Archives for April, 2009
Posted by The largest-ever study on African genetics has determined that the ancestral origin of humans was probably located in southern Africa, near the South Africa-Namibia border, scientists said today. African, American, and European researchers working in collaboration over ten years released their study of African genetic data, providing a library of new information on the continent which…
Eastern Massasauga Rattlesnake picture by Michael Redmer/Courtesy Lincoln Park Zoo Habitat loss, persecution, and collection for the illegal pet trade has driven the eastern massasauga rattlesnake almost to extinction in northeastern Illinois. Now local wildlife agencies have united to round up the last wild individuals in an attempt to save the species locally. The U.S.…
Hissing cockroach picture courtesy Ohio State University Mites living on Madagascar hissing cockroaches help decrease the presence of a variety of molds on the cockroaches’ bodies, potentially reducing allergic responses among humans who handle the popular insects, according to Ohio State University. Scientists cultured and identified fungi on the cockroaches’ body surfaces with and without…
Energy Meters With Refund Checks
Posted by Tasha Eichenseher of National Geographic on April 29, 2009 Your taxes are in. And if you’re expecting a refund, using it to buy an energy meter could be the best investment you make this year. Just like financial planning, energy conservation is made a whole lot easier when you have a baseline to work from and know what you’re spending. At a “Town Hall”…
A baby gorilla was seized from animal traffickers in the Democratic Republic of Congo by the Congolese Wildlife Authority following a three-month undercover investigation to bust an international wildlife smuggling ring, Virunga National Park said today. “One suspected trafficker was caught and arrested at Goma International Airport on Sunday while disembarking from a flight…
The first annual “Save The Frogs Day” was declared today, April 28, by a conservation organization set up to generate awareness of the extinction crisis facing many of the world’s amphibians. “The goal is to raise awareness of the rapid disappearance of frog species worldwide,” says a news release announcing the event. “Save The Frogs…
Photo courtesy Walt Disney World Resort At a time when some of the world’s most famous botanical gardens are cutting back on staffing and exhibits, one enormous public landscape is celebrating spring with the cultivation of millions of blooms and hundreds of living sculptures: Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. On a regular family visit…
Moxie, the African lion cub in this picture, made her public debut at the Bronx Zoo in New York yesterday. “An adult male named M’wasi and young adult female, Sukari, were introduced to each other in 2008 as part of a cooperative zoo breeding effort,” said a news statement by the Wildlife Conservation Society, the…
NGS photo of Amur tigers by Michael Nichols Loggers in Russia’s Far East increasingly are cutting down Korean cedar pine, raising concerns that the endangered Siberian (or Amur) tiger could lose critical habitat and its prey could lose a major food source, the conservation charity WWF said today. “Under pressure from the ongoing economic crisis,…
This post is part of a special National Geographic news series on global water issues. The Yellow River in northern China, the Ganges in India, the Niger in West Africa, and the Colorado in the southwestern United States, are among the rivers in some of the world’s most populous regions that are losing water, according…
WCS photo by Alex Dehgan One of Afghanistan’s best-known natural areas–a spectacular series of six deep blue lakes separated by natural dams made of travertine, a mineral deposit–has been declared the country’s first national park. The park is near the Bamyan Valley, where the 1,500-year-old giant Buddha statues destroyed by the Taliban once stood. “Travertine…
“Planet Walker” John Francis spent 22 years of his life walking–17 years of them in silence. “On January 17, 1971, I witnessed a crude oil spill of nearly a half-million gallons in the waters near the Golden Gate Bridge,” he writes in his book “Planetwalker.” “The oil spill was my first experience with a major…
What is your favorite place on Earth? Travel writer and book author Jerry Camarillo Dunn, Jr., posed this question to 75 celebrated men and women. “Their choices are fascinating and quirky,” he writes in the foreword to his book “My Favorite Place on Earth” (National Geographic Books, April 2009, $22.95). “A lost city in Sri…
Posted by Any allergy sufferer will tell you that dust can be a killer. But those dust bunnies under the couch have nothing on the planet-wide storms that periodically engulf Mars in late spring and early summer. —Image courtesy NASA, J. Ball (Cornell), M. Wolff (SSI), and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) Such storms are kind of…
Large, often barren, tropical trees stand where they once grew when the area was in severe drought and water levels in Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana had bottomed out. Submerged in 50-65 feet (15-20 meters) of water, the trees are stark reminders of severe, long lasting dry spells from just a few centuries ago. Photo by…
A tiny aquatic plant that can be used to clean up animal waste at industrial hog farms also has potential to help alleviate the world’s energy crisis, according to Researchers at North Carolina State University Experiments show that growing duckweed on hog wastewater can produce five to six times more starch per acre than…
Biologists have discovered that amphibian diseases are spread by bait shops. National Science Foundation illustration by Nicolle Rager-Fuller This post is part of a special National Geographic news series on global water issues. Salamander larvae sold as live bait for freshwater fishing may be spreading amphibian diseases, including the chytrid fungus that is killing many of…
Photos by Ryan Hawk/Woodland Park Zoo A colony of Humboldt penguins was introduced today to the new penguin exhibit at Seattle’s Woodland Park Zoo. “The 20 tuxedoed birds waddled outdoors onto the beach and naturally did what penguins in the wild do–they went swimming,” said a caption the zoo released with these photos. The penguins,…
Although explorers and archaeologists have been combing the Valley of the Kings for centuries, not a single tomb has been found to date by an Egyptian. Dr. Zahi Hawass, the Secretary General of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities (SCA) and a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, believes this is about to change. Hawass, and his all-Egyptian team…
Admiral Robert E. Peary’s crew, pictured here in the vicinity of the North Pole, included Inuits Ooqeah, Ootah, Egingwah, and Seeglo and fellow American Matthew Henson. NGS photo by Robert E Peary One hundred years ago today, April 6, 1909, a team of explorers led by Admiral Robert Edwin Peary became the first people to document a…
Photo by Adrian Gonsalves Palm Sunday crosses may be contributing to the destruction of rainforest ecosystems throughout Central America, in particular in Belize,” Fauna & Flora International (FFI) said in a statement last night. Xaté is a type of palm that is commonly used in flower arrangements across the U.S. and other countries, said Rebecca…
You voted, and [unlike with Stephen Colbert] NASA listened. Now the good folks at Hubble have released this sparkling new image of the interacting galaxy group known as Arp 274: —Image courtesy NASA, ESA, M. Livio and the Hubble Heritage Team (STScI/AURA) According to NASA, the galactic trio received 67,021 votes out of the nearly…
It’s kind of like a wool sweater that’s been put through the dryer. Except the sweater is a hurricane-like storm as wide as three Earths, and the dryer is Jovian climate change. —Image courtesy NASA/JPL/University of Arizona From 1996 to 2006, Jupiter’s Great Red Spot shrank by about 15 percent, according to researchers at the…
The National Science Foundation (NSF) today announced a U.S.$48 million partnership with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to support innovative solutions to critical agricultural challenges in developing countries. Each organization will provide $24 million over five years to support a competitive awards program for science research projects that address drought, pests, disease and other…
If you [heart] space, you probably know by now that this Thursday, April 2, marks the start of 100 Hours of Astronomy. The event will feature live Web casts, sidewalk astronomy, a literal “Sun Day” for solar science, and scads of other public outreach activities around the world. Kicking off the whole shebang is the…
