Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (Nov.29,2013)

Bats vs. Turbines
A new study estimates that more than 600,000 bats are killed each year by the rotation of wind turbines in the continental United States.  Wildlife experts say those deaths are in addition to the large numbers of the flying mammals that are being killed by white-nose syndrome, which is caused by a fungus that has spread rapidly to bat caves and mines across North America.  Most bats don't die from actual contact with the turbines since their sonar allows them to avoid the blades.  But subtle changes in barometric pressure created by the rotating blades cause the bats capillaries to burst, resulting in deadly internal hemorrhaging.  Birds circulatory systems are different from that of bats, keeping them from being victims of such "barotrauma."  Most bat deaths occur when winds are relatively light because bats can't fly in high winds.  And since most turbines shut down when winds go below about 9 mph anyway, experts say increasing the "cut-in speed" to 11 mphwould reduce bat deaths by at least 44 percent.
New Flu
A young woman in Taiwan has contracted a new strain of influenza A, which is very similar in structure to the H7N9 bird flu that killed 45 people and infected 139 others in China last year.  The H6N1 strain is believed to have come from infected poultry and reacts to the same drugs that combat other strains of bird flu, like Taiwan's Centers for Disease Control.  Researchers there say H6N1 is widespread in poultry but no reported cases of transmission to humans have been found.  The Taiwanese patient fully recovered, and no trace of the virus was found in the 36 people with whom the woman had close contact.
Extinction-Proof
An Australian science project that is attempting to resurrect extinct species is being touted as one of the best inventions of 2013 by Time Magazine.  The Lazarus Project has been able to briefly bring back the gastric brooding frog , which became extinct in 1983.  The amphibian was unique for its ability to swallow its eggs and give birth through its mouth.  Researchers used DNA from some of the frog species tissue that had been kept frozen for 40 years.  They then deactivated eggs from a distantly related frog and swapped the nuclei with that from the extinct frog.  Some of the eggs began spontaneously dividing and growing to early embryo stage, but none survived past a few days.  The scientists were able to collect the extinct frog's reactivated genome in the process, which they plans to use in future cloning experiments.
Tropical Cyclones
Cyclone Lehar struck the same stretch of southeastern Indian coast hit a week earlier by Cyclone Helen.  The storm was also the third to rake the Andhra Pradesh coast this autumn, including Cyclone Phailin, which ravaged the region in mid-October.
*     Tropical Storm Alessia brought localy heavy rain and gusty winds to a remote portion of Australia's Northern Territory.
Earthquakes
Three strong quakes in northeastern China's Jilin province damaged scores of homes and sent thousands of residents repeatedly scrambling out of buildings.
*     Several homes were damaged along the Iran-Iraq border by a sharp quake that was also felt strongly in parts of the Iraqi capital of Baghdad.
*     Earth movements were also felt in southern Peru and north-central Texas.
New Island
Japan may have gained an additional patch of territory thanks to a volcanic eruption that created a new island in the Pacific.  The Japan Meteorological Agency says the islet is about 660 feet in diameter just off the coast of Nishinoshima, which is a small, uninhabited island about 600 miles south of Tokyo and 140 miles north of Iwo Jima.  The agency says it mow appears the new unnamed island could be here to stay, and it will not be eroded by the sea.
Moose-Choked Shark
A beached, bottom-feeding shark that bit off more than it could chew owes its life to some unusually brave and fast-thinking passers-by.  Derrick Chaulk and Jeremy Ball say they found the Greenland shark near Norris Arm, Newfoundland, with about 2 feet of moose hide and fur protruding from its mouth.  After yanking the stuck meal out of the shark's mouth by hand, the men manged to pull the toothy fish back into the water, where it sat until "water started coming out of its gills" and it became more alert.  After about half an hour, the shark flipped its tail and returned to the deep to the applause of people who had gathered along the shore to watch.  Greenland sharks are rare on that stretch of Newfoundland coast and typically spend a long life lumbering on the ocean floor.  They are usually blind due to parasites that have fed on their corneas, causing them to go for long periods of time without stumbling across food.