Cloud computing certainly seems to be the “phrase of the day” in much of the computing world today, and many experts now think that cloud computing will be “the next big thing.” Indeed, Gartner believes that in the end, the impact of the cloud model will be “no less influential than e-business.” Thus, it should not be surprising that in an October 2009 survey of IT executives, conducted by CIO Research, cloud computing was the number one subject of interest amongst an international panel of information technology decision-makers.

What is cloud computing? Cloud computing encompasses a whole range of services (as shown in Table 1) and can be hosted in a variety of manners (as shown in Table 2), depending on the nature of the service involved and the data/security needs of the contracting organization. However, the basic idea behind the cloud model is that anything that could be done in computing — whether on an individual PC or in a corporate data center — from storing data to collaborating on documents or crunching numbers on large data sets can be shifted to the cloud. Certainly, cloud computing enables a new platform and location-independent perspective on how we communicate, collaborate and work. So long as you can access the Web, you are able to work when and where you wish. With fast, reliable Internet connectivity and computer power, it does not matter where the document, the e-mail or the data the user sees on the screen comes from. Cloud computing enables providers to use distant data centers for cloud computing. Still, while some have predicted the end of the PC era with the rise of the cloud computing model, many believe that most organizations and even individuals will continue to make use of traditional PCs and laptops, even if more and more of their use will be to access the cloud.  

Table 1 – Categories of Cloud Services

For individuals, cloud computing means accessing web-based email, photo sharing and productivity software, much of it for free. And for organizations, shifting to the cloud means having the ability to contract for computing services on-demand, rather than having to invest to host all the necessary hardware, software and support personnel necessary to provide a given level of services. And for governments, the value proposition of the cloud is especially appealing, given both changing demands for IT and challenging economic conditions.

Table 2 – Types of Clouds

            Today, we are seeing implementations of cloud computing across the public sector all around the world.

Cloud Computing in the U.S. Federal Government

            In the Unites States, there have been early efforts at shifting IT to the cloud across the U.S. federal government, led by the country’s first CIO, Vivek Kundra. The CIO is attempting to institute massive strategic changes, both in mindsets and operations, in the federal information technology area. Indeed, Kundra believes that cloud computing represents a “tectonic shift” in computing technology (quoted in Campbell, 2009, n.p.), and he has predicted that ultimately, “the cloud will do for government what the Internet did in the ’90s.” In mid-September, Kundra announced the opening of the Apps.gov storefront (viewable at http://www.apps.gov), operated by the General Services Administration (GSA). Through Apps.gov, Kundra hopes to make it as easy for federal agencies to provision cloud services ranging from hundreds to millions of dollars in cost as easy as commercial buyers using cloud services from major cloud providers such as Amazon and Google, who may eventually become providers to the US government. We will also likely see more vendors create government-specific cloud computing products for equipping public sector computers with much of the functionality which today resides on individual machines and agency servers, following the lead of Google, which in September 2009 announced a version of Google Apps that will be specifically geared for U.S. federal agencies.

Cloud Computing in European Government

The UK government has made the creation of the “G-cloud,” which is to be a government-wide cloud computing network, a strategic priority. The Digital Britain Report, issued jointly in June 2009 by the Department for Business Innovation & Skills and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport, calls for the UK government to take the lead in a wide-ranging digital strategy for the country. As Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced the issuance of the report: “Digital Britain is about giving the country the tools to succeed and lead the way in the economy of the future.” An important aspect of the Digital Britain strategy is to improve governmental IT and allow for more services to migrate online. To support this action, the UK’s IT procurement efforts will be focused on enabling the government to become a leading force in the use of cloud computing. The report states that: “The Government’s impact on the digital economy goes way beyond its role as policy maker. In delivering public services, as a large customer of ICT products and services and as the owner of data systems, the public sector has enormous influence on the market. In many areas, such as education, health and defence, Government can use its position as the leading procurer of services, to drive up standards – in some cases to set standards – and to provide an investment framework for research and development.” The Digital Britain team from both cabinet offices has an official forum, where interested parties can learn more about the plan and comment on it, located at http://digitalbritainforum.org.uk/.

