Wildlife Conservation Society study uncovers a predictable sequence toward coral reef collapse

Coral reefs that have lots of corals and appear healthy may, in fact, be heading toward collapse, according to a study published by the Wildlife Conservation Society. Using data from coral reef systems across the western Indian Ocean, an international team of researchers identified how overfishing creates a series of at least eight big changes on reefs that precipitate a final collapse. The study shows that in well-protected areas, there are typically 1000-1500 kilograms of reef fish of various species. As the volume is fished down below 1000 kilograms, the early warning signslike increased seaweed growth and urchin activitybegin to appear. The authors recommend measuring the biomass of fish instead of coral cover to identify the early warning rather than the final sign of reef collapse. To me this was pretty wierd because i thought that animal populations when down when enviornments were destroyed but her we have an example that shows that if animal pupulation goes down than the enviornment suffers too.

Interior's Wild Horse Chief Strongly Denies Claims of 'Extinction' Management

The Interior Department's wild horse and burro chief assured critics that her agency is not selling horses for slaughter and that the agency is not contributing to the extinction of this two animals. Joan Guilfoyle, division chief for the Bureau of Land Management's wild horse and burro program, said a mix of fertility control and herd gathers is critical to maintaining a healthy balance on the range, but that extinction is not the agency foult. The owner of the agency also said that that BLM sells horses only to those who have pledged to treat them humanely and not sell them for slaughter. "As a matter of fact, BLM prosecutes people who do that," said Guilfoyle. As she talked, the crowed shouted "Lies" and "We don't believe you." A pair of Utah men were indicted by a federal grand jury for an alleged scheme that investigators said involved the planned sale of wild horses to Mexico for slaughter. I think that if this is realy happening the government should take action against this unlawful things because they are literaly killing all the wild horses and burros in America.

Fish cought using a tool

The first video of tool use by a fish has been published in the journal Coral Reefs by Giacomo Bernardi, professor of ecology and evolutionary biology at the University of California, Santa Cruz. An orange-dotted tuskfish digs a clam out of the sand, carries it over to a rock, and repeatedly throws the clam against the rock to crush it. Bernardi shot the video in Palau in 2009.  Bernardi said. “It requires a lot of forward thinking, because there are a number of steps involved. For a fish, it’s a pretty big deal.” The actions recorded in the video are remarkably similar to previous reports of tool use by fish. Every case has involved a species of wrasse using a rock  to crush shellfish. A report published in June in Coral Reefs included photos of this behavior in a blackspot tuskfish on Australia’s Great Barrier Reef. Bernardi said he first heard of the phenomenon in 1994, when a colleague observed a yellowhead wrasse in Florida doing the same thing. Similar behavior was also reported in a sixbar wrasse in an aquarium. Does  this mean that fish are getting smarter, to me it does. For an animal to have that type of skills they have to be smart.

Online gamers succeed were scientists fail

Online gamers have solved the structure of a retrovirus enzyme whose configuration had made scientists cry because they could not figure it out. The players were addicted  to a computer game, Foldit, that allows players to collaborate and compete in predicting the structure of protein molecules. After scientists repeatedly failed to piece together the structure of a protein-cutting enzyme from an AIDS-like virus, they called in the Foldit players. The scientists challenged the gamers to produce an accurate model of the enzyme, and guess what they did find it. Something that is incredible because scientists could not do it and people that play video games did. With this knew findings scientists will have a better chance to fight against AIDS which will have a dramatic impact on all of the world. Especially Africa were a good cure is much needed. Who would of thought that video gamers could have such a big impact on a scientific dilemma.

Hydrogen fuel from just bacteria and water

Hydrogen, a potential clean energy source, can be sustainably generated using just seawater, river water and bacteria, according to new research. Hydrogen is a potentially valuable energy source, however environmental concerns about using fossil fuels to produce the gas, and about production costs, have limited its application so far.Previous studies have shown that hydrogen gas can be produced by harnessing the by-products of microbial organic matter metabolism in a device called a microbial electrolysis cell. But the process requires an additional input of electricity to make it work effectively. According to reaserch hydrogen can be produced in a single device by integrating a water-based power supply into the system. With this knew findings we can change the way the world is affected by the use of gasoline. I think that if this study shows more good things than in the future we might as well use water and bacteria to move around.

Ancient impact killed birds too

 According to recent studies scientists concluded  that prehistoric birds went extinct the same way dinosaurs did, U.S. researchers say, that birds were also victims of the same meteorite impact 65 million years ago. Their has been many debates between scientists about the controversy whether archaic birds, died out slowly over time or were killed off by the giant impact in the Gulf of Mexico. Researchers from Yale University say fossil evidence shows the birds were going strong right up until the time of the impact, and then mostly disappeared. Researchers examined a large collection of bird fossils discovered in North America representing a wide range of the species that existed during the Cretaceous period. The fossils of those birds are not found in later times. To me i think that the scientists should keep on looking for more data because they might find a fossil of the archaic birds in a longer time than the ones they found.

