China to open first high security bio laboratory
Beijing Oct 01, 2014 -
China's first high-security biosafety laboratory will be ready for use by December, in a move hailed as a "crucial" moment in the fight against pathogens such as the Ebola virus, officials said Tuesday.
The facility, which has been under construction since July 2011, has been billed as the first in China that will be equipped to handle Class 4 pathogens (P4) - dangerous viruses that pose a ...
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Great Barrier Reef survival key to indigenous identity
Cairns, Australia (AFP) Oct 02, 2014 -
To the world, the Great Barrier Reef is a natural wonder and vast underwater kingdom, boasting some of the rarest animals and plants. To Aboriginal Australian Gavin Singleton, it is home.
The 26-year-old's family history - off the reef to the far northeast coast of the continent - goes back thousands of years.
He has recently started to work with authorities to help protect the world' ...
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Terra satellite shows how much the Aral Sea has dried up
New York (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
What was once the fourth largest lake in the world is now a shadow of its former self.
NASA recently released a series of images from the Terra satellite that show just how much the Aral Sea has changed in the last 15 years.
The devastation of the Aral Sea started in the 1960's under the Soviet Union as a way to divert water into the arid plains of Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, and Tur ...
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New ant species survives by mimicking rivals, infiltrating neighboring colonies
Washington (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
Occasionally, humans will assume different identities - accents, mannerisms, clothing - in an attempt to stealthily blend in with separate groups. It's a technique largely employed by secret agents and members of law enforcement, usually employed to glean information or ensure a drug charge sticks, but it's safe to say the survival of the human species doesn't depend on subterfuge.
Th ...
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NASA satellite spies sediment plumes along Greenland coast
Washington (UPI) Sep 30, 2014 -
Scientists at NASA are keeping an eye on the plumes of sediment that appear in the ocean as glacial meltwater deposits sand, soil and rocks. The plumes, which are visible via satellite imagery, may be able to help scientists ascertain exactly how much ice mass glaciers are losing to the ocean via meltwater runoff.
NASA's Earth Observatory recently captured a beautiful image of the Green ...
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Indonesia makes first arrests of manta ray traders
Jakarta (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
Indonesia has detained three traders for attempting to illegally sell manta rays, the first such arrests since the world's biggest archipelago introduced legislation protecting the huge winged fish, conservationists said.
In February, the biggest manta ray sanctuary on Earth was established in Indonesia in a bid to put a stop to the creatures being hunted for use in traditional medicine, and ...
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How the monarch butterfly became a migrant
Paris (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
The monarch butterfly's annual migration from North America to Mexico, a spectacular event at risk of disappearing forever, is the result of a single, millions-year old gene, biologists said Wednesday.
Analysis of the insect's long-guarded genetic secrets has changed what we knew about its history, migration and distinctive bright orange-and-black wing colouring, they wrote in the journal Na ...
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Ocean Health Index issues world's seas a near-failing grade
Washington (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
On their latest report card, the world's oceans were docked points for overfishing, pollution, climate change, and weak environmental protections, ultimately earning a D grade.
The Ocean Health Index is an annual report issued by the environmental group Conservation International, and though it assigns a grade to the world's seas, the implication is that humans have performed poorly whe ...
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35,000 walruses mass on Alaska beach 'due to climate change'
Los Angeles (AFP) Oct 02, 2014 -
At least 35,000 walruses have beached themselves on a remote Alaskan coastline in a phenomenon blamed on the melting of arctic ice due to climate change, experts said Wednesday.
Initially there had been only 1,500 of the tusked pinnipeds counted on one beach, but in recent days that number has exploded.
"Our best estimate is almost a 24-fold increase," said Megan Ferguson of the Aerial S ...
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And now the Acropolis is crumbling...
Athens (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
Just when Greece thought it had come through the worst of the crisis it was hit by a new blow Wednesday - the Acropolis is crumbling.
Engineers have discovered that part of the huge flat-topped rock on which the ancient Parthenon sits in the centre of Athens is starting to give way, the Greek news agency ANA said.
Teams from the Central Archaeological Council found "instability over qui ...
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DNA analysis suggests humanity has more mothers than fathers
Leipzig, Germany (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
Throughout human history monogamy has been a sexual philosophy largely eschewed by men, yet demanded of women. This was especially so for men of early human societies, who preferred the company of numerous wives.
We know this much thanks to the research skills of several generations of anthropologists. And now, this understanding has been confirmed by DNA analysis and the work of resear ...
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New material steals oxygen from air
Odense, Denmark (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
Researchers from the University of Southern Denmark have synthesized crystalline materials that can bind and store oxygen in high concentrations. Just one spoon of the substance is enough to absorb all the oxygen in a room. The stored oxygen can be released again when and where it is needed.
We do fine with the 21 per cent oxygen in the air around us. But sometimes we need oxygen in higher ...
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Ocean Acidification Could Lead to Collapse of Coral Reefs
Jerusalem, Israel (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
An expedition from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and the Carnegie Institute of Science has measured a roughly 40% reduction in the rate of calcium carbonate deposited in Australia's Great Barrier Reef in the last 35 years - a scenario that could damage the reef framework and endanger the entire coral ecosystem.
