Shark Attack

         On Wednesday afternoon, on New Zealand's popular beach west of Auckland a large shark was found biting a lifeless body. The man was in his 40s and was swimming 200 meters offshore near the Murwai Beach, which was around 25 kilometers from central Auckland when the 12 to 14 foot shark struck the swimmer. guards went out to the scene fisherman near by said that he believed that at least other sharks had joined in the frenzy around the body fir a few minutes.. The shark who attacked was a great white that was 12 to 14 feet. The police and lifeguards went out to the scene on inflatable boats. They saw the body when they fired at the shark. Police closed down the beach and also closed beaches in the surrounding area. The beaches are expected to remain closed for the few days. According to the New Zealand Department of Conservation  shark attacks kill approximately 25 people worldwide. Fatal attacks have been rare in the Country. The agency has said that there has been fewer than 20 shark attack deaths in more than 175 years in New Zealand.  
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/27/world/asia/new-zealand-shark-attack/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Cont. Hot Air Balloon Explosion

          Continuing the blog post of the hot air balloon that occurred in Cairo, Egypt on Tuesday  The governor of Luxor province has declared that the investigation can take two weeks. The accident was the world's deadliest hot air balloon accident in at least 20 years. Some of the investigations have confirmed that there was no foul play involved when the gas canisters on the balloon exploded. The explosion caused the balloon to plummeted approximately 1000 feet to the ground.

Hot Air Balloon Explosion

Tuesday morning in Egypt, there was hot air balloon crash.   As one of the balloons began to land an explosion sounded through the air and was followed by smoke. One of the balloons had exploded, with 21 people riding on it, and crashed approximately 1,000 feet, also being 300 meters, to the ground.

By Tuesday afternoon the death toll rose to 19 people and it became the deadliest hot air balloon accident in the world in at least 20 years. The state-run EgyNews has reported that the cause of the hot air balloon accident was a gas explosion.

The balloon contained 19 foreign tourists. Nine of the tourists were form Hong Kong, four from Japan, three from Britain, two from France, and one from Hungary.  
http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/26/world/africa/egypt-balloon-deaths/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Earthquake in Japan

On Monday, during the afternoon, an earthquake shook Tokyo, Japan. The earthquake had a magnitude of 5.7 and rattled central Japan on Monday afternoon. A second earthquake struck Japan 11 minutes later. The second quake had a magnitude level of a 4.6 quake. The Japan Meteorological Agency has confirmed that there has not been a tsunami alert has been issued. The quake took place approximately around 4:24 p.m. It was centered about 143 kilometers, also being 89 miles, north- northeast of Tokyo at a depth of 9.9 kilometers, also being 6.2 miles, according to the USGS.  

Life Found Under Antarctic Ice

 

Scientists report that, for the first time, they have found bacteria living deep under the Antarctic ice. This discovery could advance our knowledge of how life could survive on other planets or moons. It also offers the first glimpse of a vest ecosystem of microscopic life in the lakes of Antarctica. A network of hundreds of lakes lie between the land and ice covers it which is where scientists had an idea that this area could harbor life. The discovery of the bacteria hidden in the ice confirms that. On Tuesday, the expedition scientists gathered water and sediment samples that showed signs of life. After looking at the cells under a microscope, chemical tests showed that the cells were alive and were also metabolizing energy. A NASA senior scientist, Chris McKay, said that such analysis could determine if the bacteria in Lake Whillans have implications for the possible discovery of extraterrestrial life. The reason is that elsewhere, in the solar system, where there is good evidence of liquid water under ice sheets life would have to depend on minerals alone. The scientists had four days to go and receive the collected samples and gather images of the lake.

Further study will be done before scientific results would be published allowing other scientists to also look at the data. Dr. Priscu is very confident that researchers have achieved the first glimpse of an ecosystem that had been completely unknown.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/07/science/living-bacteria-found-deep-under-antarctic-ice-scientists-say.html?ref=world&_r=0

Meteor Explosion in Russia

Friday morning in Russia, a meteor went soaring through the skies exploding that shattered glass and left around 1,000 people injured. The number of those who are hurt continuing to rise ass new reports come in during the day. Most of the injuries have come from the Chelyabinsk region and the majority of the injuries are not thought to be serious. About 3,000 building in the Chelyabinsk region have received damage. Most of the damage sustained was broken glass. The meteor explosion occurred around of the time of 9:20 a.m. local time. The national space agency declared that scientist believed that one meteoroid had enter the atmosphere but then burned and disintegrated into fragments.   It is also believed that the remaining meteorites have been scattered across three regions of Russia, one of them being Chelyabinsk, and also Kazakhstan neighboring Chelyabinsk.

Scientists have reported that an asteroid is coming. The asteroid is known as 2012 DA14 and is thought to be 45 meters long. Scientists have also said that it will come no closer than 17,100 miles from our planet’s surface. The asteroid will not be visible by the human eye Don Yeomans, manager of the Near-Earth Object Program Office, has said that no earth impact from the asteroid is possible. Scientists have also determined that the meteor in Russia was on a very different trajectory from the asteroid and that they are completely unrelated.

(234)

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/15/world/europe/russia-meteor-shower/index.html?hpt=wo_c2

Powerful Earthquake Strikes the South Pacific

On Wednesday, an 8.0 magnitude earthquake exploded off the Solomon Islands in the South Pacific. IT triggered a tsunami that killed five people.  When the wave, approximately 1 meter high, hi the Santa Cruz Islands, four elderly people and one child died. The waves caused destruction and disruption at a local airport and its nearby villages.  The Pacific Tsunami Warning Center at first issued a tsunami warning for several countries in the region but later canceled it after reassessing the relevant data. The location of the center of the quake was near the Santa Cruz Islands. The quake, at first, was measured to be 3.6 miles deep but later was then revised to be a depth of 17.8 miles.

Precautionary measures have been taken in the region. The New Zealand Ministry of Civil Defense and Emergency Management warned citizens to stay of the water and to also stay away from the shore. Japanese officials have also reported that a small change in the sea level could affect the country’s eastern coastline. The New Caledonia Hugh Commission in the capital of Noumea ordered for an evacuation of the coastal residents on the eastern coast of New Caledonia and the Loyalty Islands.

(WC 200)  http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/05/world/asia/solomon-islands-quake/index.html?hpt=wo_c2