Giant Iceberg Breaks Off from Antarctic Glacier

(Reuters) - An iceberg the size of Luxembourg has broken off from a glacier in Antarctica after being rammed by another giant iceberg, scientists said on Friday, in an event that could affect ocean circulation patterns


The 2,500 sq km (965 sq mile) iceberg broke off earlier this month from the Mertz Glacier's 160 km (100 miles) floating tongue of ice that sticks out into the Southern Ocean.



The collision has since halved the size of the tongue that drains ice from the vast East Antarctic ice sheet.

"The calving itself hasn't been directly linked to climate change but it is related to the natural processes occurring on the ice sheet," said Rob Massom, a senior scientist at the Australian Antarctic Division and the Antarctic Climate and Ecosystems Cooperative Research Center in Hobart, Tasmania.

Both organizations, along with French scientists, have been studying existing giant cracks in the ice tongue and monitored the bumper-car-like collision by the second iceberg, B-9B.

This 97 km long slab of ice is a remnant of an iceberg of more than 5,000 sq km that broke off, or calved, in 1987, making it one of the largest icebergs ever recorded in Antarctica.

The Mertz glacier iceberg is among the largest recorded for several years. In 2002, a iceberg about 200 km long broke off from Antarctica's Ross Ice Shelf. In 2007, a iceberg roughly the size of Singapore broke off from the Pine Island Glacier in West Antarctica.




Massom said the shearing off of the ice tongue and the presence of the Mertz and B-9B icebergs could affect global ocean circulation.

The area is an important zone for the creation of dense, salty water that is a key driver of global ocean circulation. This is produced in part through the rapid production of sea ice that is continually blown to the west.

"Removal of this tongue of floating ice would reduce the size of that area of open water, which would slow down the rate of salinity input into the ocean and it could slow down this rate of Antarctic bottom water formation," he said.

He said there was a risk both icebergs would become grounded on banks or shoals in the area, disrupting the creation of the dense, salty water and the amount that sinks to the bottom of the ocean, he said.
Oceans act like a giant flywheel for the planet's climate by shifting heat around the globe via myriad currents above and below the surface.




(Reporting by David Fogarty; Editing by Alex Richardson)

News from the Reuters

Mt. Fuji

Photographers gathered before dawn to capture pictures of the sun reflecting off Lake Tanukiko after rising at the peak of Mount Fuji in Fujinomiya, Shizuoka Prefecture.

The sunrise glare on the summit Monday is a phenomenon known as "Diamond Fuji."

It was a particularly auspicious day because an absence of wind left the surface of the lake as smooth as glass, creating a breathtaking reflection.

The phenomenon can be seen for several days in late April and late August each year. It was expected to last until around Wednesday.





News from Asahi Shimbun

The Importance of Reading

The Importance of Reading

It is a well-known fact that when there were no televisions or computers, reading was a primary leisure activity. People would spend hours reading books and travel to lands far away-in their minds. The only tragedy is that, with time, people have lost their skill and passion to read. There are many other exciting and thrilling options available, aside from books. And that is a shame because reading offers a productive approach to improving vocabulary and word power. It is advisable to indulge in at least half an hour of reading a day to keep abreast of the various styles of writing and new vocabulary.





It is observed that children and teenagers who love reading have comparatively higher IQs. They are more creative and do better in school and college. It is recommended that parents to inculcate the importance of reading to their children in the early years. Reading is said to significantly help in developing vocabulary, and reading aloud helps to build a strong emotional bond between parents and children. The children who start reading from an early age are observed to have good language skills, and they grasp the variances in phonics much better.



Reading helps in mental development and is known to stimulate the muscles of the eyes. Reading is an activity that involves greater levels of concentration and adds to the conversational skills of the reader. It is an indulgence that enhances the knowledge acquired, consistently. The habit of reading also helps readers to decipher new words and phrases that they come across in everyday conversations. The habit can become a healthy addiction and adds to the information available on various topics. It helps us to stay in-touch with contemporary writers as well as those from the days of yore and makes us sensitive to global issues.

by Damian Sofsian

Photo Essay: Innocence and War

Ruined Body










Writing with a Crippled Hand









Smile









A New Bed!










A Happy Family







Deanne Fitzmaurice Photography
She won the 2005 Pulitzer Prize for Photojournalism

Naruto Whirlpool

NARUTO, Tokushima Prefecture--A famous whirlpool in the Naruto Strait drew crowds of sightseers Sunday as relatively calm conditions and strong tides created a huge vortex.

The whirlpool between Shikoku and Awajishima island in Hyogo Prefecture reached a diameter of 15 meters shortly after 2 p.m. on Sunday. During the afternoon and evening, tourist boats crowded into the narrow straight to watch the spectacle.

Uzu no Michi (road of whirlpool), a tourist center run by Tokushima Prefecture and located under the Onaruto Bridge which crosses the strait, was also packed with visitors. According to Uzu no Michi, the whirlpool will reach its peak at 3:50 p.m. on Tuesday.


