Scientist at Work Blog: Back From Coffee Country, Mostly Unscathed

S. Amanda Caudill, a doctoral student at the University of Rhode Island, writes from Costa Rica, where she is assessing mammal diversity on coffee farms.

Wednesday, Feb. 15
We have collected a robust data set, spent more than 150 days working in the field and sampled more than 180 acres of coffee landscape in this seven-month period. To date, we have captured more than 1,000 animals at our three sites and seen at least 15 different mammal species.

On the way up the mountainous roads to the Aquiares site, in our old 1970s Land Rover full of traps and people, the brakes gave out. The car started slowly sliding backward towards the edge of the road that dropped off into a ravine. The foot brakes and emergency brakes didn?t hold. Luckily, the car stopped before toppling over the edge. We made it up the hill and around to the road where we dropped off our first set of traps, and then the car started sliding backward again, almost hitting a tree ? but a ditch in the road stopped the car before it made contact. Now the car is in the shop and we are back to taking the public buses for a couple of days until the brakes can be fixed.

We all have plenty of scrapes, cuts, bruises and sore muscles, but our only hospital trip was to get stitches for Jesus after a machete accident on our first week of fieldwork. We saw tons of snakes, but thankfully no one got bitten.

I had a wonderful team during these past couple of months. My field assistants, Chris Russell, Caroline Oswald and Maureen Thompson, have taken the initiative and responsibilities of their own within the research, kept up a positive outlook through both the fun times and the challenges and helped keep me sane. My advisers on this project, Thomas Husband and Fabrice DeClerck, have provided a wealth of knowledge on field research, mammals, coffee certifications, agroforestry and, toward the end, car repairs.

I will be heading back to the States in a couple of weeks to finish up my last semester of classes at the University of Rhode Island, take the comprehensive exams for my doctorate degree and analyze all of this data that we have collected. Hopefully from the analysis, we will find correlations among the various habitat parameters and the mammal diversity and abundance. From there, we can provide suggestions to the coffee certifiers on how to enhance the habitat on the coffee farms for these mammals.

Source: http://feeds.nytimes.com/click.phdo?i=8e9f47c3c06130adf545d5e885b9d26a

indy car kinder morgan zachary quinto zachary quinto ashley judd brewers harbaugh

Bullish hedge funds hike their bets in 2012 rally (Reuters)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]Reuters - Hedge funds are cranking up their bets in equities and credit in 2012's buoyant markets in the belief that the euro zone, U.S. and Chinese economies will fare better than many were fearing last year.

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/economy/*http%3A//news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20120220/bs_nm/us_hedgefunds_risk

kim jong un madonna halftime show josh powell linsanity the alamo north korea news north korea news

'Prima Donna' has US premiere at Brooklyn Academy (omg!)

[unable to retrieve full-text content]omg! -

Source: http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/rss/entertainment/*http%3A//us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/external/omg_rss/rss_omg_en/news_prima_donna_us_premiere_brooklyn_academy165513430/44594223/*http%3A//omg.yahoo.com/news/prima-donna-us-premiere-brooklyn-academy-165513430.html

keri russell drew barrymore will kopelman portland trailblazers bill o brien casey anthony leann rimes

Some Basic Information On Diamond Rings | Article Popular

One of the exciting moments in a couple?s life is getting engaged. This kind of moment is generally enhanced with some sort of chosen ring. This tradition has been used by many many individuals and is still carried out even in today?s modern world. Some couples have decided to make their?s a different kind of union by selecting an unusual kind of stone by adding colored gemstones. Diamond rings can come in many variations to express one?s feelings toward one another and using these kinds of gemstones helps make it official.

The price of any kind of gemstone will be determined by it?s own set of characteristics such as color or markings of the stone. A gemstone such as a diamond has a very important grading system classified as the four Cs. Most individuals will choose the most popular and classic white diamond as both their engagement and wedding set as the official symbol of being a joined union.

These gemstones are available in many colors like the yellow canary gemstone is very popular but also very expensive. This is also true of the pink diamond as well and can come in many sizes and shapes as the very wealthy love. Most average Americans can afford the traditional white diamond as an engagement ring, which is one of the reasons why these are so available in every jewelry store around.

Diamonds are available in many forms such as in an earring or bracelet. These beautiful gemstones are such a favorite of some individuals that they use these items and even in rings for everyday wear. Since these are affordable gemstones depending on the size and grade, most can complete this set and afford to buy several more to compliment their special events or simply for everyday wear.