            There have been other cloud computing efforts initiated in Europe as well, though none approaching the ambitious scale of the Digital Britain project. Oleg Petrov of the World Bank’s Government Transformation Initiative recently completed a project cataloging active cloud computing initiatives in countries around the world, and in Europe, he identified cloud efforts underway specifically in Sweden, France, and Spain. He found that in addition to setting-up internal, private cloud environments (as Spain is presently working on), European nations were beginning to explore the use of cloud-based computing in the following areas:

·      management of public sector housing

·      transportation service networks

·      economic development

·      census

·      health services

·      contracting and

·      education services.

Likewise, in Denmark, the National IT and Telecom Agency has recently released the results of a pilot effort in which two of its systems, Digitalisér.dk and NemHandel, were shifted from a traditional in-house environment to cloud hosting. The agency reported both significant cost and energy savings through the effort (Government of Denmark, Launching a dialogue on cloud computing in government. Presently, the National IT and Telecom Agency is working with Local Government Denmark (LGDK), a voluntary association consisting of all 98 Danish municipalities, to explore using cloud computing as part of their national and local IT strategies.

            On the European Union (EU)-wide level, we will likely see emerging cooperation of member states on an EU-wide cloud computing effort, which analysts say could well lead towards the creation of a cloud-based, common infrastructure for IT in member states. With many of the same pressures and forces operating on EU governments as in the United States, we will likely see just as many — if not more — coopera­tive efforts and innovative experiments in cloud computing on the national and even transnational level in Europe.  

Managing Government IT in the Clouds

Today, in late 2009, we are in a transitional stage in the history of computing. Cloud computing does appear to be poised for rapid growth in the personal, corporate and governmental realms. Indeed, developments and expectations in the consumer realm are becoming drivers of what can and what is expected to be done in both public and private sector organizations. U.S. federal CIO Kundra, discussing his decision to emphasize greater use of cloud technologies, recently stated: “When employees go home, they have access to more technology at home than they do at work. I said ‘wait a minute, people have this access at home, how can I bring it to the government?’ It made a compelling reason for us to move that direction.”

IT leaders should recognize that there are eight fundamental elements that are vital in enabling the cloud computing concept. For the cloud model to work in the public or private sector, it is essential that there be:

1.     Universal Connectivity — users must have near-ubiquitous access to the Internet

2.     Open Access — users must have fair, non-discriminatory access to the Internet

3.     Reliability — the cloud must function at levels equal to or better than current stand-alone systems

4.     Interoperability and User Choice — users must be able to move among cloud platforms

5.     Security — user’s data must be safe

6.     Privacy — user’s rights to their data must be clearly defined and protected

7.     Economic value — the cloud must deliver tangible savings and benefits

8.     Sustainability — the cloud must raise energy efficiency and reduce ecological impact.  

There are many issues that remain to be worked out from a technology standpoint. Yet it is highly likely that as with other major tech­nological changes, the most important issues to be resolved will be people-based, not tech-based. Resistance to cloud computing from end-users is likely to be limited, so long as they can count on the same type of IT resources as they have had in the past. As one commentator put it, the key metric for them will be: “When I sit down at that computer, do I see the functionality I need?” (n.p.). There will undoubtedly however be some resistance among the IT workforce to the advent of cloud computing. Traditional IT staffers are likely to be the most resistant, while those with experience with web development are likely to be supportive of cloud efforts. However, the rising generation in the IT workforce — comfortable in their use of and reliance upon a whole host of web-based tools and services — will be more willing to shift operations and data to the cloud than will be the current generation of IT decision makers. They will likely see their older colleagues’ concerns about reliability and security issues regarding the use of cloud computing as “exaggerated and quaint.”

Many in IT may also perceive the shift as not just changing what they do in their jobs, but as a threat to their very jobs. Martha Dorris, Deputy Associate Administrator for the GSA’s Office of Citizen Services in the US federal government, commented that the biggest issue in her agency’s changeover to a cloud-based platform was that: “Our technology team did not want to give up the servers.” She observed that in the end: “This isn’t a story about technology. It’s a story of culture.”   As we have seen with so many technological shifts that have previously occurred, it is essential to gain cultural buy-in from employees to get them to do something differently, as it absolutely essential for cultural change to accompany the technology shift. Indeed, many in IT will have to overcome their fear of data and applications not residing within their realm of control within their own four walls.

