Category: Nature

A Decline in Predatory Species is Disrupting the Food Chain

On By A.P.In Nature1 Comment

The decline of large predators such as big cats, wolves, sharks and giant whales may be “humankind’s most pervasive influence on the natural world,” causing prey animals to swell in population and throw food chains out of balance, a new report says.

Humans have touched off the world’s latest mass extinction, according to the report, published Thursday in the journal Science, and the consequences are being felt on land and in water systems as large predators vanish.

Read about it here:  http://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/decline-of-predators-such-as-wolves-throws-food-chains-out-of-whack-report-says/2011/07/14/gIQAaeY1EI_story.html

Thanks to Mr. Cuomo for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

NASA: DNA is made naturally in outer space

On By A.P.In Origins of Life, Space and Time, UncategorizedLeave a comment

 

NASA scientists have found evidence that they believe shows that the building blocks of life on Earth may have come from asteroids and comets that struck our planet. 

http://www.nasa.gov/topics/solarsystem/features/dna-meteorites.html

Thanks to Kedmobee for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

 

Too Many Donkeys in Hawaii

On By A.P.In Donkey, DroughtLeave a comment

 

In an effort to control the wild donkey population on Hawaii Big’s Island, about 100 of them are being flown to California next month.   

Drought conditions have led the donkeys from the highlands into a populated area in search of water. Donkeys were appearing near the highway and a school.

The Humane Society and a local veterinarian have been trapping and sterilizing animals from the rapidly growing population estimated at about 400 to 600 donkeys.

At the end of the month, a clinic is to be set up at a ranch to castrate captured male donkeys.

Ice Island The Size of Manhatten

On By A.P.In NatureLeave a comment

A Manhattan-sized chunk of ice that broke off a glacier in Greenland nearly a year ago is drifting toward the coast of Newfoundland, Canada — providing a stunning sight to scientists and curiosity-seekers but also posing a potential threat to ships.

The ice island is 20 square miles — roughly 6.2 miles long and 3.1 miles wide. It was formed when a 97-square-mile chunk of ice broke off Greenland’s Petermann Glacier on Aug. 5, 2010, possibly due to warming of the Atlantic Ocean.

The ice island, the largest single chunk remaining from the massive parent chunk, has been winding its way through Arctic waters ever since.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/43848004/ns/us_news-environment/

The Drought in Texas May Extend Another Year

On By A.P.In DraughtLeave a comment

 

The extreme heat and lack of water in Texas has brought many problems, not the least of which involves feral hogs, as specified in the article below.

  “Even the state’s feral hogs are hiding from the heat, postponing a new reality TV show about Texans gunning them from helicopters.”

http://news.yahoo.com/forecasters-drought-may-persist-another-210555620.html

And read here about the oppotunities for helicopter hog hunting in Texas:  http://www.huntinghog.com/helicopter-hog-hunting-in-texas/

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention  of the It’s Interesting community.

The Glowing Puppy – What Every Kid Needs!

On By A.P.In DNA, Dogs, Inventions, ScienceLeave a comment

 

South Korean scientists have created a glowing dog using a cloning technique that could help find cures for human diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

A research team from Seoul National University (SNU) said the genetically modified female beagle, named Tegon and born in 2009, glows fluorescent green under ultraviolet light if given a doxycycline antibiotic.  The ability to glow can be turned on or off by adding a drug to the dog’s food.

“The creation of Tegon opens new horizons since the gene injected to make the dog glow can be substituted with genes that trigger fatal human diseases,” the news agency quoted lead researcher Lee Byeong-chun as saying.

He said the dog was created using the somatic cell nuclear transfer technology that the university team used to make the world’s first cloned dog, Snuppy, in 2005.

The scientist said that because there are 268 illnesses that humans and dogs have in common, creating dogs that artificially show such symptoms could aid treatment methods for diseases that afflict humans.

Read about it here:  http://news.discovery.com/animals/beagle-dog-glows-green-110801.html

 

Blood Lake in Texas

On By A.P.In Bacteria, NatureLeave a comment

 

 

Texas is experiencing major drought this summer, with 75 percent of the state’s area in an “exceptional” drought, the highest level, according to the National Drought Mitigation Center (NDMC).

The drought has left the OC Fisher Reservoir in San Angelo State Park in West Texas almost entirely dry. The water that is left is stagnant, full of dead fish — and a deep, opaque red.

The color has some apocalypse believers suggesting that OC Fisher is an early sign of the end of the world, but Texas Parks and Wildlife Inland Fisheries officials say the bloody look is the result of Chromatiaceae bacteria, which thrive in oxygen-deprived water.

Read more here:  http://news.yahoo.com/end-times-texas-lake-turns-blood-red-215004338.html

 

Thanks to Mr. C for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

UK Woman Gnawed by Rats in Her Bed

On By A.P.In Rat1 Comment

Southcote, UK has a rat infestation that is forcing many people from their homes.

A bedbound woman who needed hospital treatment after her home was one of several plagued by rats has died.

The 80-year-old was in bed following a stroke and is believed to have been attacked by the creatures in her home at the end of June.

http://www.reading107fm.com/news/local-news/rat-infestation-in-southcote-397/

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2096650_rat_attack_woman_dies_in_hospital

http://www.getreading.co.uk/news/s/2095945_woman_gnawed_by_rats_in_her_bed

Green Algae in the Yellow Sea

On By A.P.In AlgaeLeave a comment

First of all, what kind of terrible parent would let their kid swim in this?

In Qingdoo, Shandong Province of China, the coastal waters are covered with algae called enteromopha prolifera. The algae is not poisonous and doesn’t affect water quality, but there are concerns about how it may affect local sealife and whether it might spur a drop in tourism.

Researchers aren’t sure what’s behind the green invasion. One expert told CNN that it’s possible that the lush green algae plume  may have something to do with “the change in the environment.”

The algae now covers 200 square miles of the Yellow Sea and looks so thick that it resembles a fairway on a golf course.

Thanks to Mr. Cuomo for bringing this to the attention of the It’s Interesting community.

http://news.yahoo.com/blogs/upshot/green-algae-yellow-sea-194125276.html