NASA’s Scientific Visualisation Studio has some cool information on their site, but two ones I found today were of particular interest.

The first is an animation based on the output of the best of our current climate models, showing what would have happened if we had not enacted the Montréal Protocol banning the emission of CFCs into the atmosphere. The period covered includes actual data collected since 1978 and modelled data from 2009 forward to 2065, showing a side-by-side view of what is happening on the left, and what would have happened without the treaty on the right. Have a look here.

The second animation show the changing extend of Arctic sea ice based on actual satellite observations since 1979. It’s frightening how much it has changed in the last 30 years. That animation can be viewed here.

I’d been thinking about donating blood for quite some time, but had never got around to it, so when the Red Cross Blood Service launched an appeal in the wake of the Victorian Bushfires, I got on the web and signed up.

Six weeks later, I finally got a call to arrange an appointment, an indication of how busy the service is at the moment, and yesterday morning was that day. People from the UK are banned from donating blood due to the incidence of BSE (Mad Cow disease) in the 80s & 90s, and since I’ve become used to Ireland occasionally being erroneously included in the UK, I wasn’t sure whether I’d be rejected or not. My sister, Bevin, had already been rejected in NZ, so I wasn’t hopeful. As it turned out, I needn’t have worried as the ban doesn’t include us healthy Southerners (but does include the Northies) so I was in.

After filling in the expected forms asking about IV drug use, AIDS, previous operations, transfusions etc. I had my blood pressure and iron levels checked and was given the all clear to donate. Fitted with a nice “It’s my first time” sticker, I was brought to the inner sanctum where the vampires lay, ready to extract a pint of whole blood. After being asked to state my name to ensure the paperwork accompanying me was actually mine, and a quick examination of my arms for a preferred injection site followed by a swab of antisepctic, the needle went in and the blood started flowing.

A couple of test tubes were filled for testing and then I was hooked up to the main collection bag and told to kick back and relax for the 10 minutes or so it takes to fill. No sooner than that was said and the machine started beeping away, clearly not happy about something. Turns out the flow rate was too slow running the risk of my blood coagulating and blocking the needle. Sadly, after an attempt to manipulate the needle in case its tip was abutting a vein wall, things didn’t improve and the attempt was called off with the bag only about 10% full.

Given that my heart only beats at around 45bpm when I’m sitting down, I thought that might be the issue, but was assured that wouldn’t matter and that it was more likely to be dehydration or nervousness. Given that I’d dehydrated anyway when I wake up, and that I’d then gone for a run and had a coffee before attempting to re-hydrate in time for the donation, I reckon that’s the problem.

Despite the mishap, I was still rewarded with a free juice and biscuits for my efforts, though I should have mentioned that the Irish Blood Transfusion Service give you a pint of Guinness afterwards - at least they did in the 80s when Mum was donating, not sure if they still do. Anyway, my next appointment is booked for the middle of June, so I’ll remember to be super-hydrated for that one and see how things go.

I finally got around to buying myself a driver, figuring that since I’m hitting my hybrids reasonably well, and have hit some crackers with mates’ drivers, it’s about time I got my own and learned how to hit it consistently.

With the price of new brand-name drivers being north of $500 locally nowadays, I first looked at importing from the US, before opting to hit Australian eBay stores. I also decided to aim for a 2008 model rather than the latest ‘09 version, in the end managing to score a Cobra L4V F/9.0 for $269 which I was pretty happy with.

The obligatory pre-purchase WBR (web-based research) revealed that this driver scored highly on the annual reviews of both the major US golf mags, and user opinions around the web suggest that it’s easy to smash the ball super-long. All I need to do now is ensure the ball lands on my fairway and not ones on either side!

Sunday morning saw my return to the triathlon scene after a couple of months off, competing in the Cronulla Olympic Distance Triathlon With all the weddings and buck’s parties after New Year’s I hadn’t done all that much training, and when I started up again a couple last month I immediately got shin splints from running too fast too soon. Still, I’d paid my entry fee so figured I might as well do the race.

I had to head down to Cronulla on Saturday to register and drop my bike into transition, then return at the crack of dawn on Sunday morning for the actual race. Saturday evening was nice and warm, with decent size waves promising to make the swim eventful. I’d been swimming at Bondi earlier in the day having fun in the waves, and since the ones in Cronulla were breaking much cleaner all was looking good. Race start was scheduled for 0645, and my wave was scheduled for 0745.

