The Monarch Butterfly might end up on the endangered species list this year

After conservationists warned that the monarch butterfly's population is declining in a "deadly free fall."

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New Level: Monsanto Tries Patenting Natural Tomatoes

Did you know that Monsanto tried to patent a tomato that had no biotech traits? Now, the European Patent Office has revoked Monsanto’s fraudulent patent.

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First Ebola boy likely infected by playing in bat tree

The Ebola victim who is believed to have triggered the current outbreak - a two-year-old boy called Emile Ouamouno from Guinea - may have been infected by playing in a hollow tree housing a colony of bats, say scientists.

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Scientists show that drunk birds ‘slur’ their songs

Sometimes science means getting a bunch of finches sloshed. Or at least giving them blood alcohol levels of around .08 percent, which is pretty crazy by bird standards. In a study published last week in PLOS ONE, researchers from the Oregon Health and Science University tempted zebra finches with spiked juice -- but not because they wanted to help the lab animals ring in the new year in style.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/zyery/scientists-show-that-drunk-birds-slur-their-songs

Can Houseplants Really Clean the World's Smoggiest City?

Kamal Meattle uses greenery to filter the filthy New Delhi air that doctors said was killing him.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/can-houseplants-really-clean-the-worlds-smoggiest-city

9 Amazing and Gross Things Scientists Discovered About Microbes This Year

We can’t see them, but they are all around us. On us. In us. Our personal microbes have us outnumbered by orders of magnitude, but scientists are only beginning to understand how they influence our health and other aspects of our lives. It’s an increasingly hot area of science, though, and this past year saw lots of interesting developments. Here are some of the highlights.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/9-amazing-and-gross-things-scientists-discovered-about-microbes-this-year

What Would Jesus Drink? A Class Exploring Ancient Wines Asks

Inside the Boston Wine School, Jonathon Alsop places empty glasses and plates of figs and cheese before a small group of students. Alsop, who founded the school in 2000, is doing a test run of a new class that poses the question: What would Jesus drink? "This is ... a cheese that Jesus might have eaten," he tells students. "It's called Egyptian Roumy — it was a cheese that was introduced to the Egyptians by the Romans. It's a sheep's milk cheese."

Read more: http://snapzu.com/mariogi/what-would-jesus-drink-a-class-exploring-ancient-wines-asks

Visiting a park could save your life, scientists say

City dwellers should visit parks more often and take advantage of this free and easy way to boost their physical and mental health, environmental scientists have urged.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/visiting-a-park-could-save-your-life-scientists-say

Trondheim city lights from Gråkallen Norway 27.12.2014

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/trondheim-city-lights-from-grakallen-norway-27122014

Big Cat Trade From Burma to China Up

The trade in tigers and other wild cat parts from Myanmar into China has grown in recent years, a new study based on two decades of survey data suggests.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/big-cat-trade-from-burma-to-china-up

22 Animals That Went Extinct in 2014

"It bears repeating that it is often impossible to know exactly when the last animal of a given species disappears in the wilderness. In some cases, I have included a species if it was declared extinct in 2014; this declaration may occur years after the species goes biologically extinct. I have also included animals that went extinct in a particular region or country, because this is also an important loss."

Read more: http://snapzu.com/Caio/22-animals-that-went-extinct-in-2014

Record 2014 Freeze for Parts of UK

The lowest temperatures of 2014 for England, Wales and Northern Ireland were recorded overnight.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/record-2014-freeze-for-parts-of-uk

Bromeliads

You wouldn’t imagine the tropical would transport to your home, but bromeliads are a surprisingly easy slice of the rainforest.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/bromeliads

Using DNA to catch canine culprits — and their owners

Joe Gillmer had a problem. A big, stinky, sole-troubling problem plaguing Midtown Alexandria Station condos, where he serves as board vice president. How to put this gently? Dog, er, waste in the vestibule, in the elevator (yes, really), and — this particularly incensed Gillmer — in the garage beside handicapped parking, making life difficult for residents with physical challenges.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/doodlegirl/using-dna-to-catch-canine-culprits-and-their-owners

