Indonesia surpasses Brazil in deforestation

Other studies have found large forest losses in Indonesia, but new findings focus only on the most important virgin forests, excluding plantations that can re-grow quickly. (Roni Bintang/Reuters)

Indonesia has for the first time surpassed Brazil in clearing tropical forests and losses are accelerating despite a 2011 moratorium meant to protect wildlife and combat climate change, scientists said on Sunday.

Indonesia's losses of virgin forests totalled 60,000 sq km - an area almost as big as Ireland - from 2000-2012, partly to make way for palm oil plantations and other farms, a study said. And the pace of losses has increased.

"By 2012, annual primary forest loss in Indonesia was estimated to be higher than in Brazil," where clearance of the Amazon basin has usually accounted for the biggest losses, the scientists wrote in the journal Nature Climate Change.

Deforestation in Indonesia in 2012 alone was 8,400 sq km, versus 4,600 sq km in Brazil, which has managed to reduce losses in recent years, it said.

"We need to increase the law enforcement, the control in the area itself," said Belinda Margono, lead author of the study at the University of Maryland and who also works as an official at the Indonesian forestry ministry.

"The rainforests are the lungs of the planet. You have lungs to breathe and if you get rid of the lungs, the planet's going to suffer," said Matthew Hansen, a co-author of the report at the University of Maryland.

Indonesia imposed a moratorium on forest clearance in 2011, partly to slow losses that are ruining habitats of orangutans, Sumatran tigers and other wildlife. Norway has also promised $1 billion to Jakarta if it slows forest losses.

"It seems that the moratorium has not had its intended effect," the scientists wrote.

Trees absorb carbon dioxide, the main greenhouse gas blamed for causing global warming, as they grow and release it when they are burnt or rot. By UN estimates, deforestation may accounts for 17 per cent of all man-made greenhouse gases.

Other studies have also found large forest losses in Indonesia but Sunday's findings focus only on the most important virgin forests, excluding plantations that can re-grow quickly.

Norway, whose $1 billion pledge is part of a plan to slow climate change around the world, said the findings strengthened reasons for the program.

"The partnership constitutes a strong financial incentive," Gunhild Oland Santos-Nedrelid, a Norwegian environment ministry spokeswoman, wrote in an email. Oslo wants conservation to be economically attractive to landowners, rather than logging.

She said forest losses in Indonesia may increase in coming months, with drought raising risks of fires.

So far, Norway has paid almost $50 million to Indonesia to help set up new institutions to reduce deforestation, she said. Indonesia will only start to get large amounts of money if monitoring proves a slowdown in deforestation.

Norway, rich from North Sea oil and the most generous donor for preserving tropical forests, has a similar $1 billion project with Brazil and other smaller programs with nations including Guyana and Tanzania.

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Bilingualism boosts the brain at all ages

Learning a second language benefits the brain in ways that can pay off later in life, suggests a deepening field of research that specializes in the relationship between bilingualism and cognition.

Mounting evidence suggests that learning more than one language benefits the aging brain.

Ori Mazor, 6, counts in English, French and Hebrew at home. Her parents want her to learn the languages for cultural and cognitive benefits. (CBC)

In one large Scottish test, researchers discovered archival data on 835 native speakers of English who were born in Edinburgh in 1936. The participants had been given an intelligence test at age 11 as part of standard British educational policy and many were retested in their early 70s.

Those who spoke two or more languages had significantly better cognitive abilities on certain tasks compared with what would be expected from their IQ test scores at age 11, Dr. Thomas Bak of the Centre for Cognitive Aging and Cognitive Epidemiology at the University of Edinburgh reported in the journal Annals of Neurology.

"Our results suggest a protective effect of bilingualism against age-related cognitive decline," independently of IQ, Bak and his co-authors concluded.

Roots of bilingualism research in Canada

It was a watershed study in 1962 by Elizabeth Peal and Wallace Lambert at McGill University in Montreal that turned conventional thinking on bilingualism on its head and set the rationale for French immersion in Canada.

Psychologists at York University in Toronto have also been studying the effect of bilingualism on the brain across the lifespan, including dementia. They've learned how people who speak a second language outperform those with just one on tasks that tap executive function such as attention, selection and inhibition. Those are the high-level cognitive processes we use to multitask as we drive on the highway and juggle remembering the exit and monitoring our speed without getting distracted by billboards.

For the brain, the combination of those tasks is complex and taxes the energy resources, said Ellen Bialystok, who runs a cognitive research lab at York. She first observed how bilingual children perform better in the 1980s.

"What a bilingual always has to do is draw attention to the right language, and keep that other active language out of the way. Now the system that selects, inhibits, and switches is the executive function system. That means that every time a bilingual opens their mouth, they're using their executive function system. It's getting practised, it's getting fortified, and it's becoming more efficient," Bialystok said.

York University psychology professor Ellen Bialystock studies bilingualism's effects on the brain. (Penn State/Flickr)

Aside from the social and cultural benefits of bilingualism, there's also a payoff later in life as memory begins to fail in everyone. Those who are bilingual build up networks in the brain's frontal system. Located behind the forehead, the system is the last to develop in childhood and the first to decline in the final stage of our lives, Bialystok said.

While bilingualism has more benefits the earlier and more intensely it's practised, it is never too late to learn, a finding borne out in the Scottish study. Bilingualism is good for the brain and it's the cheapest way to build it up, she said.

The Mazor family of Montreal sees the benefits of bilingualism across three generations.

"Kids' brains are like a sponge," said father Ben Mazor, who speaks English, French and Hebrew. "They absorb everything and it comes to them so easy while they're young. So why not give them the privilege of learning another language that might as well benefit them in the future."

Mother Natalie Mazor, who also speaks Arabic, said she's not concerned that her daughter Ori, 6, and sons Azi, 4, and Tal, 2, will be confused by the constant switches in language at home. All three children understand Hebrew, but will sometimes answer in English.

"It's just the dynamics of our home and it's the way that we're brought up. It's very important for their future," she said.

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Ancient Inuit hunting camp to be uncovered in Manitoba

On the western coast of Hudson Bay in northern Manitoba there's a gravelly cliff, covered in grass and large rocks, with a 360-degree view of the stark and wild area around it.

It doesn't look like much to the untrained eye, but some 400 years before Europeans set foot in North America, the cliff was a thriving hunting camp for the ancestors of today's Inuit.

Today, there are remnants of 22 large tent rings, as well as food caches, burial grounds and kayak rests — all estimated to be about 1,000 years old.

'You could see the beluga coming in. You could see the seals. If you looked inland, you could see caribou and you could watch out for bears ... It was a very productive area for people to be.'- Virginia Petch, chief archaeologist

Researchers are heading to the site, just south of the Manitoba-Nunavut border, next weekend to carefully excavate for animal bones and tools in the hope of gaining insight into the lives of the ancient Inuit known as the Thule.

First spotted 17 years ago

"Our Manitoba coastline is our best-kept secret. We don't talk about it much and yet we have this very vibrant coastline that has been home to a lot of people over a very long period of time," said Virginia Petch, the project's chief archaeologist. "We're hoping that the kinds of structures we find, and maybe some of the tools we find, will help to give us some connection with the High Arctic."

Petch first stumbled on the site 17 years ago when she spotted the tent rings from the air. She didn't stay long when she reached the site by foot because a half-dozen polar bears were "surveying us for lunch."

She was able to determine the settlement was likely to be 1,000 years old, since there was no evidence of metal. The tent rings are huge, she said, almost as though they were made "by giants." Some tents were positioned in a figure eight, suggesting an extended family lived together.

It was — and still is — a perfect place to hunt and gather food for a harsh winter.

"It was very safe," Petch said. "You could see the beluga coming in. You could see the seals. If you looked inland, you could see caribou and you could watch out for bears. There would be fish in the river. It was a very productive area for people to be."

Believed to be 1,000 years old

Petch and a team consisting of marine biologists, elders, research assistants and a Nunavut student plan to spend a week mapping the site and studying whatever settlement remnants they can find. The burials will remain untouched.

The Thule first settled in Alaska before moving eastward into Arctic Canada and Greenland about 1,000 years ago. They are thought to have had some contact with the Vikings when the Norse reached Canadian shores in the 11th century.

These stone caches would have been used to store food at the Inuit hunting camp. (Canadian Press)

The ancestors of today's Inuit relied heavily on bowhead whales, using their meat for food, blubber for oil and bones for building homes and making tools.

The southwestern coast of Hudson Bay is home to one of the largest concentrations of belugas in the world when sea ice recedes in the summer. About 60,000 belugas migrate to three Manitoba estuaries to feed, give birth and nurse their young.

Kristin Westdal, marine biologist with Oceans North Canada, has been studying the whales for several years and is hoping to learn more about them through the history of the Thule.

The archaeological survey is being conducted by Inuit Heritage Trust and The Pew Charitable Trusts Oceans North Canada as part of its research into the Hudson Bay ecosystem.

"People often forget that Manitoba is a marine province," said Westdal. "This site is there because the people in the region came to that area to hunt the beluga. This is a very important site in the area for marine mammals and also for the Inuit people."

