Manongi said elephants which are being driven to the brink of extinction have become the latest conflict resource
#If the habitat at the offset site is under no threat of degradation then protecting it does not achieve any extra benefit.
when it comes to offsets aimed at avoiding a threat rather than restoring wildlife. For example how threatened is the forest
That stupendous blast charred vast woodlands that had grown from Canada to New mexico. In North america about 60 percent of plant species went extinct according to earlier studies After the blaze deciduous angiosperms
Unfortunately many states have demonstrated hostility toward wolf conservation such as with overly aggressive hunting and trapping seasons the designation of predator zones where wolves may be killed year-round without a permit and large appropriations of taxpayer dollars doled out to anti-wolf lobbyists.
Continuing the disturbing pattern of state aggression toward wolves Montana's Fish Wildlife and Parks (FWP) Commission recently proposed several amendments to the state's wolf-management rules that would greatly expand the circumstances under
whenever the wolf constitutes a potential threat to humans or domestic animals. Yet the amendment does not define potential threat
or provide any clear examples of when a wolf is or is not acting potentially threatening.
me loudly announced during a recent public hearing) consider all wolves on their property potential threats
And even if potential threat was defined clearly such a rule would be unnecessary. Montana law already allows a person to kill a wolf
and a half after the livestock attack had occurred. A third amendment would remove the requirement that FWP set quotas during the wolf hunting
and wolves that pose little or no threat to domestic animals (such as wolves that reside in wilderness areas
and sustaining healthy wolf populations have manufactured the species'newest threats. Both proposals should be dropped and conversations begun anew about new ways to conserve
Looking over the past 50 years of the war on smoking the report authors warned that the disease risks from smoking by women have risen sharply
since the translation of the results of scientific studies into public health and policy actions and the salt debate#has become for some a salt war#.
#The progression of this debate into a war resembles past and present debates (let us think about John Snow
We chose April 17 as it had been designated as the International Day of Struggles in Defence of Peasants
and peasant farmers groups worldwide in response to the growing struggles they face with commercialised agriculture
This pledge is OSSI s equivalent of the idea that underpins the open source software movement in the form of the General Public Licence or GPL.
Foodsafety. gov lists these foods to avoid during pregnancy and why they pose a threat.
During an attack the male tries to lure the predator away from the chicks while they run for cover with the female.
and attack each other in coordinated assaults. But until now scientists were unsure whether interactions with humans had brought on this violent behavior
A new 54-year study suggests this coordinated aggression is innate to chimpanzees and is linked not to human interference.
Violence is a natural part of life for chimpanzees Michael Wilson the study's lead researcher
Lethal Aggression in Wild Chimpanzees As one of humanity's closest living relatives chimps can shed light on the evolution of people such as
Studies of chimpanzee violence have been especially influential in how people think about the origins of human warfare Wilson explained.
After all humans and chimpanzees are the only two species in the world known to attack each other in organized onslaughts.
Yet other scientists counter that human intrusions are to blame for the chimps'coordinated lethal aggression.
People have argued that these increasing human impacts could also be putting more pressure on chimpanzee populations leading to more chimpanzee violence Wilson said.
The different acts of violence did not depend on human impacts Wilson said. Instead attacks were more common at sites with many males and high population densities.
Also chimpanzees in East Africa killed more frequently than did chimps in West Africa the study found.
Unsurprisingly the bonobos showed little violence. We didn't find any definite cases of killing by bonobos though there was one case of a male bonobo who was attacked severely by members of his own group
and shows that the occurrence of lethal aggression in chimpanzees is not related to the level of human disturbance Joan Silk a professor in the school of Human Evolution
Because chimps and bonobos do not have the same levels of coordinated lethal aggression it's impossible to say how the common ancestor acted Silk said.
But we can learn something about circumstances that may favor the evolution of this type of aggression such as opportunities to encounter members of neighboring groups
Overall aggression makes up a small percentage of their daily lives Wilson said adding that our behavior affects them
but it's not affecting them as people have suggested in the past resulting in aggression. The study was published today (Sept. 17) in the journal Nature.
or is it a threat to public health at large study leader Christopher Heaney an assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public health said in a statement.
and War and Peace) and Fyodor Dostoevsky (Crime and Punishment and The Brothers Karamazov) still being read around the world.
