Swahili Settlement
Photograph by Bobby Haas, National Geographic
A mosaic of tightly clustered rooftops decorates an aerial view of Lamu, Kenya, one of the oldest and best preserved Swahili settlements in East Africa. A UNESCO World Heritage site, the old town of Lamu dates back to the 12th century and still boasts many traditional architectural styles of Swahili culture.
Major threats to the site include a proposed port project and infrastructure for the oil industry. The development "would result in unprecedented new levels of population growth and put strong pressures on both the cultural and natural values of the region," according to the Global Heritage Fund report.
Sunday, October 24, 2010
Pictures: 12 Ancient Landmarks on Verge of Vanishing
Pictures: 12 Ancient Landmarks on Verge of Vanishing
Pictures: 12 Ancient Landmarks on Verge of Vanishing
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Friday, October 08, 2010
Pictures: Tube-Nosed Bat, More Rare Species Found
Tiny New Frog
Photograph courtesy Piotr Naskrecki, Conservation International
A frog small enough to sit on a thumbnail rests on a leaf in Papua New Guinea's Muller Range in 2009.
This species "nearly eluded the RAP team altogether," as the scientists had to search the forest floor in pouring rain to trace the sound of the "soft, scratching, cricket-like" call, according to a Conservation International statement.
The frog and all its closest relatives are found only on the island of New Guinea.
Friday, October 01, 2010
First Truly Habitable Planet Discovered, Experts Say
First Truly Habitable Planet Discovered, Experts Say
Earthlike world in elusive "Goldilocks zone."
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The new planet Gliese 581g bears Earthlike blues and greens in an artist's conception.Illustration courtesy Lynette Cook
Published September 29, 2010
Astronomers studying a nearby star say they've found the first potentially habitable planet—likely a rocky place with an atmosphere, temperate regions, and crucially, liquid water, considered vital for life as we know it.
Other extrasolar planets have been called Earthlike, but, astronomer Paul Butler assured, "this is really the first Goldilocks planet"—not too hot, not too cold.
Orbiting the red dwarf star Gliese 581 about every 37 days, the new planet, named Gliese 581g, is "just the right size and just at the right distance [from its star] to have liquid water on the surface," added Butler, of the Carnegie Institution for Science in Washington, D.C., during an online press briefing today.
Monday, September 27, 2010
Being Jane Goodall - National Geographic Magazine
Being Jane Goodall
Fifty Years at Gombe
In 1960 a spirited animal lover with no scientific training set up camp in Tanganyika’s Gombe Stream Game Reserve to observe chimpanzees. Today Jane Goodall’s name is synonymous with the protection of a beloved species. At Gombe—one of the longest, most detailed studies of any wild animal—revelations about chimps keep coming.
Friday, September 24, 2010
Inside Wild Blog- Nat Geo Wild
A colossal cane toad – measuring twice the length of a man's hand and weighing just under two pounds – was recently discovered in northern Australia. Just one lick of Toadzilla's dry, warty skin is potent enough to kill a snake in seconds.
Thursday, September 23, 2010
The Solvable Problem of Energy Poverty
The Solvable Problem of Energy Poverty
Spread of Electricity Need Not Harm Climate, says UN Report
Main Content
Respiratory illness from cooking on primitive stoves, like this one in Ethiopia, will be causing 4,000 premature deaths each year by 2030 if nothing is done to address the problem.
Photograph by Lynn Johnson, National Geographic
Published September 21, 2010
This story is part of a special series that explores energy issues. For more, visit The Great Energy Challenge.
The United Nations’ goals for fighting extreme poverty—an effort being assessed at a summit this week in New York—will fall short unless nations also work to bring electricity and modern, safe cooking technology to the billions of “energy-poor” people around the globe, a new report says.
Thursday, September 09, 2010
"Lost" Fox Subspecies Found via Saliva Analysis
Lost" Fox Subspecies Found via Saliva Analysis
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The Sierra Nevada red fox (file photo) has recently been rediscovered in central California.
