Xinhua – English
The News Review:
- Xinhua – English
- Hunt for cigarette arsonist pigeon
- Blackpool pigeon show preview
- Anti-pigeon plan is withdrawn
- Anti-pigeon plan is withdrawn.
- Balancing forces in the evolution of flight
Xinhua – English
æ°åç’ – Jan 18, 2007
cn 2007-01-18 09:41:54 JAKARTA Jan. 17 (Xinhua) — Following the rapid increase of bird flu fatalities the Indonesian capital city Jakarta administration Wednesday decided to ban backyard farming among its residents without providing compensation to poultry owners. The administration gives the owners of chickens ducks swans pigeons and quails two weeks to consume these fowls properly sell them or to simply destroy them from residential areas. nly those owners with fowls infected with H5N1 virus would receive compensation as much as 12500 rupiah (1. dollars) per chicken or bird… The head of the National Commission for Avian Influenza and Pandemic Preparedness Bayu Krisnamurthi praised the administration’s policy and hoped that other regions witch already infected with bird flu could also implement the same effort. “In other regions like West Java and Banten banning backyard farms and relocating poultry industry should be easier because they still has a lot of non-residential areas” he said. Indonesia is facing the second attack of bird flu early this month as temperatures drop during traditional flu season. Four people have died of bird flu in Jakarta during the past week pushing up the country’s death toll from the virus to 61. Most of the victims were believed to have had contact with infected birds. Editor: Yan Liang.
Hunt for cigarette arsonist pigeon
Metro – Jan 18, 2007
The Ratcliff Place offices in Huntington West Virginia went up in flames on January 10 gutting the building where many businesses had their homes. And local Fire Captain David Bias thinks that the culprit may have been a smoke-loving pigeon. 'It’s a possibility that has to be truly considered' says Bias who believes that a pigeon or other bird may have picked up a lit cigarette and tried to line its nest with it. He points out that fire investigators found a giant five-foot wide nest in the attic lined with dozens of cigarette butts. There were no electrics in the area around the nest where the fire started and the area is inaccessible to humans. It was either a cigarette he says or spontaneous combustion of the material in the nest. He admits though that he's 'taking a good bit of ribbing' over his arson-pigeon theory.
Blackpool pigeon show preview
Blackpool Today – Blackpool Today – Jan 18, 2007
As well as the traditional racing birds this year features a brand new attraction with fancy pigeons morADVERTISEMENTe exotic breeds also on show. The eye turning birds with names such as Norfolk Pouters will be taking pride of place in the Spanish Hall while thousands of racing birds will make up the main attraction in the Empress Ballroom. Thousands of birds and pigeon fanciers will be crammed into the Winter Gardens over the weekend. Peter Bryant of the Royal Pigeon Racing Society is the man in charge of the show. He said: “In 2005 we had worries whether the show would go ahead because of the bird flu crisis. Last year numbers were down but this year we’re hoping people will be back. “We have a brand new section to the show with fancy pigeons being judged for the first time… “There are going to be around 25000 people through the doors with around 500 or 600 exhibitors bringing birds for the show. “It should be the biggest event we have ever held in Blackpool. We’re still under tight health restrictions with the risk of bird flu still with us. But it should be a fantastic show. “Many of the venues at the Winter Gardens traditionally reserved for big stars will be taken over by pigeon fanciers for the weekend. Mr Bryant said: “The pera House where all the big names perform will be home to pigeon auctions for the weekend. Ricky Gervais might be on his way but this weekend it is pigeons which will be the star of the show.
Anti-pigeon plan is withdrawn
Peterborough Today – Jan 18, 2007
The plans for Commemoration Hall in High Street had been proposed by Huntingdon Town Council. A design statement said: ?The purpose of the work is to stop the pigeons settling on the cornice of the building which has caused lime deposit problems with this building and the adjacent property. ?The lime deposits are causing a problem which affects the visual appearance of the buildings and causes an ongoing maintenance issue. ?Various bird control measures have been investigated and the spikes solution is considered the most visually unobtrusive measure available. ?The spikes would be glued onto the building to avoid having to drill holes into the brickwork and the spikes would be cut flat so no injury would be caused to the pigeons. The plans have been withdrawn from Huntingdonshire?s District Council list of planning applications but the town council may submit a fresh application… A design statement said: ?The purpose of the work is to stop the pigeons settling on the cornice of the building which has caused lime deposit problems with this building and the adjacent property. ?The lime deposits are causing a problem which affects the visual appearance of the buildings and causes an ongoing maintenance issue. ?Various bird control measures have been investigated and the spikes solution is considered the most visually unobtrusive measure available. ?The spikes would be glued onto the building to avoid having to drill holes into the brickwork and the spikes would be cut flat so no injury would be caused to the pigeons. The plans have been withdrawn from Huntingdonshire?s District Council list of planning applications but the town council may submit a fresh application. The full article contains 176 words and appears in Peterborough ET newspaper. Page 1 of 1 Last Updated: 17 January 2007 4:52 AM Source: Peterborough ET Location: Peterborough Bookmark:.
Anti-pigeon plan is withdrawn.
Free with registration – Europe Intelligence Wire – AccessMyLibrary.com – Jan 18, 2007
(From Peterborough Evening Telegraph) A SCHEME to glue spikes onto the walls of a historic building in Huntingdon in an attempt to stop pigeons damaging the brickwork has been withdrawn. The plans for Commemoration Hall in High Street had been proposed by Huntingdon Town Council. A design statement said:. CPYRIGHT 2007 Financial Times Ltd.
Balancing forces in the evolution of flight
Ars Technica – Jan 18, 2007
As a result unless the pectoralis's force were balanced it would pull the wing right out of its socket. The authors of this report tested a number of other structures in the wing for their ability to counter-balance the force of this muscle and found that a ligament (the acrocoracohumeral ligament or AHL) was ideally located to provide an opposing force. In fact tests with the actual ligaments of dead pigeons revealed that the AHL could survive strains of nearly 40 times a pigeon's typical body weight. The authors ask what this ligament is doing when it's not stabilizing a wing? The closest living relatives of birds are the Crocodilians which primarily flex their shoulders horizontally. In alligators the ligament extends horizontally and doesn't even seem to be put under stress during their normal stride—the force generated by the pectoralis seems to be counteracted by other muscles. This raises some obvious questions about how the ligament came to play such a key role in the wing. Fortunately the paths and attachments of ligaments leave landmarks on bones which can be detected even in fossils… Fortunately the paths and attachments of ligaments leave landmarks on bones which can be detected even in fossils. Ancestors of birds such as therapod dinosaurs and the Archaeopteryx appear to have an arrangement very much like an alligator's. But after that point other fossil species on the bird lineage indicate that the adoption of a new orientation for the AHL and a more flexible shoulder joint occurred both very gradually and in tandem. The timing of these changes suggest that the last common ancestor of all modern birds (which lived well after their split with reptiles) had an intermediate shoulder where only part of the stress of a vertical wing was transferred to the ligament but that the process was at least underway. It's a neat study that suggests that even mechanical engineers might have something to tell us about evolution. Join the conversation.
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