One thing that was exciting sort of midway through the project was started that I getting scientists contacting me saying things like Hey why isn't our tree in your project?
He made beautiful landscape photographs where WORLD WAR II ordnance had exploded but have since been reclaimed by nature. And I thought that was lovely
Then you learn OK this has to do with war and conflict. And then it has this third layer of ecology
After testing out 12 different banana skins under the force of a shoe sole moving across it in a forward motion the researchers found the slimy fruit skin reduced friction by one-fifth compared with a show sole by itself on a linoleum floor.
Thanks to Fungus The U s. government leading scientists from around the world and a multibillion-dollar industry are teaming up to fight one of the biggest threats modern civilization has faced ever.
The study researchers found snakes use a much greater force to grip tree trunks and other surfaces they're climbing than is necessary.
which contain tiny hairs that produce a short-range electrostatic force (called a Van der waals force) with a surface's molecules.
and can only hold on via friction generated by muscle forces. Snakes also use friction to climb steep surfaces;
Until now nobody knew just how much muscular force snakes use while climbing a surface with concertina locomotion Byrnes told Live Science.
Next they measured the forces that 10 snakes from five species boa constrictors brown tree snakes carpet pythons green tree pythons
and use as little force as possible to hold on to the cylinder. After all climbing is energetically costly
and some snakes can control their muscular forces at least while constricting prey. But this isn't what they found.
Sometimes the snakes'safety factor was close to 1 meaning the reptiles were using nearly the minimum force required to grip the cylinder and not slip.
which is about the same amount of force seen during prey constriction and 20 times the force needed to avoid slipping.
In Photos: How Snakes Climb up Trees The vast majority of time the safety factor was between 2. 5 and 5 Byrnes said.
They are using a force that's not at their maximum but not at their minimum either.
A common choice It's a bit unclear why the snakes on average use up to five times the force they actually need to climb.
Research shows that the large adhesive forces geckos and anoles use to climb is about 10 times greater than
And though the gripping forces people use while climbing ropes or rock walls hasn't been studied research suggests people use two to four times the necessary force to hold on to objects Byrnes said.
Their responses ranged from praising the EPA for a responsible flexible plan to condemning the agency for making war on coal and Montana jobs.
As flaming balls of lava and ash rain down on the streets of Pompeii the renegade gladiator Milo gallops on horseback after a chariot ridden by his beloved Cassia who has been kidnapped by an evil Roman senator.
See Clip from POMPEII Movie The film produced by Tristar Pictures tells the fictional story of a slave-turned-gladiator named Milo (played by Kit Harington) who falls in love with the daughter of a wealthy merchant
and their struggle to escape a villainous Roman senator (Kiefer Sutherland) amid the devastation of Pompeii.
and the character of an African gladiator was based on a cast of a large man who may have been from North africa.
and gladiator games were a big part of life. See Images from Pompeii Movie The filmmakers used lidar a laser remote-sensing technique to re-create the city's topography on the set.
The amphitheater where the film's gladiator scenes take place was also well done she said. The film departed from historical record in its depiction of women however.
Cobras have several scary-looking behaviors designed to scare off potential threats. They spread their famous hoods which are made of flaps of skin attached to long ribs when feeling angry or threatened.
Cobras may hiss loudly at predators and other threats and some species also spit. Countdown:
and often defeat cobras in fights using their speed and agility. They can bite the cobra s back before the snake can defend itself.
Some cobras including all spitting cobras have cytotoxic venom that attacks body tissue and causes severe pain swelling and possible necrosis (death of cells and tissue).
Indeed play rarely escalates into full-blown aggression or harm because individuals play too hard with one another.
Causing 22%of all cancer deaths worldwide the good fight against tobacco tobacco advertising and the big corporations that make this carcinogen continues.
There must be particularly strong regulating forces at work. Image Gallery: Amazing'Fairy circles'of the Namib desert Fairy circles are barren patches typically surrounded by a ring of thriving vegetation.
This increased the amount of force placed on those remaining grains from the sand above.
Experiments and numerical models revealed that once a critical weight from the higher parts of the sandstone was reached the downward force locked the lower grains of sand together more tightly increasing their resistance to erosion.
