Evolution depends on rare chance events
Chicago IL (SPX) Jun 25, 2014 -
Chance events may profoundly shape history. What if Franz Ferdinand's driver had not taken a wrong turn, bringing the Duke face to face with his assassin? Would World War I still have been fought? Would Hitler have risen to power decades later?
Historians can only speculate on what might have been, but a team of evolutionary biologists studying ancient proteins has turned speculation into ...
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Conifers may give way to a more broad-leafed forest in the next century
Houghton MI (SPX) Jun 25, 2014 -
Over the next 100 years, Minnesota's iconic boreal forest and deep snow may change into a deciduous forest with winters warm enough for some precipitation to fall as rain, according to a new U.S. Forest Service assessment of the vulnerability of Minnesota forests to climate change.
The assessment describes effects of climate change that have already been observed; projected changes in the ...
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In wild yak society, moms are the real climbers
New York NY (SPX) Jun 25, 2014 -
A new study led by the Wildlife Conservation Society says that in wild yak societies, it's the mothers that are the real climbers. The study found that mothers with young venture on steeper terrain and slightly higher elevation than either males or females without young.
The authors of the study expect that this strategy is an adaptive way to avoid predators and to access more nutritious f ...
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Your backyard garden might be killing bees
Washington (UPI) Jun 25, 2013 -
Many popular "bee-friendly" plants from big-box garden centers come already soaked with pesticides, meaning backyard gardeners may be contributing to the decline of the very insect they're trying to attract.
A new study by groups Friends of the Earth and the Pesticide Research Center found that many apparently bee-friendly plants widely available at Home Depot, Lowe's and Walmart garden ...
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UN group urges release of Chinese dissident nephew
Washington (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Dissident Chen Guangcheng on Wednesday urged China to release his nephew after a UN group agreed with charges that his imprisonment was arbitrary.
The UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention, which investigates complaints of wrongful imprisonment, studied Chen's assertions that authorities in Shandong province retaliated against his nephew Chen Kegui after the blind-since-childhood activist ...
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No further action on climate change could cost billions, EU says
Brussels (UPI) Jun 25, 2013 -
Climate damage to the European Union could cost more than $200 billion if no further action is taken, a European analysis published Wednesday finds.
A Wednesday report for the European Commission's Joint Research Center finds that if global temperatures increase as expected, the economic costs could amount to a net welfare loss of 1.8 percent of the current gross domestic product for th ...
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Detroit violating human rights by closing water taps: UN
Geneva (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
UN rights experts on Wednesday slammed struggling US city Detroit for violating the basic human rights of its citizens by disconnecting thousands of people from water services over unpaid bills.
Cash-strapped Detroit, which last July became the largest US city to ever file for bankruptcy protection, has recently begun disconnecting water services on a large scale, for all households that hav ...
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New device helps paraplegic bypass spinal cord, move hand with brain
Columbus, Ohio (UPI) Jun 25, 2013 -
In a major medical breakthrough, a paralyzed Ohio man was able to move his fingers and hand using only his thoughts using a device called Neurobridge.
The innovative machine - a collaboration between researchers at Ohio State University's Wexner Medical Center and the Battelle Memorial Institute - was able to reconnect Ian Burkhart's brain to his muscles, bypassing his unresponsive sp ...
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NY homeless angry at China tycoon 'publicity stunt'
New York (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
A three-course lunch hosted by an eccentric Chinese millionaire for 250 homeless New Yorkers in a posh restaurant degenerated into fury Wednesday when guests were denied $300 cash handouts.
It had seemed such a good idea. Recycling tycoon Chen Guangbiao last week took out ads in American newspapers promising a first-rate meal at the Boathouse in Central Park and $300 each.
Guests were bu ...
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Al Gore joins Australian mining tycoon in climate change plan
Sydney (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Former US vice president Al Gore Wednesday hailed recent moves by the United States and other nations to confront climate change as "extraordinary", and encouraged Australia to join global efforts.
The high-profile environmental activist described as "significant" a plan by Australian mining magnate and politician Clive Palmer to push for the introduction of an emissions trading scheme in re ...
