Tag: hot

Our cities are starting to spawn gigantic spiders

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They’re not as big, yet, as this spider pictured in Liverpool

File this one under: Oh HELL no. While we know that our ever-industrializing lifestyles make survival tough for animals like birds and mountain lions, in at least one case urbanization is helping a species to thrive. Thanks to the artificial conditions we create, our cities are growing ultrafertile megaspiders.

A study by University of Sydney that’s featured on CityLab today tracks a particular arachnid named Nephila plumipes, which is famous for spinning giant webs, hence its common name, the golden orb-weaver. The team measured both city and country spiders for a variety of biometric indicators including tibia length and ovary weight, and found that the urban spiders were larger in size, had more fat reserves, and indeed had heavier ovaries. Heavier ovaries = lots and lots of eggs…

Nephila plumipes is just one (terrifying-looking) type of orb-weaving spider, but Lowe thinks you’d see the same pattern in most cities. Now remember, spiders are good — we like them because they eat insects we consider to be pests. But too many extra-large spiders lounging around in their warm urban webs, chowing down on flies, and birthing thousands of giant spider babies is probably not healthy for the natural balance of our cities. And it’s also not something I want to start confronting on the sidewalk on a daily basis.

I’m more OK with big spiders – than some of the other critters liable to drop on your shoulder when you’re sitting in a darkened living room watching a sci-fi movie with headphones on so you don’t wake your wife. Either way I might scream loud enough to wake up her and the dog.

Thanks, Mike

Signs of “new normal” in Earth’s climate apparent in hot 2012

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Last year was one of the 10 hottest on record, with sea levels at record highs, Arctic ice at historic lows and extreme weather in various corners of the globe signaling a “new normal,” scientists said Tuesday in the 2012 State of the Climate report.

Meant to be a guide for policymakers, the report did not attribute the changes in climate to any one factor, but made note of continued increases in heat-trapping greenhouse gases including carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide…

The report’s data indicate “new normal” conditions that can inform planning decisions, instead of relying on models that “count on the future being statistically a lot like the past,” Kathryn Sullivan said at a news briefing.

Global surface temperatures – land and water – were the eighth or ninth warmest, depending on which data set was used, since recordkeeping began in the late 1800s, the report found.

However, in the decade leading up to 2012, global temperatures actually declined by .05 degree C, according to Thomas Karl, director of NOAA’s National Climatic Data Center. Karl said the 50-year trend indicates global temperatures have consistently increased about .15 degree C per decade.

The recent decrease in temperatures has been noted by climate change skeptics who question the impact of human activities, such as the burning of fossil fuels that emit carbon dioxide, on climate.

However, other changes detailed in the report paint a more complex picture:

– Sea levels reached a record high, after a sharp decrease in 2011 possibly linked to the Pacific Ocean phenomenon La Nina, which can have a cooling effect;

– Arctic sea ice shrank to its smallest summer minimum since satellite records began 34 years ago, while Antarctic sea ice reached a record high;

– More than 97 percent of the ice sheet covering Greenland melted at least a bit in the summer of 2012, four times greater than the 1981-2010 average;

– Average sea surface temperatures rose, but not much, making 2012 among the 11th warmest years on record;

– Ocean heat was near record high levels in the upper half-mile of the water, and temperatures also increased in the deep ocean.

The State of the Climate report is being published as a supplement to the August Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society and is available online.

I suggest reading the whole report. Something in there for everyone, amateur or professional, scientist or advocate for science.

It will bore the crap out of “skeptics” who normally rely on ideologues who tell them what to believe.

Brits will tax food depending on whether it’s hot – or not!

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George Osborne has been mocked by MPs over his “pasty tax” after it emerged people could avoid paying VAT on hot baked goods if they wait for them to cool in the shop.

The tax status of Cornish pasties has caused an unexpected backlash against the Chancellor, after he imposed VAT on hot baked goods bought from supermarkets and bakers in the Budget.