Many IT professionals are growing more receptive to the concept overall, as these cloud computing tools may in fact make their jobs better by freeing them from the “day-to-day hassles” of maintaining software. Certainly, the nature of IT jobs and the skills required to perform them will change markedly over the next decade. There will be less manual work needed internally, both in data centers (“racking and stacking”) and in the field (doing installations and upgrades). At the same time, there will be a greater emphasis on the negotiation, conceptual and people skills needed to manage contracted cloud services. Indeed, in the near future, there will be a great need for developing expertise in specifying, negotiating, and managing service-level and organizational agreements. On the executive level, the shift to greater use of cloud computing will enable IT managers to be able to focus on how to best deliver services, rather than where they are hosted or how they are implemented. This will, of necessity, lead to changes in how IT and IT managers are evaluated for their performance.

How will this impact IT employment overall? Cloud computing will undoubtedly create jobs in the near-term. Yet over the next decade, there will be both new companies and new jobs emerging in the area of cloud services, countered by a significant displacement of many of the “nuts and bolts” technology jobs in IT — doing “hands-on” work in maintenance, upgrades and the like internally for organizations. Overall, the technical skills needed for IT jobs will likely decrease, as many jobs in the field become more administrative in nature, such as overseeing contracts and handling cus­tomer inquiries. Some have referred to this as a shift away from “blue-collar” IT jobs and careers towards a more white-collar IT workforce.

While IT has certainly seen platform transitions before, from mainframe to Windows to the Web, the fact is that “human capital is the most difficult kind to upgrade.” Thus, at a time when cloud computing is emerging so quickly, it will be difficult to train IT professionals on cloud technologies and then to retain them. This will require retraining of many present IT workers, and those jobs that are found with cloud providers will indeed be away from “traditional” tech centers and major cities and more located in the rural, power-friendly areas where major cloud data centers will tend to be more commonly located. Indeed, some European governments and companies have expressed concern about working with U.S. based cloud computing providers out of concern that their data—housed at least partially on American soil—could be subject to U.S. governmental review due to the provisions of the Patriot Act. And, in order to encourage economic develop­ment, national and regional governments may require cloud providers to either manage operations in govern­ment data centers or to even locate data centers within their jurisdictions—so that the money and jobs stay in their own local area! Thus, cloud computing may indeed be a way to promote growth in areas that have a properly trained IT workforce, cheap electrical power and reliable connectivity. This will occur in developed nations for now, but eventually, as we have seen in other aspects of technology, such operations and their jobs will likely migrate from the first to the third world over time – so long as the Internet and security concerns are addressed.

            As government executives consider the move to cloud environments, they must weigh the potential savings, increased collaborative capabilities and operational advantages with the security, reliability, and privacy concerns that “cloud” the overall outlook for cloud computing. Still, cloud computing represents a revolutionary change in the way computing power will be used and procured, and as such, it will have significant impact both in the developed world and in developing nations.

David C. Wyld (dwyld@selu.edu) is the Robert Maurin Professor of Management, Southeastern Louisiana University in Hammond, Louisiana. He is a management consultant, researcher/writer, and executive educator. His most recent work is “Moving to the Cloud: An Introduction to Cloud Computing in Government,” by David C. Wyld. It is a research monograph published by The IBM Center for the Business of Government, Washington, DC in November 2009. The complete report is available for free on the web in PDF format at: http://www.businessofgovernment.org/pdfs/WyldCloudReport.pdf.

     We left the devilish exhibit, and the next stop was the mundane butterfly room.  Or at least it was mundane, until one landed on the back of my neck.  Now, I knew it was a room full of only butterflies, but I also knew with equal certainty that the foot long centipede had followed me and was now in the process of eating me.  I made a rather hasty (and apparently, humorous) exit.

     So that is what bugs and things that look like them do to me.  Allow me to share a bit of the heebie jeebies with you.

House Centipede

We’ll start with this creepy little bastard, because you might very well see this one in your home.  The first time I saw one, it was about two inches long and I thought the gates of hell had opened up.

Giant Centipede

While we’re on the subject, how would you like to wake up with one of these guys on ya?

Gaint African Millipede

And then there is the millipede.  As a pet?  Never in life.

The Roach

Normal roaches are nasty enough, but imagine a herd of these.  Whenever I see stuff like this, I flinch for hours at the slightest tickle…

Rhinocerous Beetle

I can comfortably say that if I saw one of these, I would get my gun and shoot it.  Repeatedly.

