Tag archives for Italy
Renaissance-era flag throwers, a medieval castle, and lush wetlands set the scene for BioBlitz Italia, a world away from BioBlitz in Louisiana happening at the same time this weekend.
Posted by Five young men and women who embody the spirit of enterprise, the ideas and will to make the world a better place, were named today the 2012 Young Laureates of the Rolex Awards for Enterprise. The awards carry more than a check for 50,000 Swiss francs (U.S.$54,000) and a Rolex chronometer; A jury of distinguished scientists, explorers, conservationists, doctors, educators and entrepreneurs from around the world recognized them as young people who exemplify hope for the future of humanity.
Swiss watchmaker Rolex announced five awards for Young Laureates at a press conference in New Delhi, India, today “to encourage leadership and excellence in the next generation and to acknowledge a surge of applications from young people for the Rolex Awards for Enterprise this year.”
Native American Exhibit Opens in Italy
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on December 13, 2011 
Indicating just how richly layered the history of human culture is, a new exhibit of Native American culture has opened up, not in some midwestern U.S. metropolis, but in the small medieval Italian city of Pinerolo, near the border with France. The creators reveal their vision for the exhibit.
Posted by Researchers looking for a missing masterpiece by Leonardo da Vinci have been infected by what National Geographic photographer Dave Yoder calls the “Leonardo virus”—that fever to determine once and for all if one of his rare masterpieces (there are only some 15 authenticated Leonardo paintings in existence) remains behind a wall in the Florence City Hall.
Every night this week, a kind of slow-motion, yet fevered search unfolds, the culmination of a years-long effort to determine if Leonardo da Vinci’s “Battle of Anghiari,” last seen some 450 years ago, is hidden behind a fresco in Palazzo Vecchio, the City Hall of Florence, Italy.
Revealing the Secrets of Brunelleschi’s Dome
Posted by Andrew Howley of NG Staff on November 8, 2011 
After decades of investigation into the dome of Santa Maria del Fiore, professor Massimo Ricci will present his findings in a live press conference. Send in your questions and watch live Wednesday, November 9, 2011 at 3pm ET (8pm UT).
Finding Wilderness in Europe with Bruno D’Amicis
Posted by International League of Conservation Photographers on October 13, 2011 
“Very few people know of the existence of true wilderness in Europe and even less understand the very strict, but necessary, conservation measures needed to protect this lingering natural heritage” – Bruno D’Amicis
Posted by Read the full “Overfishing 101″ series here. Driftnets sound relatively harmless as a fishing method. But as any marine biologist will tell you, this gear threatens ocean wildlife. At its November meeting, however, the International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT) could take steps to enforce current international prohibitions on the usage of this damaging…
Posted by Scoff not at the cod with its whiskered chin, its wide-eyed look of perpetual surprise, its mottled brown sides the color of North Sea Crude. There are homelier fish, to be sure, but looks aren’t everything. Dried to leathery hardness, reconstituted by soaking in water for three days, simmered in a pot for three or…
U.K.’s “Greenest Government Ever” Charges Ahead with Nuclear Power
Posted by Mason Inman on May 19, 2011 Britain’s Prime Minister, David Cameron, has repeatedly pledged to create the “greenest government ever,” and now the country has adopted a new, ambitious goal for cutting greenhouse gas emissions, aiming by 2025 to slash them by half, compared with 1990. The goal, agreed to by Cabinet ministers in the ruling coalition of Conservatives and Liberal Democrats,…
Adding to the crushing evidence of global species decline is a new study by an international group of scientists that snakes may now also be in retreat. The disappearance of such top predators may have serious consequences for the functioning of many ecosystems, scientists warn. Newly published data from the UK, France, Italy and Nigeria provides…
Posted by 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…
Famous for his paintings — the Last Supper and the Mona Lisa — Leonardo da Vinci was also a brilliant scientist and thinker who lived 500 years ago. He contemplated geology, physics, aeronautics, hydrodynamics, meteorology, and physiology hundreds of years before such disciplines were imagined. His designs included a helicopter, submarine, and a telescope —…
Building on the Hubble-Slipher smackdown from last week, a group of historians at the Royal Astronomical Society in the U.K. is aiming to give credit where it’s due to the man who drew the first maps of the moon using a telescope. Popular thought pegs Italian scientist Galileo Galilei with this feat—in fact, the International…
