ENVIRONMENT & CLIMATE

Sampling the World’s Oceans on a Global Scale Reveals the Complex Relationship between Viruses and Microbes

If you're going to study something as vast as the world's oceans, it helps if you have a large cadre of scientists to sift through the data. And that's just what an international research team, led by University of Arizona scientists, have done. They are rolling out the results of a three-year expedition in which they cataloged over 150,000 tiny ocean creatures, most of which are brand new discoveries.

Celebrate International Day of Biological Diversity with The Great Nature Project

May 22nd is the UN's International Day of Biological Diversity. This year's theme: Biodiversity for Sustainable Development. But instead of making little Pinterest planet Earth cupcakes or watching a movie about wildlife, why not get involved with National Geographic's Great Nature Project and have a real impact contributing to the scientific record?

BP Starts To Settle After Nasty Oil-Spill Related Deaths

BP has begun to settle claims related to the 2010 Deepwater Horizon oil spill with Halliburton and Transocean. This means that as to Halliburton and Transocean only (the litigation is ongoing) the battle is over. The long-term in court battle has centered upon the human costs of the offshore well disaster, which included the deaths of 11 workers. The overall impact of the disaster has been sobering for the scientific community as well; the Deepwater disaster has thus far been the largest offshore oil spill in US history.

Seeing With Its Skin—How An Octopus Can Live In the Deep

Researchers from the University of California, Santa Barbara have discovered that the octopus, uniquely adept with camouflage, can "see" with its skin. The study found that the California two-spot octopus can sense light using light-sensitive proteins, similar to those found in eyes, in its skin.

Plans from DC Seek to Help Disappearing Bee Species

The Obama administration is hoping to reverse the rapidly declining populations of honeybees and monarch butterflies in the US by providing them with better nourishment. The federal plan will preserve seven million acres of habitat for bees, monarch butterflies and other insects, making the federal land more bee-friendly. The move is intended to bolster the population of pollinators that are essential to America's food crops, support research, and investigate the widespread cutback of pesticide use as part of a wide-ranging strategy.

Yale Traces the Origins of all Snakes

Researchers at Yale University recently delved into the evolutionary history of snakes, and what they discovered was an ancient creature who lived over 120 million years ago in the warm forests of the Southern Hemisphere. And most interesting of all, this creature sported tiny hindlimbs, replete with ankles and toes.

Oldest Stone Tools Discovered in Kenya, Pushing the Technology Back Some 700,000 Years

The ancient stone tool industry of our early ancestors was just pushed deeper back in time, based on recent findings near the western shore of Lake Turkana in Kenya. Tools dating to over 3 million years ago - some 700,000 years earlier than previous finds - indicate the technology arose even before the genus Homo roamed the planet.

Panda Poo Reveals a Mismatched Gut

In an ongoing attempt to boost the dwindling number of pandas on the planet (currently tallying just under 2,000), scientists have discovered what appears to be a physiological roadblock to the bear's good health: they possess the wrong type of gut.

The Forecast Calls for Chance of Spiders in Australia

Australia has always been a land of the strange and bizarre. It is home to some of the world's most unique animals, from the kangaroo, to the wombat, to the lovable Tasmanian devil. So the fact that it's raining spiders should come as no surprise.

Ancient Earthquakes along New Zealand’s Coast Give Rise to New Concerns

About 80 km off the east coast of New Zealand lies the Hikurangi Trench, a subduction zone that plunges 3,000 meters beneath the surface and forms the margin between the vast Pacific Plate and its smaller western neighbor, the Australian Plate. The earthquake potential for this region is well known, but new research indicates the massive quakes that have occurred in the past may occur with greater frequency than once believed, which is bad news for New Zealand. According to the latest findings, they are long overdue.
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