Slashdot is powered by your submissions, so send in your scoop

 


Forgot your password?
Close
typodupeerror
×

Submission + - 25% of males in tribe were attacked by giant snake (mongabay.com)

Submitted by rhettb
rhettb writes: After spending decades living among the Agta Negritos people in the Philippines, anthropologist Thomas Headland has found that the hunter gatherer tribes were quite commonly attacked by reticulated pythons (Python reticulatus). Headland found 26 percent of Agta Negritos men had been attacked by a reticulated python in the past, most bearing the scars to prove it. Women were attacked much less frequently, but since men spent their time hunting in the forest they were more likely to run into a python, an encounter that could prove deadly for either party.
Science

Submission + - Giant crab invasion looms in Antarctica (mongabay.com) 4

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: A 0.12 degree C rise in temperature will spur giant King Crabs to invade the Antarctic continental shelf, causing havoc for its unique ecosystem, reports a study published in the Proceedings of the Royal Society B. Temperatures are currently rising 0.01-0.02 per year, meaning it could be less than a decade before the crabs chow down on the soft-bodied invertebrates that currently rule the shelf. “It's much more reminiscent of the Paleozoic era before all those shell-crushing crabs and bony fish and bottom-feeding sharks and rays evolved," said marine biologist Richard Aronson. “The bottom communities in Antarctica are anachronisms. They're a window to the past. They're going to get modernized when these crabs show up.”
Science

Submission + - Vietnamese rhino goes extinct (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by roat35
roat35 writes: Poachers shot and killed the world's last Vietnamese rhinoceros (Rhinoceros sondaicus annamiticus) for its horn confirms a report from International Rhino Foundation (IRF) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). A subspecies of the Javan rhino, the Vietnamese rhino was the last Javan rhino to survive on the Asian mainland and the second subspecies to vanish, following the extinction of the Indian Javan rhino (rhinoceros sondaicus inermis). The Javan rhino is the world's most imperiled rhino species with now only around 50 individuals surviving in a single park on its namesake island in Indonesia.
The Military

Submission + - What Kim Jong-Il Has Learned from Qaddafi's Fall

Submitted by
Hugh Pickens writes
Hugh Pickens writes writes: "As the world watched photos of Mummar Qaddafi's bludgeoned corpse, the gruesome end to Qaddafi's rule has likely confirmed what Kim Jong Il must have long been aware — a dictator who wants to hold on to power should also hold onto his nuclear weapons. Libya once had the materials needed to make nuclear bombs: centrifuges, weapons designs, and fissile material — but Libya gave up its nuclear program in 2003, under strong pressure from the US. Enticed with an end to heavy sanctions it had endured since the 1980s, improved relations with the West, and a guarantee of security, Qaddafi ended his nuclear quest. Had Libya possessed the capability to obliterate a major American military base in Italy, or to vaporize an entire American "carrier battle group" off the southern coast of France, it almost certainly would have dissuaded Washington from military action. The North Korean dictator has taken a very different nuclear path. No doubt understanding that his regime and his own survival are under constant threat, Kim has been quite unwilling to disarm. "The cycles of stalled negotiations that have repeated since 1994 suggest that Kim may never have been truly interested in nuclear disarmament but the lessons of Qaddafi's ouster will surely make him less inclined to this course than he was already," write Mira Rapp-Hooper and Kenneth N. Waltz in the Atlantic. "The Dear Leader has probably learned through careful observation that the only true security guarantee for a fragile autocracy, one that must fear internal dissent as well as outside aggressors, may be a nuclear arsenal. ""
Science

Submission + - Giant one-celled organisms discovered over six mil (mongabay.com) 2

Submitted by roat35
roat35 writes: Imagine a one-celled organism the size of a mango. It's not science fiction, but fact: scientists have cataloged dozens of giant one-celled creatures, around 4 inches (10 centimeters), in the deep abysses of the world's oceans. But recent exploration of the Mariana Trench has uncovered the deepest record yet of the one-celled behemoths, known as xenophyophores.
Google

Submission + - Google Earth used to track fish behavior (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: A new study published in Scientific Reports has discovered visible evidence on Google Earth of the interactions between marine predators and prey in the Great Barrier Reef. Studying the satellite imagery of lagoons around remote and protected Heron Island in the Great Barrier Reef, researchers found that they could easily identify a phenomenon known as 'grazing halos'. Scientists believe these 'grazing halos' are created by hungry herbivorous fish and sea urchins who pick a region clean of seaweed, revealing the substrate beneath. Seeking protection from predators in a reef, these herbivores venture out to feed only so far, creating a halo-shape around their refuge.
Facebook

Submission + - Barbie's Facebook a casualty of Greenpeace war (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by terrancem
terrancem writes: Mattel shut down the comment function on the Barbie Facebook fan page after Greenpeace supporters barraged the page with complaints about the company's use of packaging materials linked to destruction of rainforests in Indonesia. The Barbie Facebook page has 2.3 million fans.
Science

Submission + - New sensor x-rays forests, creates 3D species maps (mongabay.com) 2

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: A new airplane-based remote-sensing and analysis system will enable scientists to catalog tree species as they create three-dimensional maps of tropical forests. The system uses the most advanced airborne imaging spectrometer ever developed to detect small changes in forest canopy structure from selective logging and distinguish between plant species.
Science

Submission + - Huge jump in Amazon deforestation (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by rhettb
rhettb writes: New data from the Brazilian government shows an area of Amazon rainforest 10 times the size of Manhattan was cleared in the past 2 months, an increase of more than 400% over last year. A proposed weakening of the country's forest code is blamed. Farmers and ranchers believe they will be granted amnesty for illegal logging.
Idle

Submission + - Rodent thought extinct for 113 years reappears (mongabay.com)

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: The red-crested tree rat had not been recorded since 1898 and was thought possibly extinct—that is until one showed up at 9:30 PM on May 4th at a lodge in El Dorado Nature Reserve in northern Colombia. About the size of a guinea pig, the red-crested tree rat had only been known from two skins previously.
Science

Submission + - Escaped Bronx Zoo cobra recpatured (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by Damien1972
Damien1972 writes: The missing Bronx Zoo cobra that quickly became a pop culture sensation has been found in the zoo's Reptile House. The escaped serpent was found in a non-public, off-exhibit area in the Reptile House, according to the Wildlife Conservation Society, which runs the zoo. The Egyptian cobra was said to be in good condition, but it will be placed under observation and evaluated.
Google

Submission + - Google Earth undermines 'no deforestation' claim (mongabay.com) 3

Submitted by rhettb
rhettb writes: A Malaysian minister's claim that 70 percent of his state's forests remain "intact" has been undermined by Google Earth images showing large-scale logging operations. Sarawak's Chief Minister Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud, who is under pressure from campaigners who say he illegally pocketed more than $1 billion during his 30 years of rule, claimed that his government only practices sustainable logging despite considerable evidence (including the Google Earth images) to the contrary.
Science

Submission + - New population of mini snow leopard found (mongabay.com) 1

Submitted by rhettb
rhettb writes: The elusive Andean cat, which until the late 1990s was only known to scientists by a couple photographs, has been discovered beyond the Andes mountain range. According to researchers, the wild Andean cat resembles Asia's snow leopard, both in appearance and its habitat above altitudes of 3,000 meters, only in this case the wild cat is about the size of a domesticated feline. But, scientists have now discovered that the cat also inhabits the Patagonian steppe at elevations as low as 650 meters (2,100 feet).

Slashdot Top Deals

Old programmers never die, they just hit account block limit.

Close