Archives for January, 2010
Posted by A mouse that lives on four wet, mountainous forest regions of the rugged and steep-sided Cordillera de la Costa along Venezuela’s northern coast, has been found to be a new species, the City College of New York (CCNY) said in a recent news statement. The overlook spiny pocket mouse (right) is darker and longer than…
An insidious threat to Virunga National Park, home to the largest population of rare mountain gorillas and numerous other species of wildlife, has been the illegal charcoal trade. [Read the National Geographic News story: Congo Gorilla Killings Fueled by Illegal Charcoal Trade.] There is a shortage of trees–and fuel for cooking–in the populous communities adjacent…
Snow and below-freezing temperatures didn’t keep visitors from coming to the Smithsonian’s National Zoo today to say goodbye to D.C.’s beloved panda, Tai Shan. . During his farewell celebration today, Tai Shan was presented with a special three-tiered purple and white frozen treat made of apples, carrots, beets and bamboo created by the Zoo’s commissary…
NG Weekend: Congo Chimps
Posted by Ford Cochran on January 29, 2010 On National Geographic Weekend radio this week, host Boyd Matson speaks with guests about chimpanzees, jellyfish, salamanders, polygamists, sea kayaking, coral sex, and more. Hour 1 WCS Conservation Fellow Dave Morgan and his partner Crickette Sanz study chimpanzees in the Congolese rain forest. But a few years ago, the tables were turned when the couple…
Posted by Order up! —Image courtesy NASA/JPL/Space Science Institute Somewhere there’s an intergalactic diner that’s missing part of a really big blue-plate special. Of course, in reality this is Saturn‘s moon Prometheus cast in a rather unusual light, as seen by NASA’s Cassini orbiter on January 27. In this raw, unprocessed snapshot, Cassini caught the moon at…
The United States sent a formal letter to the United Nations yesterday saying it intends to reduce greenhouse gas emissions to 17 percent below 2005 levels by 2020. The Obama administration just made the January 31 deadline set by the December 2009 Copenhagen agreement for countries to pledge their support for an international effort to…
Posted by With almost every aspect of our lives undergoing a green makeover, it may come as no surprise that insurance companies are starting to reward their customers’ environmental choices. An April 2009 report by Ceres–a network of sustainable-business advocates–discovered that insurance companies are starting to respond to climate change. Several companies, especially in Europe, have created…
A two-week cold snap earlier this month caused a record number of deaths of endangered manatees in Florida, the state’s Fish and Wildlife Commission (FWC) said this week. “Biologists with the FWC’s Fish and Wildlife Research Institute documented more than 100 manatee carcasses in state waters from the beginning of the year through January 23,”…
The space shuttle has been on my mind a lot lately, since 2010 will see the final five shuttle launches for all time. Already NASA has plans to distribute the decommissioned shuttles to museums and education centers. And the space agency just announced that the Endeavour launch, slated for February 7, will be the last-ever…
One of the most feared fish diseases worldwide–a deadly virus that has been identified in 28 freshwater fish species in the Great Lakes watershed, has reached epidemic proportions in the Great Lakes and threatens the multi-billion-dollar sport-fishing industry in the U.S. Northeast–has been found in Lake Superior. Viral hemorrhagic septicemia (VHS), first discovered in the…
The Secret History of the Unconquered Maya
Posted by elandis on January 28, 2010 Limestone cliff and newly exposed carved rock art What if the Spanish had never conquered the Maya? In one corner of southern Mexico, an alternate historical trajectory has been followed by Maya who managed to dodge the bullet of Spanish subjugation. Since 1990, National Geographic Committee for Research and Exploration grantee Joel Palka has been…
While President Obama did mention a green economy, green jobs, high-speed rail, and climate legislation like Green Guide thought he would, he also revealed some potentially brown aspects of his energy agenda. In discussing his energy plans, he brought up investment in nuclear energy, offshore drilling for oil and natural gas, and “clean” coal as…
A “community remote sensing” tool that operates in a similar way to social networking sites has been set up to help disaster relief in Haiti. The Web-based tool allows earthquake experts worldwide to pool knowledge quickly and effectively, according to the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), the UK Government’s funding agency for research…
