Swirling Cyclone Bears Down on California

As I write this, California is being lashed by rain and wind from a storm bringing much needed moisture — but which also threatens to cause some havoc in the form of mudslides and flooding.

Here’s how the National Weather Service in Los Angeles described it in their forecast discussion this morning:

A VIGOROUS WINTER STORM WILL AFFECT THE AREA THROUGH SATURDAY. EXPECT RAIN...MOUNTAIN SNOW...GUSTY WINDS...POSSIBLE THUNDERSTORMS...WATERSPOUTS...URBAN FLOODING...AND MUD AND DEBRIS FLOWS NEAR RESENT BURN AREAS. RAINFALL WILL BE INTENSE AT TIMES. A CLEARING AND DRYING TREND WILL START SUNDAY AFTERNOON. CLEAR WITH A WARMING TREND FOR EARLY NEXT WEEK.

Waterspouts?!

In the gallery above, you won’t see any of those. These images are various satellite views of the swirling cyclone that is bringing both relief and risk to California today and through tomorrow.

The first is a visualization of the storm’s cyclonic winds, as forecast by supercomputers. I chose it to lead off the gallery because it really emphasizes the structure of this powerful storm.

The next three images come from the GOES-13 weather satellite. The first is a true-color image of the storm. Next is a picture that shows water vapor over the Pacific. And in the third, North American is seen in the infra-red portion of the electromagnetic spectrum. I included this one because it shows the broader geographic context — and just how huge the storm is.

After the GOES satellite imagery comes two images captured by NASA’s Aqua satellite on Thursday, February 27. The first is in natural color, and it too emphasizes the sheer size of the storm. But I’m also intrigued by the much smaller cyclone-like pattern of clouds to the east, closer to the West Coast.

The second Aqua image is in false-color. Based on light in the visible part of the electromagnetic spectrum and short-wave infrared, this color scheme is good for revealing snow and ice — including small ice crystals in high-level clouds, which appear reddish-orange or peach. (This is the 3-6-7 band combination of Aqua’s MODIS instrument. For more detailed information, go here.)

Lastly, an image showing total precipitable water over the Pacific. The colors give an indication of the amount of atmospheric water vapor from the top of the atmosphere to the surface. It really emphasizes the tropical source of the moisture now dumping on California.

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[News & Analysis] Intellectual Property: California Moves Shake Up Prenatal Gene Testing Market

Science 8 November 2013:
Vol. 342 no. 6159 p. 680
DOI: 10.1126/science.342.6159.680 Intellectual Property Sequenom's 2001 patent on a method of isolating fetal DNA from a mother's bloodstream to test for Down syndrome was thrown out by a U.S. court in San Francisco. Judge Susan Illston rested her decision in part on the recent Supreme Court ruling that natural phenomena like genes cannot be patented. Illston also wrote that Sequenom's patented idea was not sufficiently inventive.

View the original article here

New app being tested to spot California whales so ships can avoid them

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Oct 1, 2013 4:15pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Marine biologists have begun testing a smartphone application that would allow boaters and conservationists to identify whales outside San Francisco Bay so ships can avoid striking the endangered mammals.

Whale Spotter, the app developed by Conserve.IO, will be used to map the feeding grounds of the enormous creatures, which large ships too frequently strike as they migrate along the California coast.

Among the areas of greatest concern for marine biologists and environmentalists are five California marine sanctuaries, two that shippers must pass through when they navigate into San Francisco Bay.

"This app is an opportunity for citizen scientists - people who love these waters - to contribute to protecting whales in the sanctuaries, giving us extra eyes on the water," Jackie Dragon, a Greenpeace campaigner, told Reuters.

Trained observers with an interest in whales will use the application to report their whale sightings, along with the animals' behaviors, to a global database. Biologists will use information from the app to map the whales' locations.

In June, new information about migratory patterns led to the rerouting of three shipping lanes into the San Francisco Bay, but scientists say they need more information on the location of whales along the California coast.

Large vessels struck whales at least 100 times in California between 1988 and 2012, said Monica DeAngelis, a National Marine Fisheries Service marine mammal biologist.

