The Chicago Sun-Times reports that a new study of bird DNA will likely have a major impact on our understanding of bird evolution and scientific classification.  Excerpts and link:

The five-year study — in which two Field Museum evolutionary biologists took part — is expected to transform conventional thinking about how birds evolved, those involved in the project say.

“It pretty much flies in the face, no pun intended, of the traditional thoughts of how birds are related,” said Sushma Reddy, a Field Museum scientist and one of the lead authors of the study.

Scientists spent the last five years examining the DNA of all major living bird groups, Reddy said. Recent technological advances made the mammoth study possible, said Shannon Hackett, another Field Museum scientist involved in the study.

The study results are so broad that the scientific names of dozens of birds will have to be changed, said Greg Borzo, a museum spokesman. Biology textbooks and birders’ field guides will also need to be revised, he said.

Among the more astounding discoveries: Falcons are not, as previously thought, closely related to hawks and eagles; tropicbirds — white, swift-flying ocean birds — aren’t closely related to pelicans and other birds; and the tiny, jewel-bright hummingbird evolved from the drab, nocturnal nightjar.

Reddy said the rearranging of the avian evolutionary tree is as shocking as someone discovering their cousin is actually their brother.

More here…

http://www.suntimes.com/news/metro/1027470,CST-NWS-birds27.article

Several news articles passed through my Google reader recently covering the Canadian lawsuit vs. American DTE plants.  This is a new legal tactic that could greatly impact development in Michigan.  Conversely, it could also improve our state’s environment.

Excerpts and links:

Port Huron Times Herald:

Edwards filed the lawsuit against DTE in March. He claims releases from DTE’s St. Clair and Belle River power plants have poisoned “the St. Clair River with dangerous amounts of mercury.” The levels violate Canada’s Fisheries Act, a law more stringent than U.S. environmental laws, Edwards claims in his lawsuit.

This is the first case of a foreign company being charged with violating a Canadian environmental law.

Simons said DTE hasn’t been officially notified of the court hearing.

“We haven’t been served legally,” he said. “They have to serve us in Canada, and we don’t have any operations in Canada.”

Asked if DTE won’t be present at the hearing if they aren’t served, Simons said “pretty much.”

“We’ll see what happens, but right now we haven’t been served,” he said Friday.

Edwards said if DTE representatives don’t show up for the court date, he will ask the court to move ahead with setting a trial date.

“They’re pretty much closing their eyes and pretending it will go away, and that’s just not going to happen,” he said.

http://www.thetimesherald.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080629/NEWS01/806290303/1002/rss

Detroit News:

After decades of relative cooperation between the nations on either side of the river, border battles over environmental issues are becoming increasingly contentious. DTE officials will appear in a Canadian court July 7 to answer charges concerning how its plants’ mercury emissions have affected Canada’s waters and soils downstream.

DTE’s court date next month will be a rare sight — an American company being tried in Canada — but one that may become more common as both nations move away from traditional bilateral negotiation that was once hailed as a model for the rest of the world.

Some legal experts trace these changes to the Bush White House and what they see as the government’s go-it-alone approach to dealing with the environment. And there are varying ideas about whether the trend is a good thing.

“The Bush administration has been less interested in solving trans-boundary issues through diplomacy and bilateral cooperation than previous administrations,” said Noah Hall, an international law expert at Wayne State University. “They haven’t taken the diplomatic bilateral approach, and people have been left with no other option than to go to court.”

Previously, disputes have been resolved through groups like the International Joint Commission or the Center for Environmental Cooperation, which was established as part of the North American Free Trade Agreement.

“Courts are fairly limited in what they are able to do,” said Marcia Valiante, a professor of environmental law at the University of Windsor. “They play a certain role and have certain remedies they can offer. But not all are going to be at the table to offer their point of view.

“When you negotiate and work out a resolution, there is more balance in terms of meeting everyone’s interests.”

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080627/METRO/806270382/1409/METRO

The Chicago Sun-Times has a good story about the Megabus.  Megabus is a British company that offers low-priced bus service between many midwestern cities with a Chicago hub.  $50 is the HIGHEST price possible for a round-trip between Chicago and Detroit.

Excerpts and link:

Megabus is popular because you can get a one-way ticket for as little as $1.50, depending on when you buy it. The earlier you book, the cheaper the ticket. My $16 round-trip fare was booked three weeks in advance.

Regular Megabus riders point out that classic bus riffraff (think “Midnight Cowboy”) is eliminated because you need to pay by credit card.

No-frills Megabus is cheap because it keeps its expenses low. My bus has six small television screens. None of them is on. There are no Megabus stations. Riders wait on city sidewalks, rain or shine. Megabus is like a B.L.T. sandwich without the tomato.

Chicago food historian Peter Engler has made about 25 round trips on Megabus. Engler, who doesn’t have a car, takes Megabus to sample regional cuisine in Detroit, Milwaukee and Toledo, where he had a “Double Goopie” hamburger at the Green Lantern diner.