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Environment Canada tornado tweets stalled by language laws

Meteorologists in the United States use Twitter to push weather warnings to the public, but that doesn't happen in Canada — official bilingualism has proved a barrier to weather warning tweets.

Canadian meteorologists are not authorized to tweet because all government communication has to follow Canada's language laws, according to Environment Canada's executive director of national programs Ken Macdonald.

"We have to issue our warnings simultaneously in both languages," Macdonald told the iTeam's Geoff Leo.

Macdonald said Environment Canada is working on software that would make this possible, but it's not ready yet.

'We can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages.'— Environment Canada's Ken Macdonald

"It has to be done in an automated way because we can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages."

Macdonald said the software could be perfected and in use across Canada within a year or even sooner.

An Environment Canada meteorologist in Saskatchewan, Terry Lang, said the computer program is currently being tested in some parts of the country.

Environment Canada sends out informational messages on its English and French Twitter accounts, but it doesn't tweet out weather warnings. (CBC)

Lang said the agency doesn't tweet weather warnings, but it does rely on others to use the technology.

"People tweet the warnings for us," Lang said. "There's a number of ways people can receive the warnings."

She noted that Environment Canada does have active Twitter accounts in both languages, though they are focused more on informational tweets.

They offer tweets such as "#didyouknow that #CanadaGeese can live 20 years or more?" and "Summer is the perfect time to explore Canada's natural riches."

Former Environment Canada meteorologist Jay Anderson considers the delay in adopting Twitter for emergency alerts "silly."

Twitter has been around since 2006, and Anderson said it's odd that it has taken so long to adopt a technology that could help with public safety.

"Basically what they're saying is, 'We're not going to warn anybody because we can't warn everybody,'" said Anderson. 

Regina storm chaser Greg Johnson said freeing meteorologists to tweet warnings would be a simple and affordable way to alert Canadians of danger.

"It's a leadership issue, it's an issue of policy," Johnson said.

In 2013, the general issue of automating tweets from government agencies was examined in a scholarly paper presented at the Workshop on Language in Social Media held in June, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Canadian authors noted that although automating tweets in two languages poses challenges, there are numerous solutions.

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NASA tests new vehicle, parachute for future Mars missions

A saucer-shaped NASA vehicle testing new technology for Mars landings made a successful rocket ride over the Pacific on Saturday, but its massive descent parachute only partially unfurled.

The Low Density Supersonic Decelerator was lifted by balloon 120,000 feet into the air from the Hawaiian island of Kauai. The vehicle then rocketed even higher before deploying a novel inflatable braking system. But cheers rapidly died as a gigantic chute designed to slow its fall to splashdown in the ocean emerged tangled.

Still, NASA officials said it's a pretty good test of technology that might one day be used to deliver heavy spacecraft — and eventually astronauts — to Mars.

NASA planned a news conference on the flight Sunday.

Since the twin Viking spacecraft landed on the red planet in 1976, NASA has relied on the same parachute design to slow landers and rovers after piercing through the thin Martian atmosphere.

The $150-million US experimental flight tested a novel vehicle and a giant parachute designed to deliver heavier spacecraft and eventually astronauts. Despite small problems including the giant parachute not deploying fully, NASA deemed the mission a success.

"What we just saw was a really good test," said NASA engineer Dan Coatta with the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, Calif.

Viewers around the world with an internet connection followed portions of the mission in real time thanks to cameras on board the vehicle that beamed back low-resolution footage.

After taking off at 11:40 a.m. PT from the Pacific Missile Range Facility on the Hawaiian island of Kauai, the balloon boosted the disc-shaped vehicle over the Pacific. Its rocket motor then ignited, carrying the vehicle to more than 50 kilometres high at supersonic speeds.

The environment at that altitude is similar to the thin Martian atmosphere. As the vehicle prepared to drop back the Earth, a tube around it expanded like a Hawaiian puffer fish, creating atmospheric drag to dramatically slow it down from Mach 4, or four times the speed of sound.

Then the parachute unfurled — if only partially — and guided the vehicle to an ocean splashdown about three hours later. At 33 metres in diameter, the parachute is twice as big as the one that carried the one-ton Curiosity rover through the Martian atmosphere in 2011.

Coatta said engineers won't look at the parachute problem as a failure, but as a way to learn more and apply that knowledge during future tests.

"In a way, that's a more valuable experience for us than if everything had gone exactly according to plan," he said.

A ship was sent to recover a "black box" designed to float after separating from the vehicle. Outfitted with a GPS beacon, the box contains the crucial flight data that scientists are eager to analyze.

"That's really the treasure trove of all the details," Coatta said. "Pressure, temperature, force, high-definition video: All those measurements that are really key to us to understanding exactly what happens throughout this test."

The test was postponed six times because of high winds. Conditions needed to be calm so the balloon wouldn't stray into no-fly zones.

Engineers planned to conduct several more flights next year before deciding whether to fly the vehicle and parachute on a future Mars mission.

"We want to test them here where it's cheaper before we send it to Mars to make sure that it's going to work there," project manager Mark Adler of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory told reporters in Kauai in early June.

The technology envelope needs to be pushed or else humanity won't be able to fly beyond the International Space Station in low-Earth orbit, said Michael Gazarik, head of space technology at NASA headquarters.

Technology development "is the surest path to Mars," Gazarik said at the briefing.

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N.L students among winners at underwater robot contest

A team of students from Newfoundland and Labrador joined American and Russian competitors as winners on Saturday in a global competition for underwater robots at the only federal freshwater marine sanctuary in the United States.

The high school and university teams were among 60 from 18 states and 13 countries participating in the 13th Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle International Competition at Michigan's Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary.

A remotely operated vehicle collects simulated samples at the bottom of the tank during the final day of the 13th Marine Advanced Technology Education Remotely Operated Vehicle International Competition at the Thunder Bay National Marine Sanctuary in Alpena, Mich., on Saturday. (Marine Advanced Technology Education Center/Associated Press)

Taking first place in the advanced category was a team from Jesuit High School of Carmichael, Calif. Second- and third-place winners were Bauman Moscow State University of Moscow and Far Eastern Federal University of Vladivostok, Russia.

The top three in the intermediate category were Clarenville High School of Clarenville, N.L., Cornerstone Academy of Gainesville, Fla.; and Greater New Bedford Regional Vocational Technical High School of New Bedford, Mass.

Teams worked with robots in a large tank while judges evaluated their performance along with engineering and communication. They were also judged on the design and construction of their robots.

Sanctuary archeologist Stephanie Gandulla said this year's competition was focused on the Great Lakes and based on research performed at the northeastern Lower Peninsula facility.

Tasks included identifying a simulated shipwreck, collecting microbial samples from a sinkhole, inventorying invasive species and removing trash.

"It's really put us on a global stage," Gandulla told The Associated Press. "The Great Lakes are such an important resource. It's so important that people see that. It's a huge supply of freshwater, and very important to the rest of the world — not just the United States."

The Alpena facility is among 14 national marine sanctuaries operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. It was established to preserve and protect the Great Lakes and the roughly 200 shipwrecks found in the area.

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Mouse-like mammal related to elephants discovered in Africa

A new mammal discovered in the remote desert of western Africa resembles a long-nosed mouse in appearance but is more closely related genetically to elephants, a California scientist who helped identify the tiny creature said on Thursday.

The new species of elephant shrew, given the scientific name Macroscelides micus, inhabits an ancient volcanic formation in Namibia and sports red fur that helps it blend in with the colour of its rocky surroundings, said John Dumbacher, one of a team of biologists behind the discovery.

Genetic testing of the creature - which weighs up to 28 grams and measures 19 centimetres in length, including its tail - revealed its DNA to be more akin to much larger mammals.

"It turns out this thing that looks and acts like shrews that evolved in Africa is more closely related to elephants," said Dumbacher, a curator of birds and mammals at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

The findings, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, floored scientists, who said the only visible link between an African elephant and the diminutive shrew is its trunk-like nose.

'It turns out this thing that looks and acts like shrews that evolved in Africa is more closely related to elephants.'- John Dumbacher, biologist

An elongated snout is a common feature of various shrew species, many of which look like long-nosed mice externally, though shrews are not classified as rodents.

Dumbacher likened the newly discovered mammal to a small antelope in its physique and sleeping habits and to a scaled-down anteater in hunting techniques and preferred prey.

Like an antelope, the creature has long, spindly legs relative to its body size, and hunkers down next to bushes to sleep rather than burrowing. Like an anteater, it uses its extended nose to sweep the ground in search of ants and other insects.

The desert-dwelling shrew is prone to giving birth to twins, which hit the ground running like the calves of some types of African antelope.

Biologists plan to return to Africa in the coming months to outfit the new mammals with minuscule radio collars to learn more about their habits, Dumbacher said.

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Environment Canada tornado tweets stalled by language laws

Meteorologists in the United States use Twitter to push weather warnings to the public, but that doesn't happen in Canada — official bilingualism has proved a barrier to weather warning tweets.