She estimates the true number could be 10 times higher given that whale injuries tend to go unreported. Once struck, the creatures often sink to the ocean's bottom.

ENDANGERED RIGHT AND BLUE WHALES

Commercial shippers use another, similar app called Whale Alert along the U.S. Atlantic Coast to try to steer clear of critically endangered right whales, only 400 of which remain in the East Coast, said Brad Winney, co-founder of mobile technology company Conserve.IO, developer of both apps.

Winney expects to ultimately merge the two applications that would become available to shippers on global seas.

"The vision of Whale Alert and Spotter is to support the worldwide collection of data to help shippers avoid whale habitats and avoid striking and killing whales," he said.

In Boston Harbor, the app includes a sonic-sensing system that listens for the sound of the call of the right whale, although that capability is not currently envisioned beyond Boston because of the expense, Winney said.

California biologists are most concerned about protecting endangered blue whales, the largest animals on the planet. About 2,000 blue whales remain along the West Coast, and biologists believe ships are striking them as well, DeAngelis said.

The 3,500 or so large vessels that travel through the Golden Gate must pass through one or two marine sanctuaries, said John Berge, vice president of Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents shipping companies.

Biologists are hopeful that boaters who use the app along the California coast will be better able to prevent collisions with the animals.

"I don't think it's the ultimate solution, but I think it's one tool to provide a better picture of where the whales are and hopefully to develop management strategies to avoid striking," Berge said.

A whale spotted in San Francisco Bay last week nearly caused the postponement of a race for the prized America's Cup.

Five dead blue whales, one a pregnant female, washed ashore in Southern California in 2007, raising awareness about the problem, Greenpeace's Dragon said.

"We're hopeful the public will see this as a great opportunity to help steward these waters and help us protect whales," she said. "Instead of having one or two eyes on the Bay, this is a chance to bring many eyes to the water."

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston and Diane Craft)

View the original article here

SpaceX Falcon 9 blasts off from California

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a small science satellite for Canada is seen as it is launched from a newly refurbished launch pad in Vandenberg Air Force Station September 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins

By Irene Klotz

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California | Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:15pm EDT

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) - An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades needed for planned commercial launch services.

The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, soared off a newly refurbished, leased launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Station at noon EDT/1600 GMT.

The Falcon 9 blazed through clear blue skies out over the Pacific Ocean, aiming toward an orbit that flies over Earth's poles. Perched on top of the rocket was a small science and communications satellite called Cassiope, built by MDA Corp of Canada.

The upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 has engines that are 60 percent more powerful than previous versions, longer fuel tanks, new avionics, new software and other features intended to boost lift capacity and simplify operations for commercial service.

Privately owned SpaceX has contracts for more than 50 launches of its new Falcon 9 and planned Falcon Heavy rockets.

Ten of those missions are to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other customers are non-U.S. government agencies and commercial satellite operators.

SpaceX also has two contracts for small U.S. Air Force satellites but is looking to break the monopoly United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has on flying big military satellites as well.

SpaceX already has flown three Dragon capsules to the station and made two other successful test flights with its older version Falcons.

The company advertises Falcon 9 launch services for $56.5 million. Company founder and chief executive Elon Musk said he would like to discount that price by recycling and reusing the Falcon's first stage. Currently, the spent boosters splash down into the ocean and cannot be reused.

Toward that goal, SpaceX has been working on related program called Grasshopper to fly a booster back to its launch site. Engineers have not yet tested how the system would work over water but they may get a trial run during Sunday's Falcon 9 flight.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

View the original article here

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from California

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a small science satellite for Canada is seen as it is launched from a newly refurbished launch pad in Vandenberg Air Force Station September 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins

By Irene Klotz

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California | Sun Sep 29, 2013 9:22pm EDT

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) - An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades before commercial satellite launch services begin later this year.

The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, soared off a newly refurbished, leased launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Station at noon (1600 GMT).

The Falcon 9 blazed through clear blue skies out over the Pacific Ocean, its water vapor trail visible even as the rocket left the atmosphere.

