A Warming Earth Creates More Biodiversity, But Only In The Long Term
Global warming is a scientific reality, whether we want to ascribe it to natural processes or man-made effects. One of the questions raised by this phenomenon is how will it affect biodiversity on the planet.
A new study by the Universities of York, Glasgow and Leeds, reveals answers that conflict with past studies. The new research involved analysis of fossil and geological records going back 540 million years and it suggests that biodiversity on Earth generally increases as the planet warms. The catch, according to the researchers, is that this increase in biodiversity depends on the evolution of new species over millions of years. This is normally accompanied by extinctions of existing species. |  |
New stone inscription shows list of offerings to ancient gods
During construction work carried out by the Ministry of Endowments at the Al-Khamis market area, which is next to the archaeological site of Matariya in northern Cairo, workers stumbled upon a part of an ancient Egyptian stele.
Minister of State for Antiquities Mohamed Ibrahim explained that the newly-discovered stone artefact is the right section of a New Kingdom stele, on which is displayed a complete, illustrated list of various offerings to ancient Egyptian deities. A collection of geese, vegetables, fruits, bread, and cattle is depicted. Lotus flowers are also shown, as well as religious worship poetry in hieroglyphic form. |  |
35 Years Later, Voyager 1 Is Heading for the Stars
(PASADENA, Calif.) — Thirty-five years after leaving Earth, Voyager 1 is reaching for the stars. Sooner or later, the workhorse spacecraft will bid adieu to the solar system and enter a new realm of space — the first time a manmade object will have escaped to the other side.
Perhaps no one on Earth will relish the moment more than 76-year-old Ed Stone, who has toiled on the project from the start. “We’re anxious to get outside and find what’s out there,” he said. When NASA‘s Voyager 1 and Voyager 2 first rocketed out of Earth’s grip in 1977, no one knew how long they would live. |  |
In World First, Scientists Surgically Implant a Working Bionic Eye In a Blind Patient
We've been waiting on the prospect of a bionic eye for a while now; being able to surgically give sight to the sightless would be a medical breakthrough, and we're right on the cusp. Exhibit A: In a world first, scientists have successfully implanted a prototype bionic eye that has helped a woman see shapes.
Researchers from the government-funded consortium Bionic Vision Australia made the announcement in a statement yesterday; in it the implantee said she "didn't know what to expect, but all of a sudden, I could see a little flash--it was amazing." The team is hoping they can start to "build" shapes based on what she sees, eventually creating a bionic eye that works like its organic counterpart. |  |
'A great silence is spreading over the natural world'
When musician and naturalist Bernie Krause drops his microphones into the pristine coral reef waters of Fiji, he picks up a raucous mix of sighs, beats, glissandos, cries, groans, tones, grunts, beats and clicks.
The water pulsates with the sound of creatures vying for acoustic bandwidth. He hears crustaceans, parrot fish, anemones, wrasses, sharks, shrimps, puffers and surgeonfish. Some gnash their teeth, others use their bladders or tails to make sound. Sea anemones grunt and belch. Every creature on the reef makes its own sound. But half a mile away, where the same reef is badly damaged, he can only pick up the sound of waves and a few snapping shrimp. It is, he says, the desolate sound of extinction. |  |
Wildlife at risk as Amazon tribes come under threat from oil exploration
Two of the world's last uncontacted tribes are under threat from oil exploration deep into the heart of the Amazon forest in Ecuador, according to conservationists, who say this may indirectly add to the pressure on wildlife.
The Tagaeri and the Taromenane – who have fought off illegal loggers and Catholic missionaries with spears and blowpipes to maintain their isolated, nomadic existence – are now at risk from the construction of roads and drilling wells as petroleum firms carve up the Yasuni national park. |  |
Landsat captures impact of deforestation in Brazil
THIS makes for a depressing game of spot the difference. These two images of Rondônia, a state in western Brazil, show the impact of deforestation on this part of the Amazon rainforest since 1975, when the picture on the left was taken. Human activity in the area began with the construction of a main highway (orange line in left-hand image), which cut deep into the rainforest. As settlers and farmers moved in, secondary roads were built at right angles to the initial road, resulting in the distinctive fishbone pattern visible in the right-hand image, taken in 2012.
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Does Continued Use of Lead in Aviation Fuel Endanger Public Health & the Environment?
Yes, aviation fuel emerged as the largest source of lead emissions in the U.S. once lead was phased out of automotive gasoline beginning in the 1970s. While jets, which comprise the majority of commercial aircraft, don’t use leaded fuel, smaller, piston-engine planes use enough leaded aviation fuel (nicknamed “avgas”) to account for half of the lead pollution in American skies, making it a real air quality issue.
Some of the health effects of repeated exposure to lead include damage to the central nervous system, kidneys and red blood cells, and decreased function in the cardiovascular and immune systems. Lower IQ levels and learning disabilities can also result from lead exposure, especially in children, whose young bodies are more sensitive than those of adults. And scientists at the National Toxicology Program have concluded that lead and lead compounds are “reasonably anticipated to be human carcinogens.”. |  |
Mayan fascination boosts Guatemala tourism
If you haven't booked for the party of the year, which marks the start of a new era for humanity, you'd better hurry.
Hotels near the Mayan city of Tikal are preparing for "a full sell-out" for the events planned on December 21 to mark the start of a new era for humanity in the Maya cosmology. "We have more than 95 per cent of the rooms occupied, tours sold, airline seats reserved. The interest keeps rising as we get closer to December 21," said Guatemalan National Tourism Institute director Pedro Duchez. Lodging in Peten, where Tikal is located, is nearly all booked, the tourism department chief said. |  |
No, Really, There is No Secret Code in the Pyramids
This past May, a Venezuelan state TV host announced he had discovered a conspiracy to assassinate the elder brother of President Hugo Chavez.