Woke up on Sunday morning and must have been a bit dopey, as I was leisurely eating my breakfast when I realised I should have left 10 minutes previously. The transition area is closed off before the race starts, so, although I wasn’t starting until 0745, I still had to have all my stuff organised in transition before 0630. I managed to get into transition just as they announced it was now closed, so I was a bit rushed in my preparation. I set everything up and walked out of there to join the pre-race toilet queue. While standing there I realised that not only had I still got my sunnies and running cap still with me, I’d also left all my race gear (lycra shorts, top & rash vest) in transitions, meaning I’d nothing to wear for the race. Thankfully they let me in to get my gear!

I ambled down to the beach about 10 minutes before my wave start, noticing that the waves were considerably more confused than yesterday evening, but, despite not having done any swimming since the beginning of December, I wasn’t worried. Some poor guy in the wave in front of me couldn’t get past the break: race effectively over after three minutes. After a brief instructive chat from the Technical Official, the horn sounded and we were off. I got going reasonably well, ducking under the incoming waves, but there was a lot of water moving around and you could really feel the pull if you came up too soon after the wave had passed. I did it twice and got sucked back a couple of metres, but that was the worst of it.

Out to the buoys, left turn for a few hundred metres then back into shore, constantly watching for a wave to catch in. Managed to catch a beauty, body surf the last 50m and stand straight up on the beach. Due to the big waves the swim had to be shortened from the expected 1500m to closer to 1000m, and relocated further down the beach where the surf lifesavers deemed it was safer. The downside to this was we had to run about 1.5km to get back to our bikes. Not ideal for me really, but it wasn’t too bad in the end.

Once out on the bike I resolved to take things easy enough not to fry myself on the run, especially since I’d had shin splints up until a few days previously. It was a two loop, out and back course, and it wasn’t until I reached the turnaround that I realised I’d had the wind behind me up until then and the way home would be a tiny bit harder. Towards the end of the bike my lower back was hurting a bit, just as it had done in Canberra, reinforcing my belief that the bike shop sold me a frame one size too big, so will have to trade it in before next season. I rode into transitions feeling fine and wondering what shape my run legs would be in.

It turns out that cruising the bike worked beautifully and my legs were fine, so I just concentrated on settling into a conservative pace so as not to wreck my shins again. The course had 4 small inclines per lap, which, although not super steep, were enough to prevent me settling into a nice rhythm. I was careful not to drink too much water or electrolyte, fearing that bloated feeling with too much liquid sloshing about, but things went smoothly and I crossed the line in 2:34:10.

Spilts:

In retrospect, I went way too easy on the bike, being a full eight minutes slower than the last time I did this distance (albeit on a different course), though my run was almost four minutes faster which I’m pretty happy with.

That’s it for triathlons for this season. Next race is the Sydney Morning Herald Half Marathon on May 17th.

No, not the reality show! People in the UK are up in arms over Government plans to create what amounts to a surveillance state. The US tried this a few years ago with their Total Information Awareness program which Congress eventually voted down, so it’s no great surprise to see the UK trying it on as well.

High on the concerns of the convention were the recent allegations against the British security services by Guantanamo Bay torture victim Binyam Mohamed, plans for ID cards, DNA collection databases and controversial surveillance powers being used by civil servants. In addition, concerns were high over Government plans to create a database of all the communciations and movements of ordinary people as well as the profileration of anti-terrorism laws including detention of suspects.

The Conservative MP David Davis, who resigned from the shadow cabinet in order to fight a byelection on a civil liberties platform, gave the final keynote speech of the day. He told the Observer that he believed the danger of a police state was a very real one and that justice secretary Jack Straw was leading a “piecemeal and casual erosion” of freedom in this country. “There has been a tide of government actions which have put expediency over justice time and time again. The British people wear their liberty like an old comfy suit, they are careless about it, but the mood is changing. Last year 80 per cent of people were in favour of ID cards, now 80 per cent are against. There’s a point of reflection that we are reaching, the communications database which is planned to collect every private text and phone call and petrol station receipt will create uproar.”

When the Iraq War kicked off in 2003, a South African conservationist, Lawrence Anthony, realised that no-one would be bothered to look after all the animals in Saddam’s zoo, so he headed over there un-announced to see what he could do.

Anthony was not the only South African working in the city. General Jay Garner, the US commander, had a dozen former South African special forces soldiers as personal bodyguards. “They would come and hang out at the zoo. And they’d bring their machine guns.”

