http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Experts on prehistoric man are rethinking their dates after a find in a southern French valley suggested our ancestors may have reached Europe 1.57 million years ago: 200,000 years earlier than we thought. http://www.physorg.com/news180110953.html Other Sciences Tue, 15 Dec 2009 14:50:41 EST news180110953 Influenza is circulating in Africa, but virtually no information or attention is evident, says a new essay in this week's PLoS Medicine. Maria Yazdanbakhsh and Peter Kremsner argue that the lack of adequate surveillance means that the burden of influenza in Africa is incorrectly believed to be negligible. But sporadic reports from various regions in Africa indicate that influenza is circulating and may be regularly causing epidemics. http://www.physorg.com/news180087720.html Medicine & Health Tue, 15 Dec 2009 08:22:46 EST news180087720 Climate change could increase the likelihood of civil war in sub-Saharan Africa by over 50 percent within the next two decades, according to a new study led by a team of researchers at University of California, Berkeley, and published in today's online issue of the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS). http://www.physorg.com/news178212673.html Other Sciences Mon, 23 Nov 2009 15:33:03 EST news178212673 Japanese marine researchers said Tuesday they had found and successfully filmed a young coelacanth -- a rare type of fish known as "a living fossil" -- in deep water off Indonesia. http://www.physorg.com/news177662822.html Biology Tue, 17 Nov 2009 06:56:22 EST news177662822 (AP) -- Scientists say they've discovered a new dinosaur species in South Africa that may help explain how the creatures evolved into the largest animals on land. http://www.physorg.com/news177154893.html Other Sciences Wed, 11 Nov 2009 09:41:56 EST news177154893 A team of academic, government and industry researchers has completed a first draft of the cassava (Manihot esculenta) genome. The project is an important first step in accelerating the pace of research on this subsistence crop and addressing some of the many limitations that face cassava farmers around the world. http://www.physorg.com/news176992201.html Biology Mon, 09 Nov 2009 12:30:53 EST news176992201 (AP) -- A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil. http://www.physorg.com/news176878702.html Biology Sun, 08 Nov 2009 04:59:20 EST news176878702 A team from the University of Miami, University of El Paso and University of Rochester have employed Interferometric Synthetic Aperture Radar (InSAR) images compiled over a decade to study volcanic activity in the African Rift. The study, published in the November issue of Geology, studies the section of the rift in Kenya. http://www.physorg.com/news176568453.html Space & Earth Wed, 04 Nov 2009 15:20:01 EST news176568453 (PhysOrg.com) -- Nations, communities and families in Africa need to safeguard their homes and livelihoods against the unpredictable effects of climate change, according to a discussion paper written by Imperial College London's Professor Sir Gordon Conway, published today (28 October). http://www.physorg.com/news175963280.html Space & Earth Wed, 28 Oct 2009 16:00:03 EST news175963280 An analysis of three and half decades of maize research in African farming communities finds big benefits. A multi-country study, in Agricultural Economics, reports the significant role international maize research plays in reducing poverty. It finds that since the mid-1990s, more than one million people per year have escaped poverty through the adoption of new maize varieties. http://www.physorg.com/news175951762.html Biology Wed, 28 Oct 2009 12:29:48 EST news175951762 Women who lived in villages sprayed with DDT to reduce malaria gave birth to 33 per cent more baby boys with urogenital birth defects (UGBD) between 2004 and 2006 than women in unsprayed villages, according to research published online by the UK-based urology journal BJUI. http://www.physorg.com/news175514081.html Medicine & Health Fri, 23 Oct 2009 10:55:43 EST news175514081 (PhysOrg.com) -- A toxin produced by mold on nuts and grains can cause liver cancer if consumed in large quantities. UC Irvine researchers for the first time have discovered what triggers the toxin to form, which could lead to methods of limiting its production. http://www.physorg.com/news175352760.html Chemistry Wed, 21 Oct 2009 14:06:47 EST news175352760 Researchers from the United States and Slovenia have discovered a new, giant Nephila species (golden orb weaver spider) from Africa and Madagascar and have published their findings in the Oct. 21 issue of the journal PLoS ONE. http://www.physorg.com/news175326337.html Biology Wed, 21 Oct 2009 06:47:14 EST news175326337 (AP) -- South Africa's health department says it will draft regulations aimed at reducing the trans fats South Africans consume. http://www.physorg.com/news174814964.html Medicine & Health Thu, 15 Oct 2009 09:10:01 EST news174814964 (PhysOrg.com) -- Despite the importance of AIDS in human health, scientists still know very little about the diversity and ecology of AIDS-like viruses in nature. http://www.physorg.com/news174145081.html