United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Division of Technology Industry and Economics Paris 15-Jul-2010 In 2009, for the second year in a row, both the US and Europe added more power capacity from renewable sources such as wind and solar than conventional sources like coal, gas and nuclear, according to twin reports launched today by the […]
Cousteau Society Paris 8 June 2010 Year-long plans include re-launch of iconic vessel Calypso for education tour; new Cousteau Divers program. Documentary with National Geographic to contrast conditions in Mediterranean today with Cousteau’s films of the 1940s. Legendary marine explorer, inventor, innovator, filmmaker and environmental activist Jacques Cousteau was born June 11, 1910 in Saint […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health 10 May 2010 ‘South-South’ biotech collaborations boost health, economies: Study The availability of more affordable drugs, vaccines and diagnostics that would help countless people worldwide is the foremost benefit expected from a growing number of collaborations between biotech firms in developing countries, according to a study to be published Mon. […]
Census of Marine Life Washington DC 18-Apr-2010 Microbial mat the size of Greece found on oxygen-starved South American seafloor; Scientists puzzle out Neptune’s riotous diversity of tiny creatures; “In no other ocean realm has discovery been as extensive”; Explorers yet to find any lifeless place on Earth below 150 Release of historic global ocean Ocean […]
Biotalent Canada / Bioscience Education Canada Ottawa / Toronto 27-Apr-2010 Research by a 14-year-old science prodigy from Saskatoon into the molecular fingerprint of a disease that has devastated lentil crops in Canada, Asia and Africa has earned the top national prize of the 2010 Sanofi-Aventis BioTalent Challenge (SABC). Grade 9 student Rui Song, the youngest-ever […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health Apr 20, 2010 55th anniversary of first polio vaccine Failure to pursue eradication of polio worldwide given the capacity and opportunity to do so is a violation of ethical principles, foremost among them a “duty to rescue” those in distress, according to ethicists writing in this week’s edition of the Lancet. […]
United Nations University 14-Apr-2010 UNU-INWEH report offers 9-point prescription for achieving Millennium Development Goal for sanitation Far more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet and improved sanitation, according to UN experts who published today a 9-point prescription for achieving the world’s Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation […]
22-Feb-2010 United Nations University, Tokyo / United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi Rocketing sales of cell phones, gadgets, appliances forecast in China, India, elsewhere Sales of electronic products in countries like China and India and across continents such as Africa and Latin America are set to rise sharply in the next 10 years. And, unless action is stepped […]
United Nations University 1-Feb-2010More than two dozen leading United Nations water experts will convene in Hamilton, Canada Feb. 2-4 to plan fresh strategy for a coordinated approach to the global water crisis that increasingly threatens both human health and international security. At its first-ever meeting in Canada, the group known as UN-Water will also formalize […]
e8 Montreal 21-Jan-2010 2,000-year-old ‘stairway to heaven,’ a threatened World Heritage Site, to benefit from proceeds of $1 million, e8-donated mini-hydro project Philippines officials today received the symbolic keys to a donated 200 kW hydro-electric project that, in addition to green energy, will start generating money to halt deterioration of the country’s fabled ancient rice […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health University Health Network / University of Toronto 8-Jan-2010 Chinese researchers have become the world’s fifth most prolific contributors to peer-reviewed scientific literature on clock-reversing regenerative medicine even as a skeptical international research community condemns the practice of Chinese clinics administering unproven stem cell therapies to domestic and foreign patients. According […]
Rockefeller University New York City 28-Dec-2009 Two New York City high school students exploring their homes using the latest high-tech DNA analysis techniques were astonished to discover a veritable zoo of 95 animal species surrounding them, in everything from fridges to furniture, from sidewalks to shipping boxes, and from feather dusters to floor corners. Guided […]
Christensen Fund, Palo Alto, California 3-Dec-09 A delegation of more than 20 indigenous teens, women, elders and shamen heading to historic Copenhagen climate talks today offered the world self-created video evidence and testimonials of climate change problems in their far-flung home communities. The videos include scenes of cows and zebra dead or dying of drought […]
29-Nov-2009 United Nations University Tokyo / Darwin Carbon credits bring millions for new jobs in indigenous communities; Australian project a model of opportunity, especially for Africa A landmark Australian project that mitigates the extent and severity of natural savannah blazes by deploying traditional Indigenous fire management techniques is being hailed as a model with vast […]
22-Nov-2009 Census of Marine Life Washington DC Deep sea teeming with species that have never known sunlight Census of Marine Life scientists have inventoried an astonishing abundance, diversity and distribution of deep sea species that have never known sunlight – creatures that somehow manage a living in a frigid black world down to 5,000 meters […]
16-Nov-2009 Global Alliance for Chronic Diseases Agencies managing 80 percent of global public health research funding set first priorities for common, concerted efforts on heart and lung diseases, other ‘chronic non-communicable diseases’ An alliance of institutions collectively managing an estimated 80 percent of all public health research funding worldwide today announced their first targets for […]
Consortium for the Barcode of Life (CBOL), Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC 6-Nov-2009 The scientific ability to quickly and accurately identify species through DNA “barcoding” is being embraced and applied by a growing legion of global authorities – from medical and agricultural researchers to police and customs authorities to palaeontologists and others. Some 350 experts from […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Center for Global Health 3 Nov 2009 Experts propose ‘Global Health Accellerator’ to help new drugs, diagnostics, vaccines reach distant markets Research firms in developing countries have a medicine cabinet full of affordable and innovative drugs, diagnostics and vaccines on shelves or in development to address “neglected tropical diseases” but need help to get […]
DIVERSITAS, Paris 11-Oct-2009 Growing water needs, mismanagement leading to ‘catastrophic decline’ in freshwater biodiversity The world will miss its agreed target to stem biodiversity loss by next year, according to experts convening in Cape Town for a landmark conference devoted to biodiversity science. The goal was agreed at the 6th Conference of Parties to the […]
Diversitas, Paris Economists, assigning values to ‘ecosystem services,’ report staggering totals and rates of return on investment Experts concluding the global DIVERSITAS biodiversity conference today in Cape Town described preliminary research revealing jaw-dropping dollar values of the “ecosystem services” of biomes like forests and coral reefs – including food, pollution treatment and climate regulation. Undertaken […]
Joint Centre for Bioethics, Toronto 23 Sep 2009 The anticipated onset of a second wave of the H1N1 influenza pandemic could present a host of thorny medical ethics issues best considered well in advance, according to the University of Toronto Joint Centre for Bioethics, which today released nine papers for public discussion. Topics include duty […]
United Nations University 15 September 2009 Sold in 2006: 230 million computers, 1 billion cell phones, 45.5 million TVs; many destined for uncontrolled disposal without change in policies, consumer practices Processes and policies governing the reuse and recycling of electronic products need to be standardized worldwide to stem and reverse the growing problem of illegal […]