April 2012 Archives

A year after last year's tsunami in March, a boy's football was found in Alaska and will be returned to its rightful owner, a Japanese 16-year-old, according to BBC News.

Misaki Murakami who lives in Rikuzen-takata had his name written on the ball, which was a gift from his friends. Murakami has no other known belongings from the tsunami incident, BBC News reported.

Associated Press reported that the ball was a goodbye gift in 2005 when he was changing schools.

The couple who found the ball, David and Yumi Baxter won't deliver the ball directly because they are "reluctant to visit him" and afraid of causing too much of a commotion, according to Associated Press.

Google founders and James Cameron have created a company whose objective will be to search for natural resoruces outside of Earth, according to The Register.

Planetary Resources, started by Google co-founder Larry Page, Google chairman Eric Schmidth, Google board member K. Ram Shriram, James Cameron, former Microsoft employees Charles Simonyi and Ross Perot, Jr. will be announced officially in Seattle on Tuesday.

According to Fox News, asteroid mining can be done in various forms from sending people directly to an asteroid in a spacecraft to explore or to created a robotic device to direct or transport the asteroid closer to Earth to make it more reachable.

Natural resources that could be found can be water, oxygen and metals, Fox wrote. NASA wrote a study that estimated a robotic spacecraft sent into space to bring an asteroid back to orbit would cost at least $2.6 billion.

The Guthrie Theater announced 11 plays for its main stages Monday which caught a wave of protest concerning diversity issues, according to the Star Tribune.

Evidently of the current list, only one play will be co-directed by a woman. There is no play written by a woman or person of color as of this time, according to the Tribune.

Among the list will be two Shakespeare productions and a Pulitzer-Prize winning work, according to MPR.

Executive director of the Minnesota Theater Alliance Leah Cooper said the lack of diversity was "insulting and degrading," the Tribune wrote.

But Guthrie director Joe Dowling said the the announcement on Monday was "incomplete" and that more directors are to be hired. "It is too narrow a perspective to see bias in one particular season," he told Star Tribune.

Just about three months after wolves were de-listed from the Endangered Species Act in January, there is talk that wolves may be hunted this year to control population, according to KARE11.

Now, the population of wolves in Minnesota is about 3,000 when, at its lowest, used to be three to six hundred. KARE11 wrote.

Those for wolf hunting think that it will help limit the number of wolves that kill farm animals, MPR wrote.

Currently, the bill condoning the wolf hunt is put on hold for political reasons due to a "spat between two influential state senators" State Sen. Bill Ingebrigsten, R-Alexandra and Sen. Tom Bakk, according to MPR.

If it passes, the bill would begin wolf hunting season in November.

Robert Shimek, a tribal activist and member of the Red Lake tribe, said, "One of my greatest concerns is if we start taking out the alpha male and alpha female from these packs, essentially what we're doing is leaving pack management up to a bunch of juveniles." Shimek believes this would make wolves more problematic, he told KARE11.

Search for a missing 6-year-old girl from Tuscon, Arizone continues Sunday on its second day, according to Reuters.

Isabel Mercedes Celis is believed, by authorities, to have been taken from her bedroom on Saturday morning. Celis was last seen Friday night at bedtime.

Tuscon police said the child has no history of running away and denied to disclose the condition of the room or which family member found her missing, according to Reuters.

Investigators also think there are "suspicious circumstances" that indicate a possible entry point at Celises home in Tuscon, Arizona, according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

The little girl lives with her mother, father, and two older brothers, police said according to Reuters. Her parents are not considered as possible suspects due to their cooperation.

It is believed by family friend Mary Littlehorn that friends and family believe that the abductor is someone who has "been watching Isa for some amount of time to know where her bedroom is," according to the San Francisco Chronicle.

Cane toads, first introduced to Australian as a pest control is now become a pest, according to Fox News.

The number of Cane toads in Australia is about 200 million already and they were first brought in about 75 years ago, according to BBC News.

According to Fox News, there is an event called "Toad's Day Out" which involves inviting the public in helping to exterminate them

On Thursday, a Michigan man received the first artificial and portable heart transplant in Rochester, Minn., according to Minnesota Public Radio.

Alvin Carter wears the device, known as the Freedom Driver, that keeps him alive strapped to his back in a 13-pound backpack, MPR wrote.

