Enhanced computing capability will make it possible to gain new insights on climate change. On Tuesday, August 23, the climate modelling computer Tornado was inaugurated by Lena Sommestad, who is Environment Minister in Sweden.

Current research reports on climatic evolution unanimously concur that global temperature and precipitation are in a state of change. The extent global warming will reach in the future depends largely on the quantity of future carbon dioxide emission, bu

Scientists at the Woods Hole Research Center are producing a high-resolution “National Biomass and Carbon Dataset” for the year 2000 (NBCD2000), the first ever inventory of its kind. Through a combination of NASA satellite datasets, topographic survey data, land use/land cover data, and extensive forest inventory data collected by the U.S. Forest Service, this “millennium” dataset will serve as an invaluable baseline for carbon stock assessment and flux modeling in the United States.

The

Coral reefs, the rainforests of the sea, feed a large portion of the world’s population, protect tropical shorelines from erosion, and harbor animals and plants with great potential to provide new therapeutic drugs. Unfortunately, reefs are now beset by problems ranging from local pollution and overfishing to outbreaks of coral disease and global warming. Although most scientists agree that reefs are in desperate trouble, they disagree strongly over the timing and causes of the coral reef cri

Virginia Tech scientists say that there has been a change in the status of the fungus causing Asian Soybean Rust but that the new information is still too preliminary for any action on the part of the Commonwealth’s soybean producers.

A single cluster of six urediniospores found at Virginia Tech’s Tidewater Agricultural Research and Extension Center in Suffolk was identified by morphological characteristics as matching the description of the fungus.

“The spores

A broiler chicken produces an average 115g excrements a day; this amounts to 2 million tons a year in Germany alone. In terms of plant nutrients this is equivalent to 33 million kg nitrogen (N) and 7 million kg phosphorus (P). The environmetal effects of these nutrients and their interaction with different production systems has been investigated by scientists of the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science of the Federal Agricultural Research Centre (FAL) in Braunschweig, Germany.

The 3 day July whale and dolphin theme cruises in the Bay of Biscay produced sighting of 11 different species of whales, dolphins and porpoises – an impressive record for anywhere in the World.

The Biscay Dolphin Research Programme (BDRP) is at the forefront of scientific research into cetaceans (the collective term for whales and dolphins) in the Eastern European Atlantic and as part of its education role, the charitable organisation also operates a selected number of eco-touris

A robotic bat head that can emit and detect ultrasound in the band of frequencies used by the world’s bats will give echolocation research a huge boost.

The Bat-Bot, developed by IST project CIRCE, can also wriggle its ears, a technique often used by bats to modulate the characteristics of the echo.

CIRCE developed the Bat-Bot to closely mimic the amazing echolocation skills of bats and to act as a tool for further research in echolocation.

“Sonar in water is

From order to disorder: A monkey wrench in solar system evolution?

A U of T scientist has found unexpectedly ‘young’ material in meteorites – a discovery that breaks open current theory on the earliest events of the solar system.

A paper published today in the August issue of Nature reports that the youngest known chondrules – the small grains of mineral that make up certain meteorites – have been identified in the meteorites known as Gujba and Hammadah al Hamra.

Samples collected by WCS in international collaborative effort to ID, contain disease

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) has positively identified the pathogenic form of avian flu–H5N1–in samples taken from birds last week in Mongolia by field veterinarians from the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS). It is the first instance of this viral strain occurring in wild migratory birds with no apparent contact to domestic poultry or waterfowl.

Present in Mon

A team of American and British scientists have identified and digitally reconstructed the first example of a fossilized brachiopod complete with its pedicle, the stalk attaching it to the sea floor, and its lophophore or feeding organ, according to a report in the journal Nature.

Brachiopods, the so called “lamp shells,” are rare today, but are some of the best known fossils from the Paleozoic era — 542 to 251 million years ago. Our knowledge of these extinct forms was previousl

Ecologists may need to reconsider methods of targeting conservation effort in species rich biodiversity hotspots such as rainforests, according to scientists in the journal Nature, 18 August 2005.

A consortium of scientists, funded by the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), has produced the first global database of bird biodiversity. Their analyses show that hotspots of diversity in species richness, rarity and threat occur in widely differing geographical areas and th

If Cornell University researchers and their colleagues have their way, cheetahs, lions, elephants, camels and other large wild animals may soon roam parts of North America.

“If we only have 10 minutes to present this idea, people think we’re nuts,” said Harry Greene, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at Cornell. “But if people hear the one-hour version, they realize they haven’t thought about this as much as we have. Right now, we are investing all of our megafauna h

The first full map of where the world’s birds live reveals their diversity ’hotspots’ and will help to focus conservation efforts, according to research published in Nature today (18 August).

The findings are drawn from the most complete and detailed picture of bird diversity yet made, based on a new global database of all living bird species.

The map also shows that the pattern of bird diversity is much more complicated than previously thought.

The number of living Florida panthers has grown from a previously estimated 30 to a recently counted 87 as a result of a controversial breeding effort to improve the genetic health of the endangered and inbred animals, according to a new assessment.

Hybrid kittens born to panthers brought into the area from Texas have “about a three times higher chance of becoming adults as do purebred ones,” reports a paper planned for publication in January 2006 in the British journal Ani

A new NASA-funded study finds that predicted increases in precipitation due to warmer air temperatures from greenhouse gas emissions may actually increase sea ice volume in the Antarctic’s Southern Ocean. This adds new evidence of potential asymmetry between the two poles, and may be an indication that climate change processes may have different impact on different areas of the globe.

“Most people have heard of climate change and how rising air temperatures are melting glaciers an

Climate change could be good news for Scottish farmers, according to ESRC funded research at the University of Stirling. Rising temperatures and increased CO2 levels could mean increased yields and a boost to local economies, according to Professor Nick Hanley, who led the project. The research findings are based on a series of interlinked models, which analysed the effects of projected changes in Scotland’s weather on land use, regional economies and biodiversity. The possible effects of reform