RSS Feed
Archive for February 22nd, 2010
Peru: Frog reveals secret of monogamy
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
BBC: The first monogamous amphibian has been discovered living in the rainforest of South America. Genetic tests have revealed that male and females of one species of Peruvian poison frog remain utterly faithful. More surprising is the discovery that just one thing - the size of the pools of water in which they lay their tadpoles - prevents the frogs straying. That constitutes the best evidence yet documented that monogamy can have a single cause, say ...
Posted in 
When the City Makes You Sick
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
Inter Press Service: Limiting your cholesterol through diet may not be enough to maintain cardiovascular health in polluted cities like São Paulo in Brazil: the particulates suspended in the air alter the molecular composition of LDL, popularly known as "bad cholesterol," making it even more dangerous. The structure of LDL (low density lipoprotein) facilitates the accumulation of fat in the arteries, in other words, arteriosclerosis. This process ultimately restricts blood flow and can damage vital organs ...
Tsunami of E-Waste Could Swamp Developing Countries
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
Inter Press Service: The mighty mountains of hazardous electronic waste are growing by about 40 million tonnes a year globally. In China, India and South Africa, those mountains are expected to grow 200 to 500 percent in the next decade, a new report warns. And that's just from domestic sales of TVs, computers and cell phones. The figure doesn't include millions of tonnes of e-waste that is exported, mostly illegally, into these countries. Sales of electronic consumer goods are skyrocketing in ...
Portugal: Madeira floods death toll rises as searches continue
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
Guardian: Flooding and mudslides on Portuguese holiday island have killed at least 42 people and destroyed more than 200 homes Link to this video The death toll in flash floods on the Portuguese holiday island of Madeira rose to 42, as rescue workers searched for at least four missing people. Army and police rescue teams from mainland Portugal started sifting through mud and debris left behind by flooding and mudslides after a torrential storm ravaged the island on ...
Climate change melts Antarctic ice shelves – USGS
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
Reuters: Climate change is melting the floating ice shelves along the Antarctic Peninsula, giving scientists a preview of what could happen if other ice shelves around the southern continent disappear, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) said on Monday. The ice has retreated so far from the land mass that Charcot Island, which has long been connected to the peninsula by an ice bridge, emerged as a real island again last year, a USGS scientist said. "This is the first time since people ...
Methane levels may see ‘runaway’ rise, scientists warn
Posted by Water Conserve: Water Conservation RSS Newsfeed on February 22nd, 2010
Independent (UK): Atmospheric levels of methane, the greenhouse gas which is much more powerful than carbon dioxide, have risen significantly for the last three years running, scientists will disclose today -- leading to fears that a major global-warming "feedback" is beginning to kick in. For some time there has been concern that the vast amounts of methane, or "natural gas", locked up in the frozen tundra of the Arctic could be released as the permafrost is melted by global warming. This would give a ...
Indonesia: Orangutan survival and the shopping trolley
Posted by Washington Post: Juliet Eilperin on February 22nd, 2010
BBC: The International Union for Conservation of Nature estimates that the population has declined by 50% in recent decades and the Indonesian government admits that 50,000 orangutans have died as a result of de-forestation. A BBC Panorama investigation into clear-cutting in Indonesian Borneo - the island it shares with Malaysia - found that the thirst for land on which to plant palm plantations is encroaching on areas that the Indonesian government has deemed to be ...