The ruminants Americans eat mainly cows pose the biggest threat to the climate according to an article in this month's edition of the journal Nature Climate Change.
New research shows that forests throughout Europe vanished within two centuries of the onset of this frigid time.
Rapid change Prior studies found that 170 years after the onset of cooling North Atlantic winter sea ice reached southward enough to channel dry polar air into Western europe
#Elephant Mystery at Ancient Syrian Battle Solved Editor's Note: This story was updated at 11:40 a m. E t. on Jan 24.
The mystery of an ancient battle between two warring troops of elephants has been solved thanks to a modern genetic analysis of the lumbering beasts.
That in turn discounts an Ancient greek account of how a battle between two warring empires played out with one side's elephants refusing to fight
and running away the scientists report in the January issue of the journal of Heredity. 10 Epic Battles That Changed the Course of History Ancient battle In the third century B c. the Greek historian Polybius described the epic Battle
what is now the Gaza strip as part of the Syrian Wars. During these wars Seleucid ruler Antiochus III the Great fought against Ptolemy IV Philopator the fourth ruler of the Ptolemaic Dynasty in Egypt
whose last leader was Cleopatra. The matchup included tens of thousands of troops thousands of cavalry and dozens of war elephants on each side.
The elephants were the ace in the hole able to trample the enemy and sow terror with their massive size.
Elephants were considered the tanks of the time until eventually the Romans figured out how to defeat war elephants in later times said study co-author Alfred Roca an animal scientist at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
and eventually won the battle. African elephants In reality Asian elephants are smaller than African elephants so some historians speculated that perhaps the Ptolemies were using African forest elephants
So Roca and his colleagues conducted a thorough genetic analysis of the elephants found in Eritrea the descendants of the losers in the ancient battle.
Polybius who wasn't actually at the battle likely read those accounts and surmised the Asian elephants'bigger size caused their opponents to panic.
And even now games such as Age of empires that recreate the Battle of Raphia depict the Ptolemaic elephants as smaller.
#Taking a Page from Eliot Ness to Fight Wildlife Trafficking (Op-Ed) David Wilkie is director of conservation support at WCS.
Several U s. government entities from the U s. Department of justice (Asset Forfeiture and Money laundering Section) and U s. Department of Treasury (Office of Terrorism and Financial Intelligence) to the U s. Department of Homeland
To try to reverse the frightening fact that 94%of lemur species are under threat myself
However black mambas use their incredible speed to escape threats not to hunt. Black mambas hunt and are active during the day and return to the same place every night to sleep.
This is a defensive posture aiming to scare away the threat. If black mambas need to attack to defend themselves they will strike quickly several times then scurry away as fast as possible.
The black mamba has no specific predators. Its greatest threat is habitat destruction. Black mambas typically eat small mammals
and birds though there have been reports of mambas found with whole parrots or full-grown cobras in their stomachs.
and productivity on farms as well as help us monitor for any biosecurity threats including Colony Collapse Disorder a global phenomenon where worker bees from a beehive
This will help us understand how to maximise their productivity as well as monitor for any biosecurity threats.
The major threat facing gazelles is hunting. The Queen of Sheba's gazelle became extinct when it was hunted for food in 1951 by soldiers according to the IUCN.
The name gazelle comes from the Arabic gazal the term for love poems. A gazelle will flick its tails
Because livestock particularly horses have been identified as a significant threat to panda survival. The reason: Horses have been beating pandas to the bamboo buffet.
Michigan State university (MSU) panda habitat experts revealed the oft-hidden yet significant conservation conflict between pandas and horses in a recent article in the Journal for Nature Conservation.
For years timber harvesting has been the panda's biggest threat. But conservation programs limiting timber harvesting have chalked up wins in preserving panda habitat.
The U s army once encouraged its soldiers to perform three daily S's two of which are shower and shave.
But it is latrine efficiency not long-term health that's the Army's top priority.
