Sunday, October 24, 2010
Photograph by Bobby Haas, National Geographic
A mosaic of tightly clustered rooftops decorates an aerial view of Lamu, Kenya, one of the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlements in East Africa. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the old town of Lamu dates back to the 12th century and still boasts many traditional architectural styles of Swahili culture.
Major threats to the site include a proposed port project and infrastructure for the oil industry. The development "would result in unprecedented new levels of population growth and put strong pressures on both the cultural and natural values of the region," according to the Global Heritage Fund report.
Friday, October 08, 2010
Tiny New Frog
Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International
A frog small enough to sit on a thumbnail rests on a leaf in Papua New Guinea's Muller Range in 2009.
This species "nearly eluded the RAP team altogether," as the scientists had to search the forest floor in pouring rain to trace the sound of the "soft, scratching, cricket-like" call, according to a Conservation International statement.
The frog and all its closest relatives are found only on the island of New Guinea.
Friday, October 01, 2010
First Truly Habitable Planet Discovered, Experts Say
Earthlike world in elusive "Goldilocks zone."
Illustration courtesy Lynette Cook
Published September 29, 2010
Astronomers studying a nearby star say they've found the first potentially habitable planet—likely a rocky place with an atmosphere, temperate regions, and crucially, liquid water, considered vital for life as we know it.
Other extrasolar planets have been called Earthlike, but, astronomer Paul Butler assured, "this is really the first Goldilocks planet"—not too hot, not too cold.
Orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 about every 37 days, the new planet, named Gliese 581g, is "just the right size and just at the right distance [from its star] to have liquid water on the surface," added Butler, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., during an online press briefing today.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Being Jane Goodall
Fifty Years at Gombe
In 1960 a spirited animal lover with no scientific training set up camp in Tanganyika’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve to observe chimpanzees. Today Jane Goodall’s name is synonymous with the protection of a beloved species. At Gombe—one of the longest, most detailed studies of any wild animal—revelations about chimps keep coming.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Posted by Jodi Kendall at 9/21/2010 10:32 AM EDT
A colossal cane toad – measuring twice the length of a man's hand and weighing just under two pounds – was recently discovered in northern Australia. Just one lick of Toadzilla's dry, warty skin is potent enough to kill a snake in seconds.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Solvable Problem of Energy Poverty
Spread of Electricity Need Not Harm Climate, says UN Report
Photograph by Lynn Johnson, National Geographic
Published September 21, 2010
The United Nations’ goals for fighting extreme poverty—an effort being assessed at a summit this week in New York—will fall short unless nations also work to bring electricity and modern, safe cooking technology to the billions of “energy-poor” people around the globe, a new report says.
© 2008 Vishal V. Shah. All rights reserved. Contents of this web site reflect my personal work and is not representative of my employer.