Canadian meteorologists are not authorized to tweet because all government communication has to follow Canada's language laws, according to Environment Canada's executive director of national programs Ken Macdonald.

"We have to issue our warnings simultaneously in both languages," Macdonald told the iTeam's Geoff Leo.

Macdonald said Environment Canada is working on software that would make this possible, but it's not ready yet.

'We can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages.'— Environment Canada's Ken Macdonald

"It has to be done in an automated way because we can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages."

Macdonald said the software could be perfected and in use across Canada within a year or even sooner.

An Environment Canada meteorologist in Saskatchewan, Terry Lang, said the computer program is currently being tested in some parts of the country.

Environment Canada sends out informational messages on its English and French Twitter accounts, but it doesn't tweet out weather warnings. (CBC)

Lang said the agency doesn't tweet weather warnings, but it does rely on others to use the technology.

"People tweet the warnings for us," Lang said. "There's a number of ways people can receive the warnings."

She noted that Environment Canada does have active Twitter accounts in both languages, though they are focused more on informational tweets.

They offer tweets such as "#didyouknow that #CanadaGeese can live 20 years or more?" and "Summer is the perfect time to explore Canada's natural riches."

Former Environment Canada meteorologist Jay Anderson considers the delay in adopting Twitter for emergency alerts "silly."

Twitter has been around since 2006, and Anderson said it's odd that it has taken so long to adopt a technology that could help with public safety.

"Basically what they're saying is, 'We're not going to warn anybody because we can't warn everybody,'" said Anderson. 

Regina storm chaser Greg Johnson said freeing meteorologists to tweet warnings would be a simple and affordable way to alert Canadians of danger.

"It's a leadership issue, it's an issue of policy," Johnson said.

In 2013, the general issue of automating tweets from government agencies was examined in a scholarly paper presented at the Workshop on Language in Social Media held in June, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Canadian authors noted that although automating tweets in two languages poses challenges, there are numerous solutions.

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Space espresso machine brings caffeine jolt to astronauts

Talk about a cosmic caffeine jolt. The International Space Station is getting a real Italian espresso machine.

Astronauts of all nationalities — but especially the Italians — have long grumbled about the tepid instant coffee served in pouches and drunk with straws some 400 kilometres above Earth. The pouches and straws aren't going away, but at least the brew will pack some zero-gravity punch.

The specially-designed-for-space espresso machine is dubbed ISSpresso — ISS for International Space Station.

Its launch early next year from Wallops Island, Virginia, is timed to coincide with the six-month mission of Italy's first female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti. The 37-year-old fighter pilot and Italian Air Force captain will fly to the space station in November aboard a Russian capsule.

She'll be the first out-of-this-world barista.

"How cool is that?" she said in a tweet earlier this month. "I'll get to operate the first space espresso machine!"

Italy's century-old coffee maestro Lavazza teamed up with a Turin-based engineering company, Argotec, and the Italian Space Agency to improve coffee conditions aboard the orbiting outpost.

Besides espresso, ISSpresso is capable of whipping up tea and consommé.

The coffee machine's journey to the ISS will coincide with a six-month mission by Italy's first Italian female astronaut, Samantha Cristoforetti. (Lavazza/The Associated Press)

What more could an astronaut want?

During his five-and-a-half month stay on the space station last year, Italian astronaut Luca Parmitano repeatedly talked about missing espresso. (This is the cool-as-ice test pilot who nearly drowned during a spacewalk last July when his helmet filled with water from his suit's cooling system.)

Argotec already was working on a space espresso machine. Orbital Sciences Corp. of Virginia will make the delivery on its Cygnus cargo ship; the launch is targeted for January.

NASA's coffee-loving astronaut Donald Pettit actually offered some ideas for ISSpresso during its design phase. He's a two-time space station resident who invented and even patented a zero-gravity cup for sipping his orbital joe versus sucking it with a straw.

No question, an espresso machine will be "a welcome addition" to space station life, Pettit said Wednesday from Johnson Space Centre in Houston. The pre-measured bags of freeze-dried coffee served in orbit taste good — when you're up there on the frontier, he said. On Earth, any coffee lover would go "Yeeck."

Argotec spokesman Antonio Pilello has sampled the ISSpresso espresso and gives it a thumbs-up. The space machine is designed to operate at the same temperature and pressure as Earthly espresso makers, according to the company, to guarantee taste and flavor.

"You know, coffee is very important for Italian people. We are really hard to please about it!" Pilello wrote in an email.

Certified for safety and approved by NASA, ISSpresso initially will fly with 20 coffee capsules. Extra packets will follow for the six-member crew, if the trial run goes well. The 44-pound machine — a compact 35.5 centimetres by 43.2 centimetres — will be housed in the U.S. laboratory, Destiny. It resembles a microwave oven, with all the action occurring inside.

Engineers replaced the typical plastic tubing in an espresso machine with steel for robustness. They also used buttons and switches similar to those already on the space station, so the astronauts would be familiar with the design.

Astronaut Pettit points out that the lack of gravity will prevent the bubbly foam from rising to the top. Yet even if the space espresso falls short by connoisseur standards, "it would be the best coffee that we've ever had in space."

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CRTC chair admits regulations outdated, promises change

The chair of the Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission admits the regulator is dealing with an outdated rulebook and says his goal is to modernize the entire system by the end of his five-year term.

Jean-Pierre Blais, who took over the role from Konrad von Finckenstein in 2012, has the task of regulating a wireless, telephone, internet and broadcasting sector in the midst of unprecedented change.

"We're trying to get ahead of the curve. We've got three big proceedings this fall and they're all about setting the stage for the future of Canada's telecommunications system," he said in an interview with CBC's Amanda Lang.

Hearings are scheduled to:

• Look at the state of television and determine new rules for cable offerings.
• Look at wireless roaming rates.
• Set new terms for private radio.

That list only scratches the surface of the changes in broadcasting and communications. Canadians have changed their TV watching habits and expect to watch TV online or on mobile devices, so how should the regulator be involved with that?

Wireless and telecom services are increasingly carrying data – so what rules can ensure all Canadians have fair access to networks that can handle internet?

The model for traditional radio or TV broadcasting is less and less sustainable, with conventional networks losing money, so how can a federal agency ensure Canadian content in the face of cash-strapped broadcasters?

"Everything is changed now. Everyone realizes the way they consume their onscreen content has changed. Yes, there's still people who watch in the traditional way in the family room ... but people are also seeing it on the move, in mobile devices," Blais said.

"I think there's a realization, even in the past 12 months, I see there is a facing the fact that the world will be fundamentally different," he added.

Consultation with Canadians on TV

That's one reason why Canadians were consulted first to determine which direction the CRTC should take on regulating cable and providing channel choice.

"We're trying to get Canadians, regulated industries, producers, those that watch TV together in a room and say 'OK how can we prepare in a sustainable way for the next five to 15 years?'" Blais said.

What Canadians said was that they wanted more flexible choices on cable and satellite, rather than bundled subscriptions, but Blais warns there is a price to be paid for choice.

"We proposed a model that is the subject of our TV policy consultation where you could have the choice of purchasing on a pick and pay or stand-alone basis. People often forget there is the word 'pay' in the pick and pay option," he said.

"We're also going to explore a smaller offering – having a basic that goes back to basic."

Providing Canadian content is in the public interest and the CRTC will continue to play a role in ensuring Canadian stories are told and there is money to do it, he said.

Canadian content part of mandate

"Yes we have content from the U.S., it's great content in the English-language market and it's very popular, but we have to be able to see the news and information in our neighbourhoods, in our towns and our cities and our country – a Canadian perspective. That's important because it defines us as who we are," Blais said.

Blais said the CRTC's role as a regulator is to balance public interest.

"All broadcasters, even private broadcasters, have a public service role. That's the reason they have access to these airwaves – they have to give back," he said.

On Wednesday, the CRTC revised rules for the national Do Not Call system that was set up in 2008 to prevent unwanted phone calls from telemarketers.

The CRTC ruled that Canadians will no longer be required to register their numbers every five years to keep them active on the list — despite industry opposition to permanent registrations. On Thursday, Blais said in a speech that the CRTC is also reviewing ways to extend its reach and track down international telemarketers that don't abide by Canadian rules.

"It's our job to make sure citizens can enjoy peace and quiet in their homes and a more secure online world," he said.

Amanda Lang's interview with Jean-Pierre Blais will air Friday afternoon on The Lang & O'Leary Exchange.

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Environment Canada tornado tweets stalled by language laws

Meteorologists in the United States use Twitter to push weather warnings to the public, but that doesn't happen in Canada — official bilingualism has proved a barrier to weather warning tweets.

Canadian meteorologists are not authorized to tweet because all government communication has to follow Canada's language laws, according to Environment Canada's executive director of national programs Ken Macdonald.

"We have to issue our warnings simultaneously in both languages," Macdonald told the iTeam's Geoff Leo.

Macdonald said Environment Canada is working on software that would make this possible, but it's not ready yet.

'We can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages.'— Environment Canada's Ken Macdonald

"It has to be done in an automated way because we can't expect every forecaster to be sitting at the desk tweeting in both languages."