"It went better than expected. It was incredibly smooth," SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk told Reuters after the launch.

Nestled inside the rocket's new 17-foot (5-meter) diameter nose cone was a small Canadian science satellite called Cassiope that initially was to fly on SpaceX's now-discontinued Falcon 1 launcher in 2008.

"It's certainly a huge relief to have successfully delivered Cassiope to orbit. It's been weighing on me quite heavily," Musk said.

Cassiope, which is designed to monitor the space environment around Earth and serve as a communications satellite, and five secondary payloads were delivered into their intended orbits, Musk told reporters on a conference call.

As an experiment, both of the rocket's two stages were restarted during flight.

Musk is particularly interested in developing the technology to fly the Falcon's first stage back to the launch site or have it gently splash down in the water so its motors can be recovered, refurbished and reflown. Currently, after delivering their payloads into orbit, the boosters tumble back toward Earth and essentially explode mid-air before crashing into the sea.

"The most revolutionary thing about the new Falcon 9 is the potential ability to recover the boost phase, which is almost three-quarters of the cost of the rocket," Musk said.

Neither engine restart test went perfectly, but engineers were able to get enough data to plan on a demonstration flight next year.

"The most important thing is we now believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle," Musk said.

The upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 has engines that are 60 percent more powerful than previous versions, longer fuel tanks, new avionics and software and other features intended to boost lift capacity and simplify operations for commercial service.

Privately-owned SpaceX has contracts for more than 50 launches of its new Falcon 9 and planned Falcon Heavy rockets.

Ten of those missions are to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other customers are non-U.S. government agencies and commercial satellite operators.

SpaceX also has two contracts for small U.S. Air Force satellites but is looking to break the monopoly that United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has on flying big military satellites as well.

SpaceX already has flown three Dragon capsules to the station and made two other successful test flights with its older version Falcons.

Falcon 9's next mission is to put a communications satellite into orbit for SES World Skies. The launch is targeted for next month from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

"We accomplished a lot today," Musk said. "We have a little bit of work to do obviously, but all-in-all I think it's been a great day."

(Editing by Paul Simao)

View the original article here

Snorkeler finds rare giant oarfish off California coast

By Tim Gaynor

Tue Oct 15, 2013 6:18pm EDT

n">(Reuters) - A California marine instructor's leisurely weekend snorkel turned into the discovery of a lifetime when she found the carcass of a massive, eel-like creature of a species thought to have inspired legends of giant sea serpents.

Catalina Island Marine Institute instructor Jasmine Santana spotted the 18-foot (5.5-meter) oarfish, which is as thick as a man's torso, while snorkeling in clear waters off the island's coast on Sunday afternoon, the institute said.

The creatures are found in all temperate to tropical waters, but because they dive to depths of 3,000 feet, they are rarely seen and remain largely unstudied. Little is known about their behavior, the nonprofit educational institute said.

"Jasmine Santana was shocked to see (a) half-dollar sized eye staring at her from the sandy bottom," the institute said in a statement. "Her first reaction was to approach with caution, until she realized that it was dead."

Oarfish have a pug face, a crest running the length of their bodies and a skeleton of bone rather than cartilage common to fish species like sharks. They can grow up to a length of 56 feet. Because of their strange appearance, they are believed to have inspired legends of giant sea serpents.

It took a group of 15 adults to pull the fish's massive carcass up the beach to a better viewing area, the institute said. Its longest serving employee, Mark Johnson, could not believe his eyes. "In 32 years here," he said. "I have never seen anything like this!"

The body of the fish appeared almost perfectly intact. The institute sent tissue samples and video footage to a University of California at Santa Barbara fish expert, and is awaiting a final determination on the species.

A spokesman for Guided Discoveries, the educational nonprofit that operates programs on Catalina Island, said the sea creature's skeleton will likely be put on display for visitors.

