 |
 |
| October 25, 2013 |
 Gum leaves rich in lil' gold nuggets Canberra, Australia (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Scientists from CSIRO made the discovery and have published their findings in the journal Nature Communications. "The eucalypt acts as a hydraulic pump - its roots extend tens of metres into the ground and draw up water containing the gold. As the gold is likely to be toxic to the plant, it's moved to the leaves and branches where it can be released or shed to the ground," CSIRO geochemist ... more |  |
 Name that tune Knoxville, TN (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - The same algorithm used to find tunes in music retrieval systems has been successfully applied in identifying the signature whistles of dolphins, affording a new time-saving device for research into the world of dolphin communication. Bottlenose dolphins, in particular, recognize each other by name: the sound of each animal's "signature" whistle, which each dolphin develops at a young age. ... more |  |
 Long-term memory helps chimpanzees in their search for food Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Where do you go when the fruits in your favourite food tree are gone and you don't know which other tree has produced new fruit yet? An international team of researchers, led by Karline Janmaat from the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, studied whether chimpanzees aim their travel to particular rainforest trees to check for fruit and how they increase their ... more |  |
No known hominin is ancestor of Neanderthals and modern humans London, UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - The search for a common ancestor linking modern humans with the Neanderthals who lived in Europe thousands of years ago has been a compelling subject for research. But a new study suggests the quest isn't nearly complete. The researchers, using quantitative methods focused on the shape of dental fossils, find that none of the usual suspects fits the expected profile of an ancestor of Neand ... more |  |
 Outside View: China's ownership of an iconic American food company New York (UPI) Oct 25, 2013 - The recent acquisition of Smithfield Foods, Inc., by Chinese food producer Shuanghui International has left many Americans feeling concerned about the future of food safety. These feelings are heightened with the news that tainted dog treats from China have been linked to hundreds of animals dying from a mystery illness. The purchase of Smithfield was the largest Chinese investme ... more |  |
| |
 Japan mudslide islanders take shelter as new storm looms Tokyo (AFP) Oct 25, 2013 - People on a storm-battered island in Japan took shelter Friday, as another typhoon - one of two looming in the Pacific - looked set to sideswipe the coast. "We have advised people in all areas of the island to prepare for evacuation," said an official in Oshima where rain-triggered mudslides left 31 people dead and 13 others missing last week. Around 10 percent of the island's roughly ... more |  |
 'Climate of fear' grips Myanmar's Buddhists and Muslims Washington DC (UPI) Oct 24, 2013 - Myanmar's opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi said violence between Buddhists and Muslims in the country shows a "climate of fear" has gripped both groups. The Nobel Peace Prize laureate denied Muslims are subject to ethnic cleansing, although around 140,000 have fled the country to escape the violence. "It's not ethnic cleansing," Suu Kyi said in a televised interview with the BB ... more |  |
 Bo Xilai: rise and fall of a political star in China Beijing (AFP) Oct 25, 2013 - With a suave demeanour, well-cut suits and an easy smile, in his heyday Bo Xilai presented a stark contrast to the usual ranks of stiff, buttoned-up Chinese politicians. But his open ambition and lobbying for promotion, coupled with his "princeling" status as the son of a hero of China's revolution, irritated some of his colleagues in the upper echelons of the ruling Communist Party. His ... more |  |
 Researchers show how plants tell the time London, UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Plants use sugars to tell the time of day, according to research published in Nature. Plants, like animals, have a 24 hour 'body-clock' known as the circadian rhythm. This biological timer gives plants an innate ability to measure time, even when there is no light - they don't simply respond to sunrise, for example, they know it is coming and adjust their biology accordingly. This ability ... more |  |
 New research illustrates Mississippi River's role Miami FL (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - A new study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science showed that the complex circulation from the Mississippi River plume played a substantial role in the transport and fate of the oil following the 2010 Deepwater Horizon incident. These findings provide new information on the transport of oil and other pollutants in the Gulf of Mexico ... more |  |
| |
How climate change affects microbial life below the seafloor Bremen, Germany (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Traces of past microbial life in sediments off the coast of Peru document how the microbial ecosystem under the seafloor has responded to climate change over hundreds of thousands of years. For more a decade scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Marine Microbiology and their colleagues at MARUM and the University of Aarhus have investigated microbial life from this habitat. This "Deep ... more |  |
