Daily Archives: December 23, 2011

African-American Doll Hung from Noose in NYC Parks Department

December 23, 2011   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.gothamist.com

An African-American baby doll hanging from a noose was found in the New York City Parks Department office.

A worker named Geoffrey Croft talked about the incident on his blog (www.awalkintheparknyc.blogspot.com).  On it, he said, “There should be zero tolerance for this kind of behavior at any time…Obviously the imagery is pretty terrible and from what I understand, the worker who found it is pretty traumatized.”

The doll was dressed in bright pink and was hung by a noose made of metal chains in front of the loading dock.  This area is only accessible by department workers. The letters “KKK” were also found on the bathroom walls.

This isn’t the first time a racist act has occurred in the office.  In 2008, the department settled a lawsuit for 20 million dollars that was filed by employees who felt the work environment was racially hostile.

The Parks Department Commissioner released a statement on December 20 about the noose incident. The statement discussed that the Parks Department does not tolerate this type of behavior and that if anyone knows who did this, to contact the NYPD.

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Two Earth-Sized Planets Discovered

December 23, 2011   Joanelle Navarro   No comments

Photo Credit: www.greenfieldreporter.com

Two Earth-sized planets orbiting a star outside the solar system have been found by scientists.

The discovery of these planets show that they exist and can be detected by the Kepler spacecraft.  They are currently the smallest planets found orbiting a star that looks like the sun.

Scientists are looking for Earth-sized planets that could house extraterrestrials.  One of the planet’s found has a diameter that is only 3 percent larger than Earth’s.  The other planet’s diameter is only nine-tenths of Earth.  Both planets appear rocky, similar to Earth.

However, the planets are too hot to contain life.  One planet has a temperature of about 1,400 degrees, while the other is around 800 degrees Fahrenheit.  Any life on these planets might not be intelligent.  They could be bacteria, mold, or even some completely unknown form.

Since the planet-hunting Kepler was launched in 2009, NASA has found evidence of several possible Earth-sized planets, but this is the first report to confirm this.

The planets are called Kepler-20e and Kepler-20f, and are part of a five-planet system around their star called Kepler-20.  The star is 950 light-years away from Earth.

Earlier in the month, scientists also found another planet that was similar to Earth.  It had a temperature of about 72 degrees, but it’s 2.4 times larger than Earth, which means it would be more like the gassy Neptune.

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Black Bears Blocked at Border

December 23, 2011   Meagan Cahuasqui   No comments

The border fence located along the edges between the United States and Mexico was built as a means to keep illegal immigrants from entering the country, but researchers have found it is also blocking black bears from their migration patterns.

Arizona is the main site for black bears’ population north of the border.  Without more bears being able to cross into this territory, the northern population of the species is in danger.  The fence inhibits the black bears’ travel and thus leaves them unable to continue reproducing in certain areas.

The border blockage isn’t the only thing leaving the black bear population dwindling though in Arizona.  Researchers also say that “the expanding highway systems that slice through rugged terrain” take away much of the land that is the black bears’ natural habitat.

Researchers came to their conclusions after doing a study in which they set up hair snags in scattered areas around Arizona, and the genetic evidence produced from this experiment showed significant differences between the black bears in the state and black bears near the border.

One bear researcher, Dr. Jon P. Beckmann, makes it clear that he wants people to be aware of how human activity affects the natural order of other species.  The study was published in Biological Conservation this month in hopes of bringing the issue to light.

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UPS Demands Inclusion in New FAA Rules

December 23, 2011   Meagan Cahuasqui   No comments

The new rules for airline pilots were recently enacted, which state that no airline pilot may fly on less than eight full hours of sleep.  Now the United Parcel Service’s (UPS) union demands to be included among the pilots this rule applies to.  The Federal Aviation Administration, or FAA, has declined their request.

Now, UPS is taking their case to court, but not seeing a change of mind.  The FAA claims including cargo carriers in the rule would cost too much, adding an extra $214 million.  The high cost for them does not compare to the safety benefits of including cargo carriers among the pilots affected by the new rule.

One of the issues of including cargo carriers is the fact that these pilots do more overnight flying than airline pilots.  They also cross time zones more often, and such elements have influenced the FAA’s decision in excluding them from the new rule.

At least the new rule for airline pilots has finally satisfied the safety advocates who have long urged for careful attention to pilots’ scheduling.  Research shows that fatigue is just as equally dangerous to a pilot’s reflexes and judgment as alcohol is.  The new rules limit a pilot’s flight time to between nine and fourteen hours.

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