News from Asahi Shimbun

Japan: Its Culture and Attractions

A geisha stands with sealed lips symbolizing a code of honor. Entertaining Japan’s male elite through music, dance, song, and conversation, geisha are valued as much for discretion as for beauty. The famed icons of Japanese culture have practiced their gei, or art, for over 250 years.




Geisha







A brilliantly decorated lantern float stands out against the summer night sky during the Neputa Festival in Hirosaki. Often depicting warriors and shaped like fans, the floats are accompanied by traditional drums. Folk festivals featuring traditional music, dance, and costume are an important cultural element in Japan.









Sumo wrestlers clash in a ring in Nagoya. Once supported by the patronage of emperors, Japan’s national sport has roots going back nearly 1,500 years. Short but intense, most matches last less than a minute, with the grandly attired gyoji serving as referee.










Paper lanterns decorated with script glow orange in Japan. The Japanese language commonly uses 15,000 kanji characters, which are borrowed from Chinese. Schoolchildren as young as seven must confront the language’s complexities, such as learning to write some of the 200-plus characters for the sound “shou.”






Rice cakes, or mochi, are a favorite in Japan, particularly during the New Year, when they are traditionally given as gifts, set out decoratively in the home, or offered at shrines and temples. Their surfaces dusted with flour, the sticky, glutinous cakes are often stuffed with sweet beans or served in soup and, when not made by hand in a complex process, are widely available in supermarkets.









Photos are from National Geographic.

Japan: Its Culture and Attractions

Soaring bamboo stalks dwarf visitors to Arashiyama Park in western Kyoto. Known for its vertiginous growth, bamboo has numerous uses in Japan, particularly in Kyoto, where it is made into baskets, flutes, pipes, benches, dolls, garden fences, and artifacts for tea ceremonies.

Kyoto










Kinkakuji



Outside Shibuya Station in Tokyo, a crowd of pedestrians crosses a busy intersection beneath the glare of lighted billboards and neon signs. Japan’s capital is the planet's largest urbanized area, with some 36 million people.




Shibuya



Snowcapped Mount Fuji casts a bright spot on the frozen surface of Lake Yamanaka. The 12,388-foot (3,776-meter) volcano, which last erupted almost 300 years ago, is for the Japanese an enduring national symbol of serenity and strength. On a clear day, the iconic peak can be seen from Tokyo, 70 miles (112 kilometers) away.



Mt. Fuji


Standing at low tide, the torii on Miyajima is thrown into silhouette as the sun sinks behind a mountain. The famous vermilion gate was built in 1875 and is the largest in Japan, standing about 53 feet (16 meters) high. Torii are traditionally built as entrances to Shinto shrines.



Miyajima

Pictures are from National Geographic

ShinJon, Pyonkichi, and Shinkun

Shinkun is my first regular kid student. He is fascinated with anything about frogs, including Keroru, with Naruto, and Fairy Tail (Yes, manga can be a good literature especially if you're studying Japanese culture). Shinkun and I started from scratch. He makes me proud for improving a lot nowadays whereas he could barely utter a single English word before.

Shinkun rocks!


Yesterday, he said they bought a frog's house. I thought it was a joke. But it seems he caught two tadpoles in the park's puddle and decided to make them as pets. The name of the first is Pyonkichi. I asked him the name of the second one, and he said, "JONA." Hahaha! I laughed so hard. We decided to give it a name "ShinJon." A combination of our names. Hahaha. How could he distinguish Pyonkichi from ShinJon? Tadpoles look alike. Hahahaha

Where are Pyonkichi and ShinJon? <

Where are they?





Here he is: Shinkun aka the Jake in my iTalk existence with his antics in my class.

























Shinkun having fun stuffing his nose with tissue paper. I did this too while having our class. Hahaha





















Angry Shinkun. We had a Facial Expression class. We practiced basic facial expressions such as "happy," "sad," "tired," and "sick."

Humbling

How much does your life weigh? Imagine for a second that you're carrying a backpack. I want you to pack it with all the stuff that you have in your life... you start with the little things. The shelves, the drawers, the knickknacks, then you start adding larger stuff. Clothes, tabletop appliances, lamps, your TV... the backpack should be getting pretty heavy now. You go bigger. Your couch, your car, your home... I want you to stuff it all into that backpack. Now I want you to fill it with people. Start with casual acquaintances, friends of friends, folks around the office... and then you move into the people you trust with your most intimate secrets. Your brothers, your sisters, your children, your parents and finally your husband, your wife, your boyfriend, your girlfriend. You get them into that backpack, feel the weight of that bag. Make no mistake your relationships are the heaviest components in your life. All those negotiations and arguments and secrets, the compromises. The slower we move the faster we die. Make no mistake, moving is living. Some animals were meant to carry each other to live symbiotically over a lifetime. Star crossed lovers, monogamous swans. We are not swans. We are sharks.—Ryan Bingham, character of the movie





It is always humbling to know that you contribute something useful to individuals. Learning is an infinite process—it never stops. How could one improve his or her skills? This question is a frequent visitor in my classes. I'm constant with my answer: read and read aloud.



Reading is an advocacy.