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| A.M. Costa Rica's Second news page | |
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San
José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 108
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Jailed Venezuelan
students reported
to be victims of torture by police agents By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Two students being held by the Venezuelan police are being subjected to continual torture, according to their lawyer, their family and an international organization. The students are Marco Aurelio Coello and Christian Holdack. The Human Rights Foundation said that the pair have been held in arbitrary detention since Feb. 12 for their participation in student demonstrations on Youth Day in Caracas. They are accused by the Venezuelan government of perpetrating the crimes that opposition leader Leopoldo López is charged with organizing, said the foundation. Coello’s defense attorney and members of his family described in detail the methods used agents of the National Bolivarian Police to force the 18-year-old to confess to crimes he did not commit, said the foundation, adding: Among other acts of torture, Coello was stripped down, wrapped in a rubber mat, and beaten repeatedly for hours with blunt objects, including fire extinguishers, baseball bats, and golf clubs. Coello received electric shocks on numerous occasions and he was threatened with execution several times while a gun was held to his head. He was also doused in gasoline as agents armed with lighters threatened to burn him alive. Christian Holdack was subjected to similar methods of torture. The Human Rights Foundation said it strongly condemns the torture and gave this summary: The Venezuelan government is accusing Coello and Holdack of perpetrating acts of violence that took place during a demonstration near Carabobo Park — including the burning of police cars and damage to a government office building. López is currently awaiting trial and is accused of organizing these same acts. All three individuals face charges of incitement to commit a crime, conspiracy, arson, and damages to public property. Coello and Holdack were part of a group of 16 students arrested on Feb. 12, during the student protests that were the first of numerous massive protests against the regime of Nicolás Maduro. Six young men were jailed, but four were released under measures alternative to pre-trial detention. Coello and Holdack remained imprisoned. Recently, Coello’s family members have reported to the media that his mental health has suffered as a result of the physical and psychological trauma he has endured during his arrest and torture. According to two psychiatric evaluations performed by private and public institutions, Coello shows clear signs of acute post-traumatic stress disorder, including serious depression and suicide risk. “The Venezuelan government knows that if they let these innocent young men go, they would also have to let Leopoldo López go, so they prefer to keep them in prison and torture them to extract false confessions. This must stop. The judge must release these students immediately in light of the complete lack of evidence against them,” said Garry Kasparov, the Russian chess champion who is now the foundation chairman. “Our hearts are with the families of these innocent young men and we will continue to document and denounce the government’s abuses,” he added in a release. The preliminary hearing for Coello, Holdack, and López has been postponed on two occasions and one was set for Monday. Son's agricultural effort runs into trouble By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
They seem to make wonderful houseplants, and the female of the species has wonderful flowers.
Some reject shots and put others at risk By
the Loyola University Health System news service
Measles have reached a 20-year high in the United States and the cause lies squarely with those who deliberately refuse to be vaccinated. Eighty-five percent of all unvaccinated U.S. residents who contracted measles cited religious, philosophical or personal reasons for not getting immunized, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. “Religious, philosophical or personal reasons are not medical reasons for not getting vaccinated,” said Jorge Parada, medical director, infectious disease at Loyola University Health System. From Jan. 1 to May 23 of this year, 288 measles cases were reported to the federal health agency, the highest year-to-date total since 1994. Measles has caused 43 patients to be hospitalized this year, but no deaths have occurred. “Whether they recognize it or not, most people who consciously opt out of vaccines are depending on herd immunity – that enough other people will get vaccinated so as to prevent widespread infection. Yet by opting out they are seriously undermining the very herd immunity they depend on for safety,” Parada said. “It’s a numbers game, and