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. An ambitious effort in avian conservation is underway this spring throughout the New York portion of the Lake Ontario watershed. http://www.physorg.com/news161281110.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 17:18:49 EST news161281110 There is a new tool for those developing conservation strategies for threatened species and landscapes: museum specimens. Richard Pearson and Christopher Raxworthy of the American Museum of Natural History dusted off a number of collections from Madagascar and used the location information associated with each species to test different ideas regarding the evolution of locally distributed endemism (unique species confined to small regions). The research paper published this month in Evolution found support for alternative hypotheses, suggesting that multiple processes develop local endemism. This improved knowledge of the processes that lead to endemism can help to identify priorities in conservation planning. http://www.physorg.com/news159127199.html Biology Thu, 16 Apr 2009 19:00:37 EST news159127199 Roman Lysecky, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at The University of Arizona, has been awarded a grant of more than $400,000 by the National Science Foundation to develop high-performance customizable computer chips. http://www.physorg.com/news158948889.html Technology Tue, 14 Apr 2009 17:28:48 EST news158948889 A new study finds that it will take more than 75 years for the carbon emissions saved through the use of biofuels to compensate for the carbon lost when biofuel plantations are established on forestlands. If the original habitat was peatland, carbon balance would take more than 600 years. The study appears in Conservation Biology. http://www.physorg.com/news158927041.html Space & Earth Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:24:40 EST news158927041 (PhysOrg.com) -- For those who think of nature as a wild, unspoiled Eden that preserves the natural flora and fauna free from human interference, global warming has a nasty surprise in store, according to University of California, Berkeley, biologist Anthony Barnosky. http://www.physorg.com/news158851283.html Space & Earth Mon, 13 Apr 2009 14:22:12 EST news158851283 Long-term global warming is prompting North American birds to winter farther north -- a trend more noticeable in Alaska than anywhere else in the nation, according to a new study by the National Audubon Society. http://www.physorg.com/news158261792.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Apr 2009 18:36:52 EST news158261792 (AP) -- A federal judge says a lawsuit by environmental groups to keep the government from aggressively removing endangered Mexican gray wolves that have attacked livestock can move forward. http://www.physorg.com/news157973586.html Biology Fri, 03 Apr 2009 10:33:42 EST news157973586 (PhysOrg.com) -- The wolves on Isle Royale are suffering from genetically deformed bones. Scientists from Michigan Technological University blame the extreme inbreeding of the small, isolated wolf population at the island National Park in northern Lake Superior. http://www.physorg.com/news157915441.html Biology Thu, 02 Apr 2009 18:24:18 EST news157915441 Scientists at the University of Bath are working with the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust to study an endangered large shrew-like mammal that kills its prey with a venomous bite. http://www.physorg.com/news157745138.html Biology Tue, 31 Mar 2009 19:06:03 EST news157745138 President Barack Obama signed legislation on Monday expanding and protecting US public parks and wilderness areas from oil and gas development, billed as the largest US conservation measure in more than 15 years. http://www.physorg.com/news157655874.html Space & Earth Mon, 30 Mar 2009 18:18:26 EST news157655874 When animals in southern Africa are sick, often the first place their caretakers look for help is from native plants. http://www.physorg.com/news157636556.html Biology Mon, 30 Mar 2009 12:57:01 EST news157636556 (AP) -- A California condor captured because it appeared sickly was found to not only be suffering from lead poisoning but also had been shot, animal experts said Friday. http://www.physorg.com/news156268968.html Biology Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:03:33 EST news156268968 Researchers have taken a first look at the broad genetic changes that accompany reproductive declines in inbred populations. Although scientists have known for more than a century that small populations of closely related plants or animals are likely to suffer from low reproductive success, the exact mechanism by which this "inbreeding depression" occurs is still the subject of debate. http://www.physorg.com/news156086725.