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Scientists Reconstruct Pre-Columbian Human Effects on the Amazon Basin

By Guest PostJune 19, 2012Environment, Sciencealan tessier, Amazon, amazon basin, amazon river, archaeological evidence, biodiversity, climate change, crystal mcmichael, cultural parkland, d r piperno, ecological processes, environmental change, european, fit, historical evidence, human disturbance, human populations, luiz lobato, m r silman, madre de dios river, mark bush, national science foundation, peru, peruvian amazon, porto velho manaus, pre columbian amazon, pre columbian times, tropical rainforests

Findings overturn idea that the Amazon had large populations of humans that transformed the landscape

Small, shifting human populations existed in the Amazon before the arrival of Europeans, with little long-term effect on the forest.

That’s the result of research led by Crystal McMichael and Mark Bush of the Florida Institute of Technology (FIT). The finding overturns the idea the Amazon was a cultural parkland in pre-Columbian times with large human populations that transformed vast tracts of the landscape.

The Amazon Basin is one of the highest biodiversity areas on Earth. Understanding how it was modified by humans in the past is important for conservation and for understanding the ecological processes in tropical rainforests. (more…)

Highway Through Amazon Worsens Effects of Climate Change, Provides Mixed Economic Gains

By Guest PostJune 10, 2012EnvironmentAmazon, Amazon rainforest, amazonian, amazonian university, biodiversity hot spot, Bolivia, brazil, brazilian families, carbon emission, climate change, environmental change, highway, interoceanic highway, jeffrey hoelle, migration, pando, peru, plant, population growth, rainforest, rio 20, rubber tappers, south america, southwestern amazon, stephen perz, university of florida, wildlife

GAINESVILLE, Fla. — Paving a highway across South America is providing lessons on the impact of road construction elsewhere.

That’s what a University of Florida researcher and his international colleagues have determined from analyzing communities along the Amazonian portion of the nearly 4,200-mile Interoceanic Highway, a coast-to-coast road that starts at ports in Brazil and will eventually connect to ones in Peru. (more…)

Uncollected Internet Sales Taxes Cost Missouri $468 Million Annually, MU Study Shows

By Guest PostMay 1, 2012Economy, TechnologyAmazon, brad fischer, business, california, congress, david valentine, e-commerce, internet, internet transaction, lobby, missouri, missouri legislator, online retailer, revenue, roy blunt, sales, sales tax, supreme court, university of missouri, us sales, wal-mart

MU researchers recommend legislative action to help local economy, state revenue

COLUMBIA, Mo. – Internet, or e-commerce, sales have increased over the past two decades, comprising nearly 17 percent of the total U.S. sales in 2009. However, many states, including Missouri, have no effective means of collecting taxes on those sales. Researchers at the University of Missouri Truman School of Public Affairs found that the state lost approximately $468 million annually in sales tax revenue during the past decade.

Federal law and U.S. Supreme Court rulings only allow states to levy sales taxes on a business with a physical presence in the state. For example, Amazon.com does not charge sales tax in Missouri because it is physically located in California. However, Wal-Mart charges sales tax, since it has stores in Missouri. In the study, researchers analyzed historical data on e-commerce activity and estimated that the state will miss out on $1.4 billion in potential revenue from 2011 to 2014. (more…)

800-Year-Old Farmers Could Teach Us How to Protect The Amazon

By Guest PostApril 14, 2012Environmentagriculture, Amazon, amazonian forest, amazonian savannas, archaeologist, cattle ranching, charcoal, climate, columbian encounter, conservation, deforestation, doyle mckey, ecosystem, Environment, european settlers, farming, farmland sustainably, fire, francis mayle, french guiana, global warming, indigenous people, jose iriarte, mitchell power, old world diseases, paleoecologist, phytoliths, plant remains, pollen, raised field, savannas, stephen rostain, sustainable use, university of exeter, university of montpellier

In the face of mass deforestation of the Amazon, we could learn from its earliest inhabitants who managed their farmland sustainably.

Research from an international team of archaeologists and paleoecologists, published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows for the first time that indigenous people, living in the savannas around the Amazonian forest, farmed without using fire.

