http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from NOAA have discovered a potent and highly-debilitating toxin in the endangered Hawaiian monk seal, a first-of-its-kind chemical finding that is now prompting investigations of other marine mammals in the state. http://phys.org/news226750029.html Biology Wed, 08 Jun 2011 11:20:02 EST news226750029 (AP) -- Weather experts said it's unusual for deadly tornadoes to develop a few weeks apart in the U.S. But what made the two storm systems that barreled through a Missouri city and the South within the last month so rare is that tornadoes took direct aim at populated areas. http://phys.org/news225456734.html Space & Earth Tue, 24 May 2011 11:53:08 EST news225456734 NOAA, along with the Environmental Protection Agency, the International City/County Management Association and Rhode Island Sea Grant, has released a guide to bring smart growth to coastal and waterfront communities. http://phys.org/news171802223.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Sep 2009 12:00:01 EST news171802223 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of geologists led by Cindy Ebinger of the University of Rochester have deployed 16 seismic sensors on one of the Galapagos Islands to study the processes of ocean island formation -- particularly those that occur right above mantle "hotspots." http://phys.org/news171734872.html Space & Earth Wed, 09 Sep 2009 17:30:01 EST news171734872 (AP) -- Scientists over the past month explored coral reefs in the remote Northwestern Hawaiian Islands that until recently were considered too deep for scuba divers to reach. http://phys.org/news171699947.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 07:26:27 EST news171699947 (PhysOrg.com) -- A team of archaeologists has come one step closer to unravelling the mystery of how the famous statues dotting the landscape of a tiny Pacific island acquired their distinctive red hats. http://phys.org/news171546695.html Other Sciences Mon, 07 Sep 2009 12:52:08 EST news171546695 (AP) -- Pius Henry fears his adopted government will kill him, that the United States won't live up to a health care obligation to people from Pacific islands where it tested nuclear bombs. http://phys.org/news171537347.html Medicine & Health Mon, 07 Sep 2009 10:16:17 EST news171537347 The U.S. Geological Survey has released the results of a long-term study of key glaciers in western North America, reporting this month that glacial shrinkage is rapid and accelerating and a result of climate change. http://phys.org/news170941320.html Space & Earth Mon, 31 Aug 2009 12:43:16 EST news170941320 (PhysOrg.com) -- A long-term field and DNA study by the Institute for Ocean Conservation Science at Stony Brook University, University of Miami, Field Museum of Chicago and others has shown that young lemon sharks born at the Bimini islands, Bahamas, tend to stay near their coastal birthplace for many years. While shark research and conservation typically focuses on baby sharks confined to shallow habitats, or ocean-roaming adults, less is known about these intermediate-aged animals, which are the breeders of tomorrow and are roughly similar in development to human 'tweens' and teenagers. http://phys.org/news170340406.html Biology Mon, 24 Aug 2009 13:47:15 EST news170340406 They gracefully swim through the complete darkness of submarine caves, constantly on the lookout for prey. Instead of eyes, predatory crustaceans of the class Remipedia rely on long antennae which search the lightless void in all directions. Like some type of science fiction monster, their head is equipped with powerful prehensile limbs and poisonous fangs. http://phys.org/news170331220.html Biology Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:14:29 EST news170331220 (PhysOrg.com) -- Remote-sensing scientists call a satellite image that captures an entire hemisphere of the Earth in one view a "full-disk" image. The delivery of the first full-disk image from a newly launched weather satellite is an exciting milestone in the mission. It provides scientists and engineers with incontrovertible evidence that a new satellite -- as well as the communications systems needed to deliver the images back to Earth -- is ready to do its job. http://phys.org/news170079017.html Space & Earth Fri, 21 Aug 2009 13:11:41 EST news170079017 Tropical Depression Ana is currently drenching Puerto Rico, and tropical storm watches are posted for Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands as Ana continues westward. Both the Aqua and GOES satellites have captured Ana on her westward track in the Atlantic. http://phys.org/news169744826.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:50:01 EST news169744826 Tropical Storm Felicia is closing in on the Hawaiian Island chain and its center is now expected to pass just north of the big island before moving through the islands Tuesday and Wednesday. Two NASA satellites captured the height and temperatures of Felicia's clouds to assist meteorologists in their forecasts as she approaches Hawaii. She's already stirring up the surf. http://phys.org/news169136738.html Space & Earth Mon, 10 Aug 2009 15:40:10 EST news169136738 California regulators sharply restricted fishing off more than 20 percent of the state's coastline from the San Francisco peninsula to Mendocino County, turning back pleas to allow more abalone diving and delay the new measures due to budgetary concerns. http://phys.org/news168849180.html Space & Earth Fri, 07 Aug 2009 08:00:06 EST news168849180 Faculty of 1000, the leading scientific evaluation service, has highlighted research providing evidence for the evolution of a new species. http://phys.org/news168689071.html Biology Wed, 05 Aug 2009 11:05:02 EST news168689071 NASA satellites do some really cool things, like take a sideways look at a slice of a tropical depression. That's what