Tasmania's giant ash trees may be world's tallest

The trees in question are mountain ash, the tallest flowering trees in the world. They are not quite the tallest trees of any kind: that record belongs to the coast redwoods of the western US. But that might be because things have been skewed against the mountain ash. Humans have been cutting them down in their prime.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/tasmanias-giant-ash-trees-may-be-worlds-tallest

Why Did the Mayan Civilization Collapse? A New Study Points to Deforestation and Climate Change

It’s long been one of ancient history’s most intriguing mysteries: Why did the Maya, a remarkably sophisticated civilization made up of more than 19 million people, suddenly collapse sometime during the 8th or 9th centuries? Although the Mayan people never entirely disappeared—their descendants still live across Central America—dozens of core urban areas in the lowlands of the Yucatan peninsula, such as Tikal, went from bustling cities...

Read more: http://snapzu.com/canuck/why-did-the-mayan-civilization-collapse-a-new-study-points-to-deforestation-and-climate-change

6,000-Year-Old Temple Unearthed in Ukraine

A team of archaeologists led by Dr Mykhailo Videiko of the Kyiv Institute of Archaeology has discovered the remains of a 6,000-year-old temple at a Trypillian culture village near modern-day Nebelivka, Ukraine.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/poeman/6000-year-old-temple-unearthed-in-ukraine

California Is About To Make Egg Production More Humane, By Giving Hens 70 Percent More Space

Starting next year, 15 million egg-laying hens in California and millions more providing out-of-state eggs to Californians will be required to have 70 percent more space — going from a minimum of 67 square inches each to nearly 116 square inches, about a 10.7-inch square of space per bird. California is the biggest consumer of eggs in the country, and this new regulations is part of a broader national effort to shift industry focus away from...

Read more: http://snapzu.com/ladyliberty/california-is-about-to-make-egg-production-more-humane-by-giving-hens-70-percent-more-space

Tree Ring Study Shows California’s Drought Worst in 1,200 Years

Scientists say California's drought is being driven by low (but not unprecedented) precipitation and record high temperatures.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/tree-ring-study-shows-californias-drought-worst-in-1200-years

Napa's surprise fault line triggers earthquake study of the region

When a magnitude-6.0 earthquake hit California's wine country this summer, scientists rushed to California Highway Patrol helicopters to survey the scene. The results were surprising. The earthquake tore up to the surface, producing a 9-mile-long scar that sliced through vineyards, asphalt and even homes. A buried earthquake fault had awoken along a trail never before documented or mapped by scientists, stunning homeowners who found houses spun off their foundations and broken...

Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/napas-surprise-fault-line-triggers-earthquake-study-of-the-region

This Was an Epic year for Droughts, Floods, and Extreme Weather

Extreme heat, record-breaking floods, and a terrifying tornado in oil country -- all in all, a year we can't afford to forget.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/this-was-an-epic-year-for-droughts-floods-and-extreme-weather

One Dead And 15,000 Stranded In French Alps

Around 15,000 vehicles are stuck in the French Alps as heavy snow blankets roads leading to the region's popular ski resorts. The snow and ice hit as holidaymakers travelled to and from ski resorts in the Savoie region in southeastern France. Authorities have set up shelters in 12 towns to cope with the number of travellers forced to leave their cars. The freezing conditions caused the death of a 27-year-old man whose car slid into a ravine in the...

Read more: http://snapzu.com/rawlings/one-dead-and-15000-stranded-in-french-alps

Did Microbes Shape the Human Life Span?

The microbes that live in and on humans may have evolved to preferentially take down the elderly in the population, a new computer model suggests. That, in turn, could have allowed children a greater share of food and resources, thereby enabling an extended childhood. Such a microbial bias may also have kept the first human populations more stable and resilient to upheavals, the findings suggest.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/drunkenninja/did-microbes-shape-the-human-life-span

No Goat Left Behind: Getting Americans to Eat Goat

Goat is the most widely consumed red meat in the world. So why does it so rarely make it onto Americans' tables? Trying to solve that problem is Heritage Foods USA’s No Goat Left Behind program, which has given the goat meat industry a small but stable boost. The organization connects dairy goat farmers that have extra kids to New York City restaurants who want to try out the meat. The culmination of this program takes place in October...

