LINDAU, Germany—Quick: What do MRI machines, rockets, fiber optics, LCDs, food production and welding have in common? They all require the inert, or noble, gas helium for their use or at some stage of their production. And that helium essentially could be gone in less than three decades, Robert C. Richardson, winner, along with Douglas […]
After more than a decade of monitoring the Bering Sea off the coast of Alaska, scientists have released the first count of one of the world’s most endangered group of whales. Approximately thirty right whales inhabit the eastern Pacific Ocean, they reported on Tuesday — slightly more than previously thought. Whether enough remain to prevent […]
About 5 minutes into the video above, a film crew dives in the South Pacific waters and films for what is probably the first time ever (that’s what they claim, anyway) the inside of a gigantic purse seine tuna net. You really have to see it to believe the scale of this kind of commercial […]
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2010) — Marianne Kraugerud’s doctoral research has led to the discovery that individual variants of the environmental pollutants PCB and PFC can affect several of the body’s hormone systems in a more complex way than previously supposed. Humans and animals are constantly exposed to these toxins through the food they eat and […]
ScienceDaily (July 1, 2010) — The emission of the greenhouse gases methane and nitrous oxide has been structurally underestimated, as a result of the measuring methods used. This is the conclusion of the scientist Petra Kroon, who carried out research for the Energy research Centre of the Netherlands (ECN) and Delft University of Technology […]
By Steve Gorman and Ernest Scheyder, Editing by Sandra MalerLOS ANGELES/FORT JACKSONThu Jul 1, 2010 3:01am EDT LOS ANGELES/FORT JACKSON, Louisiana (Reuters) – Despite the images of oil-soaked pelicans flooding the media in recent weeks, wildlife experts say the toll on sea birds from BP’s Gulf Coast oil spill is smaller than was anticipated, […]
Britain has experienced the driest first six months of the year for more than 80 years. Met Office figures showed the average rainfall across the country was 356.8mm, making it the driest start to the year since 1929 and the second driest in a century. The long-term average for January to June is 511.7 mm. […]
This graph shows how the average surface temperature of the world’s oceans has changed since 1880. This graph uses the 1971 to 2000 average as a baseline for depicting change. Choosing a different baseline period would not change the shape of the trend. The shaded band shows the likely range of values, based on the […]
Reporting by Chris Buckley; Editing by Paul Tait (Reuters) – China will move 345,000 people, mostly poor villagers, within about two years to make way for a vast scheme to draw on rivers in the south to supply the increasingly dry north, an official newspaper said on Tuesday. The forced resettlement for the South-to-North […]
By Jeremy Hance, www.mongabay.com June 29, 2010 The Selmunett lizard (Podarcis filfolensis ssp. Kieselbachi) is very likely extinct, according to Maltese naturalist Arnold Sciberras. One of four subspecies of the Maltese wall lizard, the Selmunett lizard was last seen in 2005. Although the lizard’s home—Selmunett Island—has long been uninhabited by people, that fact did […]