His evidence? A newspaper crossword puzzle. He pointed out that the crossword contained the word asesinen (“murder”), intersecting horizontally with the name of Chavez’s brother, Adan. And directly above the name was the word ráfagas, meaning either “gusts of wind” or, more ominously, “bursts of gunfire.” David Kahn, an American historian and journalist, would call this a classic example of the “pathology of cryptology.” In his seminal 1967 book, The Codebreakers, Kahn marveled at the ability of individuals to discover incredibly complex, albeit nonexistent codes, which he described as “classic instances of wishful thinking” caused by “an overactive cryptanalytic gland.”. |  |
Private manned Mars mission gets corporate sponsors
A Dutch company that aims to land humans on Mars in 2023 as the vanguard of a permanent Red Planet colony says it has received its first funding from sponsors.
Mars One plans to fund most of its ambitious activities via a global reality-TV media event, which will follow the mission from the selection of astronauts through their first years on the Red Planet. But the sponsorship money is important. That support will help the company — which had been self-funded for the last 18 months — get to the point where it can do the show, officials said Wednesday. |  |
Moon's magnetic umbrellas may shield future spaceships
Lunar watchers have been crying over spilt milk for decades. But now the mystery of milky splotches on the moon's surface might finally be solved: sections of soil are being protected by weak but effective magnetic bubbles.
The work could help spaceship builders devise magnetic shielding to protect astronauts on future missions from harmful radiation. Unlike Earth, the moon has no global magnetic field to shield it from the solar wind – the constant flow of charged particles from the sun. These particles interact with lunar soil, darkening it over thousands of years. |  |
Take a spin on the moon and Mars
The death of first moonwalker Neil Armstrong and the success of NASA's Curiosity rover have reignited interest in the idea of taking a spin on the moon and Mars, at least virtually. It may be a decade or two before astronauts once again walk on the moon, or take the next giant leap to the Red Planet. In the meantime, 360-degree interactive panoramas give you a sense of what those walks will be like. Here's a quick roundup of the coolest 360-degree views.
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China's strange skies as sun halos and UFO-shaped clouds float across the horizon
If you were in China last week, you could have been forgiven if you believed the end of days had arrived.
For one moment UFO-shaped clouds were floating across the blue skies - and then days later a halo appeared around the Sun, appearing to give it a halo for a few hours. Both are simple weather phenomena - but both are also strange and unexpected sights that baffled many onlookers. The unusual cloud above appeared over Jilin Province, China. It is known as a lenticular clouds, and their spectacular shapes are popular with UFO believers, who spot the resemblance to flying saucers. |  |
Is the 'Wang particle' the new Higgs boson?
The hunt might soon be on for another fundamental building block of nature. But what will it be called?
The hand of fate is shaky when it comes to naming the building blocks of nature. Some physicists are immortalised by their discoveries, others not. There is, alas, no Professor Quark. But the Higgs boson is so sexy they named it twice – after Peter Higgs and Satyendra Nath Bose, though not, as it happens, after God. Now we hear reports of the Wang particle – a particle that may explain supernovas, the most energetic explosions in the universe. |  |
Next Steps in the Higgs Boson Hunt
When physicists at CERN's Large Hadron Collider announced the discovery of a new particle on July 4, they did not call it “the Higgs boson.” This was not just the typical caution of scientists. It also signified that the announcement comes at a profound moment. We are at the end of a decades-long theoretical, experimental and technological odyssey, as well as at the beginning of a new era in physics.
Brain diabetes: the ultimate food scare
Big trouble lies ahead if Alzheimer's is proven to be a form of diabetes
THE human brain evolved to seek out foods high in fat and sugar. But a preference that started out as a survival mechanism has, in our age of plenty, become a self-destructive compulsion.
It is well known that bad diets can trigger obesity and diabetes. There is growing evidence that they trigger Alzheimer's disease too, and some researchers now see it as just another form of diabetes.
THE human brain evolved to seek out foods high in fat and sugar. But a preference that started out as a survival mechanism has, in our age of plenty, become a self-destructive compulsion.
It is well known that bad diets can trigger obesity and diabetes. There is growing evidence that they trigger Alzheimer's disease too, and some researchers now see it as just another form of diabetes.
Low-calorie diet may not help you live longer, if you're a monkey
The longevity diet's premise is seductively simple: cutting your calorie intake well below your usual diet will add years to your life.
New research published on Wednesday, however, shows the extreme, emaciating diet doesn't increase lifespan in rhesus monkeys, the closest human relatives to try it in a rigorous, long-running study. While caveats remain, outside experts regarded the findings as definitive, particularly when combined with those from a similar study. |  |
A virus that kills cancer: the cure that's waiting in the cold
On the snow-clotted plains of central Sweden where Wotan and Thor, the clamorous gods of magic and death, once held sway, a young, self-deprecating gene therapist has invented a virus that eliminates the type of cancer that killed Steve Jobs.
'Not "eliminates"! Not "invented", no!' interrupts Professor Magnus Essand, panicked, when I Skype him to ask about this explosive achievement. 'Our results are only in the lab so far, not in humans, and many treatments that work in the lab can turn out to be not so effective in humans. However, adenovirus serotype 5 is a common virus in which we have achieved transcriptional targeting by replacing an endogenous viral promoter sequence by…' . |  |
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