Vetch cover crop, fertilizer practices recommended for organic zucchini Metaponto, Italy (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Cover crops may be in the hardest working plants in organic farming systems. A variety of dependable cover crops are used to subdue weeds, build productive soil, control pests and diseases, and enhance overall sustainability of organic systems. In a new study, the popular cover crop Vetch (Vicia sativa L.) was used in a 2-year field experiment. The experiment was designed to determine the ... more |  |
Clean living is a luxury wild animals can't afford Edinburgh, UK (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Domestic animals will choose to steer clear of dirt - but their wild cousins can't be so picky and may be at increased risk of disease as a result. A study of wild mice has shown that they prefer to sleep and eat near to used nesting material and droppings left by other mice. Choosing a safe place to sleep and taking the opportunity to eat outweighs an increased risk of disease from ... more |  |
 Carbon cycle models underestimate indirect role of animals New Haven CT (SPX) Oct 25, 2013 - Animal populations can have a far more significant impact on carbon storage and exchange in regional ecosystems than is typically recognized by global carbon models, according to a new paper authored by researchers at the Yale School of Forestry and Environmental Studies (F&ES). In fact, in some regions the magnitude of carbon uptake or release due to the effects of specific animal species ... more |  |
 Pirates kidnap two American sailors off Nigeria Lagos (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - Pirates have stormed an oil supply vessel off southern Nigeria and kidnapped two American crew members, Nigeria's navy and US defence officials said Thursday, the latest unrest in a region described as a piracy hotspot. A US-flagged C-Retriever owned by American oil servicing company Edison Chouest Offshore was attacked on Wednesday off the city of Brass, Nigeria's navy spokesman Kabir Aliy ... more |  |
| ADVERTISEMENT + A Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison Report  Tempur-Pedic Mattress Comparison The Temperflow? uses a patent pending technology that allows body heat to ventilate out the mattress, while cooler air can flow back into the mattress. See www.Temperflow.com for more information about how their technology works. Or read our comparison report on two different memory foam mattress products.+ Buy a Temperflow? bed today and sleep better tonight! | |
 HIV has big hiding place, foiling hopes for cure Washington (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - Modern medicine can keep HIV at bay but not cure it, and researchers said Thursday the reason may lie in the larger-than-expected size of the virus's hiding place. Traces of HIV can lie dormant in the body's immune cells, and this so-called latent reservoir is 60 times bigger than previous estimates, according to new research in the journal Cell. The findings, based on three years of lab ... more |  |
China media regulator speaks out over reporter's arrest Beijing (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - China's media regulator has vowed to protect "lawful reporting rights", state media said, in a rare official intervention over press freedom after a journalist was detained by police. Chen Yongzhou, with the New Express tabloid, was held last Friday on "suspicion of damaging business reputation" after he wrote a series of articles on "financial problems" at Zoomlion, a partly state-owned con ... more |  |
Philippine earthquake creates miles-long rocky wall Manila (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - A deadly earthquake that struck the Philippines last week created a spectacular rocky wall that stretches for kilometres (miles) through farmlands, astounded geologists said Thursday. Dramatic pictures of the Earth-altering power of the 7.1-magnitide quake have emerged as the government worked to mend the broken central island of Bohol, ground zero of the destruction. A "ground rupture" ... more |  |
 Greenpeace urges Russia to free activists after piracy charge lifted Moscow (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - Greenpeace on Thursday urged Russia to release its crew members after investigators reduced the charge against them from piracy to hooliganism over their protest on an Arctic oil platform. "Our general position has not changed: the investigation must wind up this laughable case, apologise and set them all free," Greenpeace lawyer Anton Beneslavsky told AFP. Russia's powerful Investigativ ... more |  |
Malaysian tribes protest mega-dam Kuala Lumpur (AFP) Oct 24, 2013 - Hundreds of Malaysian tribespeople blockaded the construction site of a new dam Thursday which is set to force them from their homes in Sarawak on the island of Borneo, activists said. The Baram dam is the latest in a series of controversial hydroelectric mega-dams planned by the Sarawak government as it pushes economic development in one of Malaysia's poorest states. Indigenous Kenyah, ... more |  |
| ||||
| ||||||||
No comments :
Post a Comment