conservation – News Stories About conservation - Page 8

Jan 17, 2008 3:30 AM CST

Kamikaze Palm Baffles Botanists

Madagascar giant flowers spectacularly, then dies

(Newser) - Scientists have found a gigantic—and suicidal—new species of palm tree in a remote area of Madagascar, the Sydney Morning Herald reports. The tree, so big it can be seen in satellite photos, grows normally for a century or so until it spectacularly erupts with countless tiny flowers that...

Greenpeace Ship Scatters Japanese Whalers

Jan 14, 2008 4:04 AM CST

Greenpeace Ship Scatters Japanese Whalers

Hunt for 1,000 whales disrupted in sea chase

(Newser) - The Greenpeace pursuit of Japanese whaling ships continued yesterday after a ship operated by the environmental group earlier chased down and scattered a fleet of six Japanese whaling vessels in the waters off Antarctica. The Japanese fleet plans to hunt down 1,000 whales in what operators call a "...

Rangers Kill Taunted Tusker

Jan 8, 2008 3:25 AM CST

Rangers Kill Taunted Tusker

Elephant executed when teasing partygoers provoke him into trashing cars

(Newser) - Tusker, a 50-year-old bull elephant, was an old favorite at a safari park in Zimbabwe, but rangers shot him dead after he trampled several cars at a rowdy New Year's Eve party where the animal was taunted. Witnesses say that drunken partygoers teased Tusker by flashing car lights, lighting fireworks,...

Scientists Try to Save Bluefin

Dec 24, 2007 4:50 PM CST

Scientists Try to Save Bluefin

Fishing practices slammed as 'totally out of control'

(Newser) - Bluefin tuna can grow to three-quarters of a ton, traverse the Atlantic in less than a month, and are growing rapidly extinct—thanks to fishing practices that are "totally out of control," one US official said. Marine biologists who track Bluefin populations are finding their suggestions rejected by...

Eek! A Giant New Rat

Dec 18, 2007 2:25 PM CST

Eek! A Giant New Rat

Papua New Guinea's 'lost world' yields more wonder

(Newser) - Amid the lush paradise of a so-called lost world, researchers ran into a little reminder of the developed world's sewers: A heretofore undiscovered giant rat five times the size of gutter-variety rodents. The group also came across a new pygmy possum and various rare birds in the remote area of...

Dying Coral Zapped Back to Life

Dec 5, 2007 9:52 AM CST

Dying Coral Zapped Back to Life

'Bio'Rock' revives bleached Bali coral

(Newser) - Electrified metal structures submerged off the coast of Bali are reviving dying coral reefs, the AP reports. Low-voltage electricity pulses through cables feeding the structures, spurring pieces of damaged coral attached to them back to health. Scientist Thomas Goreau, co-creator of the 'Bio-Rock' project, is presenting his research at the...

Time to Move the Bears?

Nov 25, 2007 5:27 PM CST

Time to Move the Bears?

Not quite yet—but species may be moved as warming ruins habitats

(Newser) - Airlifting polar bears to the Antarctic? Luring man-eating tigers out from a forest in Bangladesh? Such ideas are in the air, as biologists debate whether to move embattled species to areas less warmed by CO2. But critics say that "cowboy environmentalists" are flouting the rules—and endangering cooler habitats—...

Energy Conservation Comes Home

Nov 16, 2007 1:31 PM CST

Energy Conservation Comes Home

Plug-in monitor tells you when electric demand is at peak

(Newser) - Energy companies are hoping to cut costs and conserve electricity by training customers to trim power use during peak hours, reports the MIT Technology Review. By viewing small monitors in homes, customers can see when demand is highest and turn off energy-hogging air conditioners, dishwashers and space heaters. Generating so-called...

Crazed Elephants Ravage Village

Oct 14, 2007 7:26 AM CDT

Crazed Elephants Ravage Village

(Newser) - A marauding herd of some 100 elephants has run amok on an Indian island, destroying homes and crushing fields as they feast on sugarcane. Panicky villagers were using firecrackers and bonfires in a bid to drive off the animals. Some 50 families have moved to a school for shelter.