This is a normal defence system gone astray. Histamine causes the familiar itching sneezing and running of the nose
Based on intelligence from seized shipments ivory is exported from Africa to countries such as Malaysia the Philippines Thailand
or burnout operations and lowered the threat of the fire to Flagstaff. The San juan fire also provided lessons about how treated areas did
this is one of the highest levels of threat ever recorded for a group of mammals.
and the threats those species face in the wild. Zoos and aquariums are living museums where children
Taking a Page from Eliot Ness to Fight Wildlife Trafficking (Op-Ed) Our presence at the AZA's Winter Meeting gave more institutions an opportunity to hear our message
and blast loud music through their spouse's headphones behaviors that indicate at least some level of ill intent according to the researchers who published their findings in April in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Sorry no rat Armageddon The population of Norway rats (Rattus norvegicus) whose numbers are almost wholly dependent on humans for food may drop somewhat this year as a result of wintry blasts.
Waiting too long to take allergy medications Treat allergies at the onset of pollen season rather than waiting until symptoms get more severe Bassett said.
During the rut males fight for the right to breed with the females by pushing their heads together.
and because forests absorb a lot of carbon dioxide from the atmosphere slowing climate change it would make little sense to go after killer trees in the war against pollution.
We were stepping over all these dead trees on the ground that had been killed by the initial blast Tim Mousseau a professor of biology at the University of South carolina said in a statement.
One study of 387 U s. Marines put protein supplements to test during basic training. At the end of 54 days the protein-supplemented group showed stronger immune systems with 33 percent fewer medical visits than the Marines given a placebo or a carbohydrate and fat supplement.
Marines taking the protein supplements also experienced less muscle soreness and had 28 percent fewer medical visits for muscle and joint problems.
The members of the group taking protein supplements were also less likely to visit doctors for infections during the study published in 2003 in the Journal of Applied Physiology.
and political battles but researchers disagree on the ultimate cause. No one knows where the Cahokia people went
They found that the effects vary from region to region with sea level rise posing the biggest threat to the Atlantic
Heat and humidity pose public health threats as higher humidity disrupts the body s natural ability to cool itself
U s. agriculture faces threats as a changing climate shifts where and how well particular crops grow.
and it may lead to great advances in the fight against cancer the researchers are not making that claim just yet.
And this time his fight affects not only how the U s. government protects us and our children from tobacco but also fast food alcohol and even gambling.
Revered Chinese Warrior Guan Yu was a Chinese military general whose martial prowess was so great that after his death he was deified as a god.
Liu Bei s early military ventures did not go well. In A d. 200 Guan was captured by Cao Cao a military general who would go on to control a vast amount of territory in northern China.
His lands would eventually form the Kingdom of Wei. Cao Cao treated Guan well and made him a lieutenant general in his own army.
Still Guan regarded Liu Bei and Zhang Fei as brothers and he would not abandon them.
#Translation by Rafe de Crespigny published in 1969) To repay Cao Cao for the good way he had treated him Guan decided to kill a general named Yan Liang who served a man named Yuan Shao (a rival of Cao Cao.#
and broke through to Liang among ten thousand men of his army. He cut off Liang s head
and came back and no one in Shao s army could resist him#wrote Ssu-ma Kuang.
After the battle he fled Cao Cao s army to rejoin Liu Bei. Cao Cao was said to have been impressed
and martial prowess that he ordered his troops to let Guan Go over the next two decades Guan would work with Liu Bei in a series of military campaigns that would eventually lead to the foundation of the Kingdom of Shu.
During this battle Cao Cao s army pressing south tried to reunify China by destroying the forces of Liu Bei
The battle was a disaster for Cao Cao and he suffered a defeat that allowed the three kingdoms to come into existence.
As Liu Bei consolidated his position becoming the King of Shu Guan was promoted to the position of General of the Van#something that he was unhappy about
Around A d. 219 Guan led an army of Liu Bei s in attacking Fancheng a city held by Cao Cao.
Laying siege he was concerned that the forces of Sun Quan would betray and attack him (the alliance between Liu Bei
and Sun had grown cold since the Battle of Red Cliffs). His fear was unfounded not. The Chinese historian Ssu-ma Kuang writes that Sun s general Lu Meng started plotting against him.
He replaced the local general Lu Meng with a man whom Guan thought would pose no threat.
This led Guan to withdraw troops from his rear guard to support the siege. Sun also sent a letter to Cao Cao offering to launch a joint attack against Guan.