Macdonald said the software could be perfected and in use across Canada within a year or even sooner.

An Environment Canada meteorologist in Saskatchewan, Terry Lang, said the computer program is currently being tested in some parts of the country.

Environment Canada sends out informational messages on its English and French Twitter accounts, but it doesn't tweet out weather warnings. (CBC)

Lang said the agency doesn't tweet weather warnings, but it does rely on others to use the technology.

"People tweet the warnings for us," Lang said. "There's a number of ways people can receive the warnings."

She noted that Environment Canada does have active Twitter accounts in both languages, though they are focused more on informational tweets.

They offer tweets such as "#didyouknow that #CanadaGeese can live 20 years or more?" and "Summer is the perfect time to explore Canada's natural riches."

Former Environment Canada meteorologist Jay Anderson considers the delay in adopting Twitter for emergency alerts "silly."

Twitter has been around since 2006, and Anderson said it's odd that it has taken so long to adopt a technology that could help with public safety.

"Basically what they're saying is, 'We're not going to warn anybody because we can't warn everybody,'" said Anderson. 

Regina storm chaser Greg Johnson said freeing meteorologists to tweet warnings would be a simple and affordable way to alert Canadians of danger.

"It's a leadership issue, it's an issue of policy," Johnson said.

In 2013, the general issue of automating tweets from government agencies was examined in a scholarly paper presented at the Workshop on Language in Social Media held in June, in Atlanta, Georgia. The Canadian authors noted that although automating tweets in two languages poses challenges, there are numerous solutions.

22.11 | 0 komentar | Read More

Mouse-like mammal related to elephants discovered in Africa

A new mammal discovered in the remote desert of western Africa resembles a long-nosed mouse in appearance but is more closely related genetically to elephants, a California scientist who helped identify the tiny creature said on Thursday.

The new species of elephant shrew, given the scientific name Macroscelides micus, inhabits an ancient volcanic formation in Namibia and sports red fur that helps it blend in with the colour of its rocky surroundings, said John Dumbacher, one of a team of biologists behind the discovery.

Genetic testing of the creature - which weighs up to 28 grams and measures 19 centimetres in length, including its tail - revealed its DNA to be more akin to much larger mammals.

"It turns out this thing that looks and acts like shrews that evolved in Africa is more closely related to elephants," said Dumbacher, a curator of birds and mammals at the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco.

The findings, published in the Journal of Mammalogy, floored scientists, who said the only visible link between an African elephant and the diminutive shrew is its trunk-like nose.

'It turns out this thing that looks and acts like shrews that evolved in Africa is more closely related to elephants.'- John Dumbacher, biologist

An elongated snout is a common feature of various shrew species, many of which look like long-nosed mice externally, though shrews are not classified as rodents.

Dumbacher likened the newly discovered mammal to a small antelope in its physique and sleeping habits and to a scaled-down anteater in hunting techniques and preferred prey.

Like an antelope, the creature has long, spindly legs relative to its body size, and hunkers down next to bushes to sleep rather than burrowing. Like an anteater, it uses its extended nose to sweep the ground in search of ants and other insects.

The desert-dwelling shrew is prone to giving birth to twins, which hit the ground running like the calves of some types of African antelope.

Biologists plan to return to Africa in the coming months to outfit the new mammals with minuscule radio collars to learn more about their habits, Dumbacher said.

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From grocery stores to human bodies: Bar code technology turns 40

George Laurer had no idea his design would reach well beyond retail outlets when he created the black line and number sets known as the modern bar code while working for IBM as an engineer.

Forty years ago today, Laurer's creation — the Universal Product Code (UPC) — was first put to use in a U.S. grocery store. Since then, a new generation of bar code cataloguing devices has infiltrated multiple industries and even human bodies.

"I did not even envision that happening," Laurer, a Raleigh, N.C., resident who is now retired save for the occasional freelance consulting gig, said to CBC News in an email. "It was designed for the grocery industry. It proved that bar codes … were the way to go."

40 years later, UPC still in common use

On June 26, 1974, an Ohio cashier scanned Laurer's bar code, which was on a 67-cent pack of Wrigley's gum being purchased by a customer, for the first time. The Universal Product Code is still used widely today, mostly in retail stores.

The Smithsonian National Museum of American History now displays that 10-pack of gum in one of its exhibitions. It also has one of the first 10 scanners used in the Marsh supermarket where the Wrigley pack was purchased.

The first bar code did not come from Laurer.

Joe Woodland and Bernie Silver created what is affectionately dubbed the bull's-eye bar code — for its circular shape — after the food industry pleaded for someone to develop an automatic checkout system.

Before the UPC, paying for groceries could be tedious. Employees had to manually input prices for every product at the checkout and replace price tags whenever an item's cost fluctuated.

On June 26, 1974, Sharon Buchanan, a cashier at an Ohio supermarket, was the first person to scan a GS1 barcode. (GS1)

Despite successful testing of the bull's-eye bar code in an Atlanta grocery store backroom, it did not catch on.

But the grocery store industry continued to push for some type of standardization, so IBM tasked Laurer with designing a standardized bar code. He strayed from the design by Woodland and Silver, opting for a rectangular, picket-fence resembling code.

Printing presses back then could not reproduce the bull's eye code without smudging it, Laurer explains. His linear code could be arranged so that the inevitable smear only lengthened the code's bars without compromising its reading.

On April 3, 1973, a U.S. panel chose Laurer's design over seven others and designated it the UPC as the only standard for identifying products at the time.

Microchipped IDs, health care

Bar codes, now known by various names, have evolved well past supermarket shelves and into government-issued IDs, hospital rooms and even human bodies.

What is a bar code?

A code, usually scanned and read by a machine, that relays information about a product it is attached to.

Bar codes can be visually represented in a variety of ways, but the most common UPC code is a set of vertical black lines separated by white spaces with a set of numbers attached to it.

"When we look to the future, the future is really limitless," says Ryan Eickmeier, the senior director of marketing, communications and government relations at GS1. The global, not-for-profit organization designs and manages supply chain standards across the world.

One type of ID system slowly phasing out the bar code, radio frequency identification or RFID, relies on radio waves to identify people or objects. A microchip with an antenna — sometimes the same size as a grain of sand — carries information about the person or product.

While RFID is not a traditional bar code, Eickmeier recognizes it as a modern system of identifying, capturing, sharing and using information — just like the four principles behind the historic bar code. 

RFID chips are commonplace in Canadian passports and some provincial drivers' licences now. Ontario and B.C. offer RFID-chipped drivers' licences, allowing for a passport alternative when Canadians cross over the American border by car or foot.

The chips also exist in so-called contactless credit cards, which let users tap their card to a reader instead of inserting or swiping.

GS1 has been working to standardize their use in hospitals to help eliminate human error in patient care.

Toronto's North York General Hospital uses bar code scanning to ensure patients are receiving the right medication, says Eickmeier.

An automated prompt lets a caregiver know if the patient is allergic to a certain type of medication or if they are being administered the wrong dose.

"It's not just, 'Are they giving you the wrong medication?'" he says, "It goes to the food served in hospitals. Is this food right for the patient? Is this patient allergic to peanuts? Is there peanuts in this food?"

RFID chips fixed to hospital equipment can also help administration better track surgical tools and patient equipment, like wheelchairs and crutches.

A bar code for the body

Some companies have even experimented with technologies similar to bar codes inside the human body.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration once approved — with some limitations — a human microchip.

VeriChip, the size of a grain of rice, was often compared to a pet's microchip. Placed under the skin of a person, it could transmit a 16-digit ID number to a scanner during a medical emergency. First responders or doctors could cross-reference the ID with a patient directory and access the person's medical history, including any drug allergies.

A couple and their then teenage son were the first people to receive VeriChip implants in 2002. Several years later, more than 100 Alzheimer's patients and caregivers received the chip as part of a special project.

But people worried the chips could be used to track them and invade their privacy, and the company, renamed PositiveID Corp., stopped actively marketing the chip in 2009.

An 'internet of things' catalogue

Laurer predicts the UPC system will stay in place for about another decade before the industry opts for a newer system.

He points to the use of QR codes as one new technology revolutionizing the market.

QR codes are squares filled with black and white boxes that can be scanned using a smartphone. They direct the users' phone to a URL.

QR codes are often used by advertisers, but some creative minds have used them to direct prospective employers to their resumes, to inform tourists at museum exhibitions, or to allow shoppers to record personalized messages on gift tags.

But, Eickmeier has more hope in the UPC's lasting power, saying the industry has already invested in the technology necessary to use the classic bar code

"The next 40 years are really the exciting part of what can we continue to do with it," he says.

One such project is GS1's 'internet of things,' which Eickmeier says he hopes will be available to the public within the next five years.

The massive database would allow customers to scan bar codes and receive information on a product's nutrition and allergens, among other things.

While some smartphone apps already provide this service, their information is crowdfunded and not as trustworthy, Eickmeier claims.

"I think the bar code will always have a use ... in the industry," he says. "It will just have to kind of evolve with time."

