No more fish in the sea by 2050

In about 50 years time, there will be no more fish in the sea. This grim statement was made by an international team of researchers from Europe and the Americas. They say overfishing and the loss of marine biodiversity due to pollution (for example) has led to the drastic fish decline and if left unchecked, it will lead to the disappearance of all fish in the sea. From BBC:

The way we use the oceans is that we hope and assume there will always be another species to exploit after we've completely gone through the last one," said research leader Boris Worm, from Dalhousie University in Canada.

"What we're highlighting is there is a finite number of stocks; we have gone through one-third, and we are going to get through the rest," he told the BBC News website.

Steve Palumbi, from Stanford University in California, one of the other scientists on the project, added: "Unless we fundamentally change the way we manage all the ocean species together, as working ecosystems, then this century is the last century of wild seafood."

As someone who has a deep appreciation and love for the sea, I'm very distraught at this piece of news. Most of the time when we come across news that tell us of global warming or some other impending doom for our planet, we do not take them seriously because we always think that the final effects are so far ahead in the future. Most of us don't really care. But this is different. 50 years isn't a long time. Most of us would still be alive when that day comes.

There's an urgent need to protect more ecosystems and keep a check on overfishing. Less than 1% of the ocean is protected right now. 1%, that's pathetic isn't it? If we protect more of the ocean, biodiversity will increase and so will fish stocks. The fishing industry also needs to adopt fishing methods that will minimise damage to marine wildlife and habitats. It isn't too late if the world works together. Remember, 50 years. That's all it takes if we don't.

Batman Legends

Bat in the Sun Productions helm by director Aaron Schoenke, makes some of the best Batman related fan films. His latest work is Batman Legends (watch it above), a 4 minutes plus collection of shots from his earlier works such as Patient J and Dark Justice and some unreleased footage. Batman Legends looks and sounds awesome. All the evil guys are there and the good guys too, including Superman and Nightwing! Too bad he ain't making this into a full movie. You can download all his works here.

Kick Ass USB Drum Kit!

Now I know what I really want for my birthday or Christmas! The USB Drum Kit is an electronic drum set that plugs directly into the USB port of your computer and plays through the computer's soundcard and speakers. It also has 233 realistic drum sounds and 50 preset rhythm patters. Woah!!!

Tintin and his cars

Dude spent hours identifying the cars featured in the Tintin comics. He then put up a side by side picture comparison of the Tintin cars and their real counterparts. You can view his excellent gallery here.

(Thanks Alex)

Long term damage from the haze

The annual haze from fires in Indonesia will cause long term damage to the people in the affected region and economies too, according to haze experts. From Reuters:

This year's haze was among the worst in the past decade and health experts say the effects of repeated exposure grow over time, and can even stunt lung growth in children.

"At levels of pollution much lower than what we are talking about here, young people in the most formative stage of their development experience stunting of lung growth," Anthony Hedley, professor of community medicine at University of Hong Kong said.

"I think that is a very likely outcome of these repeated intermediate to long-term exposures of the populations in Indonesia, Malaysia (and Singapore)," he told Reuters...

Young children, the elderly and those with pre-existing heart and lung problems suffer most, experts said.

Mazrura Sahani, environmental health expert at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia, studied death records from 1996-2000 in Malaysia's heavily populated Klang Valley and found that deaths from respiratory problems rose by 1.1 percent for very tiny increases in air pollution of the sort produced by haze.

How to save a wet mobile phone

It has to happen someday. Your mobile phone accidentally drops into the sink or the toilet bowl! Before you panic and go out to buy a new phone, here's how you can save your wet mobile phone. From WikiHow:

1. Remove the Battery. This is one of the most important steps. Don't take time to think about it, electricity and water do not mix. Cutting power to your phone is a crucial first step in saving it, then remove your SIM card,some or all of your valuable contacts could be stored on your SIM (along with other data). To some people this could be more worth saving than the phone itself. SIM cards survive water damage well but some of the following steps are unnecessary i.e. don't heat it. Just dry it off and leave it aside until you need to connect your phone to your cellular network.

2. Dry your Phone. Obviously you need to remove as much of the water as soon as you can to prevent it from getting into the phone. Use a towel or a paper towel to remove as much of the water as possible.

3. Allow the phone to dry. Since you do not want to ruin your phone or lose all the numbers in your phone book, you need to allow the phone to dry. Also, ringtones and graphics stay with the phone - not the SIM. Don't try putting the battery back on to see if it works as this would risk damaging the phone with a short circuit. Leaving your phone in a bowl of dry rice will help to expedite moisture evaporation.

4. Heat your Phone. Apply enough heat to your phone to cause the water to evaporate without water-logging your digital screen. One of the best things you can do to save a cell phone is to set it on the back of your computer monitor or TV screen over the heat vents. This is usually the perfect amount of heat to fix your phone. The convection action of the heat vents will help carry away the moisture in your phone. Leave the phone on the heat for at least 2-3 days. Another option is to leave it overnight in the oven on warm (make sure to take off the battery first).

5. Test your Phone. After you have waited 3 days, make sure everything is clean and dry looking and re-attach the battery to the phone and see if it works. If your phone does not work repeat step 4. If it still won't work, try taking your cell phone to an authorized dealer. Sometimes they can fix it.

