What would happen if human goes extinct?

From the look of it, I don't think human extinction will happen quite yet because at the current stage, human population is just so huge!

Even if there is a massive natural disaster, or a big health epidemic disease, it is quite impossible to wipe out the whole human population entirely because we are very scattered around the world. We have humans in the cities, in the jungles, at the ice poles, at the dessert, living on the sea etc. We are almost every where!

But what would happen if we are all gone?

Removing Carbon (CO2) From The Atmosphere

With the obsession of climate change and global warming, researchers have came up with several ways to remove carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere with the hope that it would slow down global warming. This is called Carbon Geoengineering. These techniques are also referred to as carbon dioxide removal (CDR) or more simply, carbon technologies.

The Story Of Stuff & So Much More!

The Story Of Stuff is an interesting series about how we consumers are taught or encouraged by manufacturers and business people to buy things that we do not need and which would harm the environment.

In this series of the Story of Stuff, interesting videos on how several daily items which we commonly used, are being marketed by manufacturers and make us consumers keep buying them.

These are really good videos to watch to understand more on consumerism and how business are pushing non essential items to consumers but making consumers think that we need them.

Penguin Facts

                                  

Who does not like the blubber filled birds called penguins! 

Interesting facts about penguins coming ahead!

1. Penguins cannot fly thus they are categorized as flightless birds.

2. Their distinct colouring of white bellies & black back & wings is thought to hide penguins from predators in the sea. It helps with the camouflage.

Volunteering in Wildlife Rescue Centres

Many of us loves animals and wildlife so much so that some of us would give anything to have a chance to work with them. However many times, a relevant qualification is needed to be able to work with the wildlife in the professional field.

Why Each Human Face is Unique

The human face is usually regarded as the main identity of a person as it is not common to come across another of the same person with the exact facial features with you. Even identical twins do not look exactly alike and here is the reason why each human face is unique.

A new study by researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) has now shown that gene enhancers -- regulatory sequences of DNA that act to turn-on or amplify the expression of a specific gene -- are major players in craniofacial development which simply means your physical facial features such as the shape of your nose, eyes, ears, mouth, the distance between them etc.

Why Plants Live Longer Than Animals

In a research conducted by researchers at VIB and Ghent University, the researchers learn more about how plant stem cells function differently compared to animal stems cells which allows plants to live longer than animals.

What the researchers have found is as explained by Lieven De Veylder, one of the researchers, "Our data suggest that certain organizing stem cells in plant roots are less sensitive for DNA-damage. Those cells hold an original and intact DNA copy which can be used to replace damaged cells if necessary. Animals rely on a similar mechanism but most likely plants have employed this in a more optimized manner. This could explain why many plants can live for more than hundreds of years, while this is quite exceptional for animals."

A Monkey That Purrs

Over the course of four years—from 2010 to 2013— 441 new species were scientifically identified in the Amazon by WWF which includes a species of titi monkey that purrs like a cat.

The Caqueta titi monkey: This new species, Callicebus caquetensis, is one of about 20 species of titi monkey, which all live in the Amazon basin. The babies have an endearing trait, "When they feel very content they purr towards each other," explained scientist Thomas Defler.

Fundraising for Perhentian Island Marine Research Station

Ecoteer, a volunteering organization is organization a fundraising campaign to set up a marine research station at Perhentian Island of Malaysia.

The aim to to raise funds for the start up costs of the centre that includes buying scuba diving equipment, a boat, renovation of our centre, surveying equipment and scuba diving training for the villagers.

The island is well knwoned for it beautiful beach, coral reefs and amazing diving sites. It is also a place where turtle nest, so the marine research station will greatly benefit and will provide much need labour for its conservation purposes.

A Potentially Invasive Plant May Bring Positive Impact Towards a Region.

It is always feared that invasive species which includes plants or animals will most likely bring harm towards its unnatural habitat as its population is not able to be controlled by its natural predators/ enemies due to their absence. Thus the invasive species are able to thrive and replace the natural species of a particular area.

However a recent study published in the open access Journal of Hymenoptera Research, aimed to obtain empirical data on the activity and distribution of the bee species Braunsapis puangensis in the Suva area of Fiji and examine its association with the invasive creeping daisy Sphagneticola trilobata. The paper suggests that the invasive creeping daisy could in fact have a positive influence on a wild bee pollinator species, thus benefiting crops and biodiversity on the islands.

Endangered Animals Species You Most Likely Have Never Heard Of

Endangered Animals Species You Most Likely Have Never Heard Of

In the conservation field, animals & plant species has conservation status which states how likely the species is going to be extinct in the future. The status ranges from 'Least concern' to 'Critically endangered' and lastly and sadly 'Extinct'.

Many articles and news have covered well known iconic animal species which has a 'Vulnerable' to 'Critically endangered' status such as several species tigers, turtles, orangutan, tuna, dolphin, whales, panda, gorilla, sharks, rhinocerous and many more which most of us know how these animal species look like.

Effects of Dams and Reservoirs On The Environment

Effects of Dams and Reservoirs On The Environment

First of all, what are dams and reservoirs?

Well according to Wikipedia:

"A dam is a barrier that impounds water or underground streams. Dams generally serve the primary purpose of retaining water, while other structures such as floodgates or levees (also known as dikes) are used to manage or prevent water flow into specific land regions. Hydropower and pumped-storage hydroelectricity are often used in conjunction with dams to generate electricity. A dam can also be used to collect water or for storage of water which can be evenly distributed between locations."

What is Evolution? Explaining through interesting YouTube videos!

What is Evolution? Explaining through interesting YouTube videos!