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Google starts deleting EU citizen's embarrassing search results

Google has begun deleting some search results at the request of its users, following a court ruling that European Union citizens have a right to ask for the removal of embarrassing personal information that pops up on a search of their names.

Several weeks after the May ruling by the European Court of Justice on the so-called "right to be forgotten," the company set up an online interface for users to register their complaints.

The company said Thursday it has begun taking down results this week. But Google's European spokesman Al Verney said there is a significant backlog to work through. At last report, more than 50,000 people from multiple nationalities had filed requests to have information removed.

"Each request has to be assessed individually," Verney said.

The company is not releasing information on what percentage of complaints appear to fall into areas the court specified as potentially objectionable: results that are "inadequate, irrelevant or no longer relevant."

Europe's national data protection agencies have said they expect a mixed bag of 'legitimate' complaints, as well as some that are clearly not and some borderline cases.

Critics of the ruling say removing result links is censorship, and will lead to politicians and criminals requesting elimination of information. But supporters note the court specified Google should not remove links to information when the public's right to know about it outweighs an individual's right to privacy.

Under the system Google has set up, any search on a user's name from within the European Union is supposed to show a warning that information may have been removed due to privacy considerations, though the system is not yet fully operational.

In cases where the company decides to reject a response to scrub results, it informs the person that complained of its decision. Then it tells them how to contact their national data protection agency if they disagree with the decision and want to pursue the matter further.

Google is only deleting information that appears on its own results pages. It has no control over information on external websites, which did not fall under the court's ruling.

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Great Lakes' low water levels could cost $19B by 2050

New

Unclear if water level rebound since 2013 is start of a trend, new report by the Mowat Centre says

The Canadian Press Posted: Jun 26, 2014 10:49 AM ET Last Updated: Jun 26, 2014 10:49 AM ET

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A new report by a public policy think tank says low water levels in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence River could result in severe economic fallout for the region.

The Mowat Centre study says it could cost the United States and Canada more than $19 billion by 2050 if water levels remain low.

The report says water levels in the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence basin "fell dramatically" in 1997-98.

Since then, it says much of the basin has experienced the longest extended period of lower water levels since the two countries began tracking levels in 1918.

The report adds that while water levels have "rebounded" since 2013, due to factors including cooler temperatures in winter, it's "unclear" if this is the beginning of a trend.

The Great Lakes — which hold about 20 per cent of the world's surface freshwater supply — are also home to industries including hydroelectricity and commercial shipping, as well as recreational boating and fishing.

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Ban bee-killing pesticides, scientists urge

Scientists want two commonly used pesticides banned around the world for helping cause the mass deaths of bees and harming the planet's ecosystem.

A panel of independent scientists, operating as the Task Force on Systemic Pesticides, found the pesticides neonicotinoids and fipronil are harming the environment, posing a similar threat as DDT did in the 1960s.

The scientists, who eventually want the use of these pesticides to be phased out globally, say regulatory bodies must at least mandate more precautionary measures and tighter regulations around their use.

Neonics are a popularly used preventative pesticide, being sprayed over crops or coated on plant seeds before there is a pest problem, according to the task force.

They represent 40 per cent of the insecticide market, and global sales tallied more than $2.79 billion in 2011.

'Life would be awful' without bees

After being treated with systemic pesticides, plants absorb and transport them to all their parts: leaves, flowers, roots, stems, pollen and nectar.

The pesticides are then picked up by insects, like bees and butterflies.

'We'd be eating porridge, rice, bread — not much else. Life would be awful.'- Dave Goulson, one of the report's authors

"Seventy-five per cent of the crops that we eat are pollinated by insects of one type or another — mostly by bees," said professor Dave Goulson, one of the report's authors.

Pollinators, like bees and butterflies, are heavily affected by pesticides.

In bees, exposure can can cause problems with navigation, learning, food collection, disease resistance and reproduction. Exposed bumblebee colonies have grown more slowly and produced fewer queens.

"So, if we didn't have those bees — if we don't look after them — then we won't have most of the fruits that we like to eat, most of the vegetables that we like to eat," said Goulson. "We'd be eating porridge, rice, bread — not much else. Life would be awful."

But not everyone supports the idea of a ban on neonicotinoids. CropLife Canada, a trade association that also represents developers and distributors of pest control products and plant biotechnology, opposes a ban saying the varroa mite is the primary culprit behind declining bee health. It says there is no correlation between  pesticide use and bee health.

Beekeeper loses 65 million bees

David Schuit, a former bee hive inspector, lives in Hanover, Ont., and owns Saugeen Country Honey, a family beekeeping business that started in 2007.

David Schuit, owner of Saugeen Country Honey near Hannover, Ont., says he has lost more than 65 million bees over two years. (Saugeen Country Honey/Facebook)

Since 2012, the family has lost more than 65 million bees, said Schuit. He estimates he now owns about 2,000 and attributes the monumental decline to the liberal use of neonicotinoids on nearby farms.

Health Canada's Pest Management Regulatory Agency tested the soil on his property for traces of neonicotinoids, he said. In some soil outside the honey house, he said the agency found traces of the pesticide.

"This is no joke. This is reality," he told CBC News. "We need neonicotinoids banned now"

The pesticide exposure impacts a bee's memory, he said, and they struggle to do simple tasks, like find the hive entrance. Bees also have a harder time breeding, and Schuit can't manage to maintain enough queen bees for his business.

Frequently, he comes across Canada geese and other bird carcasses on the fields. He said the birds die after eating exposed seeds coated with the pesticide. 

He posts photos and videos documenting the deaths of his bees and the frequency of exposed seeds on the company's Facebook page.

"It's an environmental disaster in the making," he said.

This year, he's moved most of his hives out of the immediate area and into what he calls bear country, "where you can't put a plow on the ground."

There, he said the bees look a lot healthier.

90% goes into environment, not crop

But not just pollinators are exposed. Any animal that munches on the plants or seeds is also at risk. There's also soil and water exposure to take into account.

More than 90 per cent of the pesticide goes into the environment rather than the crop, said Goulson.

'Far from protecting food production, the use of neonics is threatening the very infrastructure which enables it.'- Dr. Jean-Marc Bonmatin, one of the report's lead authors

In soil, what is known as the pesticide's half-life — or the amount of time it takes for half of the compound to disappear — can be years.

Farmers who use the product annually build up toxicity in the soil, so the pesticide gets into groundwater and then streams, he said.

Soil contamination also exposes terrestrial animals like earthworms. The study's authors claim pesticides have caused behaviour changes in exposed earthworms, like feeding inhibition, as well as death.

Freshwater snails and water fleas suffer the most from water contamination.

"Essentially, we're contaminating the global environment with highly toxic, highly persistent chemicals," said Goulson.

DDT-like threat

While the affected animals may seem insignificant, Goulson warns that biodiversity is essential for humans.

Seventy-five percent of crops humans consume are pollinated by insects, mostly bees, says professor Dave Goulson, one of the authors of a report calling on a worldwide ban of two pesticides linked to declining bee populations. (Stephen Ausmus/Reuters)

"We are witnessing a threat to the productivity of our natural and farmed environment equivalent to that posed by organophosphates or DDT," Dr. Jean-Marc Bonmatin, one of the lead authors of the report, said in a written statement.

"Far from protecting food production, the use of neonics is threatening the very infrastructure which enables it, imperilling the pollinators, habitat engineers and natural pest controllers at the heart of a functioning ecosystem."

DDT, which stands for dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane, was a liberally used pesticide in the early 1960s. It was banned in 1972 to protect wildlife and people from its toxic effects.

The study points out that some neonics are 5,000 to 10,000 more toxic to bees than DDT.

Health Canada has recommended steps to minimize bee exposure to neonicotinoid during the 2014 spring planting season. The measures for planting treated corn and soybean seeds include:

• Reducing dust from coated seeds.
• Safer seed planting practices.
• Labels with enhanced warnings.

Health Canada said it will closely monitor the 2014 growing season and may take further action after evaluating the outcomes of the new measures.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose called the research done by her department to date "inconclusive."

She also said that Canada is working with the U.S. government on the issue of neonicotinoids and their effects on bees and other pollinators.

"We are constantly absorbing new science and reassessing. If there is a danger to Canadians, then we will act further," she added on Tuesday at an event in Toronto.

The Worldwide Integrated Assessment of the Impact of Systemic Pesticides on Biodiversity and Ecosystems will be published in the peer reviewed Environment Science and Pollution Research journal in a few weeks. The date is still to be determined by the journal.

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Bitcoin has a future, but maybe not as a currency

In the course of its five-year run, bitcoin has been heralded as a beacon of hope by those who mistrust banks and an object of suspicion by those who mistrust a grassroots currency.

While the dramatic price fluctuations and high-profile breaches have not helped the cause, bitcoin's champions and critics seem to agree that the technology itself has a future.

What is bitcoin mining?

Recording every bitcoin transaction in a block chain requires a lot of processing power, which is why many individuals or companies contribute computer power in exchange for payment in bitcoins. This is known as "mining."

Mark Kamstra, a finance professor at York University's Schulich School of Business, says that bitcoin has "fatal flaws" — like its fixed supply — that limit its growth. But he concedes that the underlying technology has the potential to change the online payment system.

