Earthweek: A Diary of the Planet (March 7, 2014)

Bugs vs. Cold
Sub-freezing temperatures for weeks on end this winter across the northern U.S. and southern Canada are leaving insect experts hoping the chill will kill off some invasive species.  Backyard gardeners in the region can also hope for fewer pests this coming summer.  "Given that temps have gotten really cold, and not for one night but for a lot of people to hope for insect mortality," Deborah McCullough, a professor of entomology and forestry at Michigan State University in East Lansing, told Capital News Service.  The relatively mild winters of the past two decades have allowed some pests to spread northward, like the destructive emerald ash borer and the hemlock wooly adelgid.  But experts warn that not all bugs fall victim to winters like this.  The emerald ash borer can survive by burrowing beneath the insulating bark of its favorite tree and feeding on the moisture and nutrients inside.
Eruption
Guatemala's Pacaya volcano spewed ash and lava with such force that officials began considering the evacuation of about 3,000 nearby residents.  The volcano created a fountain of lava that rose about 2,600 feet above the summit crater.  A much taller plume of ash was visible from many parts of the country.
Earthquakes
A strong temblor centered just off the coast of western Nicaragua was felt from El Salvador and Honduras southward to Costa Rica.
*      Earth movements were also felt in Okinawa, Trinidad, south-central Alaska, interior parts of the Los Angeles Basin and central Oklahoma.
Nuclear Shield
Researchers are designing a spacecraft equipped with a nuclear bomb that could blast apart an approaching asteroid less than a week before it brought Armageddon to Earth.  The Hypervelocity Asteroid Intercept Vehicle would first bore a crater on the threatening space debris before the nuclear bomb is placed in it.  Scientists say that would increase the destructive power of the blast by a factor of 20 and leave only a tiny amount of remaining debris to strike Earth.   A presentation on the proposed asteroid buster was given last month at the 2014 NASA Innovative Advanced Concepts meeting at Stanford University.  Bong Wie, of Iowa State University, told the gathering that the project would need to be coupled with the proposed Asteroid Terrestrial-impact Last Alert System, which could give days or even months of advance warning.
Cold War Habits
Deer are still staying on their respective sides of the former Iron Curtain 25 years after the electrifield border fences were removed at the end of the Cold War.  The animals were fitted with radio collars along theborder of Germany's Bavaria region and the now Czech Republic during a six-year study.  "Deer on the Czech side of the Bohemian Forest wander no farther than where barbed wire used to mark the restricted area along the national border," said Czech zoologist Pavel Sustr, who headed the study. Only a handful of deer were found to be wandering a short distance across the border.  It's believed that female deer pass on territorial boundaries to their young from generation to generation.  Sustr says he thinks the Iron Curtain mentality will eventually disappear, and more deer will start to wander freely between the two countries.
Tropical Cyclones
Tonga was skirted by the second tropical cyclone to strike the South Pacific island nation in less than two months.  The center of tropical storm-force Cyclone Kofi passed just o the south of the archipelago, with the storm's outer bands bringing gales and locally heavy downpours to some islands.  In early January, Category -5 Cyclone Ian ravaged Tonga with 150 mph winds.
*     Tropical Storm Faxai formed over northern Micronesia, then passed well to the east of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Snake Eats Croc
An epic deathmatch near a Queensland mining town pitted an olive python against a crocodile, eventually leaving the snake fat, happy and victorious.  Travis Corlis and his wife, Tiffany, photographed the wrestling match in which the 10-foot python and smaller crocodile first began to grapple in Lake Moondarra, near Mount Isa.  Corlis said the battle went on for several hours, with the snake eventually pulling the crocodile to the lakeshore.  "We were sort of thinking that the snake had bitten off a little more than it could chew," Tiffany told the Australian Broadcasting Corp.  But the croc eventually "sort of gave in" and was then swallowed whole by the python, Tiffany added: "When you actually looked at the snake, you could ........see the crocodile's ridges, legs and everything inside its belly."  A recent drought was said to have caused the lake's level to drop, making the crocs in the water more visible.  But residents say they had never before heard of such a reptilian life-and-death battle.