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Since 1946, despite floods, cyclones and remote terrain, the birds have carried vital intelligence round Odisha state. Now the authorities want to clip their wings … With social media and smartphones offering instant communications, the postcard and the telegram are virtually obsolete. But in India’s eastern state of Odisha, police are working hard to preserve an even older practice – carrier pigeons. Used to carry messages between stations in remote regions and keep in touch with police units on the move, the police pigeons of Odisha also proved to be the only dependable method of communication during devastating floods in...

Vikings hunting reindeer in Norway were once confounded by "reindeer cyclones"; a threatened herd would literally run circles around the fierce hunters, making it nearly impossible to target a single animal. Filmmakers recently captured incredible aerial footage of one of these reindeer cyclones, which aired Feb. 13 on PBS in the documentary "Wild Way of the Vikings," a program about Vikings and the wilderness they inhabited around A.D. 1000. [Photos: Ancient Arrows from Reindeer Hunters Found in Norway] One of the documentary's most striking scenes shows a re-enactment of a Viking hunt interspersed with real footage of reindeer herds. Reindeer...

My 3 point underdog Iowa State Cyclones took down the Sooners today in Norman! Our starting QB left the team yesterday!

A former member of the Obama administration claims Washington, D.C., often uses “misleading” news releases about climate data to influence public opinion. Former Energy Department Undersecretary Steven Koonin told The Wall Street Journal Monday that bureaucrats within former President Barack Obama’s administration spun scientific data to manipulate public opinion. “What you saw coming out of the press releases about climate data, climate analysis, was, I’d say, misleading, sometimes just wrong,” Koonin said, referring to elements within the Obama administration he said were responsible for manipulating climate data. He pointed to a National Climate Assessment in 2014 showing hurricane activity has...

Football brought them to the stadium. Donald Trump brought them to the tailgate party. And after a long wait in a bright, late summer sun, those who stuck around for a chance to see Trump were rewarded. Trump was one of four Republican presidential candidates who popped in on a GOP tailgate party at the Iowa vs. Iowa State college football game on Saturday afternoon. The event was put on by the Republican Party of Iowa and a few central Iowa county party organizations. Rand Paul, Marco Rubio and Scott Walker also joined the tailgate party with dozens of Cyclone...

<p>Los Angeles gang members have joined the fray in Syria. The gang-bangers are reportedly fighting alongside the regime forces.</p> <p>MEMRI posted the transcript.</p> <p>A video-clip recently posted on the Internet shows two Armenian Power gang members from Los Angeles fighting in Syria. One of them, Wino Ayee Peeyakan, also posted a picture of himself in Hizbullah garb on his Facebook page.</p>

College Republicans at Iowa State University encouraged students to send gifts to American men and women in uniform serving overseas. Bad idea, says one faculty member. Do I really need to say anything about these absurd comments from Thomas Walker at Iowa State University, where he is a lecturer “in the intensive English and orientation program”? I read in Tuesday’s Iowa State Daily that the College Republicans have begun collecting sundries for U.S. soldiers serving in Afghanistan and Iraq. Why? Doesn’t the U.S. Army victual its soldiers? Don’t their families send them yuletide goodies? Aren’t GIs paid enough to buy...

Tropical cyclone (TC) activity worldwide has completely and utterly collapsed during the past 2 to 3 years with TC energy levels sinking to levels not seen since the late 1970s. This should not be a surprise to scientists since the natural variability in climate dominates any detectable or perceived global warming impact when it comes to measuring yearly integrated tropical cyclone activity. With the continuation (persistence) of colder Pacific tropical sea-surface temperatures associated with the effects of La Nina, the upcoming 2009 Atlantic hurricane season should be above average, as we saw in 2008. Nevertheless, since the Atlantic only makes...

Controversial research hints that solar cycle affects cyclone intensity. A new study suggests that more sunspots mean less intense hurricanes on Earth. But many hurricane experts are cool on the idea. James Elsner, a climatologist at Florida State University in Tallahassee, has analyzed hurricane data going back more than a century. He says he has identified a 10- to 12-year cycle in hurricane records that corresponds to the solar cycle, in which the Sun's magnetic activity rises and falls. Solar activity varies on a roughly 11-year cycle, in which its magnetic activity waxes and wanes.NASA/TRACE The idea is that increased...

Australia bears onslaught of huge cyclone 11:22 20 March 2006 NewScientist.com news service Emma Young, Sydney A devastating tropical cyclone has ripped through north-eastern Australia, injuring people and destroying homes with gusts of up to 290 kilometres (180 miles) per hour. And another cyclone – the Southern hemisphere's hurricane equivalent – is on its way.The first cyclone, named Larry, reached maximum (Category 5) intensity at about the time of landfall. It hit the coast at the town of Innisfail, about 100 kilometres (62 miles) south of Cairns, at 0700 Eastern Standard Time (AEST) on Monday. Larry is now weakening as...

Monday September 26, 02:51 PM East coast 'vulnerable' to storms Australia's east coast is highly vulnerable to catastrophic storms such as hurricanes Katrina and Rita that have devoured the US Gulf Coast, warns a weather forecaster. Bureau of Meteorology severe weather senior forecaster Jeff Callaghan says residents along the eastern seaboard have become too complacent about the threat of tropical cyclones because of a prolonged, drought-ravaged period. ADVERTISEMENT Mr Callaghan said an el Nino-dominated period in Australia from 1977 had pushed tropical cyclonic activity eastward towards Fiji and surrounding islands. However, the dry spell could morph into cyclonic activity without...

AMES, IA -- A new fraternity has formed at Iowa State University, limited to homosexual and bisexual men. Formation of the Delta Lambda Phi chapter, approved unanimously last week by Iowa State's Interfraternity Council, happened quickly. Brian Olechnowski, 22, of Long Island, N.Y., arrived as a graduate student in August. He was initially skeptical about the interest level of ISU students. But by September, the group had 11 members. By October, the group had raised the $600 petitioning fee and was recognized by its national fraternity. "There are definitely people not in overwhelming support of the fraternity," said Olechnowski, the...