Sightings
Is the Queen Bee Lack of Effectiveness In 'Availability' to Blame? Bee Informed Partnership Releases Another Discouraging Report About Bee Colony Loss
Beekeepers do not only lose colonies in the winter but also throughout the summer, sometimes at significant levels. In the summer of 2014 (April – October), colony losses surpassed winter losses at 27.4% (total summer loss), with summer losses of 19.8% in 2013. Importantly, commercial beekeepers appear to consistently lose greater numbers of colonies over the summer months than over the winter months, whereas the opposite seems true for smaller-scale beekeepers. Beekeepers reported losing 42.1% of the total number of colonies managed over the last year, second highest annual loss recorded to date. more »
"Being captured is not just for journalists": A Hostage Policy Review Reportedly Near Completion
Editor's Note: We missed this program when originally presented, but wish to highlight it now when there is reported a review of hostage policy is nearing completion: Diane Foley, mother of executed US journalist James Foley, and Debra Tice, mother of missing freelance journalist Austin Tice, talked with Judy Woodruff, co-anchor and managing editor of PBS NewsHour, about new threats to journalism and press freedom during a program at the Newseum. more »
Between Two Worlds: Cruising the Turquoise Coast
Adrienne Cannon writes: It is raining in Istanbul on the first day of the tour. Our tour guide sets a quick pace during our visit to the Hagia Sophia mosque, and though I trot along as fast as I can, I fall behind the group. As we exit, I peer through the crowds trying to find the guide who has disappeared in a sea of umbrellas. For a few tense minutes I am alone and lost. Finally our unhappy tour guide finds me and cautions us all not to ever get lost as we will slow up the entire group. What a great beginning to my tour! more »
Just add water: A Computer That Operates On Water Droplets
Because of its universal nature, the droplet computer can theoretically perform any operation that a conventional electronic computer can crunch, although at significantly slower rates. Stanford Engineers, however, have a more ambitious application in mind. "Our goal is to build a completely new class of computers that can precisely control and manipulate physical matter." more »