The extinction of the great apes — gorillas, chimpanzees, bonobos (pygmy chimpanzees) and orangutans — is imminent if strict conservation practices are not implemented in the immediate future. Once these practices have been initially implemented, ape populations must be monitored to evaluate their success and to create incentives for effective protection. Dr. Nadine Laporte, an assistant scientist with the Woods Hole Research Center, is involved in international initiatives working to assess
What had been thought to be a minor source of Southern California’s beach sand – erosion from coastal bluffs and cliffs – could account for half of the sand on the region’s beaches.
Coastal geologists have assumed for years that sediment-laden rivers that enter the Pacific Ocean along the Central and Southern California coast supply up to 90 percent of the sand on the region’s beaches. However, new research by two independent groups of UCSD scientists indicates that what had bee
Tribological properties of magnesium matrix composite alloys dispersed with Mg2Si particles
The use of magnesium alloys in engineering applications is becoming increasingly important as a relatively low density allows savings in energy consumption and therefore reduction in air pollution.
An associated reduction in inertia also makes these alloys potential candidates for friction components. Magnesium alloys, however, have low wear resistance and low hardness and sticking o
Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, Reef Check and World Conservation Union to examine damage to tsunami-affected coral reefs; mission set to start next week
Three leading marine conservation organizations will complete an extensive survey next week along the west coast of Aceh Province, Indonesia, to determine the impact of last year’s devastating earthquake and tsunami on the region’s coral reefs.
The Khaled bin Sultan Living Oceans Foundation, Reef
How to bring together positions and views of psychologists and ecologists, integrate these sciences for a goal common to all mankind – preservation and evolution of life on the Earth?
Psychologists deal with the human being as such, reflection of reality in individual mentality, without paying too much attention to what is going on around. Ecologists are concerned with the process of interaction between human beings and nature, however, they at times consider this interaction onl
The floodwaters that inundated New Orleans immediately following Hurricane Katrina were similar in content to the city’s normal storm water and were not as toxic as previously thought, according to a study by researchers at Louisiana State University. Their study, the first peer-reviewed scientific assessment of the water quality of the Katrina floodwaters, is good news for those who’ve been exposed directly to the floodwaters, the scientists say.
But the LSU researchers caution t
Study examines culvert capacity in Keene, NH
The storm that dropped over 10 inches of rain on the Keene, NH area this past weekend will be a more frequent phenomenon due to climate change, according to two New Hampshire researchers. Michael Simpson and Latham Stack headed a research team within the Environmental Studies Department at Antioch New England Graduate School in Keene, NH. Their recently completed study is groundbreaking because it is the first to identify the specifi
Earth’s wetlands are havens for wildlife and vital to the water cycle, but they are also under threat. An ESA-led initiative aims to develop a global wetland information service based on Earth Observation for conservation efforts. The Globwetland project has now entered a new phase, with prototype products being developed based on sites across four continents.
Abundant water makes wetlands the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth, more productive even than tropical ra
The high heat that accompanied the recent drought was the underlying cause of death for millions of pinyon pines throughout the Southwest, according to new research.
The resulting landscape change will affect the ecosystem for decades. Hotter temperatures coupled with drought are the type of event predicted by global climate change models. The new finding suggests big, fast changes in ecosystems may result from global climate change.
“We documented a massive forest die-
Chinese men spurn traditional virility medicines
Chinese men are selectively switching from traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) to Viagra to treat erectile dysfunction, but sticking with tradition for ailments such as arthritis, indigestion and gout, according to new research published in Environmental Conservation.
The finding supports a prediction made by Australian and Alaskan researchers at the advent of Viagra’s commercial release in 1998 that the new impot
Air quality has improved in most European countries over the last few decades. Yet, even at current levels, air pollution may aggravate respiratory diseases, shorten life expectancy by up to several months, and possibly increase infant mortality in highly polluted areas.
In October 2005 the World Health Organization (WHO) will reconsider current air quality guidelines. Does the latest research warrant new standards to better protect our health? To answer this key question, WHO expe
The flow of carbon through soil is ten times greater than the amount of carbon moved around by the burning of fossil fuel but until now how this happens was at best poorly understood. Soil was almost literally a black box to scientists interested in carbon. Now researchers at the University of Warwick have been able to shed light in that black box by getting a particular class of insects to expose the key underground carbon traffic system – by eating it.
The University of Warwick te
Computer software developed by astrophysicists to locate stars and galaxies in the night sky could help save the whale shark – whose spotted skin is like a starry sky – from extinction, according to new research published in the British Ecological Society’s Journal of Applied Ecology.
Together with Australian marine biologist Brad Norman and JAVA programmer and software specialist Jason Holmberg, astrophysicist Dr Zaven Arzoumanian of the Universities Space Research Associatio
Radio frequency technology tracks mixer efficiency
Fishing for a way to assess mixing behavior in treatment tanks for radioactive waste, ecologists at Pacific Northwest National Laboratory came up with an innovative use of radio frequency technology previously used to track migrating fish.
But rather than swimming out to sea implanted in young steelhead and salmon, thousands of passive integrated transponder, or PIT, tags were added to a clay simulant and then whipped ar
Flowering plants near ponds may owe their pollination not only to the winged creatures of the air, but also to the finned ones of the deep.
Scientists have discovered that fish indirectly help spread pollen among flowers near the water. That’s because they eat dragonfly larva, which live in freshwater ponds and other water bodies. Adult dragonflies are major predators of bees, butterflies and other insect pollinators. The result is a simple but unexpected cascade: The more fish
Inexpensive technique verified in full-scale tests at three coal-fired power plants
Researchers at Lehigh University’s Energy Research Center (ERC) have developed and successfully tested a cost-effective technique for reducing mercury emissions from coal-fired power plants.
In full-scale tests at three power plants, says lead investigator Carlos E. Romero, the Lehigh system reduced flue-gas emissions of mercury by as much as 70 percent or more with modest impact on
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