Carter, 51, was the first person in Minnesota to have an artificial heart transplant in Minnesota. The surgery occurred on March 9 by Mayo doctors.

Dr. Lyle Joyce, who performed as the surgeon for Carter's surgery, was one of the surgeons who implanted the Jarvik 7 artificial heart in dentist Barney Clark in 1982.

Carter will remain in Minnesota for about a month for a follow-up with doctors before heading home to his family in Michigan, according to MPR.

The Star Tribune laid emphasis on Carter's background of his heart condition, amyloidosis, a blood disorder that can damage the heart and other organs, as well as a brief description of the history and progress of artificial hearts in the medicinal industry.

A black Labrador retriever "braved traffic" to remain at another dog's side who was hit and killed by a car Saturday morning in La Puente, Calif., according to the New York Daily News.

Cones were put up surrounding the duo by a passing motorist who took pictures and videos of the incident.

The Los Angeles County Department of Animal Care and Control said that the black Labrador is 2-years-old and is now put up for adoption due not being claimed by anyone.

CBS Los Angeles said that Baldwin Park Animal Shelter where Grace, the black lab who earned her name for her loyalty, is currently being held is expecting a line of people who are looking to adopt her. Six people have already expressed interest.

Instagram Android receives five billion downloads in a mere six days after its release, according to USA Today.

On Apr. 9, Facebook bought the 13-employee company for $1 billion, making the split among employees about $76 million each.

According to the L.A. Times, the success of Android's Instagram is minute in comparison to when it was released to the iPhone; it took about six months to achieve the same milestone as Instagram Android.

Facebook founder and Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg wrote about the purchase of Instagram, as L.A. Times incorporated: "It's the first time we've ever acquired a product and company with so many users. We don't plan on doing many more of these, if any at all. But providing the best photo sharing experience is one reason why so many people love Facebook and we knew it would be worth bringing these two companies together."

In both articles, it was mentioned that Zuckerberg claims to keep the company independent.

This is an article that concerns those who make up the low-income class.

In terms of stereotyping, a student named Chris and I discussed about how this article was doing the exact opposite of stereotyping. It diverts from the stereotype that "all poor people do not want to work" or that "all poor people don't like to work".

In fact, it illustrates quite the opposite. The article claims that there is a 90% repayment rate for their cars, which clearly shows that people who enroll in this program do want to work.

The article demolishes the stereotypes surrounding poor people as it illustrates the good that can come from programs like this (in getting people to work) and their ability to be financially responsible.

Chris is a student who works as night security in a dorm on the St. Cloud State University campus.

A feathered carnivorous dinosaur was discovered in China, whose discovery was announced on Wednesday, and is apparently similar in size and shape to the T. Rex, according to The Guardian.

It was found

The dinosaur, Yutyrannus huali, is the largest known feather animal discovered in terms of being either alive or extinct. It measured at 9 meters long and weighed at 1.4 tonnes (or 1,200 kg), The Guardian reported.

BBC reported that the dinosaur is a part of the Tyrannosauroids group of dinosaurs and noted quite early in their article that it had existed more than 125 million years ago.

According to Xing Xu and colleagues at the Chinese Academy of Sciences, think that its feathers may have acted as insulation but also may have played a part in mating rituals and fighting. They are particularly interested in the fact that this dinosaur gives evidence for other feather dinosaurs to have existed, BBC wrote.

After he had been missing for about two weeks, a Minnesota boy was found in safe conditions on Saturday with his father and alleged kidnapper, according to The Duluth News Tribune.

The pair was found in a cabin in St. Louis County by St. Louis County police with the aid of public tips, The Duluth News Tribune said.

His father, James Leon Nordrum, 31, had kidnapped his son on Mar. 27, both Associated Press and DNT reported.

7-year-old Wyatt Nordrum of Brookston was without any injuries, but his father is currently in the intensive care unit at St. Luke Hospital for self-inflicted injuries on his neck, according to a police report.

Associated Press did not have any details behind Wyatt's mother and father's divorce, which was filed last year, or that Wyatt is now home with his mother, Candice Nordrum, like The Duluth News Tribune contained.

During a Saturday afternoon of sailing with their father, two of three boy siblings died in a sailboat accident in St. Paul, according to Minnesota Public Radio.

