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FRAGMENT
Science in the News |
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A DEEP OCEAN WALLACE
LINE?—AUGUST 7, 2010
A joint American-Indonesian expedition is finding
new species in the Coral Triangle at an amazing
rate. |
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THE MOST BIZARRE LIFE STORY ON EARTH—APRIL 28, 2010
There's no question that discovering a new species
is very cool. But how about discovering a new
phylum? |
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GENE RESEARCH REVEALS FOURTH HUMAN SPECIES—MARCH
24, 2010
A fourth type of hominid, besides Neanderthals,
modern humans and the tiny “hobbit”, was living as
recently as 40,000 years ago, according to research
published in the
journal Nature.
The discovery by Svante Pääbo and colleagues at
the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary
Anthropology in Leipzig, Germany, is based on DNA
sequences from a finger bone fragment discovered in
a Siberian cave. |
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SCIENTISTS GO 'GAGA' TO FIND CREATURES BENEATH 600
FEET OF ICE—MARCH 15, 2010
In a surprising discovery about where higher life
can thrive, scientists for the first time found a
shrimp-like creature and a jellyfish frolicking
beneath a massive Antarctic ice sheet. [...] The video is
likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know
about life in harsh environments. And it has
scientists musing that if shrimp-like creatures can
frolic below 600 feet of Antarctic ice in
subfreezing dark water, what about other hostile
places?
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SIGN OF THE APOCALYPSE: BLOOD
WATERFALLS—MARCH 2,
2010
It’s always surprising when an entirely alien
ecosystem is found on Earth. It makes me hopeful
that when we start to explore other planets, we’ll
find life in splendid and incredible varieties.
Nature is clever, vast, and has had a long long time
in the lab to experiment. If we can find things so
alien in a place so familiar, what will happen when
we explore a truly alien world? |
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60 NEW SPECIES DISCOVERED ISOLATED INSIDE 2-MILE
WIDE VOLCANIC CRATER IN PAPUA NEW GUINEA
—SEPTEMBER
7, 2009
A lost world populated by fanged frogs, grunting
fish and tiny bear-like creatures has been
discovered in a remote volcanic crater on the
Pacific island of Papua New Guinea. A team of
scientists from Britain, the United States and Papua
New Guinea found more than 40 previously
unidentified species when they climbed into the
kilometre-deep crater of Mount Bosavi and explored a
pristine jungle habitat teeming with life that has
evolved in isolation since the volcano last erupted
200,000 years ago. |
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GREATER MEKONG: MORE THAN 1000 NEW SPECIES
DISCOVERED—DECEMBER 15, 2008
“Who knows what else is out there waiting to be
discovered, but what is clear is that there is
plenty more where this came from,” said Chapman. |
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REPORT ON
IMPACT OF INVASIVE SPECIES IN 57 COUNTRIES RELEASED—JANUARY
26, 2010
Invasive alien species have been measured for the
first time in a large scale study that included 57
countries across the globe. The
Global Invasive
Species Programme (GISP) has released a report
showing that, on average, each country has 50
non-native species that are harming the biodiversity
in that country. From invasive rats causing the
extinction of bird species, to the spread of
chytridiomycosis - a pathogenic fungus, the results
of the study are illuminating, and worrisome. |
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30 NEW SPECIES
DISCOVERED IN MOUNTAINS OF ECUADOR—JANUARY
15, 2010
One look at a newly discovered species of gecko,
small enough at its full-grown size to rest
comfortably on the eraser of a pencil, and it's
difficult not to be mesmerized by the seemingly
boundless forms of biological diversity—while
simultaneously reminded of its fragility. |
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RESEARCHERS
PREPARE FOR NEW SPECIES DISCOVERIES IN TEXADA ISLAND
CAVE SYSTEM—JANUARY 18, 2010
“There’s a potential to find all sorts of new
species in caves because they are such a unique
biological zone and we don’t understand all about
caves or know all the creatures in there.” |
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ARREST WARRANT
ISSUED FOR MAN TRANSPORTING DANGEROUS ZEBRA MUSSELS—JANUARY
27, 2010
"We
appreciate the court’s help on this case," said
Bruce Bjork, chief of enforcement for the Washington
Department of Fish and Wildlife (WDFW), which sought
the initial charges against Derderian. "We
need to do everything we can to keep zebra mussels
and other invasive species out of this state." |
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GIANT
NEW SPIDER SPECIES DISCOVERED—JANUARY
19, 2010
"The new discovery shows how much we still have to
investigate, and that there are likely to be many
more species that are unknown to us," said Shanas. |
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INVASIVE SPECIES THREAT GROWING GLOBALLY,
EXPERTS WARN—JANUARY 22, 2010
"This shows that although we are winning some
battles in the fight against invasive species,
current evidence suggests that we are losing the
war."
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SNAILS MOVE
SLOW BUT EVOLVE FAST IN ISOLATION—JANUARY
26, 2010
...snails and similar slow-movers may
split into new species more rapidly because they are
more likely to love those close by, rather than go
the distance for a long-distance relationship. |
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SOUTH AMERICAN
FIRE-ANT INVADES HAWAII—JANUARY 27,
2010
The tiny ant, from South America, is considered
among the world's worst invasive species, officials
said. It is about 1/16th inch long and pale orange,
and packs a painful sting that may cause large red
welts as well as blindness in pets. |
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EUROPEAN CARNATIONS FORM NEW SPECIES SURPRISINGLY
FAST, A NEW STUDY FINDS—JANUARY 26,
2010
What’s more, the researchers found that the rate of
diversification was not constant. After a slow
start, the rate jumped to seven or eight times
higher during a period between 2.0 and 1.3 million
years ago (during early half of the Pleistocene). |
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“HOBBIT” SPECIES ON ISLAND OF
FLORES HAD SPECIALIZED BRAIN—JANUARY
27, 2010
"Our analysis, together with studies of brain size
in island populations of living primates, suggests
we should perhaps not be surprised by the evolution
of a small brained, small bodied early human
species." |
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NEW
FOX SPECIES DISCOVERED IN CALIFORNIA—JANUARY 2, 2010
"The
fact that the evidence is pointing toward it as a
native species—and a native species that we
didn't know about—is kind of an amazing
development." |
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USDA AWARDS MORE THAN $4 MILLION
INVASIVE SPECIES RESEARCH GRANTS—JANUARY
21, 2010
"Invasive plants and animals are a major threat to
food and fiber production, costing U.S. producers
between $7 billion and $27 billion per year, but by
doing research on controlling and managing weedy and
invasive species we help protect the productivity of
America's farmers and ranchers," said Merrigan. |
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BACTERIA
FOUND THRIVING BENEATH ARCTIC GLACIER—APRIL
16, 2009
"Among the big questions here are: 'How does an
ecosystem function below glaciers?', 'How are they
able to persist below hundreds of meters of ice and
live in permanently cold and dark conditions for
extended periods of time, in the case of Blood
Falls, over millions of years?" |
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THE VEXING BUGS IN THE
GLOBAL TRADING SYSTEM—JANUARY
15, 2010
The yearly economic impact of invasive species in
the U.S. is estimated at $133.6 billion, according
to a study in Agricultural and Resource Economics
Review in 2006. |
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REAL LIFE HENDERS ISLANDS |
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REAL LIFE HENDERS ISLAND—SOCOTRA ISLAND
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