Environment

Australia lists small wallaby, snake among new endangered species

Australia's government vowed to stop plant and animal extinctions Tuesday as it listed the grey snake and a small wallaby among 15 new threatened species.. Among the 15 plants and animals listed as threatened are the endangered mildly-venomous grey snake of Queensland, the vulnerable small parma wallaby -- threatened by bushfires and predators -- and the endangered small, wingless matchstick grasshopper, which is sensitive  to drought and frequent bushfires.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Australia lists small wallaby, snake among new endangered species

Australia's government vowed to stop plant and animal extinctions Tuesday as it listed the grey snake and a small wallaby among 15 new threatened species.. Among the 15 plants and animals listed as threatened are the endangered mildly-venomous grey snake of Queensland, the vulnerable small parma wallaby -- threatened by bushfires and predators -- and the endangered small, wingless matchstick grasshopper, which is sensitive  to drought and frequent bushfires.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Nobel shines light on paleogenetics, study of ancient DNA

While some may have been surprised that the Nobel Prize in Medicine was awarded to a paleogeneticist Monday, researchers say understanding our distant ancestors helps explain modern human health -- even when it comes to Covid.. "We must not forget that medicine is the exercise of keeping human beings in good health, so we must first understand biology," she told AFP. Paabo himself provided an example of this in 2020, when he showed that humans with a particular snippet of Neanderthal DNA have a higher risk of getting more serious symptoms from Covid-19.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Hurricane Orlene lashes Mexico's Pacific coast

Hurricane Orlene made landfall on Monday on Mexico's Pacific coast, bringing strong winds, heavy rain and a risk of flooding and landslides, forecasters said.. In October 1997, Hurricane Paulina hit Mexico's Pacific coast as a Category 4 storm, leaving more than 200 dead. yug-dr/st

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

The mysterious Denisovans

Little is known of the mysterious Denisovans.. One of the biggest remaining mysteries is why modern humans were so successful in their expansion and why the Denisovans and Neanderthals went extinct, after having adapted to a Eurasian environment for several hundred thousand years. juc/fmp/gil/lc

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Svante Paabo, Swedish medicine Nobel-winner follows in father's footsteps

Swedish paleogeneticist Svante Paabo, who won the Nobel Medicine Prize on Monday for using DNA to reveal the link between humans and Neanderthals, drew early inspiration from his Nobel laureate father.. He was born in Stockholm in 1955 to Estonian chemist Karin Paabo and Sune Bergstrom, a biochemist who won the Nobel Medicine Prize in 1982.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Calls for more funding as pre-COP27 climate talks open in DR Congo

Warning "no-one will escape" a worsening crisis, DR Congo led calls on Monday for a surge in funding to brake global heating and fight its impacts at the start of pre-COP27 climate talks in Kinshasa. . "Unless a global effort is made ... no-one will escape," Bazaiba warned.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Biden heads to storm-hit Puerto Rico

President Joe Biden will head to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico on Monday, where he will announce $60 million to strengthen storm defences in a US territory whose people have complained of neglect after past natural disasters.. During the visit, Biden is to announce more than $60 million in funding "to shore up levees, strengthen flood walls, and create a new flood warning system to help Puerto Rico become better prepared for future storms," the White House official said.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

Paris abandons controversial re-landscaping around Eiffel Tower

The Paris mayor's office has abandoned plans for new buildings around the foot of the Eiffel Tower following months of protests from environmentalists and a petition signed by nearly 150,000 people.. An estimated 150,000 people visit the tower site every day during the summer high season, including the 20,000 to 30,000 who climb the tower itself.

Mon, Oct 3, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Tired of power cuts, blockaded Gaza turns to solar

Palestinians living in the Israeli-blockaded enclave of Gaza have long endured an unstable and costly electricity supply, so Yasser al-Hajj found a different way: solar power.. For most of Gaza's 2.3 million residents, living under Hamas Islamist rule and a 15-year-old Israeli blockade, power cuts are a daily fact of life that impact everything from homes to hospital wards.

Sun, Oct 2, 2022 3 mins read