There are many different kinds of options to consider when purchasing a diamond. One might be does the consumer care if the diamonds are real or simulated as the beauty of these can be found in both options. There are many manufacturer?s that can make a simulated diamond look just as beautiful as the real thing and only under a jeweler?s loop can they tell the difference. This could be the option for the individual who is not interested in value but just for appearance sake. This would be the ideal situation for those folks as the cost of these simulated items are very affordable.

The interest has become the number one place for individuals to get great resource on just about any subject matter one is interested in. This is why individuals who are interested in finding simulated gemstones can go to any website and find the object of interest so easily. This can also be a great resource for the person who is looking for more information on genuine diamonds as well.

The availability for this type of gemstone has become so popular that television networks have developed shows that center around selling this kind of gemstone. This makes it so convenient for the individual to purchase just about anything one desires. In most cases there is no appraisal that will accompany the gemstone but in some rare cases when the stone is larger in size may come with a certificate or one that can be purchased.

Diamond rings are made for many different occasions and some can be very expensive to match wedding dresses or some can be very affordable. This will largely depend on what one is looking for and some consumer?s are interested in something very simple or the terribly extravagant. The engagement or cocktail ring can consist of a single stone or a cluster of gemstones depending on the individual?s personal preference.

Looking for right mother of the bride dresses as well as other 2012 prom dresses on reasonable price can be a time cosuming work. Shop online can be a good option.

Source: http://www.articlepopular.com/some-basic-information-on-diamond-rings/

new york times square jaws brock lesnar ball drop dick clark new years eve first night liquor store

Dental And Vision Insurance ? What's The Point Of Buying Them ...

dentist hilliard and vision insurance ? chances are your organization doesn?t offer either one within its benefits package anymore. However, you still need them both, so you?re left to locate your personal coverage. If you want to get the perfect coverage ? at most affordable rate ? you should obtain both policies together, from the same company.

What?s so great about doing that?

But your dentist hilliard and vision insurance together, and you will arrive at benefit from:

1. Lower premium payments

When an insurance carrier knows it?s going to get two premium payments from you on a monthly basis, it is going to cut you a deal. By purchasing your dentist hilliard and vision insurance from the same company, it is possible to benefit from lower premiums payments each month ? without having to sacrifice good coverage to have it!

For some people, those lower premium payments mean to be able to afford insurance that you wouldn?t have been in a position to by yourself. For instance, you are able to feel free to get that {high-quality} dentist hilliard PPO, as opposed to settling for a discount dentist hilliard plan.

2. Premiums which can be locked-in

Often times, once you buy dentist hilliard plan insurance by itself ? or virtually almost any insurance, for example ? you experience premiums that increase every year. But when you get dentist hilliard and vision insurance together, many companies will lock-in your premium rates for some years. That way, you don?t have to sit there and worry that your dentist hilliard PPO will become too expensive a year from now.

3. Additional coverage at no extra charge

The rewards of buying dentist hilliard and vision insurance together don?t just come by means of lower premium payments. You may even get rewarded by getting additional coverage thrown into your vision or dentist hilliard plan insurance, at no extra charge. For instance, your discount dentist hilliard plan might add discounts for braces to the mix, or your vision plan will come with better coverage for contacts.

Even though your insurance company doesn?t offer it to you straight away, you have nothing to lose by asking them if they?ll throw in certain extra perks if you buy your dentist hilliard and vision insurance together.

4. Only suffering one insurance provider

If you buy your dentist hilliard plan insurance from one company along with your vision coverage from someone else, you suffer from two of everything ? two different companies, two different customer care centers, and two various ways of accomplishing business. But by purchasing your dentist hilliard and vision insurance from the same place, you can get issues resolved on both policies with one telephone call.

???????: Dental

Source: http://dentalimplants-eu.com/wordpress/?p=3945

times square 2012 predictions new years eve ball drop new years eve times square 2012 earthquake phish prosperity

How monkeys handle moral outrage

During a 2011 talk at the TEDxPeachtree conference in Atlanta, primatologist Frans de Waal discusses the moral sense possessed by monkeys, apes and elephants.

By Alan Boyle

When Occupy Wall Street and similar protests played out over the past year, the phenomenon looked familiar to Emory University primatologist Frans de Waal: He's seen similar moral outrage over economic inequity expressed by monkeys and chimps. And he thinks we could learn a lesson or two from our fellow primates.

