http://www.omaha.com/article/20140117/NEWS/140118817

Birds of a feather may flock together, but why they fly together in V formations has never been known for certain. Now, with the help of 14 northern bald ibises fitted with lightweight sensors on a 1000-kilometre migration from Austria to Tuscany, researchers are suggesting that the explanation is one that was long suspected but never proved: the formation helps the birds conserve energy.

Reporting in the journal Nature, the scientists write that the ibises positioned themselves in spots which were aerodynamically optimal, allowing them to take advantage of swirls of upward-moving air generated by the wings of the bird ahead. The lead bird gets no lift advantage; the ibises regularly switched leaders.

''We've been wondering for years whether flapping birds can save energy by following each other in the right way,'' said Geoffrey Spedding, chairman of the aerospace and mechanical engineering department at the University of Southern California, who was not involved in the study. ''This work answers that question, and the answer is yes.''
northern bald ibises 
Training flight: The ibises followed behind researchers in a paraplane. Photo: AP
The study looked at ibises, but experts say it could apply to other birds that fly in V formations as well, such as ducks and pelicans.
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The scientists, led by Jim Usherwood of the Royal Veterinary College in Britain, said a major challenge was obtaining the data. The ibises were hatched at Zoo Vienna in March 2011 and raised as part of a project aimed at reintroducing the endangered species to its natural range in Europe.

Some of the study's authors served as human foster parents, taking the young birds on training flights. The humans rode in a paraplane, a lightweight aircraft attached to a parachute, and the birds followed.

An analysis of 24,000 flaps showed that the ibises on average adjusted their position to optimise the lift from the vortices, and readjusted their phasing when they changed positions within the V. The study does not say how much energy was saved, but small gains could be useful over long migrations, experts say.

Another question is how the birds know to fly in these optimal spots. Dr Usherwood said that they might have evolved ''rules of thumb'', or that ''they have good sensors'' and adjust to find spots that feel good. ''Splitting apart those possibilities would be possible with cunning experiments we have planned,'' he said.


Source:http://www.smh.com.au/environment/animals/scientists-discover-why-birds-fly-in-a-v-20140116-30xt4.html#ixzz2qb45hDIC

LOS ANGELES –  From “penis alerts” and jokes about anal sex to porn talk and allusions to masturbation, “2 Broke Girls” sounds like something you'd find late at night on HBO.

Instead, it's a hit sitcom on CBS, smack dab in the middle of prime time at 8:30pm.

The fact that the Kat Dennings/Beth Behrs-starring comedy airs on a broadcast network between the hours of 6am and 10pm, where FCC rules prohibit profane speech, has scores of upset viewers flooding the FCC's website with complaints.

Governmentattic.org published an array of comments received by the FCC about the program.

“I feel this is soft porn. No wonder our country is in the condition it is when shows like this are on the air,” stated one complaint. Another noted that they were “shocked to hear the term ‘b*tch’ used twice and so loosely in a prime-time show where children could be watching.”

“I am really disturbed by what I am seeing on national television. I tolerated it enough when it was on cable due to the fact that I chose to purchase cable… But now public television is riddled with sexual overtones and inappropriate material for children,” wrote another viewer. “I am asking that the FCC do their job and remove these types of television shows from our public broadcasting systems. I have served my country with honor and am proud to say that I am an American, but when we continuously allow these types of shows to air I am rather embarrassed and ashamed of us as a country.”

According to reports, at least 100 viewers have filed informal complaints to federal regulators about the show’s content, citing the many crude sexual epithets uttered by the characters.

“’2 Broke Girls’ is proof each week that no one at the FCC cares what is going on regarding broadcast TV. If they did, they’d put the show in a more appropriate time slot, like 3am,” Dan Gainor, VP of Business and Culture at the Media Research Center (MRC) told FOX411. “It’s a non-stop bad sex joke. In one recent episode, I counted at least 14 different sex jokes, three of them mentioning ‘vagina.’ The only thing the show is missing is nudity and a stripper pole.”

(Note to Gainor: They actually did use a stripper pole in an ad for the show during last year's Super Bowl. See Exhibit A above.)

“Many TV shows today leave little to the imagination,” observed Matthew Vadum of the Capital Research Center. “’2 Broke Girls’ seems inappropriate for prime time.”

Not everyone agrees.

"CBS has no obligation to only create child-friendly programming so your kids aren’t subjected to sexual suggestion, especially at night – and the FCC isn’t here to raise your kids," said L.A-based pop culture expert Jenn Hoffman. "Ironically, the same values-obsessed people who want the FCC to swoop with an iron first and regulate our airwaves are often the same people who want the Federal government to leave their speech, guns, heath care and  churches alone. At some point you have to choose what type of country you want to live in and stick with it."

CBS declined to comment, and the FCC did not respond to a comment request, so we don't yet know if the FCC has acknowledged the complaints or been in touch with CBS. Stay tuned...

A German teen was allegedly raped by a fellow passenger on an Indian train.

Tamil Nadu police arrested 22-year-old Chandan Kumar after an 18-year-old tourist accused him of sexual assault

The teenager was visiting India to volunteer with a non-governmental agency. She was traveling from Mangalore to Chennai on Jan. 10 using a RAC ticket, which is similar to a stand-by ticket. She and Kumar were assigned to share the lower berth of a two-tiered sleeper train.

The woman told police that Kumar waited until she fell asleep before making sexual advances. She was reportedly too terrified to shout for help.

She filed a complaint with the police on Jan. 13.

“The young lady took several days to muster courage to report to the police. Though it's too late for medical examination, we have handled the case in a very sensitive manner,”

The police tracked down Kumar, a carpenter from Bihar, after looking through the train’s passenger logs.

The latest allegation of rape comes close on the heels of another incident earlier this week.

A 51-year-old Danish tourist was robbed, beaten and gang-raped near a popular shopping area in New Delhi after she got lost and approached a group of men for directions back to her hotel, cops said. Fifteen men have been arrested in connection with that case, according to The Local.

The number of female tourists in India has dropped by one-third since 2012, after the brutal gang-rape of a 23-year-old Indian woman on a moving bus, the Independent reports.

The number of rapes reported in India has surged since the Delhi bus rape, suggesting that some women have found the courage to speak up about their ordeals. Between January and October last year, 1,330 rapes were reported in Delhi and its suburbs, compared with 706 for all of 2012, according to government figures.

The government has also taken measures to crack down on the violence — doubling prison terms, and criminalizing voyeurism and stalking.

With News Wire Services

http://www.nydailynews.com/news/world/young-german-charity-worker-raped-indian-train-article-1.1581863