Dan Risland was out on his new sailboat for a ride on the waves on Clearwater Lake when a deadly gust of wind capsized the boat, submerging the father and three sons, ages 2, 6, and 8. According to a police report, all three boys were wearing life jackets, MPR reports.

Isaiah, the eldest son, survived the incident yet is in critical condition at Children's Hospital in Minneapolis, according to MPR. The others, 2-year-old Jacob and 6-year-old Zech died of hypothermia.

"The kids were his entire life. You never saw Danny without his kids," Rosie Miles, Risland's sister, told Star Tribune.

MPR didn't address any of the boys by name -- it only named the father.

Dan Risland, 31, had swam to shore after the capsized before telling his eldest to watch his two brothers, according to Star Tribune. MPR reported that he stopped a vehicle for help.

The mother, Ruth Risland, 30, was notified hours later of her children's deaths.

An 80-year-old woman from Wisconsin makes a safe landing as she took control of a small aircraft after her pilot husband collapsed, The New York Daily News reported.

Her husband passed out during the flight and later died, prompting his wife, a non-licensed pilot, to take control of the plane, authorities told the NY Daily News.

According to USA Today, the 80-year-old woman said that one of the plane's twin engines had ran out of fuel and lost power.

The woman had radioed for assistance, but an emergency landing was necessary before they arrived, The NY Daily News wrote.

Her 81-year-old husband was brought to a local hospital where he died. The hospital said that his death was the result of a preexisting medical condition, the NY Daily News reported.

The woman was treated for minor injuries and the FAA is still investigating the situation.

A man showed signs of life as he being loaded into the coroner's vehicle after he crashed his car in the Melbourne region of Australia on Monday, according to The Australian.

An hour earlier, the 30-year-old Hawthorn man was announced dead by paramedics who were on the scene.

According to The Windsor, it was State Emergency volunteers who detected a "feeble pulse" on the man who crashed his Porsche.

Simon Thompson, Ambulance Victoria regional manager, told The Australian that an "internal inquiry" will provide answers to how the mistake occurred.

Thompson also said that the paramedics on the scene were both quite experienced.

The 30-year-old was hanging upside-down in his Porsche for about an hour or so, Thompson said, before being removed and covered in plastic on the ground. There, he laid for about another hour.

He was believed to be dead over those two hours until his pulse was discovered, tow truck operator Trevor Oliver said.

The man was taken to a Melbourne hospital and is currently in critical condition.

An article about ocean warming temperatures uses numbers in several different ways.

Numbers are first introduced in the seconding paragraph, indicating how much ocean temperatures have risen (1.1 degrees) since the HMS Challenger readings. It is pretty straightforward and uncomplicated.

The second and third (and quite similarly mentioned) numbers take place in the following third and fourth paragraph, where it describes in slightly more detail about the rising ocean temperatures. "The upper parts of the ocean, to a depth of 2,300 feet, warmed by .59 degrees, while the warming was less pronounced (.22 degrees) at depths of 2,950 feet." Again, this is quite direct and evidently without pre-mediated calculations. It's just hard facts.

Two and a Half Men star, Ashton Kutcher, has taken the role of Steve Jobs in an independent film about the icon, according to CBS News.

Variety.com reported that the film, called "Jobs", will be a film biography on Apple founder Steve Jobs, written and directed by Matt Whiteley.

According to both articles, Kutcher will be filming the movie during the time he is not filming Two and a Half Men, serving the major role Charlie Sheen used to hold.

Also, both articles note that there are actually films in production about Steve Jobs. The other is being made by Sony Pictures based a book by author, Walter Isaacson.

Texas police have suspended their search for a young boy who is believed to have been dead for a few months, according to Fox News.

The grandfather of the boy named Edward Ramsey, according to WFAA, called police on Friday about how he had not seen his grandson in nine months to a year.

Father, Aaron, 34, and stepmother Elizabeth Ramsey,31, were arrested and charged with for injury of a child and a first-degree felony, according to both articles.

The search for Jonathon Ramsey, who was apparently starved to death by his parents, had been called off due to poor weather conditions and "difficult terrain", police said.

The 11-year-old boy had been fed water, bread and sometimes milk as he was locked in his room in the months preceding his death, according to Fox News as well as WFAA.