(This story has been refiled to fix meter conversion in paragraph five)

(Reporting by Tim Gaynor; Editing by Cynthia Johnston and Gunna Dickson)

View the original article here

SpaceX Falcon 9 blasts off from California

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a small science satellite for Canada is seen as it is launched from a newly refurbished launch pad in Vandenberg Air Force Station September 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins

By Irene Klotz

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California | Sun Sep 29, 2013 1:15pm EDT

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) - An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades needed for planned commercial launch services.

The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, soared off a newly refurbished, leased launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Station at noon EDT/1600 GMT.

The Falcon 9 blazed through clear blue skies out over the Pacific Ocean, aiming toward an orbit that flies over Earth's poles. Perched on top of the rocket was a small science and communications satellite called Cassiope, built by MDA Corp of Canada.

The upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 has engines that are 60 percent more powerful than previous versions, longer fuel tanks, new avionics, new software and other features intended to boost lift capacity and simplify operations for commercial service.

Privately owned SpaceX has contracts for more than 50 launches of its new Falcon 9 and planned Falcon Heavy rockets.

Ten of those missions are to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other customers are non-U.S. government agencies and commercial satellite operators.

SpaceX also has two contracts for small U.S. Air Force satellites but is looking to break the monopoly United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has on flying big military satellites as well.

SpaceX already has flown three Dragon capsules to the station and made two other successful test flights with its older version Falcons.

The company advertises Falcon 9 launch services for $56.5 million. Company founder and chief executive Elon Musk said he would like to discount that price by recycling and reusing the Falcon's first stage. Currently, the spent boosters splash down into the ocean and cannot be reused.

Toward that goal, SpaceX has been working on related program called Grasshopper to fly a booster back to its launch site. Engineers have not yet tested how the system would work over water but they may get a trial run during Sunday's Falcon 9 flight.

(Editing by Bill Trott)

View the original article here

New app being tested to spot California whales so ships can avoid them

By Ronnie Cohen

SAN FRANCISCO | Tue Oct 1, 2013 4:15pm EDT

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Marine biologists have begun testing a smartphone application that would allow boaters and conservationists to identify whales outside San Francisco Bay so ships can avoid striking the endangered mammals.

Whale Spotter, the app developed by Conserve.IO, will be used to map the feeding grounds of the enormous creatures, which large ships too frequently strike as they migrate along the California coast.

Among the areas of greatest concern for marine biologists and environmentalists are five California marine sanctuaries, two that shippers must pass through when they navigate into San Francisco Bay.

"This app is an opportunity for citizen scientists - people who love these waters - to contribute to protecting whales in the sanctuaries, giving us extra eyes on the water," Jackie Dragon, a Greenpeace campaigner, told Reuters.

Trained observers with an interest in whales will use the application to report their whale sightings, along with the animals' behaviors, to a global database. Biologists will use information from the app to map the whales' locations.

In June, new information about migratory patterns led to the rerouting of three shipping lanes into the San Francisco Bay, but scientists say they need more information on the location of whales along the California coast.

Large vessels struck whales at least 100 times in California between 1988 and 2012, said Monica DeAngelis, a National Marine Fisheries Service marine mammal biologist.

She estimates the true number could be 10 times higher given that whale injuries tend to go unreported. Once struck, the creatures often sink to the ocean's bottom.

ENDANGERED RIGHT AND BLUE WHALES

Commercial shippers use another, similar app called Whale Alert along the U.S. Atlantic Coast to try to steer clear of critically endangered right whales, only 400 of which remain in the East Coast, said Brad Winney, co-founder of mobile technology company Conserve.IO, developer of both apps.

Winney expects to ultimately merge the two applications that would become available to shippers on global seas.

"The vision of Whale Alert and Spotter is to support the worldwide collection of data to help shippers avoid whale habitats and avoid striking and killing whales," he said.

In Boston Harbor, the app includes a sonic-sensing system that listens for the sound of the call of the right whale, although that capability is not currently envisioned beyond Boston because of the expense, Winney said.

California biologists are most concerned about protecting endangered blue whales, the largest animals on the planet. About 2,000 blue whales remain along the West Coast, and biologists believe ships are striking them as well, DeAngelis said.