Greggs, the high street chain, has warned extra VAT on the hot snacks will cause a decline in sales, while businesses in the south-west are claiming there could be job losses in the Cornish pasty industry…

MPs on the Treasury Select Committee also made fun of the fact the Chancellor “can’t remember” when he last bought a pasty from Greggs. “That sums it up,” said Mr Mann, implying the Chancellor’s experience of hot snack consumption on the high street may be limited.

Raising one potential problem, John Mann, a Labour MP, said a lukewarm pastry would be taxable in warm weather, but not in cold weather, because of different “ambient temperatures”.

Mr Osborne insisted the tax made sense, but said the Government would not check the temperature of every pasty sold…

“The way we operate with companies and large retail chains and the like is that we don’t do a check on every product sold. We come to an agreement with companies over what proportion of their products are sold hot.”

The clown prince is appearing before elected representatives in Parliament – not only trying to defend this silly regulation; but, I presume he’ll detail each differentiation according to weather, demographics, seasoning, fat content and – no doubt – who’s winning the football match where it’s being consumed.

BMW confirms production of turbodiesel plug-in hybrid sports car

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After a couple of months of teasing glimpses offered on a website with the cheeky address of http://www.dontblogaboutthis.com, BMW has announced that its Vision EfficientDynamics concept vehicle will go into production. The plug-in hybrid vehicle that made its debut at IAA last year as a concept vehicle is a four-seater (2+2) sports car conceived to combine the performance of a BMW M Car with the fuel economy and emission management exceeding that of a small car.

Standing just 4 ft tall the BMW Vision EfficientDynamics is powered by the company’s ActiveHybrid technology already found on the X6 and X7. IN the Vision EfficientDynamics a 3-cylinder turbo diesel with a hybrid synchronous motor at the front axle is combined with a full-hybrid engine at the rear axle for an overall system output of 241 kW/328 bhp. It can accelerate from 0 to 62mph in 4.8 seconds and boasts an average fuel consumption of 3.76 liters/100 km/75.1 mpg and a CO2 emission rating of 99 grams per kilometer.

The vehicle’s lithium-polymer rechargeable battery is housed centrally in a longitudinal chassis element and is said to be fully rechargable from a conventional power socket in just 2.5 hours. When being powered solely from the batteries the vehicle can run emission free for up to 31 miles, while the range can be extended an extra 404 miles thanks to the 24-liter diesel tank.

BMW hasn’t revealed when the Vision EfficientDynamics will roll off the production line, how much it will cost, or how many will be produced. We’ll keep you posted on that front.

The folks at gizmag aren’t certain about availability or price on the prototype paint job either. I don’t want to know.

No “Stella” award for lawsuit over spilled tea

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A Manhattan woman has failed to persuade a U.S. appeals court that Starbucks Corp should be held liable for severe burns she suffered after spilling tea served in a double cup.

The 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld on Tuesday a lower court’s dismissal of a $3 million lawsuit brought by Rachel Moltner against the world’s largest coffee chain…

She spilled tea onto her left leg and foot when she tried to remove the lid from a “venti”-sized cup of tea, causing burns that required a skin graft. Her hospital stay later resulted in other injuries, including bed sores as well as herniated discs caused by a fall out of bed.

The plaintiff accused Starbucks of serving tea that was too hot in a double cup — one cup placed inside another — that was defectively designed. She also said Starbucks should have warned her the tea could spill.

Starbucks should post a sign saying “We retain the right to refuse service to klutzes”.

The appeals court rejected her case, saying “double-cupping is a method well known in the industry as a way of preventing a cup of hot tea from burning one’s hand…”

This is not the first time a restaurant or coffee retailer has faced a lawsuit over hot beverages.

In perhaps the best-known case, a jury in 1994 ordered McDonald’s Corp to pay $2.86 million to Stella Liebeck, an Albuquerque, New Mexico, woman who said she scalded herself with the restaurant’s coffee. The parties later settled.

And that’s why the “Stella” in my headline. The term is dedicated to lawsuits of this type. Opportunist, trying to make someone else accept responsibility for the plaintiff’s mistake.