It's an ideal recipe for rapid trait change

I like Georgia to survive an offensive shootout and win at home, overcoming a tired Auburn team who is playing their 11th straight game of the year Georgia Wins and Covers -4.5. TORONTO, ONTARIO, Jan 12 (MARKET WIRE) Barrick Gold Corporation (NYSE: ABX)(TSX: ABX) -North American callers dial:800-764-8268 International callers dial: 212-231-2903Barrick will hold a conference call on January 16th at 10:30 am ET atwhich time Chairman Peter Munk will introduce Aaron Regent, Barrick's newPresident & CEO to the investment community.A live webcast of the Conference Call will be accessible on Barrick'swebsite at Conference Call will be available for replay until January 30th, 2009by calling 800-633-8284 for North American callers and 402-977-9140 forInternational callers, Reservation 21411560.Contacts:INVESTOR CONTACT: Deni NicoskiVice President, Investor Relations(416) 307-7410Email: MEDIA CONTACT: Vincent BorgSenior Vice President, Corporate Communications(416) 307-7477Email: Copyright 2009, Market Wire, All rights reserved.-0-. "It's an ideal recipe for rapid trait change."Darimont and colleagues calculated the rates of trait change with a metric called the "Darwin," after Charles Darwin, who developed the theory of natural selection to help explain evolution.They studied changes in the size of fish, limpets, snails, bighorn sheep and caribou, as well as two plants the Himalayan snow lotus and American ginseng.In virtually all cases, human-targeted species got smaller and smaller and started reproducing at younger ages making populations more vulnerable."Earlier breeders often produce far fewer offspring. If we take so much and reduce their ability to reproduce successfully, we reduce their resilience and ability to recover," Darimont said.The findings fit in with other studies that suggest many fish are over-harvested."The public knows we often harvest far too many fish, but the threat goes above and beyond numbers," Darimont said in a statement. "We're changing the very essence of what remains, sometimes within the span of only two decades. We are the planet's super-predator."Regulations meant to protect the young may in fact be helping drive this unnatural process, Darimont said."Hunters are instructed not to take smaller animals or those with smaller horns. This is counter to patterns of natural predation, and now we're seeing the consequences of this management," he said.(Reporting by Maggie Fox; Editing by Will Dunham and Eric Walsh) Science.

NEW YORK, Jan 12 (Reuters) - The battered housing sectorwill be less of a drag on the U.S. economy this year than thesteep drain on growth in 2008, according to a top housingeconomist Bonds The year-long U.S. recession will likely persist intomid-year, followed by modest growth starting in the thirdquarter, Jay Brinkmann, chief economist with the MortgageBankers Association, said on Monday. He estimated that gross domestic product, the broadestmeasure of the economy, will likely shrink by 0.1 percent in2009 after an expected 0.7 percent decline last year. Proposed federal measures to revive the economy willcompensate for the problems plaguing the housing sector falling prices, meager cash-outs of home equity, relativelytight credit and a faltering job market, Brinkmann said. For the new-home market, he predicted sales would fall 31.1percent this year to 335,000 units following a 37.3 percentdrop in 2008, while prices would decline 5.1 percent to anaverage $217,200 after a 7.7 percent fall last year.

The larger existing-home segment will likely post a reboundafter two dismal years. Existing-home sales could rise by 1percent to 4.899 million units, while prices would slip 3.5percent to an average $190,800 after a 9.7 percent drop in2008, according to Brinkmann. Given the prospects of weak sales and vast supply,developers will continue to cut back on home construction, hesaid. "The drop in residential investment will continue through2009." Residential investment will likely fall by 10.5 percentthis year after falling 19.5 percent last year and 19.0 percenttwo years ago, he said. Meanwhile, housing starts would decline to 698,000 units,down 23.3 percent in 2009, Brinkmann said, after a 32.9 percentannual drop in 2008 and a 24.8 percent fall in 2007. (Reporting by Richard Leong; Editing by Leslie Adler) Bonds. Year: 1999Record: 69-92Win Percentage: .429Win Percentage Change: .028Run Differential: -135Pythagorean Record: 68-93AL Finish: 11th of 14Manager: Larry Parrish Best Transaction: Traded Bryce Florie to the Boston Red Sox for Mike MarothFlorie was a fringe big leaguer at best and was a mop-up guy in the bullpen.