A team led by Jacques Laskar from the Institut de Mécanique Céleste et de Calcul des Ephémérides (IMCCE) and the Paris Observatory has released new computational results for the long-term evolution of the orbital and rotational motion of the Earth. Following Milankovitch’s theory of the paleoclimate that describes how major climatic changes on Earth are affected by astronomical events, these results have been employed to provide a new calibration of the sedimentary records over the 0 – 23.03

Issued on behalf of NERC’s Centre for Ecology & Hydrology

The first comprehensive national ‘stocktake’ of freshwater fishes in Britain is published this weekend in a fascinating hard-back book and a new internet-based database. The book includes a unique set of species distribution maps incorporating records dating from the 17th Century through to the present day.

Until the compilation of this data, freshwater fish were the only vertebrate group that did not have

Glacier regression in the tropical Andes has accelerated considerably over the past 30 years. This change is cause for great concern, insofar as many regions of the Andes depend on the Cordillera’s glaciers for their water supply (2).

In 1991 scientists from the IRD research unit Great Ice (UR032) set up an observation network, jointly with their Bolivian, Peruvian and Ecuadorian partners. This system takes in a dozen glaciers along the Andes between the Equator and longitude 16

The mechanisms behind rock-weathering processes can provide vital clues for understanding and reconstructing the history of ancient environments and visualizing the physical conditions in which they were formed, especially climatic situations. Thick ancient coverings of weathered material such as laterites are still the most intensively studied to date. However, little is known about the initial stages of weathering, owing to the rare occurrence of well-preserved examples.

As a c

Earthquakes can be triggered by the Earth’s tides, UCLA scientists confirmed Oct. 21 in Science Express, the online journal of Science. Earth tides are produced by the gravitational pull of the moon and the sun on the Earth, causing the ocean’s waters to slosh, which in turn raise and lower stress on faults roughly twice a day. Scientists have wondered about the effects of Earth tides for more than 100 years. (The research will be published in the print version of Science in November.

Today sees ESA’s first ever microsatellite complete three years of successful operations. The size of a large television set, Proba was launched to demonstrate new technologies for future European spacecraft, but continues to provide fantastic images of Earth.

“It is amazing what we have got out of Proba, our first micro-satellite,” says Frederic Teston, ESA’s Proba Project Manager. “The mission has successfully demonstrated a number of sophisticated technologies in addi

In a world plagued by shortages of water, three facts stand out in an analysis by Cornell University ecologists: Less than 1 percent of water on the planet is fresh water; agriculture in the United States consumes 80 percent of the available fresh water each year; and 60 percent of U.S. water intended for crop irrigation never reaches the crops.

Their report in the October 2004 journal BioScience (Vol. 54, No. 10, “Water Resources: Agricultural and Environmental Issues”) names far

Antarctica and climate change – representatives of 32 nations decide on research focus programmes for the exploration of Antarctica

Exploration of Antarctica is of great significance in the context of discussions about global climate change. For this reason, the international Antarctic research community has just re-defined and coordinated its scientific programmes within a recent meeting of the international committee responsible for Antarctic research coordination SCAR (Scient

In an epic research project spanning 14 years and seven continents, a research team based at Brown University has photographed and cataloged nearly 3,000 species of sponges, corals and other shallow water ocean invertebrates from Antarctica to Australia. The key finding: Large-scale forces play a pivotal role in local species diversity. Results are published in the current online early edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

In a groundbreaking, globetr

Global warming poses an increasingly sizeable threat to the continued existence of man. James Lovelock, atmospheric chemist and author of Gaia warns that the gravity of the situation facing Earth’s inhabitants is greater than we have yet realized and accepted. Lovelock sets forth his predictions — and proposed solutions — in a commentary piece published this week in Atmospheric Science Letters.

The laws of Gaia – a hypothesis set forth by Lovelock – imply that any species that

Scientists from the University of Dundee and the University of York hope to improve the long term sustainability of certain ecosystems after being awarded a £359,422 grant from the Natural Environment Research Council to investigate unusual bacteria that live in the roots of trees and shrubs in the fragile and threatened savannah ecosystem of Central Brazil known as the “Cerrado”.

Dr Euan James, Dr Alan Prescott and Dr Sam Swift in the School of Life Sciences and Emeritus Profess

The increase in cultivation of herbicide-resistant GM Canola (also known as rapeseed) in Canada has led to a significant decrease in herbicide use, says research published in the journal Pest Management Science. This has led to a decrease in the environmental impact of weed control and could have similar effects elsewhere in the world.

Between 1995 and 2000, the amount of GM Canola grown increased from 10% to 80% of the total Canola area, causing herbicide use to decrease by ov

Forest fire particles come to town

Researchers at the University of Toronto have detected migratory pollutants from a forest fire in Quebec and even particles from a sandstorm in the Sahara in Toronto air, findings that could someday give regulatory agencies an idea of who is contributing to the pollutants found in urban air.

“It’s a bit of detective work,” says Greg Evans, a professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering and Applied Chemistry. “We happened

While parents and youngsters are busy carving jack-o-lanterns in preparation for Halloween, Canadian scientists are hard at work on another way to use the popular yellow-orange plant. New research shows that pumpkins can clean up soil contaminated with DDT and other pollutants.

In a greenhouse study, members of the Cucurbita pepo species — including pumpkin and zucchini — demonstrated the ability to remove DDT from soil, suggesting a potential “green” technique for cleaning up sites

Scientists have made a rare discovery from over 500 million years ago that provides new information on how a record of the past was perfectly preserved by nature.

Geologists at the University of Leicester have found that pyrite – or fool’s gold – replaced soft tissues, thereby preserving animals to their smallest details for posterity.

Dr Sarah Gabbott and colleagues, of the University of Leicester Department of Geology, found creatures with the very hairs on their

French and Australian scientists resume measurements of Antarctic waters south of Australia this week to assess their capacity as a massive oceanic sponge to absorb greenhouse gases and store them away for hundreds or perhaps thousands of years.

France and Australia have a joint research program taking measurements from the Antarctic supply ship L’Astrolabe during its voyages between Hobart and the French base at Dumont D’Urville. L’Astrolabe, equipped with a full