Coral reefs are the most ecologically diverse and productive ecosystem in ...
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Biodiversity in the Mediterranean is threatened by alien species
Lausanne, Switzerland (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
Millions of tourists visit the Mediterranean each year, but its deep-blue waters host the largest invasion currently underway on Earth. Almost 1,000 alien species, including fish, crustaceans, and algae are now established from other seas through human activities.
In the open-access journal Frontiers in Marine Science, a multinational team of researchers analyzed data from a new informatio ...
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Sensitive youngsters
Kiel, Germany (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
Young sea stars from the Baltic Sea suffer more from the effects of ocean acidification than adults. In a laboratory experiment, scientists from GEOMAR Helmholtz Centre for Ocean Research Kiel showed that younger animals already eat less and grow more slowly at only slightly elevated carbon dioxide concentrations. Their results are now published in the journal "Marine Ecology Progress Series". ...
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New tool assesses skill development in robotic microsurgery, reports Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery
Houston TX (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
A new standardized assessment provides a useful tool for tracking surgeons' progress as they develop the skills needed to perform robot-assisted microsurgery, reports a study in the October issue of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, the official medical journal of the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS).
"The Structured Assessment of Robotic Microsurgical Skills (SARMS) is the fi ...
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1,400 US troops soon headed to Liberia for Ebola mission
Washington (AFP) Sept 30, 2014 -
The US military will send more than a thousand troops to Liberia in coming weeks as part of Washington's effort to counter the Ebola outbreak in west Africa, the Pentagon said Tuesday.
About 700 soldiers from the US Army's 101st Airborne Division and another 700 military engineers are due to deploy to Monrovia around late October, spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby told reporters.
The sol ...
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Thousands swarm HK leader's office as calls grow to quit
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
Thousands of Hong Kong pro-democracy protesters massed to block entry to the offices of their city's embattled leader early Thursday in an attempt to force a dialogue, as calls for his resignation grew louder.
More than 3,000 protesters gathered outside Leung Chun-ying's office in the early hours, chanting for the chief executive - seen by critics as a Beijing stooge - to step down, while ...
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Japan volcano death toll hits 47 as new bodies found
Tokyo (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
The death toll from a sudden volcanic eruption in Japan hit 47 on Wednesday as rescuers discovered 11 new bodies in so-far unexplored areas of the ash-covered peak.
The figure makes the eruption of Mount Ontake, which was packed with hikers when it burst angrily to life on Saturday lunchtime, the worst volcanic disaster in Japan for almost 90 years.
Up until Sunday 36 bodies had been fou ...
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No sign of health or nutrition problems from GMO livestock feed
Davis CA (SPX) Oct 02, 2014 -
A new scientific review from the University of California, Davis, reports that the performance and health of food-producing animals consuming genetically engineered feed, first introduced 18 years ago, has been comparable to that of animals consuming non-GE feed.
The review study also found that scientific studies have detected no differences in the nutritional makeup of the meat, milk or ...
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China detains activists for supporting Hong Kong protests: rights groups
Beijing (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
Authorities have detained more than a dozen activists across China and questioned as many as 60 others who expressed support for Hong Kong's pro-democracy protests in recent days, campaign groups said Wednesday.
The clampdown comes with Beijing's propaganda machine in overdrive to suppress news of the protests, which are expected to draw their biggest crowds yet as the former British colony ...
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To avoid Iraq-style chaos US must back Afghans: experts
Washington (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
Washington will have to stand by Afghanistan for years, training and funding its army until Kabul can sign a peace deal with the Taliban, or it will follow Iraq in sliding into chaos, experts warn.
"Iraq shows the big security and political price you can pay down the road for over-reliance on a local ally to maintain security without a US presence," warned Stephen Biddle, senior fellow at th ...
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Hong Kong protest leader threatens to step up mass action
Hong Kong (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
A student leader threatened Wednesday to step up Hong Kong's huge pro-democracy protests - including a possible occupation of government offices - unless the city's leader steps down within a day, as support for the movement grew around the world.
The announcement came as tens of thousands of people poured onto the streets for a fourth straight night in protest against Beijing's refusal to ...
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Hong Kong protests 'inspiring China's Uighurs'
Washington (AFP) Oct 01, 2014 -
The exiled leader of China's Uighur minority believes the large-scale protests roiling Hong Kong are inspiring people in her home region of Xinjiang, in comments likely to rile Beijing.
Rebiya Kadeer told Foreign Policy that how the Hong Kong protests play out could have far-reaching implications for the Uighur people in far-western China.
The Hong Kong protests were "very inspiring" to ...
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Korean NGOs call for social consensus on unification issue
Seoul (UPI) Oct 1, 2014 -
Rumors that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un had been overthrown in a military coup circulated among participants at a conference here on Korean Unification Tuesday. The story came from blogging sites in China. It illustrated a key conference message that change could come at any moment on the Korean peninsula so people should prepare now for unification.
The Global Peace Leadership Conf ...
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