Led by the University of Exeter, the research could provide insights into the sustainable use and conservation of these globally-important ecosystems, which are being rapidly destroyed. Pressure on the Amazonian savannas today is intense, with the land being rapidly transformed for industrial agriculture and cattle ranching.

By analysing records of pollen, charcoal and other plant remains like phytoliths spanning more than 2,000 years, the team has created the first detailed picture of land use in the Amazonian savannas in French Guiana. This gives a unique perspective on the land before and after the first Europeans arrived in 1492. (more…)

Amazon.com Announces “Best of 2011” Lists

By Guest PostDecember 30, 2011TechnologyAmazon, angry birds rio, best of 2011, best selling, born this way, call of duty, crocs classic clog, kindle fire, lady gaga, most gifted, quell, samsung galaxy s ii, Steve Jobs, suzanne collins, the hunger games, walter isaacson

SEATTLE–(BUSINESS WIRE)--Dec. 30, 2011– Amazon.com, Inc. today released its “Best of 2011” lists, which include the best-selling, most wished for, most gifted, and most loved products as determined by Amazon.com customers in 2011. (more…)

Introducing the All-New Kindle Family: Four New Kindles, Four Amazing Price Points

By Guest PostSeptember 29, 2011TechnologyAmazon, amazon cloud, amazon founder and ceo, amazon silk, amazon whispersync, e reader, in plane switching, ips technology, jeff bezos, kindle family, kindle fire, kindles, lcd touchscreen, martha stewart living, the wall street journal, vanity fair

New latest generation Kindle – world’s bestselling e-reader now lighter, faster, and more affordable than ever – only $79
New “Kindle Touch” with easy-to-use touch screen – only $99
New “Kindle Touch 3G” with free 3G – the top of the line Kindle e-reader – only $149
New “Kindle Fire” – the Kindle for movies, TV shows, music, books, magazines, apps, games, and web browsing with all the content, free storage in the Amazon Cloud, Whispersync, Amazon’s new revolutionary cloud-accelerated web browser, vibrant color touch screen, and powerful dual-core processor – all for only $199

SEATTLE, Sep 28, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) –– Millions of people are already reading on Kindles and Kindle is the bestselling e-reader in the world for four years running. Today, Amazon is excited to introduce an all-new Kindle family: three all-new Kindle e-readers that are smaller, lighter, and more affordable than ever before, and Kindle Fire – a new class of Kindle that brings the same ease-of-use and deep integration of content that helped Kindle re-invent reading – to movies, TV shows, music, magazines, apps, books, games, and more. (more…)

Lady Gaga for $0.99 Again – “This Time We’re Ready”

By Guest PostMay 26, 2011Technologyalbum, Amazon, amazon cloud drive, amazon mp3, android, blockbuster, born this way, craig pape, gold box deal of the day, lady gaga, monday, mp3, music for amazon

*Go Gaga again – And get 20 GB of free Cloud Drive storage*

SEATTLE, May 26, 2011 (BUSINESS WIRE) — Amazon.com today announced it will offer a repeat of Monday’s blockbuster Gold Box Deal of the Day: customers can purchase the Lady Gaga “Born This Way” MP3 album today for $0.99. Upon release, the album immediately shot to number one on Amazon’s bestselling MP3 albums list and has remained in the top spot since. (more…)

A First Look at the Next Release of Windows Phone

By Guest PostMay 24, 2011TechnologyAmazon, dan suratt, developer tools, Facebook, gps, greg sullivan, history channel, howard gefen, html5, internet explorer 9, linkedIn, mango, Microsoft, outlook, smartphone, Twitter, windows live messenger, windows phone, windows phone 7

*Windows Phone “Mango” connects smartphone users to people, apps and the Internet faster and easier.*

REDMOND, Wash. – May 24, 2011 – Microsoft today provided the first official look at the next release of Windows Phone, code named “Mango.” The new release includes hundreds of new features that will deliver smarter and easier communications, apps and Internet experiences.

“When we looked ahead to the next release, we wanted to stay true to the principles of Windows Phone 7 – that software should get out of your way and quickly connect you to the things that matter most,” said Greg Sullivan, senior product manager of mobile communications at Microsoft. “Mango builds on the work that we did in Windows Phone 7 and extends a lot of key scenarios around communications, apps, and Internet experiences – with even more capability and a deeper level of integration.” (more…)

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