Environmentalism and Wildlife Conservation Discussion

Well, they may be underwater asshole mammals with a penchant for murderrape, but they're my underwater asshole mammals with a penchant for murderrape.

Who made you King of the Dolphins? You're not even French!

Eh bien, vous voyez, je frappé accidentellement Jason Momoa avec ma voiture avec, et en vertu des lois de l'Atlantide, qui me rend la nouvelle Aquaman, le roi des mers.

u wot m8

Who let you two in a thread alone together? I swear it's written down somewhere that we're meant to keep you separated, for the stability of the forum's sanity codex.

This ancient Egyptian practice can cheaply purify dirty water: "The seeds of the Moringa oleifera tree have been used to purify water and clean crockery since the days of ancient Egypt, but up until now scientists weren't sure exactly how they worked. Thanks to a new paper published in the journal Langmuir by researchers at Pennsylvania State University, part of the mystery has now been solved.

It had already been established that a protein inside the Egyptian seeds caused bacteria to clump together in the water and die, sinking to the bottom of the container to leave the water largely clear. But the latest discovery reveals how this is done: the academics found that the seeds actually fuse the membranes of said bacteria together. As those membranes are the main protection the bacteria have, disrupting them causes the cells to die.

That's not all though. The Penn State researchers have also worked out the best time to harvest the Moringa oleifera seeds: during the rainy season, when the seeds have reached full maturity. Previously, harvesting the seeds to capture them at the peak of their powers was largely guesswork, which meant it was difficult to assess to what extent the water they treated was purified."

That is really fucking interesting. I mean it. Specially cuz I am a fan of Ancient Egypt and the books by an egyptologist named Christian Jacques where, if memory serves, this method appears.

I mean. Clean water in a desert. Fucking awesome. I wonder if this application can be extended to purify water en masse.

wot the fok did ye just say 2 me m8? im trained in street fitin’ & im the strongest foker in tha entire gym. ill waste u and smash a fokin bottle oer yer head bruv, i swer 2 christ. ya think u can fokin run ya gabber at me whilst sittin on yer arse behind a lil screen? think again wanka. im callin me homeboys rite now preparin for a proper rumble. tha rumble thatll make ur nan sore jus hearin about it. yer a waste bruv. my homeboys be all over tha place & ill beat ya to a proper fokin pulp with me fists wanka

edited 16th Jun '15 8:34:06 AM by Aszur

Vagrant bachelors could save rare bird: "A study has revealed the importance of single males in small, threatened populations. Results from a study of endangered New Zealand hihi birds shows that bachelor males who don't hold breeding territories, known as 'floaters,' could help maintain genetic diversity and decrease the likelihood of inbreeding by sneakily fathering chicks."

Global freshwater consumption crossing its planetary boundary: "Planetary boundaries have been proposed to describe a safe operating space of humanity. Human consumption of freshwater is the used control variable for a freshwater planetary boundary. Research is now showing that global freshwater consumption has already pushed beyond its boundary."

Scientists discover a bacterium that "breathes" uranium and renders it immobile: "A strain of bacteria that 'breathes' uranium may hold the key to cleaning up polluted groundwater at sites where uranium ore was processed to make nuclear weapons.

A team of Rutgers University scientists and collaborators discovered the bacteria in soil at an old uranium ore mill in Rifle, Colorado, almost 200 miles west of Denver. The site is one of nine such mills in Colorado used during the heyday of nuclear weapons production.

The research is part of a U.S. Department of Energy program to see if microorganisms can lock up uranium that leached into the soil years ago and now makes well water in the area unsafe to drink.

The team's discovery, published in the April 2015 issue of PLoS ONE, is the first known instance where scientists have found a bacterium from a common class known as betaproteobacteria that breathes uranium. This bacterium can breathe either oxygen or uranium to drive the chemical reactions that provide life-giving energy."

A third of the world's biggest groundwater basins are in distress: "Two new studies show that civilization is rapidly draining some of its largest groundwater basins, yet there is little to no accurate data about how much water remains in them."