Three young brown bears and a young grizzly bear that were rescued in separate incidences in Alaska and Montana have found a new home in New York’s Bronx Zoo, the Wildlife Conservation Society said today. This grizzly bear cub investigates his new home at the Wildlife Conservation Society’s Bronx Zoo. He was rescued in Glacier National…
Scientists don’t know exactly why we need to sleep–but here’s one reason to make sure you get your regular shut-eye: Sleep loss may be related to brain shrinkage. Chronic and severely stressful situations, like those connected to depression and posttraumatic stress disorder, have been associated with smaller volumes in “stress sensitive” brain regions, such as…
122 Candles
Posted by Ford Cochran on January 27, 2010 We’re extending the celebration of National Geographic’s birthday this year with the help of our friends at Wired. Colleague Janelle Nanos recently shared the story of the birth of the Geographic on our Intelligent Travel blog. The date—January 13th—marked the 122nd anniversary of the night when 33 individuals gathered over brandy at Washington, D.C.’s Cosmos…
It’s not only giant alien snakes or feral cats that can threaten entire ecosystems. Now scientists have confirmed that exotic coconut palm trees can also devastate native birds and other species. The large-scale introduction of the Cocos nucifera palm has been a slow-occurring invasion that has disrupted nutrient cycles and caused a cascading effect on birds,…
The New Green Apple (iPad) Tablet Computer
Posted by Tasha Eichenseher of National Geographic on January 27, 2010 The much-hyped Apple tablet, called the iPad, was revealed today, and… it may be your greenest option yet if you’re in the market for a tablet computer, e-reader, netbook, or smartbook. At the launch, Apple CEO Steve Jobs pointed out that the iPad, which looks like a larger version of the iPhone, is arsenic free,…
President Obama gives his first State of the Union address tonight, and considering the greener parts of his agenda, we’re expecting to hear about: Green Jobs: Since Obama’s speech is widely reported to be focused on creating jobs, look for some of those jobs to be green. Jobs in green energy, one of the president’s…
This week the Royal Society in London is holding a two day meet-up for scientists to talk about the state of our search for extraterrestrial life. At a lecture today, astrobiologist Paul Davies of Arizona State University told the crowd that he thinks aliens already walk among us. Well, maybe not walk—more like float, or…
To better understand how rising sea levels could impact the planet, researchers have drilled more than 6,000 feet into the Earth’s crust–making the deepest hole in scientific ocean drilling history. In doing so, they retrieved a 35-million-year record of sea level fluctuations. Seawater sprays on the rig floor of the research vessel JOIDES Resolution during…
If Earth’s moon is made of green cheese, Jupiter‘s biggest moon is made of refrozen ice cream. False-color view of Ganymede — mmmmm, planetary Drumstick! —Image courtesy NASA/JPL/DLR According to a new study in Nature Geoscience, the Jovian moon Ganymede used to be similar in structure to its neighbor Callisto. But then, about 3.8 billion…
By Willie Drye for NatGeo News Watch Greg Graziani thinks Burmese pythons are “fascinating animals” that shouldn’t be in the wilds of South Florida. “They’re beautiful animals,” Graziani said of the non-poisonous snakes that can grow to 14 feet or longer. “If I could take them all to Southeast Asia, I would, but I can’t…
“Pleistocene Park” emerges from Patagonia’s rescued grasslands
Posted by Stuart Pimm on January 23, 2010 Conservation biologist Stuart Pimm reports from Patagonia near the tip of South America on how dedicated colleagues are re-wilding former sheep ranches. Their vision is to create a Yosemite-size national park that protects temperate grasslands for indigenous animals and plants. Culpeo fox photograph by Stuart L. Pimm By Stuart L. Pimm Special contributor to NatGeo News Watch Patagonia,…
The U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service will propose to list the Burmese python and eight other large constrictor snakes that threaten the Everglades and other sensitive ecosystems as “injurious wildlife” under the Lacey Act, Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar said this week. Salazar made the announcement at the Port of New York, which serves…
