The International Commission for the Conservation of Atlantic Tunas (ICCAT), a fisheries body that manages approximately 30 species of fish caught in the Atlantic Ocean will meet in Paris, November 17 – 27, to consider measures to protect severely depleted Atlantic bluefin and threatened sharks and to potentially take measures to stop illegal fishing. The…

After two weeks of volcanic eruptions, life for people living near Indonesia’s Mount Merapi remains dangerous and difficult. The death toll from the eruptions has surpassed 200, and more than a quarter of a million people have evacuated their homes. While vulcanologists believe the eruption is dying down, they can’t guarantee it won’t flare up…

Diet, pollution and modern living conditions have been implicated as the factors responsible for cancer, concluded researchers, after analyzing the remains of almost 1,000 individuals from ancient Egypt and Greece. The investigation, conducted by a team from Manchester University, looked into medical literature of the time for descriptions of cancer symptoms as well as examining…

The supply of blood for patients and emergencies has always fluctuated. Generally it is dependent on adequate donations from the public. A more dependable source would be useful. While local and temporary blood shortages have occurred periodically, the nation’s blood supply generally is considered adequate. There is also a problem of genetic compatibility. In a…

Communities on the Isle of Islay are moving forward with plans for tidal energy and renewable fuels while maintaining age old methods of agriculture and whisky distilling.

In ecology class, students are taught the effects of keystone species, the dominant species in the ecosystem. They are the top dogs, the big fish. The keystone species have a disproportionate effect on their environment and can determine the types and numbers of species in their ecosystem, not just their prey. A recent study published…

Some like it hot, including the plants living in South America’s tropical rain forests 56 million years ago. As global average temperatures spiked 5 degrees Celsius over a period of 10,000 years — a geologic blink of an eye — plant diversity in northern South America also soared, researchers report in the Nov. 12 Science.

A new study in Science has found that the incredible biodiversity of the Amazon rainforest goes back much further than expected, perhaps upending old ideas about how the Amazon basin became arguably the world’s most biodiverse ecosystem. According to the study, the origin of rich biodiversity in the Amazon likely goes back more than 20…

Chocolate was once the drink of Mayan and Aztec kings. Now a cocoa shortage may make chocolate an exclusive luxury again. Chocolate could become as rare as caviar, said John Mason of the Ghana-based Nature Conservation Research Council. Which means chocolate treats may become unaffordable for the average person. The price of cocoa, the raw…

Mount Merapi(literally Mountain of Fire in Indonesian/Javanese), is an active stratovolcano located on the border between Central Java and Yogyakarta, Indonesia. It is the most active volcano in Indonesia and has erupted regularly since 1548. It has erupted repeatedly this fall. The most recent eruption saw almost 200 killed and more than 360,000 people flee…