Internet porn prevents rape

More internet porn does indeed lead to LESS rape. Don't believe me? This is according to a stunning new research that says that internet porn has an effect on the decrease in rape cases. From Slate:

The bottom line on these experiments is, "More Net access, less rape." A 10 percent increase in Net access yields about a 7.3 percent decrease in reported rapes. States that adopted the Internet quickly saw the biggest declines. And, according to Clemson professor Todd Kendall, the effects remain even after you control for all of the obvious confounding variables, such as alcohol consumption, police presence, poverty and unemployment rates, population density, and so forth.

OK, so we can at least tentatively conclude that Net access reduces rape. But that's a far cry from proving that porn access reduces rape. Maybe rape is down because the rapists are all indoors reading Slate or vandalizing Wikipedia. But professor Kendall points out that there is no similar effect of Internet access on homicide. It's hard to see how Wikipedia can deter rape without deterring other violent crimes at the same time. On the other hand, it's easy to imagine how porn might serve as a substitute for rape.

(Thanks lktan)

Absolut Drinks Memory Search

Here's the situation. You partied hard the night before at a fancy club. The next morning when you woke up, you tried to recall the great time you had last night, the interesting people you met and the drinks you had. You had this super nice drink but you can't really remember the name. Not to worry because the 'Absolut Drinks Memory Search' is here to help you. Click on this link and look for Memory Search. The reversed search tool uses its database of drinks to process your memories and then tries to find a drink that resembled the one you had. Now, if only remembering the face of the guy or gal (or their names!) you met while you're drunk in the club can be this easy.

(Thanks Shy)

How fast is your internet connection?

McAfee's Internet Connection Speedometer finds out how fast or slow your internet connection really is. I was trying this out last night at home and was shocked to find out that my SCV Max Online (cable) is only at 60 kbps - that's only slightly faster than a 56k modem! I do know that the speed for cable may be slow at times when there are a lot of users. For example, say your cable offers a maximum download speed of 2Mbps. In actual fact, you are sharing this bandwidth with other subscribers in your neighbourhood. So when there's a heavy usage in your area, the speed of the internet connection may be slower but 60 kbps only? This sucks!

The nuclear debate in Japan

Several politicians in Japan are discussing whether the country should possess nuclear weapons to protect against the threat of North Korea and other nuclear enemy states. Here's a quick guide on the debate that is going on in Japan. From MSN/Mainichi:

Q: Why has this nuclear discussion by Nakagawa and other politicians suddenly surfaced?

A: Actually, there's a small number of politicians who believe they should discuss the possibility of Japan going nuclear. When the Mainichi polled all Diet politicians in June this year, 17 percent of responding pollees said they should discuss it, depending on international affairs. A little more than half of the pollees responded. In 2002, then Chief Cabinet Secretary Yasuo Fukuda caused a stir by saying that the public would become in favor of possessing nuclear weapons if international relations became strained.

Q: Is there any possibility that Japan would alter its non-nuclear principles?

A: A few politicians have sided with Nakagawa and Aso. Japan is the only country that suffered from atomic bomb attacks, and has ratified the non-nuclear proliferation treaty. The public in Japan would never allow the country to possess nuclear weapons.

On top of that, ruling party politicians and government officials believe that Japan doesn't need nuclear weapons while the United States' "nuclear umbrella" protects the country. However, some people feel that it is strange for Japanese people to speak of the need to abolish nuclear weapons around the world while being protected under the U.S. nuclear umbrella.

Japan already has a nuclear program that provides the country's energy needs. Its first commercial nuclear power plant began operation in 1966. Currently, Japan has 52 nuclear reactors operating around the country with a total output of 45,742 megawatts (MW). Nuclear power accounts for approximately one-third of the country's total electric power output.

No more sexy dancing for Thailand's under 20s

Thailand looks set to ban female students under the age of 20 to work as "coyote dancers" after the Thai Queen expressed her displeasure at watching a television coverage of women dancing in racy outfits at a Buddhist ceremony in Thailand. From International Herald Tribune:

"Any shows or performances organized in association with any Buddhist festival should be held with respect for Lord Buddha and Buddhism," Culture Minister Kaisri Sri-arun quoted the queen as saying in the statement.

The Buddhist festival in Nong Khai province showed the performers — known as "coyote dancers" — wearing provocative dresses and dancing sexually explicit moves, the Nation said. The dancers are often hired to promote events or products.

In an apparent response to the queen's concerns, Thailand's Ministry of Culture said Monday it was issuing a regulation prohibiting female students aged under 20 to work as coyote dancers, the state Thai News Agency reported.

The ministry also ordered a crackdown on inappropriate shows in public places, the report said.

Meanwhile, the Education Ministry in Thailand says that such a ban must not violate individual human rights. From ETNA:

Education Minister Wijit Srisa-arn said he did not oppose the proposed issuance of a ministerial regulation banning students to work as "Coyote Girls" and "Pretty Girls," but warned that the ban must not violate individual human rights otherwise students may not be able to do any work...

The Education Ministry already has a regulation determining what students ought or ought not to do. If they do anything deemed improper, they must be advised and warned to behave themselves, the minister explained.

"If the dancing is inappropriate, whatever age does not matter. It's a matter of (the manner of) behaviour," Dr. Wijit said.