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:25:56 EST news156086725 New software developed with help from the Wildlife Conservation Society will allow tiger researchers to rapidly identify individual animals by creating a three-dimensional model using photos taken by remote cameras. The software, described in an issue of the journal Biology Letters, may also help identify the origin of tigers from confiscated skins. http://www.physorg.com/news156085481.html Biology Thu, 12 Mar 2009 14:05:45 EST news156085481 The Wildlife Conservation Society`s India Program (WCS - India) has released a unique training video on YouTube that showcases the latest scientific methods for estimating the numbers of wild tigers and their prey. http://www.physorg.com/news155831310.html Biology Mon, 09 Mar 2009 15:29:18 EST news155831310 (PhysOrg.com) -- University of Adelaide research has discovered that there are many more species of Australian lizards than previously thought, raising new questions about conservation and management of Australia's native reptiles. http://www.physorg.com/news155383262.html Biology Wed, 04 Mar 2009 10:01:46 EST news155383262 The wide-open spaces of the Flint Hills may no longer provide a secure home on the range for several familiar grassland birds, according to research by a Kansas State University ecologist and her colleagues. http://www.physorg.com/news155305199.html Biology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 12:20:34 EST news155305199 The southeast Pacific nation of Papua New Guinea, home to some of the most biologically diverse ecosystems on Earth, has created its first national conservation area to preserve forever a swath of pristine tropical forest larger than Singapore. http://www.physorg.com/news155278758.html Biology Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:59:50 EST news155278758 (PhysOrg.com) -- Most wild species are expected to colonise northwards as the climate warms, but how are they going to get there when so many landscapes are covered in wheat fields and other crops? A study published today (Wednesday 25 February 2009) shows it is possible to predict how fast a population will spread and reveals the importance of habitat conservation in helping threatened species survive environmental change. http://www.physorg.com/news154767897.html Biology Wed, 25 Feb 2009 07:05:43 EST news154767897 Magnets taped to the heads of captured crocodiles could keep them from returning to South Florida neighborhoods where they're not wanted, state wildlife officials said Monday. http://www.physorg.com/news154696554.html Biology Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:16:19 EST news154696554 A Wildlife Conservation Society-supported survey of the Sahara has captured the first camera-trap photographs of the critically endangered Saharan cheetah in Algeria. The survey was conducted by researchers from the Zoological Society of London (ZSL), the Office du Parc National de l'Ahaggar (OPNA), and the Université de Béjaďa, with support from WCS and Panthera. http://www.physorg.com/news154695999.html Biology Tue, 24 Feb 2009 11:07:26 EST news154695999 In a startling result, a new study published by the scientific journal Conservation Biology found that more than 80 percent of the world's major armed conflicts from 1950-2000 occurred in regions identified as the most biologically diverse and threatened places on Earth. http://www.physorg.com/news154350232.html Biology Fri, 20 Feb 2009 11:05:08 EST news154350232 A unique study by a scientist at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has provided fresh evidence of fishing's impact on marine ecosystems. Scripps Oceanography graduate student researcher Loren McClenachan accessed archival photographs spanning more than five decades to analyze and calculate a drastic decline of so-called "trophy fish" caught around coral reefs surrounding Key West, Florida. http://www.physorg.com/news154106707.html Biology Tue, 17 Feb 2009 15:25:36 EST news154106707 In the first systematic analysis of threats to the biodiversity of the world's mediterranean-climate regions, scientists at The Nature Conservancy and UC Davis report that these conservation hotspots are facing significant and increasing pressure. The study, which appears in this week's edition of the journal Diversity and Distributions, is part of a global conservation assessment of the rare mediterranean biome. http://www.physorg.com/news154097352.html Space & Earth Tue, 17 Feb 2009 12:49:46 EST news154097352 Our ability to conserve and protect wildlife is at risk because we are unable to accurately gauge how our environment is changing over time, says new research out today in Conservation Letters. http://www.physorg.com/news153755761.html Biology Fri, 13 Feb 2009 13:56:55 EST news153755761 A quarter-century of data reveals how changing weather patterns and land use, combined with overfishing and pollution, are taking a heavy toll on penguin numbers. http://www.physorg.com/news153684137.html Biology Thu, 12 Feb 2009 18:03:29 EST news153684137 The economy isn't just squeezing the middle class on land, it's also affecting fish. http://www.physorg.com/news153494857.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Feb 2009 13:28:06 EST news153494857 A research team at the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center has uncovered a vast new class of previously unrecognized mammalian genes that do not encode proteins, but instead function as long RNA molecules. Their findings, presented in the February 1st advance online issue of the journal Nature, demonstrate that this novel class of "large intervening non-coding RNAs" or "lincRNAs" plays critical roles in both health and disease, including cancer, immune signaling and stem cell biology. http://www.physorg.com/news152720940.html Biology Sun, 01 Feb 2009 14:29:29 EST news152720940 The best way to survive the ill-effects of climate change and pollution may be to simply sleep through it. http://www.physorg.com/news152382912.html Biology Wed, 28 Jan 2009 16:35:41 EST news152382912 The Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) released photos today from the first large-scale census of jaguars in the Amazon region of Ecuador -one of the most biologically rich regions on the planet. http://www.physorg.com/news152294109.html Biology Tue, 27 Jan 2009 15:55:31 EST news152294109