Francis Pouliot, director of public affairs for the Bitcoin Foundation Canada, says that the proliferation of other cryptocurrencies inspired by bitcoin is a testament to the power of the technology.

"Cryptocurrencies can't be un-invented," says Pouliot. "The cat is out of the bag, the technology has been proven to be functional, so definitely it's going to be used in one way or the other."

Created in the wake of the worldwide financial crisis of the late-2000s, bitcoin was introduced in 2009 as an alternative payment system to paper currencies, whose value can be manipulated by central banks.

Bitcoin is based on a peer-to-peer computer network akin to those that form the basis of file-sharing system BitTorrent.

Holders store their bitcoins in digital wallets and electronically send bitcoins to each other to pay for goods and services. Every transaction is encrypted and logged in a computer network known as a block chain.

The value of bitcoin has fluctuated dramatically over its short lifespan, from $0.08 US in July 2010 to over $1,200 in November 2013. More recently, it has been trading in the $600 range.

Bitcoin 'very secure'

The price volatility, as well as a number of high-profile breaches, have contributed to a feeling among many investors that bitcoin is not a stable currency.

The value of bitcoins has risen exponentially over the past two years. (Simon Dawson/Bloomberg)

Arguably the most serious incident was the revelation earlier this year that Mt. Gox, a Japan-based bitcoin exchange that at one point handled 70 per cent of all worldwide transactions, had lost about $450 million US worth of the cryptocurrency.

While critics have fixated on the high-profile breaches involving bitcoin, the cryptocurrency's block-chain structure makes it "very secure," says Mark Nunnikhoven, vice president of cloud and emerging technologies at online security firm Trend Micro.

He says any security breaches thus far have not been due to the underlying technology.

"With Mt. Gox and some of the other breaches, it hasn't been the currency itself that's been the problem, it's the people handling it," said Nunnikhoven. "And that's going to hold true for quite a long time, and that holds true for real money as well."

Even so, that doesn't settle the trust issue for many people, says Schulich's Kamstra. While bitcoin was created to avoid regulatory interference, he says governments and banks help legitimize currencies.

"You need trust for transactions between people," says Kamstra. "With traditional currencies, they work because countries back up the currencies with their power to tax citizens and, to some extent, stores of gold."

Another problem is the price fluctuation, says Jean-Paul Lam, a professor at the University of Waterloo and a former assistant chief economist at the Bank of Canada. With a traditional currency, a central bank manages price spikes by printing more money.

The bitcoin community has decided to cap the number of available bitcoins at 21 million. (To date, just under 13 million bitcoins have been mined worldwide.) Lam says this "inelastic money supply" is what creates the huge price volatility.

Some commentators have suggested that for bitcoin to grow, it would need to establish some sort of central authority. But that would be contrary to the currency's founding philosophy, says Pouliot.

"The point of Bitcoin is that the whole system is decentralized, and it cannot be centralized," says Pouliot.

Lam says that as long as that attitude prevails, bitcoin can never become a true currency "because it is too volatile."

'A protocol that can do a bunch of things'

While bitcoin's future is a hotly debated subject, the open-source software that underpins it has given rise to hundreds of other digital currencies.

Some Canadian businesses, including this Vancouver coffee shop, accept bitcoins as payment. (Jonathan Hayward/Canadian Press)

While bitcoin currently occupies about 90 per cent of the cryptocurrency market, there are an estimated 275 digital currencies now in play, many of which cater to  specific products or services.

Namecoin, for example, focuses on helping people buy domain names outside the central domain system. Craftcoin is an internal currency for the popular videogame Minecraft, while Potcoin facilitates transactions in legal marijuana markets such as the Netherlands and U.S. states such as Washington and Colorado.

A couple of Montrealers developed PotCoin because "the legalized marijuana industry called out for its own distinct payment system," co-founder Joel Yaffe said in an email. But he acknowledges that Potcoin is a niche currency.

"The coin has been designed to attract the cannabis community exclusively, so we aren't expecting too much further penetration outside the industry," says Yaffe.

The sheer variety of cryptocurrencies is a testament to the potential of the block-chain concept, but bitcoin's architecture has many more uses, says Jean-Philippe Vergne, an economics professor at Western University's Ivey Business School.

Due to the elaborate verification system of the block-chain concept, some bitcoin startups have been using the open-source software for all sorts of applications, from a lending network (BTC Jam) to a text-messaging service (Gliph) to a Bitcoin-only travel agency (BTC Trip).

In a report released in February, the digital currency news site Coindesk projected that venture capital invested in bitcoin startups would hit $300 million by the end of 2014.

Vergne says the block-chain structure could someday even underpin the entire internet.

"What we call cryptocurrency is really a piece of software," says Vergne. "It's a protocol that can do a bunch of things. Only one of them is mimicking money."

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Is the great white shark behind the headless seals in Quebec?

At least five headless seals have been found over the past few weeks on the banks of Quebec's Gaspé Peninsula between Ste-Anne-des-Monts and Mont-Louis.

Josiane Cabana, spokeswoman for the Quebec emergency network for sea mammals, said it's hard to identify what species of seals have been found because they are missing their heads.

She also said that because no complete necropsy will be conducted, it is impossible to determine the seals' cause of death.

Specialists are considering several hypotheses, but believe it could be the work of a predator or perhaps a boat propeller.

One scenario experts are seriously considering, however, is the return of the great white shark to the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

According to a study released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) this month, the great white shark is making a comeback in the western side of the northern Atlantic Ocean after a previous population decline.

White shark abundance in the western North Atlantic declined by an estimated 73 per cent from the early 1960s to the 1980s, the report says. Shark abundance is now only 31 per cent down from its historical high estimate in 1961, the report states. The report does not provide a local estimate for the great white shark population, which some scientists say is between 3,000 and 5,000 animals.​

Chris Harvey-Clark, a veterinarian and amateur underwater photographer at Dalhousie University in Nova Scotia, told regional newspaper Le Soleil that he spotted a great white shark in the waters surrounding P.E.I. last summer.

Harvey-Clark has studied sharks for 25 years and is convinced what he saw was a great white shark. He has also recently noticed turtles with neck bites from a large predator that could also be from the same kind of shark.

Great white sharks often venture into shallow waters to find prey, like seals. However, it has been a number of years since the predatory animal has been seen in the Gulf of St. Lawrence.

The great white shark is classified as a vulnerable species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature.

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Manholes from space: U.S. loosens rules around satellite photos

Satellite images sharp enough to show details such as manhole covers, stop signs and lamp posts will soon be available in Canada and around the world, after the U.S. loosened limits put in place years ago due to national security concerns.

Starting early next year, the U.S. government will allow the commercial sale of black-and-white images with a resolution of up to 25 centimetres and colour images of up to a metre, confirmed Tahara Dawkins, director of the Commercial Remote Sensing Regulatory Affairs for the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), in an email to CBC News.

The full-sized version of this image of Vancouver has a resolution of five metres. It was collected using BlackBridge Geomatics's RapidEye satellite, which is designed to take broad, wide-scale images quickly. (BlackBridge Geomatics)

Starting earlier this month, satellite imagery companies have been allowed to sell black-and-white images with a resolution of up to 40 centimetres and colour images with a resolution of 1.6 metres.

Before now, satellite image providers weren't allowed to sell black-and-white images with a resolution higher than 50 centimetres or colour images with a resolution better than 2.0 metres even though at least one U.S. satellite image provider, Longmont, Colo.-based DigitalGlobe Inc., was technologically capable of collecting higher resolution images. At the allowable resolutions, it's possible to see cars and houses, but not always details such as manhole covers or mailboxes.

"Once you start looking at the difference between 30 to 50 [centimetres resolution], then you're getting into a very considerable difference and the types of things that you can see in the imagery are considerably different," said Sam Lieff, general manager for Lethbridge, Alta.-based BlackBridge Geomatics, which distributes images from DigitalGlobe alongside images from its own RapidEye satellites.

"What's really interesting about that is once we get into this really high resolution imagery, we become competitive with aerial photography."

That means companies like his will soon have access to a wider range of clients who are looking for images for applications ranging from city planning to forestry management, he said.

The previous ban on sharper images affected satellite image distributors around the world, including BlackBridge Geomatics.

"As commercial distributor, we've never been able to sell the imagery at its highest resolution until now," said Lieff. He acknowledged that could be frustrating for clients.

14-year-old rules

The previous rules were put in place by the U.S. Department of Commerce 14 years ago.

"The whole basis of it is really … security and military reasons," Lieff said. "The U.S. military doesn't want precision imagery getting into the hands of a terrorist organization."

The full-sized version of this image of Fort McMurray, Alta., is seen with a resolution of 50 centimetres. Up until now, that was the highest resolution allowed by the U.S. government. (DigitalGlobe/BlackBridge Geomatics)

However, DigitalGlobe petitioned the government to loosen the rules ahead of the launch of its Worldview-3 satellite, which will collect images with a resolution of up to 31 centimetres. The satellite launch is scheduled for August.