America is losing ground in the fight against preventable disease." Parada said the people he fears for most are those who for legitimate medical reasons cannot tolerate a vaccine. “Herd immunity may be life-saving for people who medically cannot tolerate a vaccine, for these people are the most vulnerable to disease,” Parada said. “It should be frightening to every single American that people deliberately are refusing vaccinations.” Too often the people who consciously opt out of vaccinations count on not getting sick, Dr. Parada said. “I have worked in Africa and Europe where I witnessed outbreaks of vaccine-preventable illness due to a lack of access to immunizations, not due to personal choice” he said. “I saw moms begging for vaccines for their kids. In America, the collective memory of the horrific outbreaks of preventable diseases has faded." Many simply underestimate the risk of natural infection and overestimate the risk of vaccinations. “Deliberately choosing not to get vaccinated while relying upon others getting vaccinated is a dangerous combination,” Parada said. “I only hope those who opt out do not come to discover firsthand the potentially devastating consequences of natural infection." Containers found to contain cocaine By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Drug control police found 122 kilograms of cocaine on a boat coming from Colombia. Packets of the drug were found hidden in three supposedly empty containers when police went through each one of the 48 containers on board. Officials from the security ministry coordinated with Colombian authorities to intercept the illegal shipment that left from the port of Turbo in Colombia. They said they are now looking into whether this specific smuggling route is part of a consistent operation. “At this moment investigation has begun to find the source of these drugs and to see if this is a common route,” said Vice Minister Gustavo Mata. The ship was the "Eastern Bay" and 47 of its 48 storage containers were either totally empty or only had cocaine in them. Mata confirmed that no arrests have been made. Tourism chamber charity event is Friday By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The nation's tourism chamber will hold its 28th annual Bingotur Friday night at the Hotel Crowne Plaza Corobicí and raffle off a number of tourism packages for the
The chamber said that it expects about 1,000 persons. Game boards also are available on the night of the event, the chamber said. The prizes are from chamber members and include air tickets, hotel stays and meals at fancy restaurants. Avianca and Nature Air are participating. The event is open to the public.
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| What we published this week: | Monday | Tuesday | Wednesday | Thursday | Friday | Earlier |
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A.M. Costa Rica Third News Page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 108 | |
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| Road crews
finish one highway job repainting Costanera Sur markings By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Anyone who travels Costa Rica roads at night knows that many sections have washed out or obliterated lines. The job of keeping the lines visible is that of the Dirección de Ingeniería de Tránsito. But the public employees do not really do the work. Instead the job falls to contractors. For example, the transport ministry just spent 134 million colons, some $240,000, to mark the asphalt on 46 kilometers of Ruta 34, the Costanera Sur, between Barú and Damas. The job also included some 403 vertical signs. In addition to a double yellow center line, the job includes various arrows and the typical painted instructions found on highways. This time the ministry and its Consejo Nacional de Vialidad ordered the installation of 11,000 of what are called captaluces along the center line and sidelines of the stretch of the highway. These are the little reflectors that appear to last much longer than the painted lines. Last year, the agency did the same thing on a highway stretch from Pozón to Esterillos. Next month the same work is supposed to be done on Rutas 150 and 160 from Nicoya to Puerto Carrillo. The lack of adequate lines in the road is one reason visitors are encouraged to refrain from driving at night. Traffic on the Central Valley's heavily traveled roads, like the Circunvalación, seem to obliterate lines as soon as they can be painted. The southern bypass round still has several traffic circles, and the lack of lines makes driving difficult. |
 Consejo Nacional de Vialidad Photo
Road crew marks a center line
avoiding the small captaluz
at the front of the machine. |
| Endangered trees
face threats from wood crooks near Liberia By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
