How can new technologies help to reveal the hidden lives of tropical animals and plants?

Difficult environmental conditions and complex biological interactions make it tough for tropical biologists to understand animal behavior, climate change effects and highly biodiverse plants and forest organisms. On Monday, July 29, 2002, the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI) convened a diverse group of rainforest biologists with engineers at the forefront of sensor and communicatio

Although they have persisted for tens of millions of years, neotropical lowland forests have changed greatly in extent and composition due to climatic variation and to human impacts. In a symposium at the 2002 meetings of the Association for Tropical Biology, hosted by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Panama, scientists presented the latest results of research on neotropical forests and their transformations up to the time of Columbus.

Bruce MacFadden, of the University o

Panama City, Panama-Today the world’s tropical forests are not only being cleared at an extraordinary rate, they are also increasingly being divided into fragments that can rapidly lose their original rich biodiversity. At the 2002 meetings of the Association for Tropical Biology, hosted by the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute (STRI), Panama, this conservation crisis was addressed in a symposium bringing together concerned investigators from throughout the tropics.

Organized by

Researchers studying global warming have often been confounded by the differences between observed increases in surface-level temperatures and unchanging low-atmosphere temperatures. Because of this discrepancy, some have argued that global warming is unproven, suggesting instead that true warming should show uniformly elevated temperatures from the surface through the atmosphere. Researchers have proposed a theory that changes in cloud cover could help explain the puzzling phenomenon, but none-until

Efforts by British campaigners to halt the unsustainable use of peat in horticulture have received international acclaim, just a few days after Environment Minister Michael Meacher reaffirmed the UK Government`s commitment to reducing peat use by 90% before 2010.

At a meeting of the International Mire Conservation Group (IMCG) in France on 21st July, the UK was commended for the impact of its campaign to persuade the public, industry and government to stop using peat. The IMCG applauded the

Cardamom Mountains former home to Khmer Rouge

The Cambodian government announced today the creation of the Central Cardamoms Protected Forest, a 1,000,000-acre (402,000-hectare) area in southwestern Cambodia’s Central Cardamom Mountains. The Cardamoms are home to most of Cambodia’s large mammals and half of the country’s birds, reptiles and amphibians. Two wildlife sanctuaries border the area, bringing the total land under protection to 2.44 million acres (990,000 hecta

An unusual combination of oceanic and atmospheric events may be to blame for a mysterious and sudden die-off of numerous crabs, fish and invertebrate animals off the central Oregon coast during the past two weeks.

Oregon State University researchers who are studying near-shore ecosystems say extremely low oxygen levels – especially in the lower water column – appear to be the culprit.

“Though we are just beginning to amass the evidence, it appears that there has been a confluence o

University of Pennsylvania Museum archaeologists have discovered a 3700-year-old “magical” birth brick inside the palatial residence of a Middle Kingdom mayor’s house just outside Abydos, in southern Egypt. The colorfully decorated mud birth brick–the first ever found–is one of a pair that would have been used to support a woman’s feet while squatting during actual childbirth. The birth brick, which measures 14 by 7 inches, was discovered during summer 2001 excavations directed b

ESA PR 52-2002. What is the fastest Ferrari`s distinctive red paint has ever travelled? Next year it will be 10800 km/h! Mars Express, to be launched in May/June 2003, the first European spacecraft to visit the Red Planet, will be speeding on its way accompanied by the very essence of Ferrari: a sample of its distinctive red paint. Mars has always fascinated us here on Earth. The European Space Agency`s Mars Express mission, due to arrive at its destination by December 2003, aims to solve ma

Satellites can help the EU monitor climate change, address international crises and contain natural disasters. Today in Brussels EU Research Commissioner Philippe Busquin and Mr Antonio Rodotà, the Director General of the European Space Agency (ESA), officially opened a large stakeholder consultation forum aiming at the definition of European needs to enhance global monitoring for environment and security (GMES). 250 participants, representing users, suppliers and researchers, addressed poli

What happens when a large meteor crashes into the Earth? The impact of a large meteorite releases an enormous amount of energy that evaporates, melts and fractures areas surrounding the impact over distances that can range over hundreds of kilometers. Although the subject of abundant recent interest, little is directly known about the propagation of damage during these events.

Three researchers from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem have come up with a new picture of damage propagation, whi

COLLEGE STATION – Lightning may not often strike twice in the same place, but it sure can hang out repeatedly in the same neighborhood. In Texas, that neighborhood is Houston, which Texas A&M University atmospheric scientists call the “lightning capital of the state.” Results of their lightning research, indicating that the high-energy stuff likes the city life, was originally published in Journal of Geophysical Research – Atmospheres, and an overview of that study is featured in the online

As part of the Earth System Science Pathfinder small-satellite program, NASA has selected a new space mission proposal led by NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, Md., that will yield fresh insight into how oceans affect and respond to climate change — knowledge that will help better life here on Earth. The mission, named Aquarius, promises to explore the saltiness of the seas in order to understand how the massive natural exchanges of water between the ocean, atmosphere and sea ice

A sensor aboard NASA’s Terra satellite is helping scientists map how much sunlight the Earth’s surface reflects back up into the atmosphere, and this new detailed information should help to greatly improve weather and forecast models. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) now routinely provides daily global and local measurements of albedo, or the total amount of light reflected from Earth’s surface out to space. These precise data may allow scientists to better understand and pr

Ecological communities suffer dramatic changes when non-native species are introduced by humans. Such introductions have been documented in hundreds of locations and appear to be common in marine and island habitats. One of the best-studied cases of a species that suddenly appeared in the New England intertidal, and subsequently spread rapidly southward accompanied by significant changes in the intertidal community, is the “European periwinkle” Littorina littorea. In the July issue of Ecolog

The Brazilian World Cup celebrations may have started to die down, but in space the never-ending football match between the Sun and Earth continues. And watching this match closely are Salsa, Samba, Rumba and Tango, the four satellites that make up the Cluster mission. They are performing their Brazilian dances 119 000 kilometres above our heads. With all the grace and skill of the Brazilian players on the football field, the spacecraft making up the Cluster quartet are currently chan