Oxygen

Low oxygen levels kill 15,000 fish in Weems Creek More than 15,000 fish were killed this week when the oxygen levels in an Annapolis creek dipped too low. Toxins released from decomposing algae likely caused the low oxygen levels in Weems Creek, Maryland Department of the Environment spokesman Robert Ballinger said. "Over the years, scientists have not been able to identify a bacteria or disease causing these kills, so I think it has to be a sudden low-oxygen event," Severn Riverkeeper Fred Kelly said of Thursday's fish kill.

SHELLTOWN -- The stench of thousands and thousands of decaying fish wasn't exactly sweet for Charles Poukish and other state scientists out patrolling a remote tributary of the Pocomoke River yesterday, but they were nonetheless relieved.After discovering a half-million or more dead menhaden this week -- the largest fish kill in the bay in 10 years -- state officials say they're happy to have found no evidence of Pfiesteria piscicida, the deadly microbe that attacked fish and sickened watermen in 1997, forcing the closure of the Pocomoke and two other state waterways.

CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- What if you were always logged on to a computer, no matter where you went or what you did?If you needed information or wanted to communicate with someone, all you had to do would be to speak.The computer would always be there, a silent helpmate, part of the fabric of your daily life -- so integrated with your existence it would be like the very air you breathe.Like oxygen.That is the vision behind Oxygen, a $40 million research project unveiled last week at the 35th-anniversary celebration of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Laboratory for Computer Science.

With August's sweltering temperatures, you may be experiencing reduced crab catches because of high algae growth decreasing the oxygen in the bay's deeper sections, making it harder for the creatures to survive.Crabs, less active to conserve energy, often retreat to shallow water, where oxygen levels, though abnormal, are higher.Because you must now crab in 4 to 6 feet of water, crabbing becomes somewhat tricky.You have to be careful not to tangle your equipment in the motor. Moving your equipment often helps in catching the inactive crustaceans and should result in between one and two bushels.

Don't go looking for North Arundel Hospital's newest facility. It won't exist -- at least in the traditional sense.Hospital administrators have announced plans to open a lung center in about seven weeks to treat lung ailments. But the "center" will be a network of specialists."It will be a center without walls," said hospital spokesman Kevin Murnane."Specialists will refer patients to each other."Residents will have a chance to tell hospital officials what services they think the new center should offer at the hospital's Healthy Lung Fair from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. Nov. 23 in the hospital's third-floor conference center.

My doctors tell me that I can no longer fly unless I have oxygen available. How do I alert an airline to my special needs?Most domestic airlines that provide what is known as supplemental oxygen need 48 hours' notice, although some say they will try to accommodate passengers who give less notice. But beyond mere notification, airlines generally require a letter from a doctor declaring that the passenger is in stable health and can fly and stating how many liters per minute of oxygen are needed.

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. -- Hoping to learn how fire doomed ValuJet Flight 592, federal investigators will re-create a raging blaze in another airplane's cargo bay today and tomorrow.They will load cardboard boxes of oxygen-generating canisters and some inflated tires into the mock-up, the items that were in Flight 592's forward cargo hold.Then, some of the oxygen canisters, which can heat up to 500 degrees, will be activated.They are suspected of either starting or feeding Flight 592's fire.

MIAMI -- Passengers' terrified shouts of "Fire! Fire! Fire!" echoed from the smoke-filled cabin as flames spread rapidly through a ValuJet airliner over the Florida Everglades in May, transcripts of cockpit recordings revealed yesterday."

Some skiers pay a steep price for a week of powder, even if they get good rates on flights, accommodations and lift tickets. That's because even the most savvy traveler can't negotiate altitude out of the deal.Everyone reacts differently to a change in elevation, but it is not unusual for the human body to do a physiological snow-plow during the first few days of a ski trip."You will probably feel the worst about 48 hours after arriving," said Barry Mink, an internist at the Aspen (Colo.)

Evironmental movement is all wrongI look upon the 25 years since the first Earth Day as an environmental failure that costs too much and has produced very little.Planting trees and cleaning debris from the banks of streams are housekeeping chores having little to do with the laws and regulations that negatively affect so many industries.The reason for the high cost and poor performance of the environmental movement is simple enough. All the laws and regulations are based on theories that have never been identified.

Severe nightly episodes of interrupted breathing during sleep - commonly known as sleep apnea - double the risk of death for middle-age men, according to a new study being called the largest ever conducted on the disorder. Even men with moderate sleep apnea - anywhere from 15 to 30 instances of oxygen deprivation per hour - appear to be 45 percent more likely to die from any cause than those who have no nighttime breathing problems. As many as one in four men is believed to suffer from sleep apnea, researchers said, and many with less severe apnea may not even know they have it, even though it can dangerously decrease the oxygen in their bloodstream.