Another load of wood has come into police hands, and officers said the 26 slabs came from the protected cocobolo. The wood was inside an enclosed vehicle that police stopped Sunday in El Salto de Liberia. Illegal logging is a continual problem, particularly in Guanacaste. The Fuerza Pública said three men were in the truck. In this case, the men showed documents that were supposed to come from the environmental ministry giving permission for the lumbering. Police said the documents were fakes. All of the men were from the area. The cocobolo is valued highly for furniture and other decorative uses. The men will face a court action in Liberia. Police officers said that the men had been turned in by an anonymous caller. Such valuable lumber is a temptation in rural areas where a day of work can pay off handsomely. Police probably catch few of the offenders. |
 Ministerio de Gobernación,
Policía
Police officer inspects the
confiscated cargo.y Seguridad Pública photo |
| University study suggests that Costa Rica is experiencing
brain drain |
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By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
A new study suggests that Costa Rica is experiencing a brain drain. Luis Muñoz Varela of the Instituto de Investigaciones en Educación reported Monday that during the 1990s between 7 and 9 percent of highly educated Costa Ricans left the country to work elsewhere. At the end of 2012 Muñoz surveyed some 145 professionals and academics who live in foreign lands. He used a data base of the Red de Talento Costarricense en el Extranjero de la Academia Nacional de Ciencias, and received 65 responses. |
Nearly 61 percent
of the respondents were in North America, about 28 percent were in
Europe and a bit more than 9 percent were in Latin America, he
reported. On average the respondents had been in the foreign country
for a bit more than eight years, said a summary of the findings. Muñoz said the brain drain is nothing new because the country experienced a similar outflow to Europe right after World War II. He said that the globalization of the world economy encouraged the flight of talent. The study, done in December 2012, had sponsorship by the World Bank. The education institute is part of the Universidad de Costa Rica. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 108 | |||||
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| Researcher thinks early man worked with dogs to kill mammoths |
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By
the Pennsylvania State University news service
A new analysis of European archaeological sites containing large numbers of dead mammoths and dwellings built with mammoth bones has led Pennsylvania State Professor Emerita Pat Shipman to formulate a new interpretation of how these sites were formed. She suggests that their abrupt appearance may have been due to early modern humans working with the earliest domestic dogs to kill the now-extinct mammoth, an animal distantly related to the modern-day elephant. Professor Shipman's analysis also provides a way to test the predictions of her new hypothesis. Advance publication of her article "How do you kill 86 mammoths?" is available online through Quaternary International. Spectacular archaeological sites yielding stone tools and extraordinary numbers of dead mammoths, some containing the remains of hundreds of individuals, suddenly became common in central and eastern Eurasia between about 45,000 and 15,000 years ago, although mammoths previously had been hunted by humans and their extinct relatives and ancestors for at least a million years. Some of these mysterious sites have huts built of mammoth bones in complex, geometric patterns as well as piles of butchered mammoth bones. "One of the greatest puzzles about these sites is how such large numbers of mammoths could have been killed with the weapons available during that time," Professor Shipman said. Many earlier studies of the age distribution of the mammoths at these sites found similarities with modern elephants killed by hunting or natural disasters, but Professor Shipman's new analysis of the earlier studies found that they lacked the statistical evaluations necessary for concluding with any certainty how these animals were killed. Surprisingly, Professor Shipman said, she found that "few of the mortality patterns from these mammoth deaths matched either those from natural deaths among modern elephants killed by droughts or by culling operations with modern weapons that kill entire family herds of modern elephants at once." This discovery suggested to Professor Shipman that a successful new technique for killing such large animals had been developed and its repeated use over time could explain the mysterious, massive collections of mammoth bones in Europe. The key to Professor Shipman's new hypothesis is recent work by a team led by Mietje Germonpré of the Royal Belgian Institute of Natural Sciences, which has uncovered evidence that some of the large carnivores at these sites were early domesticated dogs, not wolves as generally had been assumed. Then, with this evidence as a clue, Professor Shipman used information about how humans hunt with dogs to formulate a series of testable predictions about these mammoth sites. "Dogs help hunters find prey faster and more often, and dogs also can surround a large animal and hold it in place by growling and charging while hunters move in. Both of these effects would increase hunting success," Professor Shipman said. "Furthermore, large dogs like those identified by Germonpré either can help carry the prey home or, by guarding the carcass from other carnivores, can make it possible for the hunters to camp at the kill sites." Professor Shipman said that these predictions already have been |
