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Submission + - Civet poop coffee may be threatening wildlife (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: Popularization of the world's strangest coffee may be imperiling a a suite of small mammals in Indonesia, according to a new study in Small Carnivore Conservation. The coffee, known as kopi luwak (kopi for coffee and luwak for the civet), is made from whole coffee beans that have passed through the gut of the animal. The coffee is apparently noted for its distinct taste, though some have argued it is little more than novelty. Now, this burgeoning kopi luwak industry is creating "civet farms," whereby civets are captured from the wild and kept in cages to eat and crap out coffee beans.
Idle

Submission + - Trees to call for help if illegally felled (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: The Brazilian government has begun fixing trees in the Amazon rainforest with a wireless device, known as Invisible Tracck, which will allow trees to contact authorities once they are felled and moved. Here's how it works: Brazilian authorities fix the Invisible Tracck onto a tree. An illegal logger cuts down the tree and puts it onto a truck for removal, unaware that they are carrying a tracking device. Once Invisible Tracck comes within 20 miles (32 kilometers) of a cellular network it will 'wake up' and alert authorities.
Idle

Submission + - In time for Halloween: 9 new tarantula species discovered (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: If you suffer from acute arachnophobia, this is the perfect Halloween discovery for you: a spider expert has discovered nine new species of arboreal tarantulas in the Brazil. Although tarantula diversity is highest in the Amazon rainforest, the new species are all found in lesser-known Brazilian ecosystems like the Atlantic Forest and the cerrado.
Science

Submission + - Unusual discovery of new African monkey species (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by rhettb
rhettb writes: In a remote and largely unexplored rainforest of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), researchers have made an astounding discovery: a new monkey species. The new primate, which is name the lesula and described in a paper in the journal PLoS ONE, was first noticed by scientist and explorer, John Hart, in 2007. The discovery of a new primate species is rare nowadays. In fact, the lesula is only the second newly discovered monkey in Africa in the past 28 years.
Biotech

Submission + - Lance Armstrong and the Science of Drug Testing 1

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "As the media reports that that seven-time Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong says he will no longer fight doping charges by the US Anti-Doping Agency which will strip him of his titles and ban him from competitive cycling for life, Tracee Hamilton writes that the Lance Armstrong vs. U.S. Anti-Doping Agency fight is a tough one in which to take a side, because to believe USADA means suspending belief in the science of drug testing. "If you take personalities out of the equation, you’re left with pee in a cup and blood in a syringe," writes Hamilton. "Armstrong never failed a drug test. He was tested in competition, out of competition. He was tested at the Olympics, at the Tour de France, at dozens if not hundreds of other events. And he never failed a test." Instead Travis Tygart, chief executive officer of the USADA, gathered a group of people who swear they saw Armstrong doping. "If the results can be discarded in favor of testimony, then let’s go right to the testimony phase and quit horsing around with blood and urine." There has been no trial, no due process, but in the minds of many, that testimony outweighs the results of hundreds of drug tests. "I don’t know if Armstrong did the things he’s accused of doing, and neither do you," concludes Hamilton adding that it can't work both ways. "Either a drug test is the standard, or it isn’t.""
Education

Submission + - Iran to Ban Women from Science and Engineering Classes (telegraph.co.uk)

Submitted by jasper160
jasper160 writes: An August 20th, 2012 announcement from Iran places restrictions on female university students. Iran will be cutting 77 fields of study from the female curriculum, making them male-only fields. Science and engineering are among those affected by the decree. The announcement came soon after the release of statistics showing that women were graduating in far higher numbers than men from Iranian universities and were scoring overall better than men, especially in the sciences.

Senior clerics in Iran's theocratic regime have become concerned about the social side-effects of rising educational standards among women.
Businesses

Submission + - MS will remove OEM 'crapware' for $99 (zdnet.com)

Submitted by
walterbyrd
walterbyrd writes: "Microsoft even offers up numbers to show how detrimental this OEM-installed crapware is to your system. Microsoft claims that Signature systems start up 39 percent faster, go into sleep mode 23 percent faster, and resume from sleep a whopping 51 percent faster compared to their crapware-ladened counterparts. (A "Signature" system is one without crapware). But now, Microsoft will offer customers the opportunity to give their Windows 7 PC the Signature treatment by bringing it to a Microsoft Store and paying $99, according to the Wall Street Journal."
Idle

Submission + - Remote-controlled planes used for wildlife conservation (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: Conservationists have converted a remote-controlled plane into a potent tool for conservation. The drone — an HK Bixler equipped with cameras, sensors and GPS — has been used to map deforestation, count orangutans and elephants, and get a bird's eye view of hard-to-access forest areas. During their 4 days of testing in Sumatra, the drone flew 30 missions without a single crash. A mission, which typically lasts about 25 minutes, can cover 50 hectares. The drone, full equipped, costs less than $2,000.

Submission + - Dreamhost FTP/Shell passwords hacked (dreamhoststatus.com)

Submitted by Ccmods
Ccmods writes: Below is a snippet from an email Dreamhost sent to subscribers early Saturday morning, describing an intrusion into the database storing FTP and SSH usernames and passwords:

"We are writing to let you know that there may have been illegal and unauthorized access to some of your passwords at DreamHost today. Our security systems detected the potential breach this morning and we immediately took the defensive precaution of expiring and resetting all FTP/shell access passwords for all DreamHost customers and their users...Only the FTP/shell access passwords appear to have been compromised by the illegal access. Web panel passwords, email passwords and billing information for DreamHost customers were not affected or accessed. "
Communications

Submission + - 15 years in jail for clicking "Like" (smh.com.au) 2

Submitted by
patiwat
patiwat writes: "Thailand has warned Facebook users that they could face 3 to 15 years in jail for if they press ''share'' or ''like'' on images or articles considered unflattering to the Thai monarchy. And it doesn't just apply to Thai subjects: a US citizen was arrested and convicted while visiting Thailand for posting a link to an unauthorized biography of King Bhumibol on his blog. Convictions for virtual lese majeste have sky-rocketed in recent years as efforts to defend the widely revered royal family from criticism have ramped up."
Science

Submission + - Paul Allen lent personal ROV to study old fish (mongabay.com)

Submitted by crudmonkey
crudmonkey writes: It took a custom-made submarine, billionaire Paul Allen, and a tenacious desire lasting well beyond two decades to unveil enigmatic details about the life of the coelacanth—the primitive fish that invariably hooks researchers. A study published earlier this year in the journal Marine Biology summarizes 21 years of coelacanth population research.

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