Share Bears? by Scott LaFee - Eureka! on Creators.com

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Share Bears?

Disappearing habitat apparently isn't the only threat to polar bears. Now they face the prospect of sharing space with grizzly bears.

Biologists report an increasing presence of grizzly bears in what was traditionally thought of as strictly polar bear habitat. Preliminary data in Canada's Wapusk National Park in Manitoba Province shows grizzly sightings on the rise: nine confirmed between 1996 and 2008, three last year. Before 1996, there was no evidence grizzly bears ever ventured into the remote park.

"Grizzly bears are a new guy on the scene, competition and a potential predator for the polar bears that live in this area," said Robert Rockwell, a professor of biology at City University of New York. Researchers say a sustained or permanent grizzly presence is worrying because they could take over habitat used by female polar bears to hibernate and give birth. Polar bear cubs would then be vulnerable to hungry adult grizzly bears.

The arrival of grizzlies is attributed to warming trends that have opened up previously impassable portions of land north of Hudson Bay. As vegetation and prey (caribou and moose) have migrated north, grizzlies have followed.

"A big question is how to deal with these new residents," said Linda Gormezano, one of the authors of a paper published in the journal Canadian Field-Naturalist. "In Canada, both the polar bear and grizzly bear are federally listed as species of special concern."

Helping one to survive, she said, might hurt the chances of the other.

BRAIN SWEAT

Which of the following words does not belong in this group: CORSET, COSTER, COURTS, SECTOR, ESCORT?

QUIRKS OF NATURE

The venomous copperhead snake smells like fresh-cut cucumbers.

BRAIN SWEAT ANSWER

COURTS, because all of the others are anagrams of each other.

PRIME NUMBERS

7.8 — Amount, in dollars, that NASA hopes to spend on exploration technologies over next five years, such as ion engines, space taxis, fueling in space and visiting an asteroid

115-150 — Estimated mass, in gigaelectronvolts, of the mysterious and still-unseen Higgs boson

5.5 — Acceleration, in microns, of thickening of arterial walls each year for people living within 300 feet of a highway due to ambient air pollution.

That's twice the average arterial thickening progression of people who live farther away

Source: NASA; New Scientist; University of Southern California

'TRUE FACTS'

A telegram sent to Eleanor Roosevelt from the 1939 World's Fair in New York used only current from electric eels.

ANTHROPOLOGY 101

In much of Europe, it was once thought a baby crying at its baptism was lucky. The wailing was a sign that evil spirits had been expelled from the child. If a child showed no signs of crying, it was often pinched until it did.

VERBATIM

The problem with the gene pool is that there is no lifeguard.

— Comedian Steven Wright

WHAT IS IT? ANSWER

An artificial foot that recycles energy otherwise lost between steps.

"For amputees, what they experience when they're trying to walk normally is what I would experience if I were carrying an extra 30 pounds," said Art Kuo, a professor of biomedical and mechanical engineering at the University of Michigan where the research was done.

The artificial foot captures energy that would normally be wasted in the walking motion, stores it in a tiny battery and then, through a microcontroller, releases it in the ankle assembly at precisely the right time to produce extra lifting power.

To find out more about Scott LaFee and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.