DigitalGlobe announced on June 11 that it had received notice of the new resolution rules, including one that would allow resolutions of up to 25 centimetres starting six months after its Worldview-3 satellites are operational. The company declined to be interviewed.

Dawkins said the national security community was fully involved in the decision to loosen the rules and the changes "do not curtail our authority to limit data collection and distribution of imagery in certain circumstances to address national security concerns, foreign policy interests, and international obligations."

However, she noted that given the advances in remote sensing and commercial imagery, NOAA also has a national security interest in "seeing that U.S. companies are competitive in the growing commercial imagery marketplace."

Lieff said since 2008, satellite image distributors have had to disclose all their users to the U.S. government so it can be checked against lists of terrorists. He added, "There just haven't been any bad issues that have happened."

Rules relaxed

He forsees that the relaxed rules will provide opportunities to sell satellite imagery for applications that would have once relied more heavily on aerial photography, such as municipal planning, oil and gas pipeline placement, mapping the kinds of trees in a forest, or mapping elevation changes for mining.

Satellite mapping is faster and easier than aerial photography, Lieff said.

However, he noted that aerial photography can take images with resolutions much higher than 25 centimetres, and will remain the only option for clients who need that kind of detail.

While the new rules apply to all U.S. commercial satellite operators, NOAA says DigitalGlobe is the only U.S. satellite provider capable of providing images with a resolution close to 25 centimetres by next year.

But Lieff says the rule change opens new doors for other companies "including ourselves."

"There's new satellites coming up that will definitely breach the 50-centimetre resolution," he said. "We're just looking a few years out, really."

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U.K. singles chart adds streaming to music chart formula

The growing influence of streaming music sites is being recognized in the U.K., as the Official Charts Company confirmed today it will count audio streaming services in its tally of top singles.

The company will include consideration of audio streams beginning in July 2014, with 100 streams to count as the equivalent of one single purchased via download or as a physical copy.

"Audio streaming has grown at an extraordinary rate over the past year and the time is now right to take this important step," Official Charts Company CEO Martin Talbot said in a statement.

He noted that over the years the firm has changed to reflect the different ways consumers listen to music -- from "vinyl to cassingles, CD singles to downloads."

"We have been looking at this possibility for some time and now feel comfortable that our methodology is correct."

On-demand streams from services such as Spotify, Deezer, Napster, O2 Tracks, Xbox Music, Sony's Music Unlimited and Omnifone (members of the Entertainment Retailers Association) will be considered for the more than 60-year-old Top 40 singles chart.

According to the company, weekly audio streams selected by U.K. music fans grew from 100 million a week in Jan. 2013 to 200 million a week in Jan. 2014. The figure currently sits at 260 million streams a week.

The way music charts are compiled differ from country to country. Billboard's Canadian Hot 100 singles chart (Canada's most popular songs across all genres) considers radio airplay info gathered by Nielsen BDS and sales data from Nielsen SoundScan.

In the U.S., the Billboard Hot 100 has counted streaming and YouTube success in its formula (along with sales, radio plays and other factors) since 2012. Meanwhile, in Sweden, audio streams have counted towards the nation's singles chart since 2010.

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Robot museum guides recite tongue-twisters, read news

The new robot guides at a Tokyo museum look so eerily human and speak so smoothly they almost outdo people — almost.

Japanese robotics expert Hiroshi Ishiguro, an Osaka University professor, says they will be useful for research on how people interact with robots and on what differentiates the person from the machine.

"Making androids is about exploring what it means to be human," he told reporters Tuesday, "examining the question of what is emotion, what is awareness, what is thinking."

In a demonstration, the remote-controlled machines moved their pink lips in time to a voice-over, twitched their eyebrows, blinked and swayed their heads from side to side. They stay seated but can move their hands.

Mostly smooth presentation, some glitches

In a clear triumph, Kodomoroid read the news without stumbling once and recited complex tongue-twisters glibly.

The robot, designed with a girlish appearance, can use a variety of voices, such as a deep male voice one minute and a squeaky girly voice the next. The speech can be input by text, giving them perfect articulation, according to Ishiguro.

Humanoid robot Pepper will sell for less than $2,100. (Koji Sasahara/The Associated Press)

There were some glitches — such as the lips not moving at all while the robot spoke, or the Otonaroid announcer robot staying silent twice when asked to introduce itself.

But glitches are common with robots because they are delicate gadgetry sensitive to their environment.

Kodomoroid and the woman robot Otonaroid were joined at the demonstration by the minimally designed Telenoid, a mannequin head with pointed arms that serves as a cuddly companion.

The two life-size robots, which have silicon skin and artificial muscles, will be on display starting Wednesday, at Miraikan museum, or the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation, in Tokyo, allowing the public to interact with them extensively.

Reflecting widespread opinion, Ishiguro said Japan leads the world in playful companion robots. But he acknowledged the nation was behind the U.S. in military robots.

'No different from owning a laptop'

Developing robots for more than 20 years, Ishiguro has made a point of creating robots that approximate the human appearance, including creatures that look like him. He has sent them to give overseas lectures.

His approach differs from some robotics scientists who say human appearance is pointless, perhaps creepy, and robots can look like machines, such as taking the form of a TV screen or a portable device.

Ishiguro noted proudly how Japanese Internet company Softbank Corp. recently showed a robot named Pepper, which looks a little like C-3PO in Star Wars, and will sell for less than $2,100.

Pepper's arrival means robots are increasingly becoming part of everyday life in Japan.

"Robots are now becoming affordable — no different from owning a laptop," said Ishiguro.

At Duesseldorf airport in Germany travellers can book a robot valet. The service launches Tuesday, and travellers can leave their car in a designated spot, book the robot using a smartphone app and Ray the robot takes care of the rest.

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Salmon-rich river in Quebec contaminated by landfill waste

Fishing enthusiasts are outraged after learning one of the best salmon-fishing rivers in North America is being contaminated by a municipal dump in Gaspé, Que.

Documents obtained by CBC Radio-Canada through an access to information request show that the York River, which flows from the Chic-Choc mountains to the Gaspé Bay, contains contaminants far exceeding government norms.

Since 2007, zinc, fecal coliform, nitrogen, phosphorus and solid waste have been found in the York River at two or three times the allowable limit.

The source is the Gaspé municipal landfill.

"It's unacceptable. That's the first word that comes to mind," said fishing guide Michel Beaudin.

"We should not throw garbage juice in a world-renowned salmon river. It's shameful. People need to put a system in place that, if there is refuse, that it's refuse that corresponds to the norms."

The worst contamination incident came in December 2010, when heavy rains raised water levels in the filtration plant's tanks to dangerously high levels. The city chose to dump untreated leachate — liquid that passes through waste — directly into the river in order to avoid filtration plant overflowing.

The City of Gaspé said it's working to fix the problem.

"We have even hired a new consultant this year who will help us with a variety of measures to ensure that the problem is fixed as soon as possible," said the city's director-general, Sébastien Fournier.

However, for a species of fish that is already endangered, any more waiting could be disastrous.

The Atlantic salmon in the York River have been dying by the hundreds since 2011, when they began contracting a fungus called saprolegniasis. The fungus is usually described as a cotton-like appearance on the fish's body.

Charles Cusson, director of Quebec programs for the Atlantic Salmon Federation, suspects there is a link between the water contamination and the proliferation of the fungus.

"The river's current could have unleashed the illness among the salmon," he said.

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Atom smasher, famed for 'God particle' discovery, gets energy boost

The world's largest atom smasher is gearing up for its second three-year run after 16 months of maintenance and upgrades.

The Large Hadron Collider, which was used to discover a long-theorized subatomic particle, is designed to push the proton beam close to the speed of light, whizzing 11,000 times a second around a 27-kilometre tunnel on the Swiss-French border near Geneva.

The world's top particle physics lab known by its French acronym CERN said Monday that the $10 billion collider is being improved and is on track to resume early next year at double its former energy level.

Once it restarts, two beams will be fired again within the collider at the same time in opposite directions with the aim of recreating conditions a split second after the Big Bang, which scientists theorize was the massive explosion that created the universe.

A technician stands near equipment of the Compact Muon Solenoid (CMS) experience at CERN. (REUTERS)

The next CERN experiments could reveal more about "dark matter," antimatter and possibly hidden dimensions of space and time.

"The machine is coming out of a long sleep after undergoing an important surgical operation," said Frederick Bordry, director for accelerators and technology at the European Organization for Nuclear Research.

During its first run, the particle accelerator was used to discover the subatomic particle known as the Higgs boson, without which particles wouldn't hold together — and there would be no matter. The state-of-the-art accelerator — and teams of thousands of CERN-based scientists — helped Peter Higgs win the Nobel Prize last year by proving his theories right.

"It's effectively a new machine, poised to set us on the path to new discoveries," CERN Director General Rolf Heuer said.

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Microbe study examines ‘little engines' of world's oceans

Canadian researchers from Halifax to Nunavut are taking part in a global project that aims to unlock the secrets of the oceans' tiniest helpers.

Invisible to the naked eye, microbes include small but mighty bacteria, viruses and algae that scientists say are vital to the sea and beyond.

