Mysterious eels spawn by moonlight

An ancient mystery surrounding the Japanese eel, a species as prized by fishermen for its high price as it is by chefs for its delicate flesh, has been explained at last.

Like its Atlantic cousins, the Japanese eel (Anguilla japonica) matures in freshwater but then migrates out to sea to spawn.

But where this act is carried out has, until now, been an enigma.

The answer, says a Japanese ocean researcher today in the journal Nature, lies in a tiny triangle of the Pacific Ocean about 2000 kilometres east of the Philippines, near underwater mountains west of the Mariana Islands.

There male and female eels gather in the waning moonlight in the middle of the year, luxuriating in the balmy tropical waters.


Mysterious eels spawn by moonlight

Petra and the Bible

A few years ago, Harrison Ford, as "Indiana Jones," galloped through the gigantic geological cleft called the Siq, at the entrance of ancient Petra in Jordan, in search of the Holy Grail.

He did not find it, but he came face-to-face with that magnificent royal tomb called the "Treasury of the Pharaoh" and inadvertently participated in one of the many folkloric biblical relationships at Petra.

He had already bumped into another one when he entered the nearby town of Wadi Musa, whose ancient name was El Ji but now renamed for the tourist trade, and he went past the famed "Spring of Moses," which local folklore tells us was a result of Moses striking the rock to bring forth water for the wandering Hebrews in their Exodus from Egypt.

Strangely enough, the cleft through which Indiana Jones passed is also attributed to that same blow by the staff of Moses. "The Treasury of the Pharaoh," which was used in the motion picture, is so-called locally because Bedouin tradition says that the Pharaoh, encumbered by his treasures, was pursuing Moses all the way to Petra. As a result, he magically created a repository on top of that great carved monument into which he placed his gold for safekeeping. Bedouin bullets have attempted to shatter that urn for some generations, as the pockmarks show.

Another biblically related monument is the "Palace of the Pharaoh’s Daughter," also attributed to the hand of the Pharaoh. He had discovered that, along with the encumbrance of his treasure, he had brought his daughter. As a result, the local Bedouin tell us, he again magically created a palace for her and left her there.

Petra and the Bible - by Dr. Philip C. Hammond

FEB 22 1991: Bush threatens Iraq with land war

Om Feb 22 1991, the US President, George Bush, has given Iraq until 1700 GMT tomorrow to pull out of Kuwait or face a full-scale land war.

Baghdad immediately denounced the US ultimatum of war if Iraqi troops fail to leave Kuwait.

Today, the war is still going on...

The Western Allies are also demanding full withdrawal within a week and Kuwait City to be liberated within 48 hours with a return to legitimate government.

Prisoners-of-war should be released within 48 hours, as well.

President Bush declared: "The coalition will give Saddam Hussein until noon Saturday to do what he must do - begin his immediate withdrawal from Kuwait.

Bush threatens Iraq with land war

Student Finds Way to Thwart Anthrax

A high school student who showed in a science fair project that using a clothes iron on mail can kill anthrax-like spores inside -- without damaging the contents of the envelope -- will have that research published later this year.

Marc Roberge, 17, a senior at Central Catholic High School in Pittsburgh, decided to experiment on the issue after discussing his father's work as a medical toxicologist for the U.S. Centers of Disease Control and Prevention office in the Pittsburgh suburb of South Park. His research will appear in the Journal of Medical Toxicology in June.

“He's just 17. I was 35 before I had my first publication,'' said Raymond Roberge, Marc's father, and an expert on biological agents.

In the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, subsequent anthrax attacks in the mail killed five and injured 17 later that fall. A germ warfare specialist from the former Soviet Union told a Congressional committee in October 2001 that a hot steam iron could be used to kill anthrax spores.

Student Finds Way to Thwart Anthrax

Women's Health Studies Leave Questions in Place of Certainty

So what do women do now? The results of two major studies over the past two weeks have questioned the value of two widely recommended measures: calcium pills and vitamin D to prevent broken bones, and low-fat diets to ward off heart disease and breast and colon cancer.

Should women abandon hope, since it looks as if nothing works? Abandon guilt and assume diet makes no difference? Or muddle on with salad and supplements, just in case?

The studies — part of the same government research project that in 2002 found hormone treatment for menopause did more harm than good — have confused women and prompted renewed examination of the regimens that many have been carefully following. Researchers find themselves parsing the results, and debating about how far the scientific rules can be stretched when it comes to measuring results and searching for evidence in smaller groups of patients within a large study.

The researchers admit that the findings were an unexpected and puzzling challenge to firmly held, almost religious beliefs about nutrition and health. And though some experts said the results meant women should look for other ways to prevent heart disease, cancer and bone loss, the scientists who conducted the studies insisted that hints of benefit in parts of the data could not be ignored.

Women's Health Studies Leave Questions in Place of Certainty