Outside Magazine: News From The Field RSS Feed http://www.outsideonline.com Outside Magazine: News From The Field RSS Feed en Copyright 2011, Outside Magazine Sun, 19 May 2013 16:38:11 -0700 Sun, 19 May 2013 16:38:11 -0700 http://feed2.w3.org/docs/rss2.html 180 http://media.outsideonline.com/designimages/outside-magazine-small.png Outside Magazine: News From The Field RSS Feed http://www.outsideonline.com 127 33 Outside Magazine: News From The Field RSS Feed Russian Space Mice Return to Earth A Russian space capsule carrying 45 mice, 15 newts, and a host of other small, possibly adorable animals, returned from a one-month mission in orbit Sunday. The Bion-M spacecraft landed safely in the Orenburg region of Russia, some 750 miles south of Moscow, according to Russian Mission Control.

Along with snails and gerbils, the capsule holds recorded data that Russian scientists hope will help pave the way for the first manned flights to Mars. A field laboratory has already been deployed near the landing site so that scientists can begin observing the effects of microgravity on the skeletal structure, nervous systems, and circulatory function of the animals.

According to Russian Mission Control, these tests would have been impossible to conduct on humans aboard the International Space Station. They also added that a mission separate from the ISS was necessary since a small zoo on the station would have posed a tremendous health risk.

There is no word yet on whether the animals have actually survived the ordeal or developed super powers.

]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 16:38:11 -0700 Bacon Cafe Under Attack For Smelling Like Bacon A popular pork-centered restaurant in the San Francisco area is closing due to its overwhelming aroma of bacon and concerns over grease disposal.

Department of Public Health officials told the SF Examiner that the restaurant, Bacon Bacon, had months to resolve the concerns raised by neighbors but failed to do so. The announcement has led to a swell of online support for the cafe, including a petition with more than 1,600 signatures from Bay Area residents who want to keep Bacon Bacon open. 

A public hearing must be held before Bacon Bacon can reopen, but one may not be scheduled until July. In the meantime, neighbor has offered to install an air filter to reduce the overwhelming smell of bacon, but the "to date, the owner has not accepted that offer," says Ryan Patterson, the attorney for the unnamed but upset neighbors.

]]> Sun, 19 May 2013 15:31:32 -0700 STUDY: Drought to Impact Major Cities Washington, D.C., New York City, Los Angeles, and San Diego may be facing severe water shortages as climate change increase drought potential, a newly released study finds.

The Columbia University Water Center notes that population growth and increased future demand for water combined with climate change may severely stress the current water infrastructure.

“Projecting current trends, if you continue business as usual without any innovation, eventually you're going to get to a point where you're not going to have enough water to cover population demands,” Veolia Water Chief Sustainability Officer Edwin Pinero told Bloomberg News.

The report follows a Ernst & Young sustainability study in which 76 percent of corporate representatives chose water as a top resource risk. Over the next 17 years, global demand for freshwater is expected to outstrip supply by 40 percent while companies in northern India and China are already shutting down due to a lack of water in the region.

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 13:15:51 -0700 Travis Tygart: UCI Has Failed to Confront Doping U.S. Anti-Doping Agency CEO Travis Tygart lashed out against the UCI at a meeting of European Union sports officals, saying the body has failed to take "decisive action" against doping since the Lance Armstrong and US Postal scandal.

“We have seen nothing. It has been over seven months since our report and their declaration that they needed to take decisive action,” he told the Associated Press. “So, of course, we are frustrated.”

Tygart pointed to the UCI's decision to disband an independent commission formed to examine the agency's role in the Armstrong case and the recent Spanish ruling to destroy blood bags linked to Operacion Puerto as setbacks in the battle against drug use.

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 12:09:31 -0700 Michael Phelps Planning a Comeback? Michael Phelps is pushing back against a report that he'll return to competitive swimming in time for the 2016 Rio Olympics. An NBC affiliate in Fort Myers, Florida, reported Friday that Phelps was considering a comeback. While not naming any sources, the story was posted by Peter Busch, the son of Frank Busch, director of the U.S. national swim team.

Phelps went to Twitter to downplay the news. "Why do I keep getting texts about coming back?" he wrote. "Do (people) really believe everything they hear or read? There are (too) many (people) in the world that think they have a `story.'"

Last weekend, Ryan Lochte hinted that Phelps would return to swimming, considering that many in the sport remain competitive well into their 30s. "I can't really talk about it," Lochte told the Associated Press, while grinning during a Grand Prix meet in Charlotte, N.C. "Who knows?"

