Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute Washington / Panama 12-Jan-2009 Satellite data and other research reveal that huge tracts of abandoned tropical forests that were once logged or farmed are regrowing, prompting a contentious debate among world scientists convening at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History Jan. 12. At issue is the extent to which this […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health University of Toronto / University Health Network 7-Dec-2008 Canadian researchers have identified protein biomarkers that shed new light on the development of two severe and debilitating forms of malaria. The findings may let doctors detect earlier two crippling malaria variations – one that develops in the placenta of pregnant women […]
Census of Marine Life Washington DC 9-Nov-2008 Among report’s revelations: Antarctic ancestry of many octopus species, behemoth bacteria, colossal sea stars, mammoth mollusks, more In a report on progress towards the first Census of Marine Life, more than 2,000 scientists from 82 nations announce astonishing examples of recent new finds from the world’s ocean depths. […]
United Nations University 11-Nov-2008 “Arid aquaculture” using ponds filled with salty, undrinkable water for fish production is one of several options experts have proven to be an effective potential alternative livelihood for people living in desertified parts of the world’s expanding drylands. In a report released today, researchers with the United Nations University, the International […]
United Nations University Tokyo Japan / Hamilton, Canada 19-Oct-2008 Simply installing toilets where needed throughout the world and ensuring safe water supplies would do more to end crippling poverty and improve world health than any other possible measure, according to an analysis released today by the United Nations University. The analysis says better water […]
United Nations University Tokyo, Japan 8-Oct-2008 A growing international consensus to formally recognize and protect people uprooted by environmental problems is expected to accelerate at a major conference in Bonn, Germany Oct. 9 to 11. Featured at the conference will be the presentation and discussion of early results of the first comprehensive empirical study, funded […]
Census of Marine Life Washington D.C. 18-Sep-2008 Hundreds of new kinds of animal species surprised international researchers systematically exploring waters off two islands on the Great Barrier Reef and a reef off northwestern Australia — waters long familiar to divers. The expeditions, affiliated with the global Census of Marine Life, help mark the International Year […]
United Nations University Tokyo 7-Sep-2008 A new co-ordinated international set of rules to govern commercial and research activities in both of Earth’s polar regions is urgently needed to reflect new environmental realities and to temper pressure building on these highly fragile ecosystems, according to several of the experts convening in Iceland for a UN-affiliated conference […]
Rockefeller University / Trinity School New York 22-Aug-08 Two New York City high school friends, curious about new DNA barcoding technology, discovered that fish at local stores and restaurants are commonly mislabeled and sold for far more than regular market price. Worse, in two cases DNA barcode tests revealed that filleted fish sold as the […]
United Nations University 25-Jul-2008Critical food shortages and growing demand for bio-fuels and hydro-electricity due to high fossil fuel prices rank among the greatest threats today to the preservation of precious wetlands worldwide as farmers and developers look for new areas for agriculture, energy crop plantations and hydro dams. However, resisting pressures to convert wetlands is […]
United Nations University 20-Jul-2008 700 leading experts convene at edge of Brazil’s vast Pantanal to take stock, offer policy prescription to remedy wetlands crisis Leading world scientists convene in Brazil July 21-25 amid growing concern that evaporation and ongoing destruction of world wetlands, which hold a volume of carbon similar to that in the atmosphere […]
United Nations Environment Programme Nairobi, Kenya 01 Jul 08 With end of cheap oil, renewables and energy efficiency attracts fast-growing interest; new investment surpasses $148 billion in 2007, a 60 percent rise from 2006 Climate change worries, growing support from world governments, rising oil prices and ongoing energy security concerns combined to fuel another record-setting […]
Census of Marine Life Washington D.C. 25-Jun-2008 World Register of Marine Species inaugurated with first 122,500 validated names; over 56,000 aliases for ocean species identified Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists consolidating world databases of ocean organisms have demoted to alias status almost one-third of all names culled from 34 regional and highly specialized inventories. The […]
United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton Canada June 4, 2008 Current coastal management practices are ineffective and their continuation endangers ecosystems that support the economies on which over half the world’s population depend, United Nations University experts warn in a new report offering a major prescription for sweeping change. In a […]
Census of Marine Life Washington DC 18-May-2008 Millions of starfish-like creatures catch passing food in 4 km/h current; cod shelter from ‘rattling’ current in folds of huge bubblegum coral See video at: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/7408161.stm Census of Marine Life-affiliated scientists, plumbing the secrets of a vast underwater mountain range south of New Zealand, captured the first images […]
McLaughlin-Rotman Centre for Global Health University of Toronto / University Health Network 20-Apr-2008 British entrepreneur, 25, created world’s top soccer Web site; now teams with leading global health professors to innovate in malaria philanthropy Philanthropy just got easier and a lot more accessible to the public thanks to the social networking power of the Internet […]
United Nations University – Institute of Advance Studies Yokohama 2-Apr-2008 Biofuel production, renewable energy expansion, other mitigation measures uprooting indigenous peoples in many regions Indigenous peoples have contributed the least to world greenhouse gas emissions and have the smallest ecological footprints on Earth. Yet they suffer the worst impacts not only of climate change, but […]
United Nations University / International Year of Sanitation 20-Mar-2008 Experts estimate that $9 in productivity, health and other benefits are returned for every dollar invested installing toilets for people in countries that today are off-track in meeting the UN Millennium Development Goal (MDG) for sanitation. Some argue that meeting the sanitation MDG is also a […]
Canadian Biotechnology Education Resource Centre / BioTalent Canada Toronto / Ottawa 7-May-2008 Health Canada’s preliminary test of student’s findings ‘encouraging’ A ground-breaking study by a 17-year-old Ottawa student that demonstrated the potential of a new way to diagnose, and perhaps prevent, influenza has earned top national honours among 14 regional entries in the 2008 Sanofi-Aventis […]
Encyclopoedia of Life / Smithsonian Institution The first 30,000 pages of a massive online Encyclopedia of Life were unveiled today (Feb. 27) at the prestigious Technology, Entertainment and Design (TED) Conference in Monterey, California. Intended as a tool for scientists and policymakers and a fascinating resource for anyone interested in the living world, the EOL […]
e8 Montreal, Canada 18-Feb-2008 Power utilities from US, Canada, France, Italy, Germany, Japan, Russia team on project to help protect ‘Mona Lisa’ of biodiversity In January 2001, the world held its breath when the tanker Jessica, loaded with 150,000 gallons of fuel, struck a reef and began breaking up in the heart of one of […]
New Energy Finance London, Washington 14-Feb-2008 The United States will be home to a $1 trillion carbon emission market by 2020 if federal and state policymakers continue on their current path towards a comprehensive “cap-and-trade” program that is confined to domestic trading only. In an analysis of bills today before the U.S. Congress, New Carbon […]