Earth & Environment - May 26, 2011 12:28 - 1 Comment

On extinction’s edge? No so fast

MCGILL U. (CAN) — According to recent estimates, around 20 percent of flowering plants are currently at risk of extinction. However, a new study suggests the criteria for assessing risk of extinction in plants should be revisited. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 2, 2011 12:23 - 0 Comments

Whale mob: All-U-can-eat krill

DUKE (US) — Scientists observed more than 300 humpback whales gorging on the largest swarm of krill seen in more than 20 years in bays along the Western Antarctic Peninsula. (more…)

Earth & Environment - May 2, 2011 8:31 - 0 Comments

‘Zip codes’ keep track of sharks

STONY BROOK (US) — A taste in the Asian community for shark fin soup is claiming tens of millions of animals each year. Now scientists are using shark DNA to determine origins of fins turning up in markets around the world. (more…)

Science & Technology - Mar 30, 2011 22:29 - 3 Comments

Humans pass deadly virus to gorillas

UC DAVIS (US) — A virus that causes respiratory disease in humans has been linked to the deaths of two wild mountain gorillas. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jan 6, 2011 16:56 - 0 Comments

Grasses feather nests of at-risk birds

MICHIGAN STATE (US) — Threatened bird populations will be better protected if efforts are made to develop biofuel from native perennials like grass, instead of ethanol staple corn. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Oct 27, 2010 12:45 - 0 Comments

A planet with no backbone?

U. MICHIGAN (US) — One-fifth of the world’s vertebrate species are threatened with extinction, but the situation would be worse if not for current global conservation efforts, according to an international study in Science Express. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Sep 8, 2010 16:06 - 0 Comments

Saliva confirms rare fox sighting

UC DAVIS (US)—Researchers were able to confirm the rare sighting of a supposedly extinct fox in the mountains of central California by analyzing DNA from saliva on a punctured bait bag. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Aug 16, 2010 16:58 - 0 Comments

Expanding pandas’ home sweet homes

MICHIGAN STATE (US)—Most of the existing suitable panda habitat is outside nature reserves and areas where the panda is reported to live, according to a new study. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Aug 13, 2010 11:32 - 3 Comments

Can secretive salamander be saved?

MICHIGAN STATE (US)—Researchers are developing conservation techniques to save the hellbender salamander, a species that for unknown reasons has had little interest in reproducing on its own for several decades. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jul 13, 2010 9:11 - 0 Comments

Bleak future for China’s finless porpoises?

CARDIFF U. (UK)—Finless porpoises living in the freshwaters of China’s Yangtze River are more endangered than previously thought, according to the results of a new genetic survey. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Jun 1, 2010 11:03 - 1 Comment

Pupfish reaction caught on ‘tsunami’ video

U. ARIZONA (US)—For the first time, an earthquake was recorded live in Devils Hole, home to the only population of a critically endangered pupfish species. (more…)

Science & Technology - May 19, 2010 10:07 - 1 Comment

How one incredible shrinking shark evolved

U. COLORADO (US)—The ancestor of all hammerhead sharks probably appeared abruptly in Earth’s oceans about 20 million years ago and was as big as some contemporary hammerheads, a new study suggests. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Apr 16, 2010 13:18 - 0 Comments

Millions of sea turtles trapped by fishing nets

DUKE (US)—The number of sea turtles inadvertently snared by commercial fishing gear over the past 20 years may reach into the millions, according to the first peer-reviewed study to compile sea turtle bycatch data from gillnet, trawl, and longline fisheries worldwide. (more…)

Earth & Environment - Mar 18, 2010 13:52 - 1 Comment

Catch fewer sturgeon to keep caviar coming

STONY BROOK (US)—Reducing adult mortality of beluga sturgeon would be more effective than hatchery supplementation in easing a worldwide shortage of caviar. (more…)

Science & Technology - Feb 18, 2010 12:05 - 1 Comment

Panda genome yields clues to bamboo diet

CARDIFF (UK)—An international team has successfully sequenced the panda genome for the first time. The project is shedding light on some of the giant panda’s unusual biological traits, including its famously restricted diet. (more…)