A small coral-eating worm may mean big trouble for reefs
Southampton, UK (SPX) Apr 15, 2014 -
New research from the University of Southampton has identified a coral-eating flatworm as a potential threat for coral reefs. It is barely possible to see the parasitic worm Amakusaplana acroporae when it sits on its favourite hosts, the staghorn coral Acropora, thanks to its excellent camouflage. However, the researchers found that the small flatworm could cause significant damage to coral reef ...
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Canada boycotts Arctic Council meeting in Moscow
Ottawa (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
Canada boycotted Arctic Council meetings in Russia this week in protest of Russia's "illegal occupation" of Ukraine, Minister Leona Aglukkaq said Tuesday.
Aglukkaq is responsible for the Canadian Northern Development Agency and currently chairs the Arctic Council.
She said the boycott of the working-group level meetings in Moscow was "as a result of Russia's illegal occupation of Ukraine ...
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Malaysia vows to be transparent with 'black box' data
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
Any data that is eventually recovered from the "black box" of missing flight MH370 will be publicly released, Malaysia's transport minister pledged Tuesday, as the government battles widespread criticism over the transparency of its investigation.
"It's about finding the truth. And when we... find out the truth, definitely we have to reveal what's in the black box," Hishammuddin Hussein told ...
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Mini-sub dives again after aborting first MH370 search
Perth, Australia (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
A mini-sub hunting for Malaysian jet MH370 was Tuesday set for a second sweep of the remote Indian Ocean seabed, after aborting its first search when it encountered water deeper than its operating limits.
The unmanned submarine loaded with sonar deployed Monday night from the Australian ship Ocean Shield which has spearheaded the hunt for the Boeing 777 that vanished on March 8.
"After c ...
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A European bear's point of view, finally on film
Toulouse, France (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
They love their larvae, snore like troopers when they sleep on their sides and, for reasons unknown, get a kick out of pushing over the trunks of dead trees.
Those are just a few of the insights into the daily life of Europe's dwindling band of brown bears obtained as a result of an innovative film project being shown as part of a hit exhibition at the Natural History museum in Toulouse, in ...
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Japan culls 112,000 chickens after bird flu outbreak
Tokyo (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
Japan has finished slaughtering 112,000 chickens after confirming its first bird flu infections for three years, with authorities stepping up efforts to swiftly contain the latest outbreak, officials said Tuesday.
Workers on Sunday started culling 56,000 chickens kept at a poultry farm in Kumamoto, southwestern Japan, where DNA tests confirmed the H5 strain of the virus after owners reported ...
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Goat to be cloned to treat rare genetic disorder
Brasilia, Brazil (AFP) April 15, 2014 -
Scientists in Brazil have genetically modified a goat to produce milk with an enzyme to treat a rare genetic disorder, O Estado de Sao Paulo newspaper reported Tuesday.
The goat, named "Gluca," is the first of its kind in South America. It has been genetically modified to produce the enzyme glucocerebrosidase.
Gaucher's disease is a rare human genetic condition caused by hereditary defi ...
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