Risks to penguin populations analysed
London, UK (SPX) Aug 07, 2014 -
A major study of all penguin species suggests the birds are at continuing risk from habitat degradation. Writing in the journal, Conservation Biology, a group of internationally renowned scientists recommends the adoption of measures to mitigate against a range of effects including; food scarcity (where fisheries compete for the same resources), being caught in fishing nets, oil pollution and cl ...
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Enhanced international cooperation needed in Antarctica
Melbourne, Australia (SPX) Aug 07, 2014 -
Countries need to work together to ensure Antarctic research continues and key questions on the region are answered, researchers say.
In an article published in Nature this week, 75 scientists along with policy makers in 22 countries have outlined what they see as the major priorities for Antarctic research over the next 20 years and beyond.
In it they outline six priorities for Anta ...
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China quake toll rises to 615: state media
Beijing (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
The death toll from an earthquake that devastated a remote region of China has killed 615 people, state media said Thursday, as hopes of finding any more survivors faded.
Rescue efforts in the southwestern province of Yunnan, where the 6.1-magnitude quake struck Sunday, were heavily hampered by traffic delays and landslides blocking roads.
At least 615 people had been confirmed killed as ...
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Biologists discover lake full of jellyfish in India
Armabada, India (UPI) Aug 7, 2014 -
Marine biologists have discovered a lake in India filled with jellyfish, the nation's first so-called jellyfish lake. Researchers estimated the lake's bed was covered by a swath of jellyfish stretching 13 acres.
Biologists with the Wildlife Trust of India happened upon the lake during a routine field visit to Armabada, a small town in Gujarat, a state along India's northwest coast.
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New Nigeria Ebola cases amid fears epidemic 'out of control'
Lagos (AFP) Aug 06, 2014 -
The death toll of the Ebola epidemic neared 1,000 on Wednesday as fears rose that the disease is taking hold in Africa's most populous nation of Nigeria, after a second death among seven confirmed cases in Lagos.
The spread of the disease comes as the World Health Organization (WHO) met in an emergency session in Geneva to decide whether to declare an international crisis.
The latest off ...
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Indonesian girl swept away by 2004 tsunami reunited with parents
Banda Aceh, Indonesia (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
An Indonesian girl swept away by the devastating 2004 tsunami has been reunited with her family a decade after she was given up for dead, her mother said Thursday.
"God has given us a miracle," said Jamaliah, the mother of Raudhatul Jannah, who went missing when she was just four years old.
Jannah and her seven-year-old brother were carried off when huge waves struck their home in West ...
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Twilight zone sharks have special eyes to see in the dark
Washington (UPI) Aug 7, 2014 -
Deep in the sea, where the light from above begins to fade out - a vast expanse known as the twilight zone - there are strange glow-in-the-dark sharks. New research shows these sharks possess highly evolved eyes, enabling them to see in the dark and pick up light signals from their bioluminescent friends and enemies.
"There are about 50 different shark species that are able to produce ...
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China releases rights lawyer jailed for years: relative
Beijing (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
A Chinese human rights lawyer whose secret detention and alleged torture by Communist authorities prompted an international outcry was released Thursday after a three-year jail sentence, his wife and a relative said.
Gao Zhisheng, who defended some of China's most vulnerable people including Christians and coal miners, has been held largely incommunicado since 2009.
"He is out (of jail), ...
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Hawaii hunkers down as hurricanes near
Kihei, United States (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
Tourists and locals alike braced for double trouble in Hawaii on Thursday as a rare pair of hurricanes took aim at the holiday paradise, the first due to make landfall within hours.
Big Island was expected to see a direct hit from Hurricane Iselle in the evening, bringing strong winds, heavy rains and dangerous storm surges, the Central Pacific Hurricane Center (CPHC) warned.
In an unusu ...
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Drought hits Central America's crops, cattle
Boaco, Nicaragua (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
The last raindrop fell three months ago, forcing Carlos Roman to take his cattle further and further away to find water and keep them alive in Nicaragua's northeastern farmlands.
Nicaragua and the rest of Central America has been hit by a major drought that has killed thousands of cattle, dried up crops and forced cities to ration electricity.
Costa Rica, Honduras and Guatemala have decl ...