 A fragment of a large bone, probably from a mammoth was placed in this dog's mouth shortly after death. This finding suggests the animal was according special mortuary treatment, perhaps acknowledging its role in mammoth hunting. confirmed by other analyses. In addition, she said, "if hunters working with dogs catch more prey, have a higher intake of protein and fat, and have a lower expenditure of energy, their reproductive rate is likely to rise." Another unusual feature of these large mammoth kill sites is the presence of extraordinary numbers of other predators, particularly wolves and foxes. "Both dogs and wolves are very alert to the presence of other related carnivores -- the canids -- and they defend their territories and food fiercely," Shipman explained. "If humans were working and living with domesticated dogs or even semi-domesticated wolves at these archaeological sites, we would expect to find the new focus on killing the wild wolves that we see there." Two other types of studies have yielded data that support Professor Shipman's hypothesis. Hervé Bocherens and Dorothée Drucker of the University of Tubingen in Germany, carried out an isotopic analysis of the bones of wolves and purported dogs from the Czech site of Predmostí. They found that the individuals identified as dogs had different diets from those identified as wolves, possibly indicating feeding by humans. Also, analysis of mitochondrial DNA by Olaf Thalmann of the University of Turku in Finland, and others, showed that the individuals identified as dogs have a distinctive genetic signature that is not known from any other canid. "This finding may indicate that these odd canids did not give rise to modern domesticated dogs and were simply a peculiar, extinct group of wolves," Professor Shipman said. "Alternatively, it may indicate that early humans did domesticate wolves into dogs or a doglike group, but the rare mtDNA lineage was lost over time." As more information is gathered on fossil canids dated to between 45,000 and 15,000 years ago, Professor Shipman's hunting-dog hypothesis will be supported "if more of these distinctive doglike canids are found at large, long-term sites with unusually high numbers of dead mammoths and wolves; if the canids are consistently large, strong individuals; and if their diets differ from those of wolves," Shipman said. "Dogs may indeed be man's best friend." |
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| A.M. Costa Rica's Fifth news page |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 108 | |||||||
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| New details are coming out on soldier who was missing By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
U.S. officials are defending the Taliban prisoner swap that freed an American prisoner of war in Afghanistan, but those who served with Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl said he willingly walked away from his post after becoming disillusioned with the U.S. war effort. Military personnel who knew Bergdahl, then 23, when he disappeared nearly five years ago said that while on guard duty, he left his weapons behind and walked off his post. Some said Bergdahl should have to answer for his actions. Bergdahl was captured by Taliban insurgents in June 2009 and held until the United States won his freedom May 31 by agreeing to release five Taliban terrorism suspects held at the U.S. Naval Base at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Military officials are confirming to news agencies that Bergdahl left his unit voluntarily, but said they do not know why. Bergdahl is undergoing medical tests in Germany before he returns to America for debriefings and a reunion with his family. U.S. soldiers who leave their posts without permission can face serious charges of desertion or being absent without leave. But U.S. officials said that is unlikely in Bergdahl's case, given his five years in captivity at the hands of the Taliban. U.S. Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said Bergdahl's health is most important at the moment and questions about his disappearance can wait. "Our first priority is assuring his well-being and his health and getting him reunited with his family. Other circumstances that may develop and questions, those will be dealt with later," said Hagel. A Rolling Stone magazine profile of his case in 2012 said an email he sent his parents in the western U.S. state of Idaho shortly before disappearing showed that he had become sharply disenchanted by the U.S. war effort in Afghanistan. The U.S. invaded Afghanistan in 2001 to destroy Taliban military operations at the root of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people. Bergdahl profanely criticized some of the leaders of his Army unit and said the U.S. war was misguided. Bergdahl concluded, " I am ashamed to be an American. And the title of U.S. solider is just the lie of fools." But within a month, in a video released by the Taliban, Bergdahl sat on a floor eating a meal and acknowledged his fright in captivity. "Well, I am scared, I am scared I will not be able to go home. It is very unnerving to be a prisoner," he said. U.S. officials have not said when Bergdahl will return to his homeland. White House ducked law to release Taliban quintet By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The Obama administration is trading barbs with Republican lawmakers over the legality of Taliban prisoners released in exchange for the freedom of U.S. Army Sgt. Bowe Bergdahl from captivity in Afghanistan. The top Republican on the Senate Judiciary Committee, Chuck Grassley, says top Obama administration officials have admitted to flouting U.S. law mandating that Congress be notified 30 days before prisoners are released from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. “They violated the law, and anybody in public service takes an oath to uphold the law and ought to keep that oath," said Grassley. The means for securing Bergdahl’s release last Saturday are expected to be a focus of upcoming congressional hearings. At the White House, Obama spokesman Jay Carney brushed aside allegations of wrongdoing. “It should not have come as a surprise to members of Congress that this was possible, because we had been working to secure Sergeant Bergdahl’s release for a long time. Prisoner exchanges in armed conflicts are hardly a new development," said Carney. Carney added that the United States does not leave our men and women in uniform behind. Russian hacker indicted in $100 million in thefts By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
The U.S. Justice Department has accused a Russian computer hacker of leading an international operation targeting hundreds of thousands of computers with malware that allowed hackers to steal more than $100 million from unsuspecting victims. Justice Department lawyer Leslie Caldwell, chief of the department's criminal division, identified the ringleader as Evgeniy Bogachev, who remains at large. She said hacker gang members from Russia, Ukraine and Britain infected computers with software that captured passwords and account numbers. Its victims included an American Indian tribe, an insurance company and a corporation that runs assisted living centers. Bogachev was named in a single indictment Monday, charged with conspiracy, computer fraud and money laundering. He is not in custody, and Russia does not extradite accused criminals to other countries. He was named in connection with a single victim, a Pennsylvania plastics firm, where he and other conspirators are alleged to have stolen more than $800,000 from the company's bank accounts in one day in 2011. Ukrainian authorities are reported to have seized servers in Kyiv and Donetsk. The Justice Department said U.S. and other agents worked in recent days to seize other servers around the world, freeing about 300,000 victim computers from the malicious software so far. Abdication of Spanish king considered a political move By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Spain's King Juan Carlos said Monday he would abdicate in favor of his more popular son Prince Felipe in an apparent bid to revive the scandal-hit monarchy at a time of economic hardship and growing discontent with the wider political elite. Filipe is a regular visitor to Costa Rica and other Latin countries and nearly always shows up for the inaugurations of new presidents. He was in San José May 8 and in El Salvador Sunday. “A new generation is quite rightly demanding to take the lead role,'' Juan Carlos, 76, said on television, hours after a surprise announcement from Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy that the monarch would step down after almost 40 years on the throne. The 76-year-old king, who walks with a cane after multiple hip operations and struggled to speak clearly during an important speech earlier this year, is stepping down for personal reasons, Rajoy said. But a source at the royal palace said the abdication was for political reasons. The source said the king decided in January to step down but delayed the announcement until after the European Union election May 25. Political analysts said the ruling conservative People's Party was eager to put the more popular