25-Feb-2007 Census of Marine Life Deep-sea species at unusually shallow depths on uncapped seabed (photo (c) Julian Gutt, AWI) Once roofed by ice for millennia, a 10,000 square km portion of the Antarctic seabed represents a true frontier, one of Earth’s most pristine marine ecosystems, made suddenly accessible to exploration by the collapse of the […]
Rockefeller University / University of Guelph 18-Feb-2007 Scientists complete DNA portrait of US, Canadian bird species, Guyanese bats At unprecedented levels of difficulty involving highly biodiverse and continent-sized landscapes, scientists have successfully tested their ability to identify and DNA “barcode” entire assemblages of species — the prelude to a genetic portrait of all animal life […]
University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics 22-Jan-2007 Public health trumps individual human rights, medical ethics experts say Medical ethics and other experts say tough isolation measures, involuntary if need be, are justified to contain a very deadly, highly-contagious and drug-resistant mutant strain of tuberculosis and to prevent “a potentially explosive international health crisis” brewing […]
14-Dec-2006 United Nations University Joint International Conference Algiers, Dec. 17-19 About 200 experts from 25 countries are convening in Algiers Dec. 17-19 to advise shifts in world policies needed to cope with the causes and growing consequences of desertification – a creeping environmental crisis that threatens an estimated 2 billion people living in arid places, […]
Census of Marine Life 10-Dec-2006 A host of record-breaking discoveries and revelations that stretch the extreme frontiers of marine knowledge were achieved by the Census of Marine Life in 2006, highlights of which were released today. They include life adapted to brutal conditions around 407ºC fluids spewing from a seafloor vent (the hottest ever discovered), […]
5-Dec-2006 United Nations University The richest 2% of adults in the world own more than half of global household wealth according to a path-breaking study released today by the Helsinki-based World Institute for Development Economics Research of the United Nations University (UNU-WIDER). The most comprehensive study of personal wealth ever undertaken also reports that the […]
13-Nov-2006 University of Helsinki / Rockefeller University, New York ‘Growing stock’ expanding in most forested nations, even with modest prosperity An increasing number of countries and regions are transitioning from deforestation to afforestation, raising hopes for a turning point for the world as a whole, according to researchers advancing a more sophisticated approach to measuring […]
24 Oct 06 United Nations University Some 300,000 combatants under age 18 – some as young as six and 40% of them girls – are illegal recruits in more than 30 conflicts around the world, experts say in a new United Nations University book that explores accountability for war crimes by children without indirectly exposing […]
National Forest Congress, Ottawa www.nfc-cfn.ca Sept. 24, 2006 Create National Accounting Systems To Reflect All Values Of Boreal Forests: Economist It’s time to create a comprehensive accounting system for natural capital to recognize the full value of ecosystem services provided by boreal forests, an ecological economist will urge delegates to Canada’s 10th National Forest Congress […]
11-Sep-2006 University of Toronto Joint Center for Bioethics Experts rank top 10 ways of improving health in poor countries from emerging stem cell and related technologies Eliminating the need for costly insulin injections for diabetics, regenerating heart muscle after it fails, and improving resistance to disease by engineering immune cells top a list of 10 […]
31 July 2006 Census of Marine Life A startling revelation about the number of different kinds of bacteria in the deep-sea raises fundamental new questions about microbial lifeand evolution in the oceans.In a paper published in the USA by the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences journal (July 31, online early edition), scientists reveal […]
29 May 06 United Nations Environment Programme / World Bank Without significant gains from energy efficiency efforts, China, India and Brazil within a single human generation (by 2030) will more than double their energy use and greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in major impacts on global energy markets and climate. However, experts estimate that cost-effective retrofits […]
Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre 17 May 2006 Research by a 16-year-old Ottawa-area student that contributes new insights into the workings of the HIV-AIDS virus has earned top prize in the 2006 National sanofi-aventis biotech challenge, announced today in a ceremony at the National Research Council. Grade 11 student James McLeod bested 12 fellow regional […]
17 Jan 06 United Nations University Asia suffered 220 landslides in the past century – by far the most of any world region – but those in North, Central and South America have caused the most deaths and injuries (25,000+) while Europe’s are the most expensive – causing average damage of almost $23 million per […]
22 Dec 05 WorldFish Centre One year after a tsunami devastated South Asian communities, global fisheries experts say habitat restoration, retraining and education programs are much needed to revive severely exhausted fisheries and steer survivors into more sustainable livelihoods than fishing. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-12/wc-t1121605.php Example coverage BBC, click here Agence France Presse, click here The […]
14 Dec 05 Census of Marine Life A physconect siphonophore, Marrus sp., photographed during NOAA’s Arctic “Hidden Ocean” expedition in support of the Census of Marine Life. (c) 2005, Kevin Raskoff Discoveries and news in 2005 from the global Census of Marine Life Coastal Fish Tracking, Using Implanted Chips, Becoming Continental Project; 1,800+ Sharks, Turtles, […]
27 Nov 05 University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics Coping effectively with a predicted influenza pandemic that threatens to affect the health of millions worldwide, hobble economies and overwhelm health care systems will require more than new drugs and good infection control. An international medical ethics think-tank says that all-important public cooperation and the […]
11 Nov 05 United Nations University Amid predictions that by 2010 the world will need to cope with as many as 50 million people escaping the effects of creeping environmental deterioration, United Nations University experts say the international community urgently needs to define, recognize and extend support to this new category of ‘refugee’. Full text: […]
Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto 27 Nov 2005 Ethicists offer guide to decision-making in predicted flu pandemic; quarantine, duty to care, resource allocations among key issues Coping effectively with a predicted influenza pandemic that threatens to affect the health of millions worldwide, hobble economies and overwhelm health care systems will require more than new drugs […]
23 Oct 05 Census of Marine Life Seafood prices collected from U.S. restaurant menus dating to the 1850s will help plot the shifting harvest of marine species, according to a study to be announced at Oceans Past a Census of Marine Life conference in Denmark on the History of Marine Animal Populations. Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/cp-rsp101705.php
25 Oct 05 DIVERSITAS, Paris By diluting the pool of virus targets and hosts, biodiversity reduces their impact on humans and provides a form of global health insurance, biodiversity experts say. Example coverage: Voice of America, click here Reuters, click here BBC, click here Full text: www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2005-10/gumc-vbs101805.php Coverage summary: click here
21 Aug 05 WorldFish Centre Calling fisheries critical for nourishing the poor and for helping Africa cope with the health, economic and social devastation of problems like HIV and AIDS, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD), the WorldFish Center and partners are making an urgent appeal to boost the continent’s fish production and strengthen […]