Confounding forecasts that the Chesapeake Bay would fare relatively well this summer, scientists report now that the bay's fish-stressing "dead zone" has grown to its usual size. Sampling conducted by the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science found that the volume of water in the bay where oxygen levels are too low to sustain fish and shellfish is typical for this time of year, its scientists said. Last month, Maryland and other scientists had predicted that the Chesapeake's 'dead zone' this summer would be one of the smallest in years because of relatively low rainfall this spring in those portions of Pennsylvania and New York that drain into the Susquehanna River.

Call it the summer of plus-size love. While everything else in the culture and on television these days seems to be getting downsized, now comes a series of shows featuring fuller-size contestants and characters. More importantly, in a couple of cases, the heavyweight folks are being treated with love rather than derision - a break from the usual depiction accorded such character types in prime time. Last week, the Oxygen channel premiered Dance Your Ass Off, a weekly series described by host Marissa Jaret Winokur as "TV's first ever dance-weight loss competition."

The Chesapeake Bay's fish, crabs and oysters could be breathing easier this summer - the oxygen-starved "dead zone" in the troubled estuary should be one of the smallest ever measured, a University of Michigan scientist predicts. Aquatic ecologist Donald Scavia and his colleagues issued forecasts this week for the nation's two most infamous "dead zones," stretches of the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of Mexico where fish and shellfish can't get enough oxygen to breathe because of nutrient pollution fouling the water.

At least 3,000 fish have recently died in Baltimore's harbor, likely as a result of an algae bloom that sent a foul odor into surrounding neighborhoods, a Maryland Department of the Environment spokeswoman said Tuesday. The dead fish, primarily menhaden, were mostly congregated around the Domino Sugar plant in Locust Point, MDE spokeswoman Dawn Stoltzfus said. Scientists responding to reports of brown water and a bad smell Monday night suspect a seasonal algae bloom prompted oxygen levels in the water to drop, according to Stoltzfus.

Being a Rosedale native, Stacy Keibler has been to a Preakness or two in her time, so she was thrilled when she was asked to host Infieldfest, which was headlined by ZZ Top. When the actress and Dancing With the Stars contestant arrived at Pimlico Race Course on Saturday morning, however, she wasn't sure how the day was going to turn out. "When I got here around 9:30, I just couldn't believe that this was the infield for Preakness," she said of the...

In the spring, a young girl's fancy turns to - well, helping preserve the environment. That was the case for 9-year-old Bethany Ingram, anyway, as she took a break Friday from her task of digging a hole in a bit of soggy turf in Edgeley Grove Park in Fallston. The fourth-grader, nature enthusiast and member of Girl Scout Troop 883 in Bel Air was getting ready to plant the 2-foot seedling of a red maple tree, one of about 1,000 trees put in the ground by volunteers on an unexpectedly sunny morning as part of Harford County's seventh annual Arbor Day Celebration and Conservation Project.

My compost pile smells. It never did before. I've been adding table scraps (no meat or dairy products), plus grass and weeds. Unpleasant odor can be caused by too much nitrogen (green/fresh plant material) or too much water and not enough air. Since all your materials are "green," balance them with "brown" materials, which are high in carbon. Such items include dead dried leaves, sawdust and straw. You can use shredded newspaper, too, but go lightly. If you've been watering the pile, cut back on that.

Oprah Winfrey and Maryland-based Discovery Communications will team up to launch a cable channel next year that could eventually become the new home of The Oprah Winfrey Show. In announcing the deal yesterday, Winfrey was purposely vague about the kind of programs she planned for the channel that will reach 70 million homes. But she said it was possible that her long-running talk show could move to her new channel in 2011, when her syndication contract expires. If her show does move, the change will rock the world of daytime TV, where her program not only dominates all other talk shows but also drives viewers to early-evening newscasts on the broadcast channels that carry it. "Anything's possible," she said during a news conference yesterday.

When Buffalo Bills tight end Kevin Everett damaged his spinal cord during a football game Sunday afternoon, his only hope was the state-of-the-art medical treatment he received within a remarkably short time. Despite grim initial assessments of his chances for recovery, there were signs yesterday that aggressive treatment might have worked. The surgeon who operated on Everett said that his patient had voluntarily moved his arms and legs and that he was optimistic that Everett will walk again.