The 3,500 or so large vessels that travel through the Golden Gate must pass through one or two marine sanctuaries, said John Berge, vice president of Pacific Merchant Shipping Association, which represents shipping companies.

Biologists are hopeful that boaters who use the app along the California coast will be better able to prevent collisions with the animals.

"I don't think it's the ultimate solution, but I think it's one tool to provide a better picture of where the whales are and hopefully to develop management strategies to avoid striking," Berge said.

A whale spotted in San Francisco Bay last week nearly caused the postponement of a race for the prized America's Cup.

Five dead blue whales, one a pregnant female, washed ashore in Southern California in 2007, raising awareness about the problem, Greenpeace's Dragon said.

"We're hopeful the public will see this as a great opportunity to help steward these waters and help us protect whales," she said. "Instead of having one or two eyes on the Bay, this is a chance to bring many eyes to the water."

(Editing by Alex Dobuzinskis and Cynthia Johnston and Diane Craft)

View the original article here

SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasts off from California

A Falcon 9 rocket carrying a small science satellite for Canada is seen as it is launched from a newly refurbished launch pad in Vandenberg Air Force Station September 29, 2013.

Credit: Reuters/Gene Blevins

By Irene Klotz

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California | Sun Sep 29, 2013 9:22pm EDT

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, California (Reuters) - An unmanned Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from California on Sunday to test upgrades before commercial satellite launch services begin later this year.

The 22-story rocket, built and flown by Space Exploration Technologies, or SpaceX, soared off a newly refurbished, leased launch pad at Vandenberg Air Force Station at noon (1600 GMT).

The Falcon 9 blazed through clear blue skies out over the Pacific Ocean, its water vapor trail visible even as the rocket left the atmosphere.

"It went better than expected. It was incredibly smooth," SpaceX founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk told Reuters after the launch.

Nestled inside the rocket's new 17-foot (5-meter) diameter nose cone was a small Canadian science satellite called Cassiope that initially was to fly on SpaceX's now-discontinued Falcon 1 launcher in 2008.

"It's certainly a huge relief to have successfully delivered Cassiope to orbit. It's been weighing on me quite heavily," Musk said.

Cassiope, which is designed to monitor the space environment around Earth and serve as a communications satellite, and five secondary payloads were delivered into their intended orbits, Musk told reporters on a conference call.

As an experiment, both of the rocket's two stages were restarted during flight.

Musk is particularly interested in developing the technology to fly the Falcon's first stage back to the launch site or have it gently splash down in the water so its motors can be recovered, refurbished and reflown. Currently, after delivering their payloads into orbit, the boosters tumble back toward Earth and essentially explode mid-air before crashing into the sea.

"The most revolutionary thing about the new Falcon 9 is the potential ability to recover the boost phase, which is almost three-quarters of the cost of the rocket," Musk said.

Neither engine restart test went perfectly, but engineers were able to get enough data to plan on a demonstration flight next year.

"The most important thing is we now believe we have all the pieces of the puzzle," Musk said.

The upgraded Falcon 9 v1.1 has engines that are 60 percent more powerful than previous versions, longer fuel tanks, new avionics and software and other features intended to boost lift capacity and simplify operations for commercial service.

Privately-owned SpaceX has contracts for more than 50 launches of its new Falcon 9 and planned Falcon Heavy rockets.

Ten of those missions are to fly cargo to the International Space Station for NASA. The other customers are non-U.S. government agencies and commercial satellite operators.

SpaceX also has two contracts for small U.S. Air Force satellites but is looking to break the monopoly that United Launch Alliance, a partnership of Lockheed Martin and Boeing, has on flying big military satellites as well.

SpaceX already has flown three Dragon capsules to the station and made two other successful test flights with its older version Falcons.

Falcon 9's next mission is to put a communications satellite into orbit for SES World Skies. The launch is targeted for next month from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida.

"We accomplished a lot today," Musk said. "We have a little bit of work to do obviously, but all-in-all I think it's been a great day."

(Editing by Paul Simao)

View the original article here