Felipe on the throne to try to combat increasingly anti-monarchist sentiment, after small leftist and anti-establishment parties did surprisingly well in the election. The country is just pulling out of a difficult and long recession that has seen faith in politicians, the royal family and other institutions all dwindle. It was not immediately clear when the abdication will take place, allowing Felipe's assumption of power. Felipe, 46, has had an increasingly important role in ceremonial events in the past year. Spain does not have a precise law regulating abdication and succession. Rajoy's cabinet was scheduled to have an extraordinary meeting today to set out the steps for Prince Felipe to take over as Felipe VI. The transition will likely be accomplished by passing a law through parliament, where Rajoy's People's Party has an absolute majority. The 76-year-old Juan Carlos oversaw his country's transition from dictatorship to democracy, coming into power in 1975, just two days after the death of longtime dictator Francisco Franco. Far from being a mere ceremonial figurehead, Juan Carlos played a determining role in Spanish modern history when he stepped up as the first crowned head of state in 44 years after Franco's death. He defied the hopes of the Francoists for an extension of autocratic rule. Instead, he oversaw the creation of a new system of parliamentary monarchy, with a new constitution that was approved by referendum in 1978. Juan Carlos was credited with helping defuse an attempted coup in February 1981 by soldiers who stormed into parliament shooting and who held lawmakers hostage for several hours. The king's appearance on television urging support for the democratic government was instrumental in blocking the attempt. However, Juan Carlos' popularity has been deeply eroded by scandals swirling around him and his family. He went on a luxury elephant safari to Botswana in the middle of Spain's financial crisis during which he broke his hip and had to be flown back to Spain for medical treatment aboard a private jet. Further damaging the royal family's standing, a judge opened a corruption investigation in 2010 centered on former Olympic handball player Inaki Urdangarin, the husband of the king's youngest daughter, Cristina, who has also been accused of involvement. Both deny any wrongdoing. A judge in Palma de Mallorca is expected to decide soon whether to put Urdangarin on trial on charges of embezzling 6 million euros in public funds through his charity. At the same time, Felipe's approval rating has risen. Sixty-two percent of Spaniards were in favor of the king stepping down, according to a January poll by Sigma Dos. That compared with 45 percent a year earlier. Only 41 percent of those polled had a good or very good opinion of the king. Felipe has a positive rating of 66 percent and most Spaniards believe the monarchy could recover its prestige if he took the throne, according to the poll. Felipe wed former television presenter Letizia Ortiz, in a glittering ceremony in Madrid's Almudena Cathedral in 2004 after several previous romantic dalliances, including one with a Norwegian lingerie model. They have two daughters. Ms. Ortiz, a 41-year-old divorcee, was the first commoner to come in line for the Spanish throne. Chinese corruption probe nets state oil company veep By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Chinese President Xi Jinping’s ongoing corruption crackdown has now nabbed a major state oil corporation senior official. PetroChina Co. Ltd. Vice President Bo Qiliang has been removed from his position and detained by authorities, who have prevented him from leaving the country. Bo’s secretary has also been held in the probe. Bo, who headed overseas operations for PetroChina, a subsidiary of CNPC, the China National Petroleum Corp., is reported by the anti-corruption news portal FCPABlog to be under investigation for colluding with other senior Chinese oil executives to steal state assets. The identity and nature of those assets, however, have yet to be publicly revealed. The 52-year-old native of Shandong joined CNPC shortly after his 1983 university graduation. After CNPC acquired the PK oilfield in Kazakhstan in 2005, Bo was put in charge of that operation. There are published allegations that during his two years heading PetroKazakhstan, he paid substantial bribes to Kazakh government officials to enlarge the company’s holdings. Bo’s replacement at PetroChina is Lu Gongxun, who formerly headed PetroChina’s Kazakhstan operation. The government’s central discipline inspection division probe into PetroChina has already swept up a number of other officials, including the detention in April of Foreign Cooperation Department General Manager Yan Cunzhang. Former PetroChina chief geologist Wang Daofu has also been put under investigation. China analyst Edward Schwarck at the British research organization Royal United Services Institute says the corruption focus on PetroChina is