Evolution is a biological theory of how the current species of animals present at this time originate or changed in time from their ancestry form species many million years ago.

A very common example would be how did the ancestry form of apes changed and evolved to become humans.

In the internet, tons of articles are written about evolution, some are very simplistic articles while some could go on and on about other related theories and it can be a lot of materials to digest before you could grasp a good understanding of evolution.

However here, I will not dwell much on what evolution is, but rather share several YouTube videos which are very fun to watch and easy to understand and hopefully you will enjoy it as much as I did.

List of Popular Environmental Concerns

List of Popular Environmental Concerns

It is good to know that now more and more people are getting aware about environmental issues and even started acting upon it in their effort to save their beloved environment.

Many years ago, the top environmental concerns were only global warming and anything to do with carbon foot print, but now the public are more aware about other issues such as food safety, health safety and many more which are directly related to our surroundings and environment as well.

Here are the list of top environmental concerns of the public in 2012/2013.

Asia-Pacific leaders to cut taxes on green goods

Asia-Pacific leaders representing more than half of the global economy committed Sunday to cutting tariffs on environmental goods to no more than five percent and reducing energy intensity.

In a joint statement after a summit in Hawaii, leaders of the APEC bloc -- which includes the United States and China -- said they would also eliminate non-tariff barriers that impede trade in green products.

Tapirs on the brink of extinction

THE Malayan tapir (Tapirus indicus) is the largest of the world’s four tapir species. The other three species – lowland, mountain and Baird’s – are found in Central and South America. Once distributed over South-East Asia, the Malayan tapir is now confined to Peninsular Malaysia, Sumatra in Indonesia, Thailand and Myanmar, and continues to decline in numbers in all four countries.

“Only the first two countries have significant populations and habitat remaining. The decline in population is the result of continued habitat loss from illegal logging and the lack of protection of most areas still containing significant populations,” says Dr Alan Shoemaker at a tapir symposium in Kuala Lumpur last month.

Tapirs losing out

BENDUL, the Malayan tapir, is a sorry sight. Unlike the other tapirs at the Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre which have hefty, robust bodies, Bendul is almost all skin and bones. Her coat is dull and grey, not a healthy shine like that on the others. Her ribcage shows under her skin and her body is badly scarred.
She was named after the place where she was found loitering in late September, a village in Ulu Bendul some 16km from Seremban in Negri Sembilan, and arrived at the centre wounded and starving.
“After trapping her, we had planned to return her to the forest but when we saw that she had a bullet wound which was infested with maggots, we decided to bring her here,” says Mahathir Mohamad who heads the Sungai Dusun centre, located in the upper reaches of Selangor about 90 minutes’ drive from Kuala Lumpur.

Wild fodder: At the Sungai Dusun Wildlife Conservation Centre, the seven tapirs there are fed leaves collected from the jungle.

From the tell-tale size and shape of the wound, wildlife officers believe Bendul had been shot by wild boar hunters, probably mistakenly. “Villagers say they have seen the tapir with two young. We searched but could not find the juveniles. We believe they have also been shot,” says Mahathir.

At Sungai Dusun, a 4,330ha sprawl of protected peatswamp and lowland dipterocarp forest near the Selangor-Perak boundary which is both a rescue and captive breeding centre, Bendul is seen chomping on the leaves of the mengkirai, nangka and mahang trees which keepers have collected from the forest. Soon, she will be fed nutrition-laden pellets to fatten her up. At the centre, she joins six other tapirs – four of which are captive-breds and two, also rescued tapirs.

Mysterious orange goo washing ashore in Alaska

A mysterious orange goo that washed ashore in an Alaska village last week and sparked pollution concerns turns out to be a mass of crustacean eggs or embryos, government scientists said on Monday.

Tests of a sample sent by the Alaska Department of Environmental Conservation produced the results, officials at a laboratory belonging to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's Alaska Fisheries Service Center said.

"We now think these are some sort of small crustacean egg or embryo, with the lipid oil droplet in the middle causing the orange color," Jeep Rice, a lead scientist at the Juneau laboratory, said in a news release.
"So this is natural. It is not chemical pollution; it is not a man-made substance," Rice said.

Last week's appearance of the orange substance in the Alaska village of Kivalina initially baffled villagers and experts.

Increase in GM Crops, Resistant Weeds Lead to Dramatic Rise in Pesticide Use

The widespread use of genetically modified (GM) crops engineered to tolerate herbicides has led to a sharp increase in the use of agricultural chemicals in the U.S. This practice is creating herbicide-resistant "super weeds" and an increase in chemical residues in U.S. food, according to a new report released today by The Organic Center, the Union for Concerned Scientists, and the Center for Food Safety.

According to the report, entitled "Impacts of Genetically Engineered Crops on Pesticide Use in the United States: The First Thirteen Years," as more farmers have adopted variations of corn, soy beans, and cotton bred to tolerate weed killer in recent years, the use of herbicides has increased steadily, with herbicide use growing by 383 million pounds from 1996 to 2008, according to the report. Forty-six percent of that increase occurred during 2007 and 2008.

Pesticide Pathway

When soil moisture levels increase, pesticide losses to the atmosphere through volatilization also rise. In one long-term field study, U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists found that herbicide volatilization consistently resulted in herbicide losses that exceed losses from field runoff. Agricultural Research Service (ARS) soil scientist Timothy Gish and ARS micrometeorologist John Prueger led the investigation, which looked at the field dynamics of atrazine and metolachlor, two herbicides commonly used in corn production. Both herbicides are known to contaminate surface and ground water, which was primarily thought to occur through surface runoff.