Page 28 - ARUBA TODAY

A28 SCIENCE
Friday 6 december 2019
Experts say Mekong River's new color a worrying sign

By BUSABA SIVASOMBOON 800 kilometers (500 miles)
Associated Press downstream from the Xay-
BANGKOK (AP) — The Me- aburi dam, but said she still
kong River has recently ac- believes it is responsible for
quired an aquamarine col- the river's recent unusual
or that may beguile tourists condition.
but also indicates a prob- "I am 67 years old and
lem caused by upstream have never seen anything
dams, experts in Thailand like it before. What makes
say. me concerned the most is
The river usually has a yel- the low level of the water.
lowish-brown shade due Now, we are in early winter,
to the sediment it normally the water level should not
carries downstream. But be this low. I can't imagine
lately it has been running how hard it could be for us
clear, taking on a blue- at the height of the dry sea-
green hue that is a reflec- son, in March and April."
tion of the sky. The water Chaiwat Parakun, who lives
levels have also become 200 kilometers (125 miles)
unusually low, exposing downstream from the dam,
sandbanks that allow the said he abandoned his fish-
curious to stand in the mid- ing gear several years ago
dle of the river. because of the declining
Low water levels pose an amount of fish available to
obvious problem for fish- In this Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2019, photo, fishing boats are moored in Mekong River, which has catch. He now has a tour-
ermen and farmers, but turned blue instead of its usual muddy color, in Nakhon Phanom province, northeastern Thailand. ism business.
experts say the decline in Associated Press "The Mekong has gradu-
sediment exposes a differ- ally lost its abundance.
ent danger that can result fish in the river, threatening in March. In October, the ment passage and flow People who depend on
in greater erosion of the the ecological balance, Xayaburi Power Co. Ltd. and facilities to allow the the river like us could sense
river's banks and bed. he said. said the project has spent passage of fish. The plant's it many years ago. But that
The experts and people liv- With less sediment, the wa- more than 19.4 billion baht total cost was $4.47 billion. was nothing like the effects
ing along the river blame ter also has more stream ($640 million) to mitigate Daeng Pongpim, from a from Xayaburi. We cannot
a large hydroelectric dam power, a phenomenon negative impacts on the farming family that used to figure out how we can live
upstream in Laos that be- known as "hungry wa- environment, including the fish in Ta Mui village in Ubon with this degraded environ-
gan operating in October ter," said Chainarong building of outlets for sedi- Ratchathani province, lives ment," he said.q
for contributing to both Setthachau of the Faculty
problems, though rainfall of Humanities and Social SpaceX launches caring robot,
has also been sparse. Science at Mahasarakham
Around 70 million people University in Thailand's beer malt and 'mighty mice'
depend on the Mekong northeast who has studied
River for water, food, com- changes in the Mekong's
merce, irrigation and trans- ecology for the past two By MARCIA DUNN This is SpaceX's 19th sup-
portation. Critics charge decades. AP Aerospace Writer ply run for NASA.
that large-scale develop- "The current has less sedi- CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. Forty mice are aboard,
ment projects such as the ment, which unleashes en- (AP) — SpaceX launched all adolescent females
Xayaburi dam dangerously ergy onto the river banks a 3-ton shipment to the with black fur. Eight of
disrupt the region's ecol- downstream. This so-called International Space Sta- them are genetically en-
ogy. 'hungry water' will cause tion on Thursday, includ- gineered with double the
The dam blocks much sedi- much more erosion to the ing "mighty mice" for a normal amount of mus-
ment from moving further banks, uprooting trees muscle study, a robot cle. There are also barley
downstream, which ac- and damaging engineer- sensitive to astronauts' grains for a beer-malting
counts for the water be- ing structures in the river," emotions and a minia- experiment by Anheuser-
coming clear, said Pravit Chainarong said. ture version of a brewery's Busch.
Kanthaduang, chief of The dam's developers malt house. The shipment also in-
the fishery office at Bueng have denied that they The Dragon capsule cludes a large, plastic 3-D
Khong Long, a district in were responsible for low also is delivering holiday printed robot head with
Thailand's Bueng Kan prov- water levels that some crit- goodies for the six station artificial intelligence, ac-
ince. Less sediment means ics tied to trial runs of the residents. NASA's Kenny A Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket cording to its German cre-
less nutrition for plants and generators that began Todd isn't giving any hints, on a resupply mission to ators. It's named Cimon,
but said, "Santa's sleigh, the International Space pronounced Simon, the
I think, is certified for the Station stands ready for same as the prototype
vacuum of space." today's launch at Space that flew up last year. This
The recycled capsule Launch Complex 40 at Cape upgraded version is de-
Canaveral Air Force Station
should arrive Sunday. in Cape Canaveral, Fla., signed to show empathy
The Falcon rocket blasted Thursday, Dec. 5, 2019. to its human colleagues
off from Cape Canav- Associated Press in orbit.
eral a day late because The space station cur-
of high winds. SpaceX just off the coast in the rently is home to three
aimed to recover the Atlantic so it could be re- Americans, two Russians
new booster on a barge used. and one Italian.q