Read more: http://snapzu.com/capoti/no-goat-left-behind-getting-americans-to-eat-goat

Christmas on the Road in Iceland

247 minutes. That’s the small amount of daylight we had to travel, hike and explore southern Iceland. We made sure to not waste a single minute of these precious moments of daylight. That meant driving and hiking through the darkness of 20 hour nights.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/Caio/christmas-on-the-road-in-iceland

Severe Flooding Hits Southeast Asia

Malaysia and Thailand among countries affected, with more than 180,000 displaced and 13 people killed.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/jcscher/severe-flooding-hits-southeast-asia

Unexpected Life Found In The Ocean's Deepest Trench

The Mariana Trench cuts a 1,500-mile incision in the bottom of the Pacific Ocean near the island of Guam. That's where an international team of scientists has just spent over a month sending probes down to the deepest place on Earth. The scientists were stunned by the amount of life they found there, including a fish species inhabiting the deepest depths.

Read more: http://snapzu.com/KondoR/unexpected-life-found-in-the-oceans-deepest-trench

Cities as Havens for Trees

An infestation is killing America’s wild hemlocks. Can the tree survive in cities?

Read more: http://snapzu.com/gladsdotter/cities-as-havens-for-trees

The Fastest Animal On Earth Is Not A Cheetah

Did you say a cheetah? You’re wrong. For some reason, the idea that the cheetah is the planet’s fastest creature has hardened into fact through years of childhood repetition. But not all superlatives in the animal kingdom are so easily settled as weight (the blue whale) and height (the giraffe). In fact, determining the fastest creature on earth is much more complicated than we’ve all been led to believe.

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Best of 2014: Top 10 Macro Photos

Ants, dandelions, and creepy-crawleys posing for a family portraits: all of them make an appearance in the Top 10 Macro Photos of 2014 on 500px.

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Spectacular real virgin births

Thelma the snake confused then astounded her keepers. This 6m long (20 ft) python had spent four years alone in Louisville zoo in the US, without ever having met a male of her species. But, somehow, she laid over 61 eggs, producing six healthy babies. Perhaps she’d managed to secretively mate with a male many years before, and store his sperm all this time?

Read more: http://ift.tt/1HMzTzA

500,000-Year-Old Homo erectus Engraving Discovered

A multinational group of scientists led by Prof Wil Roebroeks of Leiden University in the Netherlands has discovered the earliest known engraving on a fossilized shell from the famous Homo erectus site of Trinil, on the Indonesian island of Java. While cataloging hundreds of freshwater mussel shells collected at the end of the 19th century by the Dutch anatomist and geologist Eugene Dubois – the discoverer of Java man...

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Fake pandas at circus were really painted dogs

With more paint and a couple of horses, they could have had zebras, too. A pair of chow chow puppies dyed black and white looked enough like pandas to fool visitors to a traveling circus near Milan, officials in Italy say. Forestry officials — who investigate many animal cases in Italy — uncovered the ruse after a tip-off and have charged the owner with having false documents for the dogs, which had been imported from Hungary with false pet passports, the Guardian reports.

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Lizard Looks Like Falling Leaf (Acts Like One Too) : DNews

Nature has perfectly outfitted Bornean gliding lizards with colors matching falling leaves in their different environments.

Read more: http://ift.tt/1EmXJ8J

Restored Forests Breathe Life Into Efforts Against Climate Change

Driven by a growing environmental movement and mounting pressure from Western consumers, corporate and government leaders are making a new push to slow the cutting of rain forests.

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There's a blizzard warning in effect for ... Hawaii?!

The National Weather Service has issued blizzard warnings for the summits of Mauna Loa and Mauna Kea volcanic peaks, located on the Big Island of Hawaii.