Cthulthu Larva (Abyssmal Sea Slug)

Animals like this make me glad I’m neatly tucked away in Wisconsin; no where near the damn ocean.  Doesn’t look harmful, exactly, but on the creepy scale it’s a 10.

Coffin Fish

Tell me this doesn’t remind you of the little ones in Aliens.

Giant Isopod

Yeah, they’re like 2 feet long.  The Flea from hell.

Say cheese!  In fourth place I’d put this Bruce the Shark (Finding Nemo) impersonator. 

The 14 ft long white shark was snapped in the waters off the coastal Mexican resort of Guadalupe.  The fearless photographer maintains that he wasn’t in any danger – he apparently had a “100% safety record” and went on to say that great whites aren’t as ferocious as they’re made out in the Jaws movies.  I’ll take his word for that but don’t think I’ll take up shark photography myself!

In third place is this polar bear giving his rendition of I’m Forever Blowing Bubbles.

Polar bears are found mainly in the Arctic circle and are the world’s largest carnivore species found on land. They’re also the largest of the bear species.  Unfortunately these beautiful creatures are classified as a vulnerable species, according to the International Union for Conservation of Nature, with 5 of the 19 sub populations in decline due to hunting and climate change.

In second place is this talented lion. 

The picture was taken by a tourist who was travelling in the car behind.  The victims were enjoying the view when the 300lb lion walked calmly across, firmly took the rear door handle with his teeth and pulled it open in one deft movement.

Apparently it took several seconds for the dire situation to sink into the car’s occupants but eventually they hit the accelerator and ran for the hills!  The lion followed on until the enclosure gates were reached where a warden hurled stones to encourage it to go back.  A spokesman from the Safari Park in Johannesburg said that even if the lion had got into the car, it was unlikely to attack the occupants as all the animals are well fed.  All very well for you to say mate, but think of the muddy paws and the amount of fur a thing that size would leave in your vehicle!!!  It’s bad enough with a dog; but a lion??

Now this has to be my winner. 

David Schultz, the photographer, had been taking regular visits from a helicopter base camp to the main emperor penguin rookery in Antarctica over some time to film them and had obviously piqued their curiosity.  Eventually it all became too much for them so they ventured towards David to have a closer look.  David backed away from his camera to see what they did and, to his amazement one of the three looked through the view finder while the other two posed!  Fortunately David had another camera so he was able to take this remarkable picture.

Image via Wikipedia

Cloaking Device

The ability to truly cloak something in warfare would greatly improve the chances of victory. The British Army have already managed to successfully do it. They managed to ‘hide’ a 60 tonne tank just by projecting images from behind the tank to the front, giving the impression that there was nothing there.

Communicator

Sitting proudly on the uniform, all Captain Kirk had to do was hit the button and he could talk to anyone else. The crazy thing is, it actually exists. Vocera Communications has made the device like-for-like, using hands-free voice activated devices (carried around the neck) they can talk to all their fellow workers.

Holodeck

Virtual reality made good. In the series, all a crew member had to do was step on to the holodeck and they would be whisked away into whatever place they wanted to be. Similar technology is being worked on in the real world. MotionWare headsets already exist that trick your brain into thinking you are somewhere you are not.

Hypospray

In the original Star Trek, Dr Leonard McCoy used a hypospray to administer medicine without the use of needles. Back in the real world, a Massachusetts Institute of Technology chemical engineer has designed a device that parts the skin temporarily, thus allowing any medicine to pass through freely.

Image via Wikipedia

Phaser Gun

Set phasers to stun – sounds good doesn’t it? It is not far from becoming reality. The US defence firm Ionatron is in the process of developing laser guided, directed energy weapons that can annihilate or stun. The company are also currently developing weapons for the US military.

Super Glass

If you are going to be flying through space and have no idea what you may encounter, it would be ideal to have some kind of super glass protecting the windows of your craft. The US Air Force has developed a type of super glass that can withstand bomb blasts and armour-piercing bullets.

Tractor Beam

It would be a amazing if you had a spaceship that had a tractor beam, hauling in nearby spaceships at any time you wanted. A version currently exists. Scientists at St Andrews University created a tractor beam of sorts, they successfully used it to move glass beads with a beam of light under a microscope.

Tricorder

In Star Trek, they used a tricorder to detect any illnesses in the body, merely by moving the device over it. There is a version in existence just now but it is limited to detecting pneumonia by sampling the air the patient breathes.