Photograph courtesy Keith Slausen
Published September 8, 2010
Long seen as regionally extinct, the Sierra Nevada red fox has been rediscovered in the mountains of central California, thanks to a remote camera, a bag of chicken, and saliva analysis.
Tuesday, September 07, 2010
Tarzan Chameleon Found in Tarzan Forest, Near Tarzanville
Tarzan Chameleon Found in Tarzan Forest, Near Tarzanville
Discovered on Madagascar, the new species is probably extremely rare.
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The new species' flat snout is unique among chameleons, experts say.Photograph courtesy Frank Glaw
Published September 2, 2010
There's a new, scalier lord of the jungle: Tarzan the chameleon.
Five-inch-long (13-centimeter-long) Calumma tarzan was found recently in a tiny patch of forest on the vast Indian Ocean island of Madagascar, a new study says.
The new species' name has multiple roots. For one thing, the chameleon's habitat—in what locals call the Tarzan Forest—is near the village formerly known as Tarzanville (recently renamed Ambodimeloka).
Friday, September 03, 2010
Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving From Eggs to Live Birth
A yellow-bellied three-toed skink carrying embryos, visible as light orbs inside its body.
Photograph courtesy Rebecca A. Pyles
Published September 1, 2010
Evolution has been caught in the act, according to scientists who are decoding how a species of Australian lizard is abandoning egg-laying in favor of live birth.
Thursday, September 02, 2010
Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving From Eggs to Live Birth
Evolution in Action: Lizard Moving From Eggs to Live Birth
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Saturday, August 28, 2010
Thursday, August 26, 2010
Pictures: "Lost" Deer, Rare Cuckoo Caught in Camera Traps
Eyes of the Tiger
Photograph courtesy Fauna & Flora International/DICE
A Sumatran tiger faces a camera trap head on in Kerinci Seblat National Park, on the Indonesian island of Sumatra (see map), in a May 2007 photo.
One of the last havens for the Sumatran tiger—listed as critically endangered by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)—the park was the site of a camera-trap survey from 2004 to 2009, one of the most extensive such projects ever conducted, conservationists say. (See more tiger pictures.)
During the project, a team from Fauna and Flora International (FFI) and the University of Kent's Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology photographed 35 separate tigers out of a likely total population of about 500. Pictures of the tigers—as well as some other forest species captured during the project—were released for the first time last week by FFI. (Related pictures: "Cameras 'Trap' Hairy-Nosed Otter, More Rarities.")
Unlike the well-known subspecies the Bengal tiger and Siberian tiger, Sumatran tigers "have not achieved international fame, and this is partly because it is so difficult to document this equatorial species hiding in lush evergreen rainforest," FFI's Matt Linkie said via email. (See a rare video of tiger cubs filmed in Sumatra earlier this year.)
Indonesia's two other tiger subspecies—the Bali tiger and Javan tiger—are both extinct, and there is "grave potential for history to repeat itself" with the Sumatran tiger, which is illegally hunted on the island, Linkie said. (Take a big cats quiz.)
But there's hope, he added—FFI has set up five anti-poaching teams across the national park.
—Christine Dell'Amore
Saturday, August 21, 2010
Thursday, August 19, 2010
Sunday, August 15, 2010
Scientists Show Waves of Deforestation Across East Africa
Scientists Show Waves of Deforestation Across East Africa
http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem17543.html
http://www.worldwildlife.org/who/media/press/2010/WWFPresitem17543.html
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Friday, August 13, 2010
Wildfire Pictures: Russia Burns, Moscow Chokes
Fire's Toll
Photograph by Sergei Karpukhin, Reuters
Next to the charred remains of a home in the Russian city of Voronezh, women console each other on July 30.
Wednesday, August 11, 2010
Ocean's Tiny Carbon "Vacuum Cleaners" More Important to Carbon Capture Than We Thought
Ocean's Tiny Carbon "Vacuum Cleaners" More Important to Carbon Capture Than We Thought
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© 2008 Vishal V. Shah. All rights reserved. Contents of this web site reflect my personal work and is not representative of my employer.