“Considering the price, Megabus service is great,” he said. “On my second trip ever the bus caught on fire before they let people on. It was right outside Union Station. There weren’t any flames, but the fire department came and sprayed foam all over the back. The bus actually drove away and they had another bus there within 15 minutes. It still got into Milwaukee on time. That impressed me.”

“We’re at triple-digit growth,” Moser said. He said $50 is the most you can pay for a round-trip ticket between Chicago and Detroit; $24 is the highest price between Chicago and Milwaukee.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/hoekstra/1029985,TRA-News-Detours29.article

Megabus link:

http://www.megabus.com/us/schedules/index_midwest.php

MyNorth.com, the internet arm of Traverse Magazine, has an interesting tidbit explaining why human beings get wrinkled fingers when swimming.  It’s worth the click:

http://www.mynorth.com/My-North/June-2008/Mystery-of-the-Wrinkled-Fingers/

Note: The image above is from the wikimedia commons.  Click below for source information:

http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Image:Wrinkly_fingers.jpg

Eric Sharp of the Detroit Free Press has an interesting question/answer column at freep.com.  He answers the age-old question: Do fish sleep?

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/SPORTS10/806260361/1118/rss

Marty Hair, the garden writer for the Detroit Free Press, has an AWESOME idea.  He blogs about Garden Walk Buffalo.  City residents open 300 gardens for the annual late-July event.  It attracts 10,000 visitors to the city.

http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080626/BLOG30/80625086/1118/RSS

Personally, I think that four summer events should be on every community’s schedule: 1) a downtown car cruise, 2) a massive, community-wide garage sale, 3) a massive garden show, and 4) a city-wide backyard campout.

Don’t reinvent the wheel.  Just do what everybody does.  Do it BIG.  And do it well.

I love watching Tom Skilling’s weather forecast on WGN TV.  In my opinion, he’s the BEST television weatherman alive today.  Tonight he ended his forecast with an interesting fact.  The recent Midwest rains have increased the depth of Lake Michigan by one inch.  Here’s the cool fact.  That one inch equals 390 BILLION gallons of water.

http://blogs.jsonline.com/waukesha/archive/2006/11.aspx

We live in an amazing world.

For several months, I watched updates to the Juanita Richardson murder trial pass through my google reader.  Richardson was pushed off the cliffs at Pictured Rocks by her husband.  I avoided posting most of the updates because, despite the crime scene, it wasn’t germane to a hiking/travel blog.

Well, I’ll make an exception because Dateline NBC has scheduled an hourlong episode about the murder.  It broadcasts this coming Sunday night, June 29th at 10PM:

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/22688679/

The Pedal Across Lower Michigan finished today in Monroe.  The event was covered by several media sources:

Adrian Daily Telegram:

They have come from British Columbia, Alaska, Florida, Texas, as well as Michigan and many other points across the Midwest. They are riding bicycles of unique designs or off the showroom floor. The one thing they have in common is enjoying the company as they Pedal Across Lower Michigan.

The 27th Annual PALM Ride came through Lenawee County on Thursday, as riders traveled from Hudson High School, where they spent Wednesday night, to Tecumseh High School, where they camped again.

More here…

http://www.lenconnect.com/homepage/x379977423/Bicyclists-pedal-their-way-through-Lenawee-County

Mom Moments, the delightful new parenting blog in the blogsmonroe family, also has coverage:

http://www.blogsmonroe.com/moms/2008/06/27/bike-riders-in-yellow-shirts/

Note:  My favorite bikers on the PALM ride were the ones wearing the cow-themed bicycle helmet covers.  “We’re from Wisconsin!” they yelled.  Since my wife is from Wisconsin, I always get enthusiastic about Badger-state connections.

A redesigned website and the always wonderful Pure Michigan radio and television commercials have helped the Michigan Economic Development Corporation’s michigan.org website reach record levels of internet traffic.  Read excerpts from WWJ Newsradio 950 for more…

Two days after Monday’s record volume of 57,432 user sessions, Wednesday’s traffic to the site was up 24 percent over Monday’s levels. Wednesday, June 25 set a new record for volume on the site with 69,573 visits and 39,777 click-throughs to Michigan tourism industry Web sites, the biggest single day in the site’s history.

“Obviously, our Pure Michigan marketing effort is rapidly building momentum and is driving a record number of potential visitors to michigan.org,” said George Zimmermann, Vice President of Travel Michigan, a business unit of the Michigan Economic Development Corporation. “We know from independent research that 65 percent of consumers who use michigan.org for tourism information, then travel to and within Michigan. More Web traffic means more business at Michigan destinations.”

Michigan.org has continued to show growth in number of visitors this year. Web surfers turned to the site nearly four million times through May of 2008, up from three million during the same months of 2007, an increase of 31.6 percent.

http://www.wwj.com/Michigan-org-Breaks-Record-for-Second-Time-in-Thre/2490626