Judge Backs Deal on Imperiled Species

A federal judge on Friday approved a pair of sweeping settlements that require the government to consider endangered protections for more than 800 animal and plant species. The order by U.S. District Judge Emmet Sullivan means the government must act on imperiled species ranging from the northern wolverine and Pacific walrus to dozens of snails, mollusks, butterflies and plants. Some decisions could come by the end of the year and others by 2018.  The agreement between the Obama administration and environmental groups resolves more than a dozen lawsuits that challenged the government's handling of roughly 250 candidate species. Those are animals and plants that scientists say are in dire need of protection but that the government has lacked resources to address. The agreements also cover more than 600 species for which groups had filed legal petitions seeking protections. The government agreed to address those petitions, although there is no guarantee of new protections. These new settlements will be key to help all the endangered species that are in great need of help. The population of the animals in the lists will surely be increasing after this settlements.

Whole-parasite malaria vaccine shows promise in University of Maryland School of Medicine clinical trial

For the first time, a malaria vaccine that uses the entire malaria parasite has proven safe and shown promise to produce a strong immune response in a clinical trial, according to a new study co-authored by researchers at the University of Maryland School of Medicine Center. The vaccine is unique in that it looks like  the entire malaria parasite, while most experimental malaria vaccines consist of just one or at most a few proteins found in the parasite. Researchers found that the vaccine the first whole parasite vaccine to be approved by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration for clinical trials  could provide better immune responses against malaria when administered. Though malaria has been largely eliminated in much of the developed world, it is still a widespread threat in warm, tropical areas where infected mosquitoes thrive, such as Africa. Malaria, kills nearly one million people and infects 300 million annually worldwide. The condition can be treated with anti-parasite drugs, but can kill anyone who is not immune to the parasite. Children under the age of five succumb at high rates to the neurological and cardiac effects of malaria, particularly in Africa. With this new vaccine many lives can be saved, which will have a dramatic effect on human population in Africa and other places were malaria is found.

A Jekyll-and-Hyde Act for the Feathered Set

Honeybirds or Honeyguides are birds that guide humans to beehives. After we finish taking all the honey that we need they feed on whats left but not everything is good when it comes to these birds. Studies have shown that these birds are also parasites with a bad side. Honeyguides lay their eggs in the nests of a bird called the bee eater. When a honeyguide chick hatches, it jabs its beak into its foster siblings and shakes them until they die. At that age the birds are blind but they still commit their brutal murders.Remarkably, they also found that the baby honeyguide can mimic the call of an entire brood of bee eaters. After killing its foster siblings, the young honeyguide misleads its foster mother into thinking that she is still nurturing her own chicks. Which is amasing, as an effect this honeybirds are dramaticaly changing the population of other birds. The honeyguide appears to exhibit this parasitic behavior in the nests of at least four other species of birds. Dr. Spottiswoode  the leader of the study is studying how it has evolved the unique adaptations that allow it to exploit each host species.

Stem cell 'zoo" may save rare species

Scientists say that they have found a new way to help indengered species survive. With this new breack threw dozens of nearly extinct animals might be saved. What this new way is you ask ? well it is stem cell use.''The best way to manage extinction is to preserve species and habitats but that is not always working.Stem cell technology provides some level of hope that they won't have to become extinct even though they have been completely eliminated from their habitat.'' said Oliver Ryder scientists from the San Diego Zoo were all this is taking place. Ryider has two animals in mind to start the process on. The first one is the northern white rhinoceros. Which only seven specimens remain in existence, all in captivity and two in San Diego. The second endangered animal is a primate called the drill. The drill is a close cousin to humans. There are many studies that have been used on drills before they were put on test in humans. Dr Ryder's team had collected skin cells and tissue samples from more than 800 species, stored in a ''frozen zoo'', by 2006. Dr Ryder met up with Dr Loring to start the stem cell project. At first, Dr Ryder and Dr Loring tried to use genes from animals closely related to the target species in order to trigger the transformation, but the experiments failed. Through trial and error, they discovered to their amazement that the same genes that induce pluripotency in humans also worked for the drill and the rhino. In the future this technique might save almost all the nearly extict animals in the world.

Blind Cave Fish can tell time

The blind cave fish has spent millions of years underground isolated from evidence of day and night still  has a working biological clock. For normal animals the internal clock is called circudian rythm. For example Animals that can see know what time it is if it is dark or sunny outside. Yet for the cave fish their is no answer to now it has a clock. The only thing that scientists found was that they might know what time it is when they get hungry. For example they have a certain time for each meal. What shocked the scientists the most was that the cave fish was not sincronized in a 24 hour clock but in a 47 hour clock. According to the scientists in the future the cave fish might loose its ability to tell time.

Poor outlook for water quality in Germany

According to the journal Enviornmental Sciences and Technology durin 1994 to 2004 there was a river monitoring in northern Germany. With the technology that we have today that data was used to measure how toxic the river were. The data showed that the rivers were super toxic and that they are still toxic today. The data was used to look for 331 toxics that should not be found in water, out of those 331 toxics 257 were found in the rivers. Also banned pesticides were found in the water. According to the journal, with the toxic water flora and fauna will suffer toxic impacts. They also found aout threw experiments that water flees could not sustain life in those waters well. The studies showed that 50 percent of the water fleas died when living in the water with the 257 toxics.