"The role of inequity in society is grossly underestimated," he told reporters today, on the final day of this year's meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Vancouver, Canada. "Inequity is not good for your health, basically."

---

Based on primate studies, that goes for the haves as well as the have-nots. Far from being a uniquely human quality, a sense of fairness is something biologists have seen in studies of primates as well as crows and dogs. Even elephants may have an appreciation of inequity, although de Waal said he and his colleagues haven't done such a study with that species because "you don't want to piss off an elephant."

One of the classic studies involves capuchin monkeys who were given treats when they exchanged tokens with their human handlers. Two types of treats were offered: cucumber slices (meh...) and grapes (yum!). If one monkey saw that another monkey was consistently getting grapes while she was getting only cucumber slices, she'd quickly start protesting ? by flinging the cucumber back at the handler and angrily jumping onto the cage walls.

"This is basically the Wall Street protest right here," de Waal said.

De Waal's replay of the scene never fails to get a human laugh, whether it's at the AAAS meeting or at a TEDx conference in Atlanta, as shown in the must-see video above. But there are serious points behind the laughter: Inequality causes tension and stress, not only for the one who gets the cucumber, but also for the one gets the grape (or a million-dollar bonus) and has to endure the resulting outrage.

Researchers set up a barter game with capuchin monkeys to see how they responded to unequal payoffs. For the full story behind this experiment, check out the NSF Science Nation video.

Some primates actually get the message. "In some combinations, the one who gets the grape refuses it unless the other one gets the grape," de Waal said. Other primates make a different choice. De Waal pointed to a chimpanzee study of selfish vs. altrustic behavior, in which the chimps are more likely to be in a sharing mood if they've attracted the attention of another chimp. However, they're not quite as likely to share if the other chimp is actively pressing them to do so.

The bottom line from de Waal's talk is that a sense of fairness, outrage over moral equality and the ability to reconcile and cooperate are not uniquely human behaviors. Rather, such sensibilities were hard-wired into brains long before the rise of the human species. This is reflected in neuroscience as well, de Waal said. "Very ancient parts of the brain are involved in moral decision making," he observed.

All this meshes with the message of de Waal's latest book, "The Age of Empathy." For more from de Waal about the altruism of animals, check out my Q&A from 2009.

Here are a few more nuggets from de Waal's lecture and news briefing in Vancouver:

• Different primate species express signs of reconciliation in different ways. For example, stumptail monkeys make up by inspecting each other's rear ends, without ever looking each other in the eye. In contrast, chimps and other apes (including us hairless apes) "need eye contact" when they reconcile their differences, de Waal said.
• Men make a characteristic pursed-lip gesture when expressing regret ? a gesture that's also widely seen in other male primates under similar circumstances. But de Waal says it's rarer to see women making that pursed-lip look.
• Empathy?? the ability to share an emotional connection with other individuals ? isn't unique to humans. But humans, like many other species, make a distinction between in-group and out-group connections. Having a sense of empathy for people beyond our "in-group," however that's defined, may be a "fragile experiment" being conducted by our species, de Waal said.
• During an earlier session at the AAAS meeting, a group of scientists and philosophers called for the promulgation of a "Declaration of Rights for Cetaceans." De Waal was asked what he thought of setting up a declaration of rights for non-human primates, and he replied that he generally took a "welfarist" view toward other species. Humans were bound by an obligation to animals rather than by a set of rights drawn up on their behalf, he said. He pointed to the recently adopted limits on chimpanzee research as an example. "If they [chimps] are not so necessary for biomedical studies, should we be using them in biomedical studies?" de Waal asked.

More from the AAAS meeting in Vancouver:

---

Alan Boyle is science editor for msnbc.com. Connect with the Cosmic Log community by "liking" the log's Facebook page, following @b0yle on Twitter or?adding the Cosmic Log Google+ page?to your circles. You can also check out "The Case for Pluto," my book about the controversial dwarf planet and the search for new worlds.

Source: http://cosmiclog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/02/20/10459741-how-monkeys-handle-moral-outrage

dolly parton i will always love you beverly hilton hotel whitney houston found dead 2012 grammy awards i will always love you whitney houston powerball results pebble beach golf

Papelbon eager to get started with Phillies

/

By FRED GOODALL

updated 10:53 p.m. ET Feb. 18, 2012

CLEARWATER, Fla. - Jonathan Papelbon relishes the challenge of trying to help the Philadelphia Phillies win another World Series.