Surprisingly few 'busy bees' make global crops grow: "Surprisingly few bee species are responsible for pollinating the planet's crops, a major international study finds. Only two percent of wild bee species pollinate 80 percent of bee-pollinated crops worldwide, the researchers suggest."

Evidence from ivory DNA identifies two main elephant poaching hotspots: "Biologists have used DNA evidence to trace the origin of illegal ivory and help police an international trade that is decimating African elephant populations. New results show that over the past decade, ivory has largely come from just two areas in Africa."

Earth has entered sixth mass extinction, warn scientists

Plants make big decisions with microscopic cellular competition: "Like other multicellular creatures, plants must coordinate activity among many different types of cells and tissues. Messages, demands, warnings and alerts shuttle among cells near and far. These messages determine what jobs cells take on and how they work together to build and maintain tissues and organs. A team of researchers has identified a mechanism that some plant cells use to receive complex and contradictory messages from their neighbors."

Biotech Firm 3D Prints Fake Rhino Horn That's Genetically Identical To The Real Thing

Flood the market with fake ivory and drive down the fucking prices.

Or it could allow people to sneak in real ivory into the market....

Extreme makeover: Humankind's unprecedented transformation of Earth: "Human beings are pushing the planet in an entirely new direction with revolutionary implications for its life, a new study says, and in a new article, researchers suggest a turning point for the planet and its resources."

Retreating sea ice linked to changes in ocean circulation, could affect European climate: "Retreating sea ice in the Iceland and Greenland Seas may be changing the circulation of warm and cold water in the Atlantic Ocean, and could ultimately impact the climate in Europe, says a new study."

I recently saw a documentary about a sushi restaurant. In Tokyo, I think. It's a very high-end sushi restaurant.

The owner mourned that the type of seafood available is dwindling. He had to stopped offering this or that kind of sushi.

I thought to myself - I suppose that's one way to convince people to think more about the environment. Otherwise, it will be a future of eating overly processed meat sludge.

Where the wild things aren't: Cats avoid places coyotes roam: "Domestic cats might be determined hunters, but they stick mostly to residential areas instead of venturing into parks and protected areas where coyotes roam. That's the key finding from a North Carolina State University analysis of more than 2,100 sites - the first large-scale study of free-ranging cats in the U.S. published in the Journal of Mammalogy.

Why is it important to know where 74 million pet cats spend their time away from home?

'Domestic cats are estimated to kill billions of birds and small mammals each year,' says lead author Roland Kays, a zoologist with NC State's College of Natural Resources and the N.C. Museum of Natural Sciences. 'Knowing where they hunt helps assess the risk to wildlife.'"

Hydroelectric dams drastically reduce tropical forest biodiversity: "Widely hailed as 'green' sources of renewable energy, hydroelectric dams have been built worldwide at an unprecedented scale. But new research reveals that these major infrastructure projects are far from environmentally friendly."

Shouldn't this be obvious?

Always good to have a confirmation.

Climate change is turning male dragon lizards into females: "A climate-induced change of male dragon lizards into females occurring in the wild has been confirmed for the first time, according to recent research."

The oceans can’t take any more: Fundamental change in oceans predicted: "Our oceans need an immediate and substantial reduction of anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions. If that doesn't happen, we could see far-reaching and largely irreversible impacts on marine ecosystems, which would especially be felt in developing countries."

Could someone remind me why the governments of world powers aren't taking these major long-term environmental threats seriously? It's like environmental scientists don't get any respect from incumbent politicians at all.

edited 7th Jul '15 5:20:39 AM by MarqFJA

Money.

Keyword is long-term. Most are focused on next quarter's profit or next year's election.

edited 7th Jul '15 9:30:41 AM by nightwyrm_zero

Polar bears threatened: Experience limited energy savings in summer: "Some earlier research suggested that polar bears could, at least partially, compensate for longer summer food deprivation by entering a state of lowered activity and reduced metabolic rate similar to winter hibernation — a so-called 'walking hibernation.' But new research shows that the summer activity and body temperature of bears on shore and on ice were typical of fasting, non-hibernating mammals, with little indication of 'walking hibernation.'"