New multi-million dollar investment gives 5,000 remaining gorillas new lease on life
The world population of the Endangered eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), found almost exclusively in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has plummeted by more than 70 percent in the past decade. Scientists estimate that fewer than 5,000 individuals remain, down sharply from 17,000 in 1994.
But a new multi-million dollar investment to save the gorilla is expected to
Soil particles lock up contaminants hundreds to thousands of times faster under the caustic conditions found beneath leaking toxic waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than under normal soil conditions, researchers report.
Understanding more about how contaminants such as radioactive cesium and strontium move through the soil under real-world conditions will help cleanup efforts at Hanford and other sites contaminated with nuclear waste. Previous research on the movement of soil c
A species of fish that lives in Antarctic waters may hold clues to climate change and lead to advances in heart medicine. Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are investigating the behaviour and physiology of the ’Antarctic Cod’ (Notothenia coriiceps) which became isolated from its warmer water cousins around 30 million years ago when the Antarctic circumpolar current was formed.
The olive-coloured fish has broad head and a narrow bo
Emissions from ships may bring as much nitrogen oxide to the atmosphere as the total amount of emissions coming from the USA. International shipping along the Norwegian coast and in the Northern Atlantic Ocean contributes largely to the formation of ground-level ozone and acidification of the shores.
Air pollution from ships may be twice as bad as shown by previous estimates. In high traffic areas emissions may affect the climate just as much or even more than other forms of emissions. This
At last! An excuse for those of us who take our work-related stress out on our family. Dr. Øyvind Øverli of the University of Oslo has discovered that dominant rainbow trout reduce their stress levels by venting their frustration on socially subordinate animals. Presenting his results at the annual SEB meeting in Edinburgh (29th March – 2nd April 2004, session A15.8), Dr. Øverli suggests that this method of stress reduction may be an evolutionarily conserved strategy, which may increase our understan
Fish may only have a 3-second memory, but lobsters certainly don’t. Professor Jelle Atema’s group at the Boston University Marine Program has discovered that when two lobsters fight, the loser remembers the winner and determines the intensity of a later fight when the two meet again. Male lobsters can use the smell of urine to distinguish between individual opponents. The consequences of a ‘boxing match’ between two male lobsters, after which the ‘nose’ of either the loser or winner was disabled so t
The damage that traffic fumes can do to vegetation close to roads has been the subject of new research carried out at the University of Bradford.
PhD student Keeley Bignal monitored moss and lichen over a six-month period to compile the study. Keeley took specimens from sites where there is no pollution and placed them at various distances from busy roadsides.
She said: “We are using lichens and mosses because they are known to be sensitive to air pollution.
“Previously
Without destroying endangered freshwater mussels
In the early 1900s, there were 42 species of freshwater mussels in the North Fork of the Holston River in Southwest Virginia. There were 33 downstream of Saltville. Now there are only nine species of mussels downstream of Saltville, and none directly below Saltville. When Virginia Tech geosciences student Megan Brown of Colonial Heights, Va., decided to study the local extinctions of these creatures, some of which have been known to liv
Researchers studying the environmental consequences of acid rain have reached an important milestone, adding evidence for a theory that has been the focus of much scientific debate. Publishing in the December, 2003 issue of the Soil Science Society of America Journal, a team at the University of Maine reported that a modest addition of acid in a paired watershed experiment resulted in a decrease of crucial nutrients in forest soils.
For more than 30 years, scientists in Europe and North Amer
CSIRO research has found unusual properties in ilmenite sand from the Murray Basin that could be harnessed to remove heavy metal and radioactive pollution from mine drainage, industrial waste streams, and ground water.
CSIRO scientists discovered the sand grains contains tiny holes, just nanometres across, but just the right size to potentially capture and filter out toxic pollutants from mining and other industrial wastes, as well as catalyse important industrial processes.
Dr Ian
A federal ban on two insecticides has resulted in a significant reduction in their impact on newborns’ birth weight and length, according to a new study funded by the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences of the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and other private foundations.
The results of the study – the first one to demonstrate the benefits of the ban during pregnancy in human subjects – will be published in Environmental Health P
Masses of large ocean-going squid have inundated the shores of Southern Chile, alarming local fishermen who fear these carnivorous invaders could threaten fish stocks. Envisat has helped account for their otherwise mysterious arrival.
These jumbo flying squid – Dosidicus gigas is their Latin name – are some of the largest known squids on the planet: the ones here measure between 70 to 150 centimetres in length, although specimens have been known to reach more than three metres. Making their
New model directly links tiger numbers to amount of prey, study says
Scientists from the New York-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and their collaborators from the US Geological Survey’s wildlife research center in Maryland have developed a model that shows a solid quantitative relationship between tiger numbers and the amount of prey available to these highly endangered big cats. Published in the latest edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the mod
By examining the worker castes in colonies of the ant, Pheidole morrisi, researchers have found new evidence that ants alter the organization of their colonies in different environments. Researchers Andrew Yang and colleagues from Duke University compared populations of P. morrisi in Florida, North Carolina and New York, and uncovered evidence supporting the idea that some insects adapt to their environment by adjusting body size and the relative proportion of different castes within their population
100,000 tons of sludge is produced annually in the Basque Autonomous Community (BAC) at waste water treatment plants (E.D.A.R). Under new legislation it will be obligatory to install these sewage water treatment plants in those urban areas of more than 3000 inhabitants, which in turn will mean, in the medium term, a considerable increase in the amount of sewage sludge generated.
The application of this sludge to forestry systems is being put forward as a solution to the ever-increasing pro
Scotland’s golf courses can look forward to a greener future thanks to a new initiative launched today by the University of Abertay Dundee.
Golf Solutions brings together environmental scientists, plant biotechnologists, microbiologists, computer specialists and other experts at Abertay to offer golf course managers new technologies for reducing the environmental impact of the game.
The initiative is the first of its kind in Scotland, and could help golf courses significantly reduc
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