Whale stress is linked to noise BOSTON (AP) — An ocean experiment that was accidentally conducted amid the shipping silence after Sept. 11 has shown the first link between underwater noise and stress in whales, researchers reported Wednesday. ADVERTISING The
Whale stress is linked to noise
BOSTON (AP) — An ocean experiment that was accidentally conducted amid the shipping silence after Sept. 11 has shown the first link between underwater noise and stress in whales, researchers reported Wednesday.
The analysis indicated that a drop in a stress-related hormone found in the right whales was tied to a dip in ocean noise that followed a near-standstill in ship traffic, due to security concerns following the attacks.
The work indicates whales and other sea life that use sound to communicate and travel can be harmed by the noise. That could prompt more research and eventually influence future ocean traffic and development, said New England Aquarium scientist Rosalind Rolland, the report’s lead author.
“This is definitely a very important piece in the puzzle that lends credence to the idea that, yes, we potentially have a problem out there and we need to learn a lot more about it,” Rolland said.
The report combined data from two unrelated experiments in Canada’s Bay of Fundy that happened to be occurring simultaneously. One involved acoustic recordings of right whales; the other the collection of whale feces samples, which contained stress-indicating hormones.
It wasn’t until 2009 that Rolland realized the information existed for the analysis, published Wednesday in the British journal Proceedings of The Royal Society B.
Airports will test new screening
WASHINGTON (AP) — A new passenger screening program to make check-in more convenient for certain travelers is being expanded to 28 more major U.S. airports including Honolulu International Airport, the government said Wednesday. There will be no cost to eligible passengers, who would no longer have to remove their shoes and belts before they board flights.
The airports include the three used by hijackers to launch the terror attacks in September 2001: Washington Dulles International Airport, Newark Liberty International Airport in New Jersey and Boston’s Logan International Airport.
The Transportation Security Administration’s program, already in a test phase in seven other airports, is the Obama administration’s first attempt at a passenger screening program responsive to frequent complaints that the government is not using common sense when it screens all passengers at airports in the same way. Under the new program, eligible travelers have the option to volunteer more personal information about themselves so that the government can vet them for security purposes before they arrive at airport checkpoints.
Gay marriage bill passes in Wash. state
OLYMPIA, Wash. (AP) — Washington state lawmakers voted to approve gay marriage Wednesday, setting the stage for the state to become the seventh in the nation to allow same-sex couples to wed.
The action comes a day after a federal appeals court declared California’s ban on gay marriage unconstitutional, saying it was a violation of the civil rights of gay and lesbian couples.
The Washington House passed the bill on a 55-43 vote. The state Senate approved the measure last week. And Democratic Gov. Chris Gregoire is expected to sign the measure into law next week.
Democratic Rep. Jamie Pedersen, a gay lawmaker from Seattle who has sponsored gay rights bills in the House for several years, said that while he and his partner are grateful for the rights that exist under the state’s current domestic partnership law, “domestic partnership is a pale and inadequate substitute for marriage.”
GOP blasts birth control policy
WASHINGTON (AP) — Republicans vowed Wednesday to reverse President Barack Obama’s new policy on birth control, lambasting the rule that religious schools and hospitals must provide contraceptive coverage for their employees as an “unambiguous attack on religious freedom in our country.”
The White House pushed back in the face of a political firestorm, arguing that Obama was sensitive to the objections and looking for a way to allay the concerns. Democratic women lawmakers put up a united front in defending the administration.
“Women’s health care should not depend on who the boss is,” said Illinois Rep. Jan Schakowsky.
The fight over the administration mandate escalated as House Speaker John Boehner accused the administration of violating First Amendment rights and undermining some of the country’s most vital institutions, such as Catholic charities, schools and hospitals.
He demanded that Obama rescind the policy or else Congress will.
“This attack by the federal government on religious freedom in our country cannot stand, and will not stand,” Boehner, a Catholic and Ohio Republican, said in a floor speech rare for the speaker.
The contentious issue has roiled the presidential race and angered religious groups, especially Catholics, who say the requirement would force them to violate church teachings and long-held beliefs against contraception.
It also has pushed social issues to the forefront in an election year that has been dominated by the economy. Abortion, contraception and any of the requirements of Obama’s health care overhaul law have the potential to galvanize the Republicans’ conservative base, critical to voter turnout in the presidential and congressional races.
Clearly sensing a political opening, Republicans ramped up the criticism. Shortly after Boehner spoke, GOP senators gathered on the other side of the Capitol to hammer the administration and insist that they will push ahead with legislation to undo the requirement.
Sen. Kelly Ayotte, R-N.H., called the new rule “an unprecedented affront to religious liberty. This is not a women’s rights issue. This is a religious liberty issue.”