Medicine & Health Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:39:43 EST news174145081 Scientists studying biology and geography may seem worlds apart, but together they have answered a question that has defied explanation about the spread of the HIV-1 epidemic in Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news173452248.html Medicine & Health Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:20:01 EST news173452248 (PhysOrg.com) -- Locusts, the grasshopper-like insects of Biblical lore, are normally docile creatures that prefer solitary lives in the desert, away from other members of their species. But sometimes, when the rains come and patches of green begin to dot dry landscapes, their populations skyrocket and something extraordinary can happen. Hormonal changes, triggered by crowding, can cause the insects to change color, become more active and congregate in huge swarms capable of decimating crops. http://www.physorg.com/news172946653.html Space & Earth Wed, 23 Sep 2009 18:10:01 EST news172946653 US computer giant IBM and South Africa's Canonical on Wednesday announced the launch of a Web-based service aimed at helping African businesses that cannot afford traditional personal computers. http://www.physorg.com/news172934013.html Technology Wed, 23 Sep 2009 14:30:03 EST news172934013 (PhysOrg.com) -- In South Africa, a carrier pigeon carrying a 4GB memory stick proved to be faster than the ADSL service from the country's biggest web firm, Telkom. Winston the pigeon took one hour and eight minutes to carry the data across the 60-mile course, and it took another hour to upload the data. During the same time, the ADSL had sent just 4% of the data. http://www.physorg.com/news171883994.html Technology Fri, 11 Sep 2009 10:34:02 EST news171883994 Modern humans spread out of Africa 20,000 years later than previously thought, according to new genetic research just published. http://www.physorg.com/news171286860.html Other Sciences Fri, 04 Sep 2009 13:30:02 EST news171286860 (PhysOrg.com) -- The parasitic flowering plant Striga, or "witchweed," attacks the roots of host plants, draining needed water and nutrients and leaving them unable to grow and produce any grains. Witchweed is endemic throughout sub-Saharan Africa, causing crop losses that surpass hundreds of millions of dollars annually and exacerbating food shortages in the region. http://www.physorg.com/news170601530.html Biology Thu, 27 Aug 2009 14:19:20 EST news170601530 Impoverished fishermen along the coast of tropical African countries like Mozambique and Madagascar may have only a few more years to eke out a profit from one of their nations' biggest agricultural exports. Within a few decades, they may no longer have a livelihood at all. http://www.physorg.com/news169992626.html Space & Earth Thu, 20 Aug 2009 13:13:22 EST news169992626 Researchers have identified what they believe is the original source of malignant malaria: a parasite found in chimpanzees in equatorial Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news168538678.html Medicine & Health Mon, 03 Aug 2009 17:18:33 EST news168538678 (PhysOrg.com) -- When Tony Goldberg is not whacking through the brush of central Africa, one of the world's great cauldrons of emerging human and animal disease, he is scouring another disease hot spot: the southwestern suburbs of Chicago. http://www.physorg.com/news167582012.html Medicine & Health Thu, 23 Jul 2009 16:10:01 EST news167582012 A 13,700-kilometre (8,500-mile) undersea fibre-optic cable to provide high-speed Internet access on Africa's Indian Ocean coast went live on Thursday, its operator said. http://www.physorg.com/news167553809.html Technology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 08:00:01 EST news167553809 A new technique that detects the HIV virus early and monitors its development without requiring refrigeration may make AIDS testing more accessible in sub-Saharan Africa. http://www.physorg.com/news167394754.html Medicine & Health Tue, 21 Jul 2009 11:50:01 EST news167394754 (AP) -- South Africa announced the launch of clinical trials of the first AIDS vaccines created by a developing country with assistance from the U.S. on Monday. http://www.physorg.com/news167278628.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:50:01 EST news167278628 (AP) -- The president of the International AIDS Society says new research indicates the incidence of HIV is decreasing in African countries helped by George W. Bush's AIDS initiative. http://www.physorg.com/news167278580.html Medicine & Health Mon, 20 Jul 2009 04:20:01 EST news167278580 A new way to classify sounds in some human languages may solve a problem that has plagued linguists for nearly 100 years--how to accurately describe click sounds distinct to certain African languages. http://www.physorg.com/news166882422.html Other Sciences Wed, 15 Jul 2009 13:14:27 EST news166882422 Emmanuel Gheerbrant, paleontologist at the Paris Museum (France), discovered one of the oldest modern ungulates related to the elephant order. The study is published in the PNAS journal. http://www.physorg.com/news166282197.html Other Sciences Wed, 08 Jul 2009 14:30:19 EST news166282197