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Indonesia fires spark Singapore, Malaysia haze warning
Jakarta (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Indonesia's disaster agency warned Wednesday that neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia could be hit by more choking smog, after a huge jump in forest fires in a province at the centre of an air pollution crisis last year.
Fires in Riau province, on Indonesia's western Sumatra island, caused the worst haze in Southeast Asia for more than a decade in June last year, affecting daily life for mil ...
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Hong Kong activists predict biggest protest since China handover
Hong Kong (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Activists said Wednesday they expect more than half a million people to take to the streets on Hong Kong's annual protest day in what would be the biggest march since Britain handed the city back to China.
The predictions for the largest July 1 protest since the handover in 1997 came after 740,000 people voted in an unofficial poll organised by pro-democracy activists.
"We expect the num ...
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Malaysia gets new transport minister amid MH370 crisis
Kuala Lumpur (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Malaysia's premier on Wednesday appointed a new transport minister to replace Hishammuddin Hussein, who took the lead during the search for missing flight MH370.
Hishammuddin, who is also defence minister, had provisionally held the transport portfolio after the post was left vacant following the last elections a year ago.
He led the nation's search for the Malaysia Airlines plane that v ...
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Iraq crisis threatens food safety in the country: FAO
Rome (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Iraq's food harvest is under threat with recent violence in the country driving more than a million people from their homes and farms, the UN's food agency said Wednesday.
With the conflict hitting in two of the country's breadbasket states, the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) warned that the country is "facing serious food security concerns".
While Iraq's harvest had looked prom ...
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US ambassador raps China for arrests of 'moderate voices'
Beijing (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
The new US ambassador to China Max Baucus chided Beijing on Wednesday for a wave of arrests of "moderate voices", in his first public address since arriving in March.
Baucus, who succeeded Gary Locke, did not name names in his speech to businesspeople but told them that greater rights protections would strengthen US-China relations.
Activists and others in China have come under increasin ...
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New study reveals secrets of the disco clam
Berkeley, Calif. (UPI) Jun 25, 2013 -
Music critics laughed away the party music of the 70s some time ago, but the groove persists at the bottom of the ocean, where the disco clam employs its own version of the strobe light and disco ball.
The funky-looking disco clam - formally Ctenoides ales - is quite a sight, with its bright orange coloring and groovy tentacles. But what makes the creature truly unique is the electric ...
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Global Ocean Commission call for stronger environmental protections
Washington (UPI) Jun 25, 2013 -
The Global Ocean Commission says the lawless high seas - the parts of the world's oceans outside the jurisdiction of individual governments - are being degraded by pollution, overfishing and drilling.
"The high seas are like a failed state," said commission co-chair David Miliband, former foreign secretary of the United Kingdom.
"Poor governance and the absence of policing and ...
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Surviving without money, German woman's year-long adventure
Leipzig, Germany June 25, 2014 -
For one year, Greta Taubert renounced our consumer society. Eating, drinking and dressing without spending a cent, the 30-year-old German woman wanted to see what life would be like if the economic system collapsed.
The first thing she badly wanted after her 12 months of consumer abstinence? "Tights," she replied spontaneously, nursing a cappuccino in a cafe in Leipzig, a city in what used t ...
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China govt money paid for French vineyards: auditor
Beijing (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
Chinese government funds have been misused to buy French vineyards, pay for a trip to Las Vegas and more, the state auditor said in a document revealing more than 300 serious corruption cases.
President Xi Jinping launched a much-publicised anti-graft campaign after taking over as Communist Party chief in late 2012, but critics say no systemic reforms have been brought in to prevent corrupti ...
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Planet of the dying apes: experts sound alarm over shrinking habitats
Nairobi (AFP) June 25, 2014 -
The accelerated and unsustainable exploitation of the earth's primary natural resources has become a major threat to apes in Africa and Asia, a major United Nations environment conference heard Wednesday.
Speaking on the sidelines of the UN Environment Assembly, conservationists said infrastructure development and extraction of natural resources - including timber, minerals, oil and gas - ...
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