21 Gadgets for the Green Home

Sep 20, 2007 10:46 AM CDT

21 Gadgets for the Green Home

Watch out evil polluters! These hot new devices are mean, lean and very, very green

(Newser) - Companies are zeroing in on the emerging eco-market with painfully cool items like a battery-powered scooter from Vectrix, wind-powered tiki torches from Demakersvan, and speakers made from recycled whiskey barrels by Pioneer Electronics. Popular Science's photo montage of the latest in green technology shows that hip and hippie need no...

Dirt Feels Magnetic Pull

Sep 4, 2007 1:05 PM CDT

Dirt Feels Magnetic Pull

New iron-flecked gel is used to remove centuries of grime from paintings

(Newser) - Italian researchers have solved an age-old problem of painting conservation with new technology: magnets. Restorers use special gels to work on small areas of a canvas, but removing them has remained a delicate operation that can damage the artwork. Now, Nature reports, chemists at the University of Florence have developed...

Puffin Love Flies High in Maine

Aug 26, 2007 5:28 PM CDT

Puffin Love Flies High in Maine

Penguin lookalikes need 24-hour protection from swooping gulls

(Newser) - Puffin-love is flying high in Maine, where hundreds of these penguin look-a-likes are lured by wooden decoys and given 24-hour protection, the AP reports. Supervisors endure screeching gulls and pooping dive-bombers to protect these finned waddlers and their nests. So just what are puffins? Birds that look like penguins, but...

5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth

Aug 22, 2007 2:25 PM CDT

5 Last-Ditch Plans to Save Earth

Crank up your ingenuity and combat climate change the MacGyver way

(Newser) - If reducing emissions was Plan A to save the earth from global warming, these plans from Popular Science would be more like Plan ... Z:

Make more Arctic ice—out of saltwater.
Cool the oceans, which feed storms with warm water, by sucking up cold water from the ocean floor with

...

Rower Launches Solo Pacific Trip

Aug 13, 2007 2:04 AM CDT

Rower Launches Solo Pacific Trip

Brit woman leaves on historic 6,700-mile journey

(Newser) - A British woman yesterday launched a historic solo journey across the Pacific rowing a 24-foot-long boat. Roz Savage, 39, has already rowed twice across the Atlantic. She left Crescent City, California, for the first of three legs of the 6,700-mile odyssey to Australia. She plans to keep a blog...

Don't Think Pink: Factory Threatens Flamingo Species

Jul 12, 2007 5:17 AM CDT

Don't Think Pink: Factory Threatens Flamingo Species

Endangered lesser flamingos breed in only one lake in eastern Africa

(Newser) - An Indian company's plans to build a plant to harvest soda ash, or sodium carbonate, from Lake Natron in northern Tanzania could spell the end for the endangered lesser flamingo, the smallest of the six flamingo species. The lake is the only major breeding site, and half a million of...

Eagle Flies Off 'Threatened' List

Jun 28, 2007 3:32 PM CDT

Eagle Flies Off 'Threatened' List

After 40 years, national symbol returns from brink of extinction

(Newser) - The national bird is no longer threatened with extinction, an achievement the Interior Department celebrated today by letting a bald eagle frolic in the skies above the Jefferson Memorial. Thanks in large part to conservation laws, the number of nesting pairs has grown more than 20-fold since 1963; the bird...

Africans OK Nine-Year
Ivory Ban

Jun 15, 2007 6:30 AM CDT

Africans OK Nine-Year Ivory Ban

But first, countries approve a one-time mammoth sale

(Newser) - Four southern African countries will hold a one-time sale of 200 tons of stockpiled ivory before the start of a nine-year moratorium, in a hard-fought conservation compromise. Proceeds from the blowout will be used in elephant conservation efforts in the future. "It's the best we could achieve for the...

Restaurants Ban Bottled Water

Mar 22, 2007 10:29 AM CDT

Restaurants Ban Bottled Water

(Newser) - Fresh-food pioneer Chez Panisse has joined a growing number of San Francisco–area restaurants in striking bottled water from the menu. The decision to serve local tap water only—flat or carbonated in-house—comes from an effort to cut down on the packaging waste and energy used shipping bottles.