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Chinook salmon could be wiped out by 2100, new study claims

New climate-change research involving a University of British Columbia scientist predicts that one of the West Coast's most prized salmon stocks could be wiped out over the next 85 years. A study has concluded that there is a five per cent chance of a catastrophic loss of the chinook salmon by 2075, and a 98 per cent chance the population will suffer catastrophic losses by 2100, if climate change warms the water.

Read more: http://ift.tt/1CMyQPi

Spectacular Ice Formations Atop a Windswept Mountain in Slovenia

After a long period of pummeling wind, snow, and ice, weather photographer Marko Korosec climbed Mount Javornik, part of a mountain range in eastern Slovenia and the location of a popular ski center. What he discovered can only be described as otherworldly. Trees and lookout towers fully encased in hard layers of rime ice, formed by high winds and freezing fog. Korosec says some of the ice spikes growing off the tower reached well over 3-feet (100cm) long.

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Argentine court extends human right to freedom to orangutan

In an unprecedented decision, an Argentine court has ruled that the Sumatran orangutan 'Sandra', who has spent 20 years at the zoo in Argentina's capital Buenos Aires, should be recognized as a person with a right to freedom. The ruling, signed by the judges unanimously, would see Sandra freed from captivity and transferred to a nature sanctuary in Brazil after a court recognized the primate as a "non-human person" which has some basic human rights. The Buenos Aires...

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Earth's Deep Oil Reserves Are Teeming With Ancient Life

Earth’s “deep biosphere”—the vast, subterranean world that’s home to as many single-celled organisms as our planet’s surface—has a rep for being a stark and lonely place. But a new study finds that deep oil reservoirs, miles beneath the ocean floor, are anything but solitary. Here, bacteria are social critters that have been swapping genetic material back and forth for eons.

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Tornadoes Rip Across Southeast

Drenching rain and severe thunderstorms are walloping portions of the South.

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A perfect storm, whichever way you look at it

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Bedbug bait and trap invented by Simon Fraser University scientists

After 180,000 bedbug bites and eight years of study, Simon Fraser University scientists say they have invented a new kind of bedbug bait and trap. The trap, which will be available commercially next year, will work by emitting a set of chemical attractants, or pheromones, that lure the bedbugs into traps, and keep them there.

Read more: http://ift.tt/1AYY2kv

Scientists discover the oldest stone tool ever found in Turkey.

Scientists have discovered the oldest recorded stone tool ever to be found in Turkey, revealing that humans passed through the gateway from Asia to Europe much earlier than previously thought, approximately 1.2 million years ago.

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When Threatened By Worms, Bacteria Summon Killer Fungi

When you’re the size of a human, you worry about lions and tigers and bears. But if you’re a bacterium, a tiny nematode worm, just a millimetre long, can be a vicious predator.

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Where do Christmas spices come from?

Nothing evokes Christmas more than the smell of cinnamon and cloves. Here's a look at the spicy story behind them.

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Shades of the Yukon

No one lives within the 4000 square mile expanse of Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve. Not anymore. David Shaw explores the area in words and photographs.

Read more: http://ift.tt/1AXvM1q

Scientists Find Evidence of Viking Presence in Arctic Canada

A small stone artifact recovered from a Paleo-Eskimo site on Baffin Island is important evidence of a Viking presence in Arctic Canada around 1000 CE, says a team of scientists led by Dr Patricia Sutherland of the University of Aberdeen, Scotland.

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The reason oil could drop as low as $20 per barrel

How low can it go — and how long will it last? The 50 percent slump in oil prices raises both those questions and while nobody can confidently answer the first question (I will try to in a moment), the second is pretty easy. Low oil prices will last long enough for one of two events to happen. The first possibility, the one most traders and analysts seem to expect, is that Saudi Arabia will re-establish OPEC’s monopoly power once it achieves the true geopolitical or economic...

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Water's edge: In Jakarta, that sinking feeling is all too real

: In the Indonesian capital, sinking land is an even bigger threat than rising seas. Jakarta has no option but to spend tens of billions of dollars on reinforcing its ramshackle defenses.

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