Universal Translator

Wouldn’t it be good if there was a gizmo that allowed you to translate any type of alien speak into English so you could understand it? Well it already exists – sort of. A device currently exists that translates most Earth languages and speaks them back to the recipient.

Warp Speed

In Star Trek, the Enterprise could travel faster than the speed of light. NASA haven’t yet managed to reach such speeds. They have managed to reach speeds of 17,000mph but a new engine they have been working on will have a top speed of 34,000mph and scientists believe that it could make interplanetary space travel a reality.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s unbelievable how this Vampire phenomenon has hit our culture! On TV, in movies, in books – we just can’t seem to escape these blood sucking bachelors. And just as many vampire stories there are out there, there are even more vampire legends. What harms a vampire- Garlic? A wooden stake in the heart? How about a little flower.

Image by watchwithkristin via Flickr

In the CW hit show “Vampire Diaries” we’re seen people use something called Vervain to combat a threatening vampire. It doesn’t kill the vampire. It just sort of evens the playing field, weakening a vampire enough to get a stake through the heart or lock him away in a casket.

If you think this Vervain is something totally made up by the people at the CW, well then you’re dead wrong. Vervain, also called Verbena, is a type of flower. It’s been in use since at least the middle ages where it was often used as a type of herb.

But Vervain is no simple flower or herb. Even before people have been writing about vampires falling in love with high school girls, the flower has been associated with divine and supernatural forces. There’s a popular story about how Vervain was used to try to stop Jesus’ wounds from bleeding after he was taken down from the cross. Other ancient legends claim this flower can protect you from vampires.

Image via Wikipedia

It’s good to remember that while vampires may be the current hot thing in our culture, it’s definitely not new or original. So it’s great to see one of these vampire stories looking back into real culture and legends for elements to add to the tale.

So, here’s what you need to know to stay safe from vampires: Mix Vervain in a tea, wear it in your hair, put the oils in a bath. However you use it, just keep this stuff around and supposedly you and your neck will remain puncture-free. Unless, of course, you’ve become smitten with the likes of Edward, Damon and Stefan… then I guess Vervain is just not for you.

Like squirrels, chipmunks are frequently considered pests. Like all rodents they carry disease and in fact may be more common carriers of rabies than dogs, cats, or squirrels. If they somehow get into your home from the wild they can do a great deal of damage. 

Most of us think of chipmunks as mostly seed and grain eaters, but they are omnivorous and in addition to seed and grain will eat bird’s eggs, fungi, small frogs, worms and insects. But they are hoard animals as well, stashing grain and seed over winter months. They live in burrows that can be up to 3.5 meters in length, usually with several “secret” or hidden entrances. Interesting to note is that chipmunks also have different rooms in their burrows which have different functions. For example, their sleeping area is separate from their pantry, and their bathroom is separate from both of those. It makes one wonder if this arrangement was part of the inspiration for the cartoon chipmunks, Chip and Dale.

All mammals breathe air into their lungs and whales are no exception. These aquatic mammals are descendants of mammals that have gone back to the sea and those huge creatures were of the order artiodacyla and they had many similarities to the modern day hippopotamus.

Image via Wikipedia

Molecular biology and DNA testing gives convincing evidence for this connection and verifies that whales entered the water approximately 50 million years ago. Whales are divided into two broad groups called baleen and toothed whales. There was a third group but this is now totally extinct.

The first group of whales has a sieve like mesh at the back of the mouth which strains plankton and microscopic creatures from the water. This group contains the largest species of whales which seems strange because, logically, it would be expected that the larger species would feed of the larger, more substantial food source.

Image via Wikipedia

The second group is the toothed whale that preys on squid, fish or both. This is the group that has such a sensitive and accurate echo location system. This system is also known as biosonar and is also found in other mammals including dolphins, shrews and bats. Echo locating animals project sound and listen for the echo that comes back and this helps them to navigate, or hunt.

Image by natalielucier via Flickr

Changes in the environment and the increasing use of sonar equipment on board ships has affected the toothed whales very badly. It disrupts their sonar so that hunting is not as effective and it misdirects their navigational abilities. This could be a major contribution to the disturbing incidences of whales beaching themselves, or getting stuck upstream in rivers.

Image via Wikipedia

Whales are warm blooded creatures and they give birth to live young, just like other mammals do.

They feed their young milk from mammary glands and even have hair on their bodies. All these things are proof of the link with land mammals.

