Researchers from the Physics Department and the Institute of Environmental Science and Technology (ICTA) of the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona have detected concentrations of radioactive plutonium and americium in plankton from the coast of Palomares (south-east coast of Spain), with an activity level five times higher than the average of other samples taken from the Mediterranean. This is residual contamination from the air accident that occurred on 17 January 1966, when two US military aircraft

Research at the University of Kent has revealed a remarkable phenomenon among tadpoles of the Mallorcan midwife toad, one of Europe’s most threatened species. The researchers, from the University’s Durrell Institute for Conservation and Ecology, (DICE) have discovered that the toad tadpoles can change shape when they smell snakes swimming nearby. Tadpoles found in pools where there are no snakes tend to be short and fat, whereas tadpoles in pools which attract snakes are long and thin.

Dr Ri

Science study reveals that habitat loss imperil one of the world’s most promising source of new drugs

In a letter published in the October 17th issue of Science, three scientists warn that biodiversity loss could have devastating consequences for drug discovery and the development of new medicines. “Tropical cone snails may contain the largest and most clinically important pharmacopoeia of any genus in Nature” says lead author of the study, Eric Chivian from the Harvard Medical S

The industrial pollutant ozone, long known to be harmful to many kinds of plants, can also affect the very earth in which they grow.

Researchers at Michigan Technological University and the North Central Research Station of the USDA Forest Service have discovered that ozone can reduce soil carbon formation – a measure of the amount of organic matter being added to the soil. Their findings are published in the Oct. 16 issue of the journal Nature.

The scientists exposed forest stands

A global treaty focusing on intercontinental air pollution could be a better approach to controlling climate change than the Kyoto Protocol, according to a new scientific study. By cooperating to reduce pollutants like ozone and aerosols, countries could address their own regional health concerns, keep their downwind neighbors happy and reduce the threat of global warming in the process, claim the researchers.

The report appears in the Oct. 13 edition of Environmental Science & Technology,

Beaches and recreational waters could be much safer

Hundreds of thousands of drownings could be prevented each year through simple preventive tools. To minimize deaths, illness and injuries at the beach, in oceans, lakes and rivers, the World Health Organization (WHO) is today launching Guidelines for safe recreational water environments. Beaches and bodies of water failing to meet safety standards are a worldwide public health problem, and can make people ill, cause disability and d

Previous year’s drought might predict following year’s mosquito population

So you think you know mosquitoes?

Consider the venerable law that rainy weather is the cause of increased mosquito populations.

An ecologist at Washington University in St. Louis says if you believe that, youre all wet.

Jon Chase, Ph.D., assistant professor of biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University, and his wife Tiffany Knight, Ph.D., a postdoctoral researcher at the

Marine researchers and scientists have long sought a practical way to track the position and migration of fish in the world’s oceans in order to provide research data for stock management and fish conservation.

Sigmur Gudbjornsson, Managing Director of Stjornu-Oddi, the Icelandic lead partner in EUREKA project E! 2326 GPSFISH, describes how they solved the problem by having ships “transmit by sonar GPS (global positioning satellite) data which is then stored on any fish that has been previo

A strong link has been confirmed between sea surface temperatures and precipitation in Africa’s semi-arid Sahel, according to a new study published in Science on October 9th. The study was co-authored by Alessandra Giannini, a climate expert with the International Research Institute for Climate Prediction (IRI), a unit of the Earth Institute at Columbia University.

Previously, it was not known how much land use changes may have led to the region’s recent history of prolonged drought, or whet

Biological invasions have well-known direct effects on native ecosystems but may also unleash forces with complex, unexpected consequences. These ecological surprises may be especially common in simple systems, like islands, following introduction of ’megainvaders,’ like tramp ants.

In the September issue of Ecology Letters, O’Dowd, Green, and Lake show that impacts of invasion by the crazy ant Anoplolepis gracilipes ramify through the food web in rainforest on Christm

Floods are one of Europe’s most widespread disasters. Major flooding has occurred nearly every year somewhere on our continent during the last few decades. Today, European Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin is visiting the city of Dresden (Germany), which was hit very hard last year by one of the worst flood catastrophes to occur in Central Europe since the Middle Ages. During this visit, the European Commission has organised a media briefing at Dresden’s Ständehaus to present the results of

Research carried out in the Netherlands has revealed that the genetic background of cattle apparently determines how quickly and effectively they acquire immunity to infections from gastrointestinal worms. Such infections cause considerable economic losses in the beef farming industry. During her doctoral research, Kirezi Kanobana investigated how cattle rid themselves of worms and prevent new infections.

Kanobana used an infection model in which, based on their genetic background, animals e

According to Dutch researcher Liesbeth Bakker, rabbits prefer grassland grazed by cows. The rabbits benefit from grass that has been grazed short by the cows as this is of a good quality. Furthermore, this grazing relationship leads to a greater diversity of plant species.

The researchers studied a number of plots in the Junner Koeland, a floodplain grassland along the river Overijsselse Vecht. Staatsbosbeheer uses cows to manage the grassland vegetation. However, the numerous rabbits and me

After surviving for thousands of years in the lakes of Southeast Asia, the East Asian giant softshell turtle may finally be faced with extinction, as the last member of the species lingers on in Vietnam’s Hoan Kiem Lake. Reptile specialists from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society recently observed the reptile in its last known habitat and fear it may live out its final years without a mate.

“This individual could very well be the last of its kind,” said John Behler, Cura

A new, all-natural, pollutant-busting microbe has been discovered by scientists in Germany. Research published in the October 2003 issue of Microbiology, a Society for General Microbiology journal, describes a new strain of bacterium, which could be used in the near future to clean up polluted land.

Over the years, many harsh and highly toxic chemicals have built-up in the environment. Dr Rapp and his colleagues at the National Research Centre for Biotechnology in Braunschweig, Germany, have

The EU response to recent declines in pollinators and consequent loss of pollination services has been the inclusion of pollinator-friendly management in agri-environment schemes. These comprise the promotion of semi-natural habitats, such as set-aside and field margin strips. Yet, mass flowering crops, such as oilseed rape, are assumed to be of little value to pollinators.

However, in an article soon to appear in Ecology Letters, C. Westphal, I. Steffan-Dewenter and T. Tscharntke show that