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India calls off landslide rescue after 151 bodies found
Mumbai (AFP) Aug 07, 2014 -
Rescue workers at the site of a huge landslide in western India last week said Thursday they had called off their search after finding 151 bodies.
Only eight survivors were rescued from the mud and debris after a hill gave way following heavy rains and came crashing down on a remote village in Maharashtra state on July 30.
The relief effort, which was hampered by ongoing monsoon downpour ...
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BIOMEX: Exploring Mars in Low Earth Orbit
Moffet Field CA (NASA) Aug 05, 2014 -
In their quest to understand life's potential beyond Earth, astrobiologists study how organisms might survive in numerous environments, from the surface of Mars to the ice-covered oceans of Jupiter's moon, Europa. For now, Earth is our only example of an inhabited planet, and studying the limits of habitability on Earth is a major component of astrobiology research.
For this reason, scient ...
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SwRI-led team's research shows giant asteroids battered early Earth
San Antonio TX (SPX) Aug 05, 2014 -
A new terrestrial bombardment model developed by an international group of scientists led by Southwest Research Institute (SwRI) indicates that Earth's surface was heavily reprocessed - or melted, mixed and buried - as a result of giant asteroid impacts more than four billion years ago.
The model, calibrated using existing lunar and terrestrial data, sheds light on the role asteroid collis ...
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Study of Aerosols Stands to Improve Climate Models
Pasadena CA (SPX) Aug 07, 2014 -
Of all the factors that influence Earth's changing climate, the effect that tiny particles in Earth's atmosphere called aerosols have on clouds is the least well understood. Aerosols scatter and absorb incoming sunlight and affect the formation and properties of clouds.
Among all cloud types, low-level clouds over the ocean, which cover about one-third of the ocean's surface, have the bigg ...
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Tuvalu family cites global warming on accepted refugee application
Auckland, New Zealand (UPI) Aug 7, 2014 -
On a refugee application recently accepted by New Zealand, a Tuvalu family claimed they'd be forced out by global warming if they returned home. It's the first instance of refugees citing climate change as one of the reasons for their displacement.
But this particular family could be the first of many if sea level rise continues at the rate many climatologists have predicted. Tuvalu is ...
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Coronal Heating Theory Tested In NASA Sounding Rocket Mission
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 05, 2014 -
Scientists have recently gathered some of the strongest evidence to date to explain what makes the sun's outer atmosphere so much hotter than its surface. The new observations of the small-scale extremely hot temperatures are consistent with only one current theory: something called nanoflares - a constant peppering of impulsive bursts of heating, none of which can be individually detected - pr ...
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Study shows Asian carp could establish in Lake Erie with little effect to fishery
Notre Dame IN (SPX) Aug 08, 2014 -
According to a study published in the journal Conservation Biology by a group of scientists from the University of Notre Dame, Resources for the Future, U.S. Forest Service, University of Michigan and the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Laboratory, if bighead and silver carp were to establish in Lake Erie, local fish biomass is not likely to change beyond observations recorded in the last 3 decad ...
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Water 'microhabitats' in oil show potential for extraterrestrial life, oil cleanup
Pullman WA (SPX) Aug 08, 2014 -
An international team of researchers has found extremely small habitats that increase the potential for life on other planets while offering a way to clean up oil spills on our own.
Looking at samples from the world's largest natural asphalt lake, they found active microbes in droplets as small as a microliter, which is about 1/50th of a drop of water.
"We saw a huge diversity of bac ...
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Ocean's most oxygen-deprived zones to shrink under climate change
Seattle WA (SPX) Aug 08, 2014 -
As the complex story of climate change unfolds, many of the endings are grim. But there are exceptions. Predictions that the lowest-oxygen environments in the ocean would get worse may not come to pass. Instead, University of Washington research shows climate change, as it weakens the trade winds, could shrink the size of these extreme low-oxygen waters.
"The tropics should actually get be ...
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Fundamental plant chemicals trace back to bacteria
Madison WI (SPX) Aug 08, 2014 -
A fundamental chemical pathway that all plants use to create an essential amino acid needed by all animals to make proteins has now been traced to two groups of ancient bacteria. The pathway is also known for making hundreds of chemicals, including a compound that makes wood strong and the pigments that make red wine red.
"We have been trying to unravel the source of the phenylalanine amin ...
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