The body of the whale is like that of a fish but remnants of forelimbs can be seen in the creature’s front flippers. The tail holds the fluke which enables propulsion. Most whales do not have hind limbs but there are a couple of exceptions to this rule. Sperm whales and baleen whales sometimes have very simple back limbs. Most whales also have a dorsal or back fin.

Image via Wikipedia

Beneath the skin of the whale is a thick layer of blubber, or fat, which provides insulation and it is for this fatty layer that whales have been hunted almost to extinction in some cases.

Whales breathe through blow holes which are located at the top of their heads. This location enables the whale to breathe and still remain submerged. Baleen whales have two blow holes and baleens have one. After a dive whales blow out water spouts which vary in shape according to species. A sperm whale can stay underwater for up to two hours without having to surface for air.

Image via Wikipedia

The lifespan of the whale is estimated to be somewhere between thirty and ninety years depending on their species. However evidence of whales reaching more than one hundred years of age has also been found. In one particular instance part of a lance used by whalers in the 1800’s was found embedded in a bowhead whale which was caught off the coast of Alaska.

Male whales are known as bulls, females are called cows and their offspring are called cows and they tend to live in groups. Communication between whales is based on a series of sounds called whale song. These sounds are very loud because these are such large creatures and sperm whales have also been heard emitting a series of clicks. This is how these amazing creatures operate their inbuilt sonar system. They have been known to emit 20,000 watts of sound at 163 decibels. That’s a lot of noise when you consider that a blast from a shotgun reaches 130 decibels and a rocket launch generates 180 decibels. That places whale song somewhere between these two in volume.

Image via Wikipedia

Whales do not usually form lasting bonds during the mating season and a cow may have several male partners during one season. Cows usually only give birth to one calf which is born tail first and suckles milk directly from its mother. Whale milk is a very thick, pasty substance and is actively squirted into the mouth of the suckling calf by the mother so that none of it gets lost in the water.

Sonar interference and whaling are endangering many whale species but these are not the only hazards they face. Seismic testing for oil and gas is thought to disrupt whale sonar and changes in the earth’s magnetic field may also be a factor in beaching. Fishing gear and collisions with ships frequently cause injury, or death and toxins known as persistent organic pollutants cause even more serious problems, These toxins can cause hearing loss in whales and so disrupt the fine tuning needed for their sonar operation.

Culturally whales have featured in stories and legends. For example in Pinocchio where the puppet and his father are swallowed by a whale and the tale of the great white whale, Moby Dick. The whale is mentioned in the Bible, ‘And God created great whales’, (Genesis 1:21) and in the Qur’an in the story of Jonah being swallowed by a great whale.

There are fourteen known species of baleen whales and of these the best known are Bowhead, Humpback Whale, Blue Whale and Grey Whale. The toothed whales number twenty six species including the Sperm Whale, Narwhal and Beluga.

A third group of whales is now thought to be extinct. The archaeoceti group were the forerunners to the modern whale. In 2004 fossils of an unknown extinct archeoceti were discovered and the species was named Harrison’s Whale after the discoverer. Sadly, not all extinct whales come from this group.

The Blue Whale is the world’s largest mammal and reaches up to thirty-three metres long with a weight of one hundred and ninety tonnes. It is thought to be the largest animal of any kind, ever to have lived on the earth. During the twentieth century, these creatures were hunted almost to distinction. In the middle of the 1960’s the blues were protected and this has helped their numbers to recover in the southern oceans. The last count was an estimated 2,300 and growth of about 7% per year has been seen since. (Figures courtesy of the BBC News Channel) and there is also evidence of an increase in numbers in the North Atlantic region.

The Bowhead Whale which is a particularly slow moving species has been protected since 1937. It grows up to 20 metres in length and inhabits the Arctic and Sub Arctic Seas. Although these whales are protected, native peoples are still permitted to hunt them for food. The Bowhead’s numbers are recovering in the Bering Sea, Chukchi and Beaufort Seas but the process is slower around Greenland and Baffin Island. It is thought that there are just 8000 Bowhead Whales in existence at this time.

The Fin Whale grows to about eighteen metres long and is found in north and south hemispheres. These creatures swim in pods of seven or eight individuals and eat mostly krill and herring. They have been so over fished and seen as a threat to herring fisherman that their numbers are sharply declining.