CloudSat did with Lana in the Central Pacific. http://phys.org/news168524008.html Space & Earth Mon, 03 Aug 2009 13:13:59 EST news168524008 (AP) -- Wrecking coral will cost you in Hawaii. A Maui tour company is paying the state nearly $400,000 for damaging more than 1,200 coral colonies when one of its boats sank at Molokini, a pristine reef and popular diving spot. Another tour operator faces penalties for wrecking coral when it illegally dropped an anchor on a Maui reef. http://phys.org/news168440571.html Space & Earth Sun, 02 Aug 2009 14:20:03 EST news168440571 A tiny island of fishermen is light years ahead of the rest of Pakistan, powering homes and businesses with wind turbines -- protecting the environment and improving the quality of life. http://phys.org/news168152025.html Technology Thu, 30 Jul 2009 06:30:01 EST news168152025 The criteria of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN)'s Red List are an essential tool for evaluating the conservation status of species around the planet, and according to these criteria all the species in the Canary Islands are endangered. However, research carried out recently by José Luis Martín Esquivel has highlighted some conflicting areas within the scientific protocol designed to identify threatened plants and animals. http://phys.org/news167645247.html Biology Fri, 24 Jul 2009 09:09:15 EST news167645247 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the animal kingdom, everything is not as it seems. Individuals of the same species can look very different from each other - what biologists term 'polymorphism.' http://phys.org/news167562918.html Biology Thu, 23 Jul 2009 10:16:10 EST news167562918 After 10 years of biochemical and molecular analysis of the Tyrrhenoleuctra plecoptera that live in the Western Mediterranean, Spanish and Italian scientists have now demonstrated that one of the insect populations of this group is a distinct and, therefore, new species. http://phys.org/news166875536.html Biology Wed, 15 Jul 2009 11:30:01 EST news166875536 A new study finds that a change in a single gene has sent two closely related bird populations on their way to becoming two distinct species. The study, published in the August issue of the American Naturalist, is one of only a few to investigate the specific genetic changes that drive two populations toward speciation. http://phys.org/news166787176.html Biology Tue, 14 Jul 2009 10:46:49 EST news166787176 (PhysOrg.com) -- A tiny grid pattern has led materials scientists at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) and the Institute of Solid State Physics in Russia to an unexpected finding—the surprisingly strong and long-range effects of certain electromagnetic nanostructures used in data storage. Their recently reported findings may add new scientific challenges to the design and manufacture of future ultra-high density data storage devices. http://phys.org/news165682221.html Physics Wed, 01 Jul 2009 15:50:57 EST news165682221 The El Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO) phenomenon has been shown to have a significant effect on the results of the Ashes cricket series. When the series is held in Australia, the Australian Cricket team is more likely to succeed after El Nino years, while the England cricket team has a historically better record following La Nina years (the opposite phase), according to a study published today in Weather. http://phys.org/news165213916.html Space & Earth Fri, 26 Jun 2009 05:48:37 EST news165213916 (PhysOrg.com) -- Archaeologists have used stone tools to answer many questions about human ancestors in both the distant and near past and now they are analyzing the origin of obsidian flakes to better understand how people settled and interacted in the inhospitable Kuril Islands. http://phys.org/news164896641.html Other Sciences Mon, 22 Jun 2009 13:37:55 EST news164896641 As climate change causes temperatures to increase in Hawaii's mountains, deadly non-native bird diseases will likely also creep up the mountains, invading most of the last disease-free refuges for honeycreepers - a group of endangered and remarkable birds. http://phys.org/news162562227.html Biology Tue, 26 May 2009 13:11:09 EST news162562227 (AP) -- President Barack Obama told the astronauts aboard space shuttle Atlantis on Wednesday that they are an example of the dedication and commitment to exploration that represents America. http://phys.org/news162108523.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 May 2009 07:10:05 EST news162108523 (PhysOrg.com) -- The recent findings by a team of Northeastern University ecologists studying plant life on the Boston Harbor Islands may advance societal efforts to stem the damage caused by invading exotic species. http://phys.org/news161534941.html Biology Thu, 14 May 2009 15:49:50 EST news161534941 (AP) -- An Ethiopian lark, a Galapagos finch and a spectacularly colored hummingbird only recently discovered in Colombia have been added to the list of the world's most threatened species, an environmental group said Thursday. The International Union for Conservation of Nature - the producer each year of a Red List of endangered species - said the Sidamo lark could soon become Africa's first known bird extinction as the Ethiopian savanna becomes overgrown by bush, farmland and overgrazing. http://phys.org/news161505369.html Biology Thu, 14 May 2009 07:36:50 EST news161505369 Rare and unique ecological communities will be lost if oceanic islands aren't adequately considered in a global conservation plan, a new study has found. Although islands tend to harbor fewer species than continental lands of similar size, plants and animals found on islands often live only there, making protection of their isolated habitats our sole chance to preserve them. http://phys.org/news161281180.html Biology Mon, 11 May 2009 17:20:09 EST news161281180