Deep in Argentina’s lush northern jungle, archaeologists have discovered the ruins of what may have originally been a Nazi safe haven. Researchers from the University of Buenos Aires decided to investigate the site, located near the Paraguay border in the province of Misiones, where local legend has it that Adolf Hitlers’s private secretary, Martin Bormann once lived. The archaeologists dismissed Bormann’s residency as untrue, saying Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) tests on a skeleton found in Berlin […]
Environment
Scientists collect data from giant Stingray
Footage shot on (March 6) during the making of wildlife program Ocean Mysteries, shows scientists examining a Giant Whiptail Stingray found in the Mae Klong River, Thailand. The creature measures over fourteen feet long, eight feet wide and weighed over eight hundred pounds. According to wildlife presenter Jeff Corwin, the ray may be the largest freshwater fish ever captured. “So we’re here in this incredible river system in Thailand. I’m with my good friend Dr […]
New Lease on Light: Earth Hour to Deploy Solar Lamps in Palawan
“This lamp contains crude oil,” says fisherman Joys Dominguez while raising a grimy, soot-caked gin bottle. We are inside a hut in Beton, an island community in Northern Palawan. Night has settled and our world is pitch-black, save for what the flickering flames illuminate. Outside is the sea and above it, a sea of stars. Around 15 million Filipinos lack regular access to electricity. Beton and its 300 fisherfolk families are no different, relying on […]
Wanted: homes for wild animals as Mexico bans them from circuses
Mexico is searching for homes for at least 2,000 tigers, elephants, giraffes, zebras and other exotic beasts that will soon be banned from the country’s circuses. Circus owners are worried about the fate of their animals, which they say are too expensive to keep once the ban kicks in, while government and zoo officials are grappling with myriad difficulties in relocating animals raised to perform tricks under the big top. The prohibition does not take […]
Stranded sea lion pups inundate animal rescue centers
California sea lions – mainly pups – are turning up stranded and starved on Southern California beaches in record numbers this year, leaving experts worried that this winter may be the worst season ever documented for the marine mammals. The precise cause is not clear, but scientists believe the sea lions are suffering from a scarcity of natural prey that force nursing mothers to venture farther out to sea for food, leaving their young behind […]
Rare white lion cub born at Brazil zoo
A rare white lion cub has been born in a zoo in southern Brazil, the first for the Latin American nation. Two-month-old female cub Clara is reportedly in good health. She was rejected by her mother shortly after giving birth but zookeepers at Beto Carrero World in Santa Catarina have been feeding the adorable cub every few hours a diet of goats’ milk mixed with essential vitamins. For the time being, Clara is in a […]
NASA confirms ocean on Jupiter moon, raising prospects for life
Scientists using the Hubble Space Telescope have confirmed that the Jupiter-orbiting moon Ganymede has an ocean beneath its icy surface, raising the prospects for life, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) said on Thursday (March 12). Scientists estimate the ocean is 60 miles (100 km) thick, 10 times deeper than Earth’s oceans, and is buried under a 95-mile (150-km) crust of mostly ice. The finding resolves a mystery about the largest moon in the solar system […]
Electrifying secrets behind killer eels
Researchers have started to unravel the mysteries of how eels hunt, shock, and kill their prey. The findings come at the end of a nine-month study of the way in which the electric eel uses high-voltage electrical discharges to locate and incapacitate its prey. Vanderbilt University biologist Ken Catania, who led the research, says eels may just be one of the most fascinating killers on the planet. The predator has the ability to discharge as […]
RP Power Grid Can Accommodate 500 MW of Additional Wind, Says Study
Adding 500 MW of wind power to the national grid will have no negative impacts on Philippine grid operations, reveals a 2013 World Bank and Australia AusAid report on the Grid Impact of Variable Renewable Energy (VRE) for the Philippines. “Despite wind’s variable nature, 500 MW can easily be integrated without the risk of blackouts or interruptions,” explains WWF-Philippines Climate Change Unit Head Atty. Gia Ibay. “A country’s national grid should have a power reserve […]
Skeletal horse sculpture unveiled at Trafalgar Square’s fourth plinth
A giant, skeletal, riderless, horse created by the German-American artist Hans Haacke has been installed on the fourth plinth at London’s Trafalgar Square on Thursday (March 5). Unveiled by the city’s mayor, Boris Johnson, “Gift Horse” was inspired by the equestrian statue of William IV, for which the plinth was originally intended. The horse sculpture is fitted with an electronic ribbon which displays a live ticker of the London Stock Exchange, asserting the place’s significance […]
Korean steel plant turns cow dung into green energy
A steel plant in South Korea has managed to improve energy efficiency and lower fuel cost by turning cow dung into a source of green energy to power its production. Cow dung, traditionally used as a fertilizer, is now being collected and used to produce biofuel that is greener and more efficient than traditional fuels like coal. Seoul-based Hyundai Steel has developed a new method to use cow dung as an auxiliary fuel for steel […]
China to strengthen law enforcement, enhance environmental laws
China will strengthen enforcement of new environmental laws, Chen Jining, China’s new minister of environmental protection said at a press conference in Beijing on Monday. The minister promised that his first mission is to improve the environment in accordance with environmental laws, in reply to a question about some environmental departments failing to abide by the law. “In the past, environmental laws were enforced leniently by some departments. Failing to abide by the law has […]