about profits as well as integrity. “PetroChina,” which is one of the country’s three major oil companies, is “the worst performing among them by a considerable margin,” Schwarck said. “Investigations into PetroChina executives over the past year,” he said, “suggest that Beijing sees corruption as having contributed to the company’s business failings. The anti-corruption campaign in PetroChina is probably part of a broader drive to make the company more profitable and efficient.” The Guangzhou-based 21st Century Business Herald says that more than 120 officials from CNPC and its subsidiaries have been put under investigation for alleged corruption. Caixin, a Beijing based business Web site, says at least 45 people have been collared by authorities relative to CNPC-connected dealings. Caixin quotes an unidentified official as saying “in addition to the names of corrupt officials that have been made public, many others are also implicated, notably those in charge of the company’s business dealings.” To a number of observers, the probe into PetroChina and its CNPC parent also has a strong political component – the drive by President Xi Jinping to suppress any rivals. These analysts point to the ongoing and ever-tightening spiral of investigation into former domestic security chief Zhou Yongkang. Zhou headed CNPC in the 1990s and that, along with his position as Sichuan Communist Party chief, propelled himself into China’s all-powerful Politburo Standing Committee. In May 2012, Gen. Ruan Zhibo died unexpectedly, and Hong Kong-based Waican News asserted he was murdered on Zhou’s orders, reportedly because the general had knowledge that Zhou and Chongqing Communist Party boss Bo Xilai, now imprisoned, were allegedly plotting a political coup against President Xi and his circle. While Zhou has not been hit yet with official corruption charges, those associated with him have been targeted, investigated, and in some cases, taken into custody. Earlier this year, members of Zhou’s immediate family and close associates had a total of $14.5 billion in assets seized. Several weeks ago, suspected Zhou ally Liu Han, a Sichuan mining magnate, was convicted of heading a 38-member crime gang and sentenced to death. So was his brother, Liu Yong. “I think what’s happening is that Xi Jinping and Wang Qishan want to establish a harsh precedent,” Chinese University of Hong Kong researcher Willy Lam said. Lam said the death sentences were intended “to make people afraid, in a sense, to have a deterrence impact on corrupt officials.” If Zhou is formally charged, he would be the highest ranking Chinese official to be hit with corruption charges. But a number of analysts express doubt that authorities want to put someone once in the Politburo on trial because it would weaken the perceived invincibility of that institution, and, perhaps, draw too much attention to its other members. “It is still unclear whether Zhou himself will be prosecuted, but the purging of his former allies,” Schwarck said, “is still important in sending a message that obstructive interest groups [those who stand against President Xi] in industry and politics will not be tolerated.” Solar wind believed contributor to lightning By the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Lightning is one of nature’s most spectacular and mysterious phenomena, yet there is much scientists still don’t know about it. British researchers have found evidence that high-energy particles, which are blown toward Earth on the solar wind, play a role in triggering lightning on Earth. These energized solar particles can travel from the sun at a rate as high as 800 kilometers per second, according to NASA. The scientists from the University of Reading’s Department of Meteorology discovered a large and significant increase in lightning strikes across Europe for up to 40 days after solar winds struck the atmosphere. The British study comes on the heels of a report released about a year ago by Russian researchers who found evidence that cosmic rays ‒ high-energy radiation generated by exploding stars deep in the universe that travel through the cosmos at the speed of light ‒ play a role in initiating lightning strikes. Of course, the atmospheric conditions needed to produce lightning must first be present before it can be triggered either by cosmic rays, solar particles, or other phenomena, says the new study’s lead author, Chris Scott from the University of Reading. While the specific mechanism behind the causes of lightning still remains a mystery, study scientists think the air’s electrical properties change when the charged solar particles hit the atmosphere. The team’s research found the sun can generate particles that ‒ while not as energetic as cosmic rays ‒ are nonetheless able to penetrate the atmosphere, helping to enhance and speed the lightning process. Solar wind is the continuous expulsion of material from the sun into space. “It’s a bit like steam rising from a sauce-pan,” Scott