]]> Sat, 18 May 2013 12:00:50 -0700 WATCH: Grizzly Tries to Eat GoPro If you've ever wondered what it's like to be eaten by a grizzly, a new video shot by a biologist in Alaska should help satisfy your curiosity. Brad Josephs was leading a group from Natural Habitat Adventures when he fixed a GoPro to a rock, hoping to capture images of wild bears.

When Josephs returned to review his footage, he found a three-year-old brown bear had decided to investigate the GoPro a little more closely, biting at it while its mother stood by. Remarkably, the camera survived. "The bear only gently mouthed the camera, and didn't even put a dent in it!" Josephs wrote on his site. Watch the clip below for a close-up look at the inside of a griz's gullet. The full video will appear in the BBC's The Great Bear Stakeout.

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 13:39:58 -0700 Woman Clubs Bear With Shotgun A Wisconsin woman beat back an attacking black bear with a shotgun, saving her husband and dog Wednesday.

The encounter began when Gerre Ninnemann spotted a bear chasing after his dog and went outside his cabin to call after the yellow lab. But the bear suddenly changed course and tackled Ninnemann, biting and clawing at his back.

Ninnemann briefly escaped, making his way back into the cabin. But the bear persisted and came after him again. His wife then found a shotgun, and not knowing how to load it, struck the bear on its head, causing it to temporarily flee.

“Now the bear is right at the front door and at the windows,” Gerre Ninneman told Fox News. The bear continued to circle the cabin, and a responding deputy shot and killed the animal.

Both Ninneman and his dog are expected to make a full recovery.

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 10:41:07 -0700 “Crazy Ants” Invade Southeastern US There’s a new kind of ant taking over the Southeast, and it's bad enough to make people miss the previously maligned fire ant.

Originally from South America, the Tawny crazy ant was first spotted around Houston, Texas, in 2002. Since then, they've fanned out across the Gulf Coast, taking over areas usually dominated by fire ants. And unlike fire ants, which tend to stick to the outdoors, crazy ants have no problem infiltrating homes.

“There are videos on YouTube of people sweeping out dustpans full of these ants from their bathroom,” researcher Ed LeBrun, who co-authored a study on the crazy ants said in a press release. “When you talk to folks who live in the invaded areas, they tell you they want their fire ants back.”

The ants appear to have no natural predators, and are impervious to the poisons used to control fire ant mounds. Unchecked, their colonies can easily reach 100 times the size of local ant colonies, which they directly attack.

One bit of good news: They don't sting like fire ants.

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 10:39:16 -0700 Tiny Lobster Boat Blocks Coal Tanker A 32-foot wooden lobster boat named Henry David T. pulled into the unloading dock of Brayton Point Power Station Wednesday morning and successfully forced a 690-foot freighter carrying 40,000 tons of coal to sit idle all day. 

The blockade was the doing of two climate activists, Jay O’Hara and Ken Ward, who run the website Coal Is Stupid. They wanted to bring attention to the fact that Brayton Point is New England’s single largest emitter of carbon dioxide, and that the freighter was carrying coal mined using the controversial method of mountaintop removal.

When asked by the Coast Guard to move the boat, O’Hara and Ward found their anchor was stuck. The boat finally left around 6:30 p.m., and the men were not arrested. Though the activists left believing they had successfully blocked unloading for the day, the freighter unloaded its shipment that evening.

]]> Fri, 17 May 2013 10:38:54 -0700 Wiggins Withdraws from Giro The Giro d'Italia lost two top contenders on Friday when reigning Tour de France champion Bradley Wiggins and defending Giro winner Ryder Hesjedal both withdrew from the Italian stage race.

“We monitored Bradley overnight and this morning we’ve withdrawn him from the Giro after consulting the team doctor,” team principal David Brailsford said in a team statement. “Bradley will return to the U.K. today for treatment and to rest and we hope to have him back on the road as soon as possible."

After a strong start in the team time trial, Wiggins had struggled throughout the race, losing time on several hilly and wet stages. On Wednesday, he admitted that he was suffering from a respiratory infection and cold, but intended to fight for a spot on the podium.

His hopes for the overall disappeared Thursday when he dropped more than three minutes off the pace on the slippery descent into the finish. Team Sky will now turn to Rigoberto Uran, who sits in third place at 2:04 behind race leader Vincenzo Nibali, to lead the team.

Meanwhile, Hesjedal withdrew from the race after losing more than 20 minutes Wednesday.

“It’s heartbreaking,” said Hesjedal in a team press release. “I want to be here for my team and for all the people who have supported me to get me here to this point. I built my entire season around the Giro and I came here feeling great, but I have been suffering since the TT. We’re working on it, but we’re not sure what’s wrong."

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