Cao Cao decided to publish Sun Quan s letter hoping that Guan would abandon the siege of Fancheng to fight Sun (Cao Cao wanted to have his enemies fight against each other.
Guan thought the letter was fake and kept up his siege. Meanwhile Lu attacked Guan s weak rearguard positions taking them out before a message could be sent to Guan.
While his rearguard positions were under attack Guan s siege of Fancheng faltered. A counterattack by Cao Cao s forces forced Guan to break it off.
Guan suddenly found himself commanding a weakened force trapped between two enemy armies those of Cao Cao and Sun Quan.
Lu Meng Sun Quan s general made Guan s situation worse by capturing the city of Jiangling
which housed the families of many of Guan s officers. Lu Meng treated them very well
and made sure that Guan s army knew it.##oeall knew that their families had come to no harm
and were treated even better than in peacetime so Yu s soldiers became less interested in fighting#wrote Ssu-ma Kuang.
This led to desertions shrinking Guan s forces even further. Still Guan refused offers to surrender at one point pretending to surrender to Sun Quan s troops before running away.
Eventually his remaining force was trapped and Guan Yu and his son Guan Ping were captured and executed.
After his death Guan Yu became a legend and eventually a god. Hundreds of years later when a dynasty called the Tang came to power in China Guan was honored for his righteous loyalty#to his lord Liu Bei writes Whalen Lai a professor emeritus of religious studies at the University of California
Davis in the Encyclopaedia of Asian Philosophy#(Routledge 2001. During the 10th century when China was divided again into warring kingdoms his cult grew.
His personal loyalty to a lord was a premium virtue#Lai writes. In the 14th century a novel called Romance of the Three Kingdoms#publicized the exploits of Guan Yu further increasing his popularity.
In 2008 and 2009 a movie dramatizing the Battle of Red Cliffs was released in two parts and featured actor Batdorj-in Baasanjab as Guan Yu.
Monarch butterflies in particular face a highly specific threat from humans: the weed-killer commonly known as Roundup or glyphosate.
This knowledge gives the EPA an opportunity to muzzle a direct threat to butterflies. Immediately limiting the use of glyphosate
which pose serious threats to human health and wildlife pollute water and deplete nutrients in the soil.
#Prehistoric Poop Reveals Neanderthals Ate Plants Don't call them brutes. Neanderthals ate their veggies. Traces of 50000-year-old poop found at a caveman campground in Spain suggest that modern humans'prehistoric cousins may have had a healthy dose of plants in their diet researchers say.
Recent research has upended the image of Neanderthals as dim-witted bruisers. These long-gone cousins may have controlled fire made tools buried their dead in graves adorned themselves with feathers
If we appear to be losing the battle what difference does yet another meeting and round of press conferences make other than to worsen traffic conditions in lower Manhattan?
91 kilograms) of force. Now new research finds that these aggressive crustaceans are weird in another way:
Kenya's former president Daniel arap Moi attempted to quiet her with threats reportedly calling for her to abide by tradition respect men and keep quiet.
Other Christian denominations have a small representation with Jehovah s witnesses being the largest contingent of Non-catholic Christians.
Heavy emigration since WORLD WAR II has left only a small community of Jews in Italy today.
April 25 is the Liberation Day marking the 1945 liberation ending WORLD WAR II in Italy in 1945 n
We've also witnessed threats to the domestic tranquility of these birds. Raccoons are pretty bad they can eat eagle eggs
The dispute over ractopamine speaks to a broader illness in the nation's pork industry.
Folded surface rocks (shaped by tectonic forces) dip lower than the surrounding land creating long linear valleys filled with pine forests.
Plant communication even has some researchers in the new field of plant neurobiology considering the potential for leafy intelligence.
and will fight to the death to defend their area. Mother squirrels are the most vicious when defending their babies.
or take the risk of timber smuggling in conflict-ridden border regions such as Kachin at the border with Yunnan province China one of the main rosewood smuggling routes.
Besides the fact that logging in the tropics is rated as one of the most dangerous jobs there is in Myanmar an added danger of being shot in a timber-related conflict.
Such long-term investment is commendable but unlikely in a conflict-ridden poor country like Myanmar with unstable land tenure and an explosive political climate.
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