ‘to arm it and lock its trajectory onto the target’, the company said.
The drone will fly into a target and detonate a small explosive - but it can still be disarmed at the last moment even if it is heading for a kill.
The Army's Close Combat Weapons Systems (CCWS) signed the contract for the drones with AeroVironment last June. - dailymail