Ka`u News Briefs Sunday, May 31, 2015

      E-cigarette vapor, even when nicotine-free, has been found to damage lung cells, according to Stacy Brooks, of the American Physiological Society. Nicotine-free e-cig solutions were found to include lung-harming substances such as acrolein, which is present in both e-cig solution and vapor. Brooks reported that acrolein has been shown to damage the lungs by attacking molecules of cells that make up the lining of lungs.
      According to Ka`u’s Sen. Josh Green, e-cigarette use has been rapidly increasing among middle and high school students over the last several years, and the extent of their detrimental health effects is still not entirely known. “My hope is that with the passing of SB 1030 we will see a decrease in this trend among Hawai`i’s youth as well as a decrease in tobacco- and smoking-related illnesses for generations to come,” Green said. “Mahalo to my friends at ‪#‎CoalitionForATobaccoFreeHawaii‬ for all of their help and hard work on this measure.
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HAWAI`I SUPREME COURT HAS DISMISSED a legal challenge raised by four individual plaintiffs to the Hawai`i Marriage Equality Act of 2013. The 2013 law changed Hawai`i’s statutes regarding marriage so that same-sex couples could marry.
      The Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs were not harmed or injured by the Marriage Equality Act and therefore did not have standing to challenge it.

      “The most important part of the Supreme Court’s ruling was its conclusion that the ‘legislature’s decision to extend the right to marry to same-sex couples did not, in any way, diminish the right to marry’ for the plaintiffs or anyone else,” said Attorney General Doug Chin.
      “This is an exciting time for marriage equality in our country, as we await the United States Supreme Court’s ruling that will govern so many other states,” said Deputy Attorney General Deirdre Marie-Iha, who argued on behalf of the defendants. “We hope that the United States Supreme Court will recognize, as our Supreme Court did today, that those who oppose marriage equality are ‘harmed not at all when others are given the liberty to choose their own life partners and are shown the respect that comes with formal marriage.’”
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HAWAIIAN VOLCANO OBSERVATORY scientists explore extraterrestrial lava lakes in the current issue of Volcano Watch.
      “Exploration of volcanoes within our solar system has been much like the exploration of Hawaiian volcanoes in the 19th century: sporadic. We now know where most of the volcanoes beyond Earth are, but know little about how they work. But bits of information are being collected, and whether they are from Earth-based observations, satellite imagery or fly-by missions, every piece is important, because our best understanding will come from compiling all available data from every source.
      “Even though exploration of planetary volcanoes has been sporadic, exciting discoveries have been made. And some of these discoveries have revealed volcanic features similar to those found on Hawaiian volcanoes.
      “Active volcanism on Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, was first discovered by the Voyager 1 spacecraft during a fly-by mission in March 1979. Since then, more information has been obtained from limited observations by four additional NASA spacecraft as they passed through the solar system and from more frequent observations from the Hubble Space Telescope. A complete map of Io’s volcanoes was published by the U.S. Geological Survey in 2011 (http://pubs.usgs.gov/sim/3168).

      “Combining these data, planetary volcanologists have hypothesized that Loki Patera, the largest depression on Io, hosts an active lava lake. The temperatures of this lava lake are in the right range for a molten silicate, but scientists can’t differentiate exactly what type of lava is in the lake by temperature alone.
      “Loki Patera and the lava lake it contains are huge by Earth standards – about 200 km (125 mi) in diameter, which is larger than the entire Island of Hawai`i! Detailed analyses of all the data show that the lava lake is probably horseshoe-shaped.
      “During the 1990s, the Loki Patera lava lake displayed periodic bursts of thermal energy every 18 months, suggesting that the lake was resurfaced by a new solidified crust during each burst. The areas of highest temperature within the lake seem to move during these cycles, so the speed of lake resurfacing appears to be about 2.3 cm per second (2.3 cm/s, or 1 in/s). These bursts have been irregular in the last decade.
      “In the past few years, Earth-based Extremely Large Telescopes have been designed to achieve enough spatial resolution to obtain details of volcanic features on Io, as well as a more continuous record of volcanic activity. The first Earth-based ELT is the Large Binocular Telescope located at an elevation of 3,200 m (10,500 ft) on Emerald Peak in the Pinaleno Mountains of Arizona. It consists of two identical 8.4 m (27.6 ft) telescopes mounted side-by-side for a combined collecting area of a single 11.8 m (38.7 ft) telescope.
      “Using an infrared camera with this telescope, scientists were able to achieve a final spatial resolution of less than 20 km (12 mi) on the surface of Io during a one-hour observation on Dec. 24, 2013. At the time, Loki Patera had just finished one of its brightening bursts. The 2013 infrared image also showed two hotspots. These two locations are interpreted to be a persistent hotspot in the southwest portion of the lake (seen before) and another hotspot to the east, which might be the leading edge of the recent lake-resurfacing burst.
      “Back on Earth, the Kilauea summit lava lake within Halema`uma`u Crater is 1,000 times smaller than Io’s Loki Patera lava lake and contains molten basalt. The Halema`uma`u lava lake continuously circulates, with new crust generated at one side of the lake, then moving across the lake surface at speeds of around 15 cm/s (six in/s) before being consumed at the opposite side. It rarely resurfaces in the way envisioned for the Loki Patera lava lake, but, when it does, the Halema`uma`u lake resurfaces at about seven cm/s (three in/s).

      “More sophisticated analyses of existing Io data, as well as more imagery data from spacecraft and Earth-based ELTs, will yield additional details of the Loki Patera lava lake. Studies on the behavior of the Halema`uma`u lava lake are also underway. As scientific papers are published, perhaps comparisons between Earth’s and Io’s lava lakes can be made and will reveal more about planetary volcanoes in the far reaches of our solar system.”

      See hvo.wr.usgs.gov/volcanowatch.
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HAWAI`I COUNTY COUNCIL HOLDS MEETINGS this week. Tomorrow, the council continues its consideration of county operating and capital improvements budgets. 

      Committees meet Tuesday, with Governmental Relations & Economic Development beginning at 9 a.m.; Public Safety & Mass Transit, 10:15 a.m.; Planning, 11 a.m.; and Finance, 2 p.m.
      The full council meets Wednesday at 9 a.m. All meetings take place at Council Chambers in Hilo and are streamed live at hawaiicounty.gov. Click on Council Meetings.
      The council will discuss a resolution authorizing the office of the mayor to enter into an agreement with the state Department of Agriculture for a coffee berry borer pesticide subsidy grant. The grant provides $450,000 to the county Research and Development Department to offer subsidies to farmers who purchase pesticides to combat the coffee berry borer.
      Ka`u residents can participate via videoconferencing at Na`alehu state office building.
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FEEDBACK ON THE KA`U DRAFT Community Development Plan is due tomorrow. The Steering Committee begins it review of comments from residents on Tuesday, June 9, when it meets at Na`alehu Community Center at 5:30 p.m. Meetings are open to the public. 

      Feedback forms are available at kaucdp.info. Copies of the draft are also available at local libraries and community centers.
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KA`U’S STATE SEN. RUSSELL RUDERMAN hosts a talk story at Cooper Center in Volcano Village on Thursday from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. Ruderman will discuss newly passed legislation and seek input on bills to be introduced next year.
      For more info, call 586-6890 or email senruderman@capitol.hawaii.gov.

SUPPORT OUR SPONSORS AT PAHALAPLANTATIONCOTTAGES.COM AND KAUCOFFEEMILL.COM. KA`U COFFEE MILL IS OPEN SEVEN DAYS A WEEK.