He is accustomed to lofty expectations after spending seven seasons with the Boston Red Sox and insists a change of scenery and the $50 million, four-year contract he signed this winter shouldn't make his job with his new team any more difficult.

"I like pressure. That what makes me tick, man," the 30-year-old closer said Saturday on the eve of the Phillies' first spring training workout for pitchers and catchers. "I'm excited."

Making the playoffs hasn't been a problem for the Phillies, who have won five consecutive NL East titles and enter 2012 as the team to beat in the division. But ultimately, manager Charlie Manuel and his players know the club will be judged on whether they get back to the World Series ? and win it.

Since winning it all in 2008, Philadelphia has regressed in the postseason ? returning to the World Series but losing to the New York Yankees in 2009, falling short in the NL championship series in 2010 and exiting in the divisional round last year after winning a franchise-record 102 games in the regular season.

Papelbon, who won a World Series with the Red Sox in 2007, said club and fan expectations are similar in Boston and Philadelphia. That's one of the reasons he liked the idea of joining the Phillies and doesn't feel the burden will be on him to get the team over the hump in the playoffs.

"There's not going to be one guy that comes in this clubhouse that's going to make a difference," said Papelbon, a four-time AL All-Star who had 219 saves with the Red Sox.

"I think every year you start fresh and you see what guys you have in your clubhouse and you really just try to get that team camaraderie as good as you can get and get everybody kind of pulling on the same rope in the same direction," he added. "If we're able to do that, we can do some special things. But like I said, no one guy's going to come in here and all of a sudden make it a World Series championship team."

Papelbon replaces Ryan Madson, who converted 32 of 34 save opportunities in 2011 in his first season as Philadelphia's closer. His contract with the Phillies is the largest ever for a reliever.

The right-hander had 31 saves in 2011, but also was on the mound when Boston completed a monumental collapse that allowed Tampa Bay to overcome a nine-game deficit in September to earn the AL wild-card spot on the final night of last season.

The reliever was one strike away from securing a win over Baltimore before yielding two runs in a 4-3 loss. After initially deadpanning that he thinks about that game "every day, all day," Papelbon quickly reversed field and said he's moved on from the disappointment.

He said a conversation he had early in his career with Yankees closer Mariano Riviera taught him how to deal with tough moments such as those.

"I don't think about it at all, man. It's something that when I was a rookie and I made my first All-Star game I had a chance to talk with Mo about what's the biggest thing that's going to make me successful in this game. His first answer was 'short-term memory,'" Papelbon recalled. "You've got to be able to learn from the situation. But I don't sit there and think about it all spring. You go over things, you try to learn from them, but you've got to be able to turn the page."

Papelbon said he will miss the friendships he made in Boston, but is excited about getting to know a new group of teammates in Philadelphia. He likes the idea of facing new hitters, instead of those he's grown accustomed to facing year after year, and is looking forward to the NL style of baseball.

He'll miss all those Yankees-Red Sox battles for supremacy in the AL East, but is eager to get into the NL East rivalries the Phillies have with Atlanta and the New York Mets.

He even could wind up facing his old team this summer when Philadelphia and Boston meet in interleague play.

"It's hard not to look ahead. It's the human characteristic that comes into play," Papelbon said.

"But for me, I'm just looking to find my way in this clubhouse and with this ballclub. Do the best I can do, one day at a time," he added. "I know it sounds cliche. But that's what I have to do to stay focused on my job at hand. ... But I do know when we play the Red Sox."

The Phillies also have added veterans Chad Qualls and Dontrelle Willis to a bullpen that Papelbon says features a good mix and young and older arms.

Although his experience and contract might suggest Papelbon will be the leader of the unit, the closer insisted he doesn't view his arrival that way.

"I don't really look at it as I'm taking over a leadership role. I look at it like I'm bringing my style, my work ethic and the way I compete to a bullpen," Papelbon said.

"I'm not going to sit here and try to tell one guy this is going to work over the other because everybody's different. For me, I'm simply going to go there, do what I do best. If somebody wants to ask me a question or follow suit, I've got no problem with it. But I try to lead by example."

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.

advertisement

More newsJamie Squire / Getty Images

Phillies try to get past 2011

CSN: Spring training is, most seasons, about looking forward. This year for the Phillies, it is also about looking back. It can?t be avoided.

Source: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/46441355/ns/sports-baseball/

marzieh vafamehr lady liberty lady liberty the rum diary addams family in time statue of liberty