These are not the only threatened whale species. There are many more including the grey whale, humpback whale, and the Sei Whale. As our seas become more polluted and climate change plays havoc with food supplies for these creatures and other marine life we are in serious danger of killing these wonderful creatures off completely.

Coral reefs, their enormous variety of marine life and the sensitive eco systems surrounding them are also subject to the same destructive elements. Small changes in these areas have huge knock on effects in all the oceans of the world. This, combined with current changes, wind direction changes above the water have a far reaching effect on climate, drought and flood and so threaten our entire existence. Saving the whales now will have real long term benefits for the human race as a species. What is good for them now will eventually be food for us too.

It would be a very sad thing indeed if generations to come never saw whales, seahorses, walruses, penguins and starfish except in picture books, because we failed to do enough to protect them and their environment.

There is more at stake than preserving marine life and protecting whales because they are part of the same finely balanced eco system in which we live. The steps we need to take to make changes for these creatures are the same steps that are needed to save the very earth we live on and secure our own future as a species.

As most kids from 3 to 103 will know, Ratty was one of the prominent characters in Kenneth Grahame’s wonderful book “The Wind in the Willows”, but early illustrations show that Ratty wasn’t a rat in the true sense of the word but was more probably a water vole.  These attractive little creatures, around 20 years ago, could be found in great abundance on almost all of Britain’s waterways but numbers have declined by 90% since the 1980s.  But, just like Ratty, he’s putting up a damned good fight and water vole numbers are slowly on the increase.

However, Ratty’s decline wasn’t due to standing his ground against the evil weasels and stoats as in the story but due mainly to us humans who have been polluting the waterways and flinging pesticides hither and thither across the land.

In order to combat the decline of this cheeky little chappy recent legislation was put in place by way of a fine of £5,000 to anyone who injured one or disturbed his habitat.  Surprisingly, this legislation seems to have had some effect and this year’s British Waterways wildlife survey has revealed that, although these voles are still extremely rare, there were 89 sightings – twice as many as last year.  Most of the sightings seem to have been along the banks of the Kennet and Avon canal in southern England.

The survey was conducted by members of the public who reported on the various creatures they saw along the 2,000 mile network of canals and waterways and not only did it reveal a considerable increase in the number of water voles but, among a total of 42,500 sightings of wildlife, 127  birds and 27 butterfly species were spotted and three times as many frogs were spotted this year compared to last.

The top three sightings will come as no surprise to UK residents – there were over 7,000 sightings of mallard ducks, around 2,500 sightings of Canada geese, and almost 2,500 sightings of swans.

Other top sightings were moorhens, starlings, bumblebees, rabbits, house sparrows, coots and sticklebacks.

It was also good to see kingfishers fairly high on the list, although unfortunately not in the Top 20.  These fussy little birds like nice clean water – not your “bog standard” muck – so it bodes well for next year’s wildlife if the waters are contaminate free.

Two of the most bizarre beasties spotted were a porpoise in the River Ouse near Selby in North Yorkshire but being ever sceptical I do wonder whether this was spotted by a Theakston’s Old Peculier imbiber (a very well known English Ale to those of you not from the UK!) and, even more “Peculier” was the sighting of a large alligator snapping turtle (US native) which was found in the Earlswood Reservoir in Solihull   Quite why he’d want to go to Solihull I have no idea, but it’s thought that he may have been a “family pet” but became a little too large to handle!!!

And now on to Mrs Tiggywinkle.  She’s been snuffling around our gardens for centuries helping us veggie growers to ward off the evil slugs and snails which creep around unseen and unheard in the twilight zone but, due to our modern gardening fads she’s finding it difficult to find her way!

Due to the latest British fad for decking, patios, secure fencing and Mediterranean style gardens with stone or slate surfaces, Mrs T and her family are unable to get into many of our gardens and, if they do manage it, they can’t find food.  So, the next time you’re doing a garden make-over please consider the Tiggywinkle family!  Thankfully my driveway isn’t gated, and access from the drive into the back garden isn’t either.  I then have grass, and flower/vegetable beds so they can happily come in for a spot of slug and chips of an evening and they have no need to take the same route home – I’ve got a natural native British hedge at the bottom of the garden which was planted two or three years ago to replace a fence, and this leads into a meadow so my conscience is totally clear!  The only drawback in having one of just a handful of gardens in the locality which is a hedgehog haven is that I do have to dodge the hedgehog poo when I walk down the garden, but it’s a small price to pay!

