Don't feed the animals

Do not feed the coyotes. Photo courtesy of AD's Greg Vogel.

It has been a long, cold winter. It’s easy to fall prey to the pleading, saucer-sized eyes of a coyote or raccoon looking for a snack.

You think: “It’s just one crumb. It can’t hurt.”

Wrong.

Feeding animals disrupts their natural food cycle and encourages them to lose their fear of people and vehicles.

Coyotes naturally see humans as a potential threat. Their comfort level around humans only increases when people give the animals an incentive, such as an easily-accessible meal.

“We don't want coyotes getting comfortable around humans,” said Rod Walton, Fermilab’s ecologist. “They're wild animals, and they can be dangerous.”

Food has been left at the dog training area, which has led to animals approaching cars and people.

Recently, a coyote approached a person parked in the dog training area with interest in the person’s sandwich.

“The issue is that the coyote approached the person in the first place,” said Rod Walton, Fermilab's ecologist.

To prevent coyote domestication, please make sure you are not leaving trash or food outdoors. Scattering bird seed or filling a bird feeder is fine.

U.S Visa applications still lengthy

Visa applicants still should expect long waits at U.S. Consulates during their Visa application process, largely because of the additional security clearances that usually are conducted on individuals working in high-energy physics.

These clearances average 60 days to complete, which means that the application takes two to three months from start to Visa issuance. Past experiences – even from as recently as two years ago - are notindicative of the length of time involved in current Visa issuance. The Visa Office has reported that, since summer 2008, most Fermilab employees are averaging two or more months to receive their Visas.

All foreign Fermilab employees planning to make Visa applications during travel abroad (regardless of whether they are traveling on business or for personal reasons) must review the Visa Office’s Travel Advisory.

The Visa Office recommends managers also review this information. Fermilab’s foreign employees travelling on business and planning to apply for Visas while abroad must advise the Travel Office of such plans during the travel authorization process. Employees and their managers should also review the laboratory Policy for Assignments Abroad during lengthy Visa applications.

American Recovery & Reinvestment Act of 2009 final version

From the Alliance for Science & Technology Research in America, Feb. 14, 2009

The U.S. Senate gave final approval to the compromise version of the $787 billion American Recovery & Reinvestment Act late on Feb.13, 2009. In the House vote hours earlier, no Republicans voted in favor of the bill, and seven Democrats voted against it. This document will be updated with more detail as information becomes available. President Obama is expected to sign the bill by Presidents' Day, Feb. 16. ASTRA has created this preliminary analysis of significant R&D funding components of the package.

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Tom Hanks and Ron Howard visit CERN

From New Scientist, Feb. 12, 2009

A clash of parallel universes took place at the site of the world's biggest machine today.

One cosmos carried a seemingly plausible plot to destroy the Vatican with "a bomb of unstoppable power" based on antimatter. This universe was populated with two stellar objects, Hollywood actor Tom Hanks and director Ron Howard.

The second consisted of a mysterious brotherhood of scientists who lurk in a subterranean lab. Represented by Rolf Landau of CERN, they are racing to crack an enduring mystery - why the cosmos is badly lacking in antimatter, the ultimate "Alice in Wonderland" material.

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