said. “It’s the most energetic particles in the solar atmosphere that are able to escape and move out into space.” He also suggested that if one thinks of the sun as a leaky football, it has various different jets that produce fast and relatively slower solar winds that can cause gusts and concentrations within the solar wind, all of which can intensify the sun’s magnetic field in space. This concentration of the sun’s magnetic field also shields Earth from cosmic rays because they’re deflected by that magnetic field, which also accelerates the solar particles ahead of it in much the same way as a “surfer is accelerated by the wave he’s riding,” said Scott. The research team noticed an increase in lightning when the streams of accelerated solar particles blew toward the planet. They were able to make their findings after examining and analyzing lightning strike data from 2000 to 2005 recorded by the Met Office – the UK’s weather service – and its lightning detection system. They focused on lightning strikes that took place within a 500-kilometer radius in central England. They compared that with data provided by NASA’S Advanced Composition Explorer spacecraft, which has studied and measured the high energy particles contained within the solar wind since August 1997. Scott and his team found that, for 40 days prior to the arrival of a solar wind at Earth, there was an average of 321 lightning strikes across the UK. But for the 40-day period after the arrival of the solar wind, that number increased to about 422. Their studies also revealed that the number of lightning strikes peaked between 12 and 18 days after the solar wind’s arrival. The findings made by the researchers are outlined in a study published by the Institute of Physics journal Environmental Research Letters. |
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| San José, Costa Rica, Tuesday, June 3, 2014, Vol. 14, No. 108 | |||||||||
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 NASA
photo
Depiction of the new flying
saucer.New NASA craft is very much a saucer By
the A.M. Costa Rica wire services
Earthlings have long fantasized about flying saucers from Mars, but in a strange twist, it may be humans that end up launching one to the Red Planet. Early this month, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration will test what it calls the Low Density Supersonic Decelerator mission. The test will take place high in the Earth’s atmosphere, at altitudes that most resembles the thin Martian atmosphere. The saucer-shaped craft could be the key to future exploration of Mars as it would allow heavier payloads to be delivered to the planetary neighbor. “Future robotic missions to Mars and even future human exploration will require more massive payloads than previously sent to the surface of the Red Planet,” NASA said in a statement. The inspiration for the saucer came, oddly enough, from a sea creature, the Hawaiian pufferfish. When threatened, the pufferfish is able to rapidly inflate, something NASA researchers hope the new craft can do to slow heavy cargo as it speeds through the thin Martian atmosphere. NASA said the current technology for landing spacecraft on Mars dates back to the 1970s and the Viking missions. “That same technology is still being used and most recently delivered the Curiosity rover to Mars in 2012,” the agency wrote. For the test, NASA plans to use a balloon to take the saucer 120,000 feet into the air. At that altitude, the balloon will have swollen to 34 million cubic feet, or large enough to “fit a professional football stadium inside it.” At that point, the balloon will detach and a rocket engine will fire the craft up to 180,000 feet at a speed of four times the speed of sound. From 180,000 feet, the saucer will begin a free fall. At this point the pufferfish concept will be tested when the supersonic inflatable aerodynamic decelerator is deployed. This is a kevlar tube that inflated rapidly, slowing the spacecraft. Once the disc reaches a safe speed, it will deploy a new kind of supersonic parachute which will allow for a safe landing in the ocean. NASA has identified several dates early this month to conduct the test from the Pacific Missile Range Facility in Hawaii. |
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| From Page 7: Earthquake observatory marks 30 years By
the A.M. Costa Rica staff
The volcano and earthquake agency at the Universidad de Costa Rica is celebrating its 30th anniversary. The Observatorio Vulcanológico y Sismológico de Costa Rica has been studying the actions of volcanos and the tectonic activity under Costa Rica for that long. The national emergency commission has given some 2 billion colons, nearly $4 million, for the improvement of equipment that the observatory will use to keep track of earth movements on the Osa peninsula. Much of what the observatory has done can be translated into practical applications, including making structures more resistant to quakes. |