US soldiers also pitched in. “They were amazing. They were out fighting a war all day and they would come and lay their rifles down, pick up a shovel and ask, ‘What can I do?’ Think about it, America and Britain, two first world countries with the strongest animal rights records. Everybody’s got pets and everybody understands animals, and they had no provision whatsoever for any wild animals in Baghdad.”

He adds: “Then something amazing happened. Iraqi civilians started arriving as well, and then the Republican Guard. We had Republican Guard soldiers working with American troops in the zoo two weeks after they were killing each other on the battlefield.” As the situation improved, so did outside and official interest. Anthony convinced the US to revive the adjacent park, while international conservation groups sent staff and supplies. The zoo reopened in July 2003 and has not been attacked since. The US spent $2.5m on it last year.

So yesterday, or today if you’re west of London, was the 200th anniversary of Darwin’s birth, and this year is also the 150th anniversary of the publication of On The Origin of Species.

While down in Canberra for John’s wedding last weekend I went to the Darwin Exhibition at the National Museum of Australia which was pretty interesting. While familiar with Darwin’s story, it was still pretty cool to see some of his original notebooks and realise that the scribbles therein changed the whole world. After all, Darwin is right up there with Gallileo, Newton and Einstein as the greatest contributors to our understanding of how the world works.

Looking at the exhibits, it’s depressing to think that 150 years later there are still large proportions of our population who are not prepared to accept that Darwin was right, and that evolution by natural selection IS the way all of life’s diversity came to be. Despite the mountains of evidence, and confirmation by things we’ve since discovered, e.g: plate tectonics, DNA/genetics etc. people are still prepared to insist that it’s all rubbish and “some dude in the sky made us”. I certainly know which story is more plausible.

Anyway, enjoy the day and get out there to appreciate the wonders of the natural world and the man who provided the foundation for our understanding how it works. And if you can’t get outside, then perhaps watching a David Attenborough documentary is an appropriate substitute!

Well, what can be said about the Victorian bush fires? They’re the worst natural disaster to befall Australia, and, if, as seems likely, they were started deliberately, the largest mass murder in Australia’s history. Police have declared certain areas as crime scenes, and radio news reports this morning hinted that they may be close to arresting someone they suspect of lighting some of the fires.

The weather throughout the south east has been ridiculously hot for the last two or three weeks, hitting 46C in both Adelaide and Melbourne. The inland suburbs of Sydney were regularly well over 40C this week, and at John’s wedding in Canberra at the weekend the temperature topped 40C on four consecutive days. With those sorts of temperatures fires are inevitable, even without arson. A 15yr-old boy was arrested in Sydney for starting a fire, though it appears he just let off a firework rather than deliberately trying to light vegetation with matches.

As of this morning, the death toll is 173 and it’s expected to top 200. 750+ homes have been destroyed. The Red Cross are running and appeal and you can donate on their website. They’re also looking for blood donors so I’ve signed up for that (yes Mum, I know I should have done it ages ago!)

The sad thing is that this sort of thing is likely to become more frequent due to climate change, yet there’s still some resistance to doing anything substantive about it. There were similar fires in 2003, but because they burnt through National Parks rather than towns no-one worried about them too much. SE Australia is acknowledged as being in the midst of a 12-year drought, but perhaps it’s not a drought so much as the new climate for that region?

I can hear it now… “That’s it! The Democrats won because their candidate was black! All we need to do to get re-elected is to find a black dude for our side!!”

Stupid bastards.

American Republicans today voted in Michael Steele as chair of the Republican National Committee, making him the first African-American to lead the party.

Mr Steele won in the sixth ballot, with 91 votes out of a possible 168, with Katon Dawson receiving the other 77 votes.

Correspondents say Mr Steele was the most moderate of the five candidates who stood for the position. The original favourite, the incumbent chair, Mike Duncan, pulled out after two rounds after losing ground to his rivals.

“We’re going to say to friend and foe alike, we want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us, and for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over,” said Mr Steele in his acceptance speech

Obama’s been in office for two days and he’s already undoing some of the damage of Bush’s eight years. Day 1 saw him halting all military tribunals in Guantanamo, issued an order to close Guantanamo within a year, started the process of getting troops out of Iraq and offered a new relationship to Iran.

Day 2 sees him closing the CIA’s special torture network and banning torture and rendition, claiming that We are not, as I said during the inauguration, going to continue with the false choice between our safety and our ideals.”

That’s some good work right there. Now all he has to deal with is * Afghanistan * Israel/Palestine * Global Warming * Financial Crisis and the fact that the US is more or less bankrupt

Should have it all sorted by mid-next week!