In 1924, Bogdanov started experimenting on himself. The Russian physician would give himself blood transfusions and he claimed that it had stopped his baldness and improved his eyesight. Four years later, another transfusion of blood infected with tuberculosis and malaria caused his death.

Carl Scheele

Famed pharmaceutical chemist, Scheele discovered many different types of chemical elements. He also discovered a process that was very similar to pasteurisation. Unfortunately for Scheele, he had a bad habit of tasting everything he discovered. He died of symptoms very similar to mercury poisoning.

Sir David Brewster

Brewster was the Scottish inventor of the kaleidoscope. His main interests were, of course, optics and light polarisation. In 1831, a chemical experiment he was working on went terribly wrong and it almost blinded him. Brewster had eye difficulties for the rest of his life.

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Elizabeth Ascheim

Ascheim was the wife of Dr Woolf, they both had a major fascination with the x-ray machine (invented by Wilhelm Conrad Rontgen). The couple spent years experimenting with the machine which was attributed to the widespread and violent cancers they died from.

Galileo Galilei

Galileo is famed for his work on refinement of the telescope. He was overly fascinated with the sun and spent a lot of his time staring at it. Not surprisingly, this led to extreme damage to his retinas which left him blind for the last 4 years of his life.

Sir Humphrey Davy

On the bright-side (for the world at least) Davy’s work on various gases led to the discovery of the anaesthetic properties of nitrous oxide. Unfortunately for him personal, the inhaling of the gases he worked with led him to become an invalid for the last 20 years of his life.

Jean-Francois de Rozier

De Rozier was a famed physics and chemistry professor. He assisted in the first untethered balloon flight, which included a sheep, a chicken and a duck. He went on to attempt the first crossing of the English Channel by balloon. It was just an attempt because the balloon deflated and he fell to his death.

Marie Curie

It was in 1898 that Curie and her husband Pierre discovered radium and polonium. She was a double Nobel Prize winner for her work spent performing radiation research and studying radiation therapy. It caught up with her though as the constant exposure led to her contracting leukaemia.

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Michael Faraday

Two bits of bad luck for Faraday. It was bad enough for him that he suffered from the effects of chronic chemical poisoning, but he also suffered sever damage to his eyes after a nitrogen trichloride explosion. It didn’t dampen his spirits though.

Robert Bunsen

Bunsen will, of course, always be noted for lending his name to the Bunsen burner, the standard way to torch something in a classroom. Bunsen almost died twice of arsenic poisoning. After an explosion of cacodyl cyanide one day in his lab as he worked, he lost the sight in his right eye permanently.

It is impossible to tell the different between male and female embryos until they are between eight and ten weeks old. There are no outwardly visible signs until after this time, so an ultra sound would not be able to tell.

What happens after twelve weeks will depend on the type of chromosomes which have been inherited from the parents of the embryo.  A pattern of two X chromosomes, known as XX, means that the inherited chromosomes are female.  If they are made up of one Y and one X chromosome, the scientific pattern is XY and the embryo will be male.

The embryo always inherits an X chromosome from the mother, but the father can pass on another X or a Y chromosome. So it is the father who determines the sex of the baby.  This natural selection of chromosomes appears to be random but scientists are still examining the evidence to find out exactly what determines the type of chromosome that the father passes on.  Families where there are all girls, or all boys, may eventually give the clue to how selection is made.

After twelve weeks, depending on the chromosome pattern, testes or ovaries are produced. If testes develop they make a chemical which stops the female reproductive organs from developing.  Testosterone is also produced and this stimulates the growth of male reproductive organs.

Chromosomes do not simply determine the sex of a baby. They also determine physical strength and character and if the balance between the chromosomes is abnormal the baby develops mixed characteristics. For example, tests done on some female athletes in the past showed abnormal XXY chromosome patterns.  This in effect means that they have a third male chromosome as well as their two female ones.   This gives them extra strength and men with an extra Y chromosome giving them an XYY pattern are usually bigger and more aggressive than average.  In fact there has been research in the US which suggests that men with this extra Y chromosome may be more likely to be involved in crime.

So, it seems that there may actually be four sexes instead of just the two we have been accustomed to collecting. There is XX, XY, but then there is XXY and XYY. This certainly gives a great deal of food for thought.