"They're basically the little engines behind why the world is ticking," says Julie LaRoche, a biology professor at Dalhousie University in Halifax and Canada research chair in marine microbial genomics and biogeochemistry.

"When you think of bacteria, you always think about (how) bacteria make you sick, they make your food spoil, but most bacteria are really good for the environment. They have a very specific function, they recycle the nutrients in the soil or in the ocean.

"Also, a lot of bacteria can do photosynthesis ... and they're at the base of the food chain, so they produce all the food that the fish will eat eventually."

LaRoche is among the researchers taking part in Ocean Sampling Day, a worldwide effort that saw ocean water containing millions of microbes collected on Saturday — the summer solstice — from more than 100 sites around the world, including three in Canada.

Dalhousie spokeswoman Nikki Comeau says researchers from universities in Canada and the United States also planned to take samples from sites in Manitoba and Nunavut. She says the overall project is being co-ordinated by Jacobs University in Germany and the University of Oxford in the U.K.

Once collected and analyzed, the data will be available online and mapped so that microbes can be identified in all corners of the world.

"The idea is to collect a baseline of all the microbial diversity that's actually present right now in the ocean ... but the part that we don't see because the microbes are so small," says LaRoche.

"It's not something you think about every day, but they're there and they're really important in balancing everything."

LaRoche and her team collected their samples Friday from different depths of the Bedford Basin in the northwestern end of Halifax harbour, from the water's surface to the bottom.

The nutrient-rich Bedford Basin is an ideal spot to collect samples because it shares similar characteristics with deeper waters off the Scotian Shelf, she added.

LaRoche said the samples taken will be filtered and the DNA extracted and sequenced.

"It's really hard to construct what genes belong to what bacteria, but we're getting really a lot better at doing these kinds of analysis now," she says.

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iWatch mass production gearing up in Taiwan ahead of fall launch

Apple's smartwatch will likely be launched in the fall, with manufacturer Quanta Computer Inc of Taiwan slated to will start mass production in July, according to Reuters.

Sources said Apple will introduce a smartwatch with a display about 6 cm in diameter with a touch face and wireless charging.

There will likely be multiple versions of the device, offering functions that might be different from a smartphone.

There may also be differing designs, as watches are fashion items. Apple has hired a former chief executive of French fashion house Yves Saint Laurent, Paul Deneve, for what it called "special projects."

Among the likely functions are sensors to track health and fitness, including heart rate. Apple showed its interest in health and fitness-tracking last month with a new app called Health, designed to collect all of a user's fitness and health data in one spot

Apple's entry into the wearable device market is hotly anticipated, though it is behind rivals such as Google Inc. and Samsung Electronics.

It is hoped that Apple's device will be the breakthrough that makes smartwatches into widely popular devices, just as the introduction of iPhone built the smartphone market.

Apple's watch will be able to perform some functions independently, but tasks like messaging and voice chat will require connection to a smartphone or other device run on Apple's iOS operating system.

The company is under pressure to break into new market segments as it's been four years since  the release of the iPad. Under CEO Tim Cook, the company has been investigating the connected home and a wearable device would be a significant new area of growth.

Market research firm IDC estimates global sales of wearable devices will more than triple this year to more than 19 million units and swell to 111.9 million units by 2018.

Reuters reports Quanta, which manufactured laptops and iPods for Apple, may be gearing up to produce as many as 50 million units of the product dubbed iWatch.

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Stars streak across night sky in 360º panorama video

A photographer has been travelling across North America for the past 18 months, capturing 360-degree panoramas of stars in motion to create a time lapse video of the night sky.

While studying photography at Lansing Community College in Lansing, Mich., Vincent Brady regularly shot panoramas during the day and focused on long exposures of stars once it became dark outside.

"It suddenly became clear that the potential to combine the two techniques could be a trip," he writes in an explanation of the project on his website.

He built a custom four-camera rig complete with fish-eye lens for the project.

Vincent Brady built a custom camera rig for his planetary panorama project. (VincentBrady.com)

After graduation in May 2013, Brady started hitting the road with his new camera.

"My rig has taken me to firefly parties in Missouri, dark eerie nights at Devils Tower, through Logan Pass at Glacier National Park, up the mountains of British Columbia, and around the amazing arches and sandstone monuments in the great American southwest," he writes.

When he travels to a location, Brady says he spends the day exploring for an ideal space to set up for a nighttime shoot.

The cameras then take between 100 and 200 photos each, shooting for up to three hours with one- to two-minute exposures.

Brady edits and stacks the images before manually stitching them into a panorama and tweaking the final product with Photoshop.

The video he created from images captured over the past 18 months shows, among other scenes, the Milky Way setting over the skies of British Columbia from when Brady travelled to Kootenay Lake and captured the Northern Lights.

"It is my hope that this project brings a little more joy to your day," he writes on his Facebook page, where he introduced the project.

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Northern Gateway pipeline's doubled-up challenge

The Northern Gateway pipeline has the thumbs-up from the National Energy Board and the federal cabinet. Now all Enbridge has to do is meet all 209 of those conditions attached to the decision.

That could take a while. Once Enbridge does that, though, and assuming it makes it through any other roadblocks that stand in the way, the company can get down to building the project. 

But how familiar is the Canadian public with the full scope of the project?

A lot of attention has been focused on the pipe that would carry diluted bitumen from Alberta to the B.C. coast. But do you know that Northern Gateway is a two-pipe project?

Green Party Leader Elizabeth May does. And this is what she said in the foyer of the House of Commons on Tuesday.

"It's a two-way flow of toxic materials. One set of tankers have to pull up to Kitimat — some coming from the Middle East by the way — bringing a toxic substance they call diluent … which they then put in a pipeline which runs from Kitimat to Alberta."

(Canadian Press)

2-way flow

That fact surprises a lot of people. A second pipe would flow east and carry 193,000 barrels of diluent (also known as condensate) a day.

So what is this diluent? It is a "pentane," according to Greg Stringham, a chemical engineer and a vice-president with the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers. 

"It is a light hydrocarbon. So it is kind of like gasoline," he explained.

Most of it is a byproduct of natural gas production, though some also comes from the oil refining process. 

When natural gas comes up out of the ground, some of the heavier parts turn into a liquid. They call that condensate, and that is what they mix with bitumen to make it flow through a pipeline. 

Most diluent comes from the United States and Canada, though May said some comes from the Middle East.

Why do they have to mix it in with bitumen? Here is the Green Party leader again. Picture May holding a wide-mouthed glass jar with some black stuff in it. The black stuff isn't moving even though she's got the jar upside down. (Or just click on the video at the top of the story.)

"Here's raw bitumen [pause for effect]. Note: it does not flow easily. It's a solid."

The heavier end of normal oil

Stringham prefers calling it the heavier end of normal oil. 

He points out that Alberta's oilsands were once the bottom of an old ocean. The decayed plants at its bottom were compressed and turned into light sweet crude. But it was close enough to the surface that the lighter parts rose and evaporated and the heavy stuff stuck to the sand on the seabed.

A truck carrying a full load drives at the Shell Albian Sands oilsands mine near Fort McMurray, Alta. The oilsands were once the bed of an ancient ocean. (Jeff McIntosh/Canadian Press)

Nowadays, that stuff gets scooped out and hauled off to a facility where it essentially gets a warm bath, is shaken in the water and left to stand for a while.  

"It's kind of like Italian salad dressing," said Stringham.

"The sand will go to the bottom. The water goes to the middle. And the oil floats on the top."

They scrape the heavy oil off the top, mix in some diluent and voila —​ diluted bitumen, or dilbit, which according to Stringham is not two separate substances but one whole new liquid.

"The analogy I kind of like using is it's almost like cream in coffee or Kool-Aid in water. When you mix it together it becomes a new substance," said Stringham. 

So your hydrocarbon-flavoured Kool-Aid is ready to ship back to the coast in your 525,000-barrels-a-day pipe. 

What does May have to say about that?

"It is a twinned pipeline over a thousand kilometres, over some of the most rugged wilderness."

Two of the country's tallest mountain ranges, the Rockies and the Coast Mountains, need to be scaled and descended. Plus, there are creeks, rivers, lakes and ponds by the dozen.

The Northern Gateway pipeline will have to traverse mountainous terrain. (Scott Russell/CBC Sports)

"It involves going through fragile areas. It involves engineering challenges," she added.

'Acceptable risk'

Of course, engineers love challenges, and they will tell you there isn't any challenge that can't be overcome, provided you have enough money or a high enough risk tolerance.

"Sometimes people ask: can you build something across any place? Of course you can. But then you have to think about acceptable risk," said Dharma Wijewickreme, a geotechnical engineer who has worked in the Canadian pipeline industry for the last 24 years and teaches at the University of British Columbia.

"The lower the risk mark you want to have, the higher the cost of any one project will be," he added.

So what level of risk is May willing to tolerate?

"Next step is encouraging all British Columbians to use all democratic and peaceful and legal means to stop this pipeline."

Enbridge is probably happier to opt for the 209 conditions over the Green Party leader's price.

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