Nature

Nanoparticles are all the rage for a variety of different applications, ranging from treatments for cancer to use in automobile sensors. Trouble is, the manmade nanomorsels have been raising concern about side effects in humans and the environment. A University of Missouri research team has devised a method for creating nanoparticles that don't have negative side effects. And the work has garnered the scientists international recognition. The team found that when you submerge gold salts into water and then add soybeans, gold nanoparticles are created. The procedure is simple but can be used in creating very complex nanoengineered components. The beauty of this green process...

Riyadh, Saudi Arabia's capitol, has slowly transformed into a sprawling city over the years, full of silver skyscrapers and modern buildings. The city is home to over 5 million inhabitants and bears little resemblance to the land that used to be covered with date trees and orchards. Riyadh roughly translates to "garden" in Arabic and it is a suitable name for a region with such fertile soil. It is only fitting that the world's largest greenhouse will reside in the garden city of Saudi Arabia. Barton Willmore, a British design and architectural planning company is working with the civil engineers at Buro Happold to create the 160 hectare King Abdullah International Gardens (KAIG). This garden will be housed in two giant interlocking crescent...

Scuttling in the crevices of every home are a variety of pests that seem to thrive on making the human inhabitants miserable. One of the most hated pests are cockroaches, which are almost impossible to eliminate. It does not matter how clean a house is; one inseminated female roach can explode into an infestation within a matter of weeks. Miniscule amounts of food, such as splattered grease, sugar that lands behind the cupboard or even glue is enough to keep the population going. Trails of ants crawling throughout the house, a single chirping cricket serenading you in the middle of the night and slugs eating up your prized garden are no fun either. Borates have long been...

Cows are notorious for lazily standing around, nonchalantly chewing their cud while staring into space. Ambitious cows may also spend some time swatting the occasional fly with their tails. It is a simple life, constantly inundated with bouts of flatulence and burps. In fact, the global cattle population is the largest contributor of methane gases in the atmosphere: The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that cattle "account for about 28% of global methane emissions from human related activities". There are 1.2 billion cows in the world, each equipped with four stomachs full of flora that release gases during the digestive process. Each cow emits over 600 liters of methane created when bacteria in their gut...

There is one animal on the island state of Tasmania with the traits of a monster. It is aptly named the 'Tasmanian Devil' (or Tassie). Devils are typically heard before they are seen, emitting obnoxious screeches while feeding which can be heard several kilometers away. The spine chilling cries are hard to describe but can be heard here. As if their disturbing wails aren't enough, devils emit an incredibly offensive odor when stressed and are believed to be extraordinarily aggressive animals. (Even though this is mostly bluff as they tend to avoid confrontation with humans if possible.) Sarcophilus harrisii Devils are the largest marsupial in Australia and have an array of...

The rooftop of the world, the land of snows... with an average elevation of 4000 meters (over 13,000 feet), the Tibetan Plateau is the highest and largest plateau on earth. The plants and animals there are unique-- the snow leopard, Tibetan antelope, Tibetan gazelle, Bengal tiger, wild yak, blue sheep, brown bear, and black-necked crane, to name a few. Visitors to Tibet before 1950 compared it to East Africa, with vast herds of large mammals roaming free through the mountains. Today, precious few remain. - But although the flora and fauna are diverse, the extreme climate has allowed only a relatively small number of them to flourish; species that have been able to...

Ecotourism can take many forms - activist tours, where the line between work and vacation is blurry; adventure tours, where the tourist braves white water in a canoe, or thin air and freezing temperatures on a mountain trek, or any number of other challenges of nature; visits to pristine places, where one can view the most beautiful and unspoiled regions on earth, hopefully through their tourist dollars helping to fund the preservation and restoration of these places, and finally; low impact tourism, where the traveler stays in accomodations and enjoys means of transit that leave no footprint. These distinctions are somewhat arbitrary, of course, since many tour...

Just a little rain transforms the desert floor into an entirely different atmosphere. Branchiopod cysts that mingle with the fine desert sand, survive inconspicuously for up to 200 years. Not only that, but these tiny eggs are unaffected by temperatures ranging from below freezing to 150 degrees Fahrenheit. A curious scientist even went so far as to glue the eggs of brine shrimp (a species of branchiopod) to a space shuttle in a 1980 launch where they survived the tremendous roundtrip completely unscathed to produce healthy animals! It seems like these prehistoric organisms, capable of enduring ridiculous varieties in temperature and even the vacuum of space, found the secret to survival millions of centuries ago. Branchiopods include tiny crustaceans such as fairy shrimp, clam shrimp, and tadpole shrimp that have learned to live in the most extreme environments. This practice of...

In Madagascar lives a creature that looks so bizarre it is no wonder that the local Malagasy and Sakalava people believe it to be a symbol of death. The menacing omen comes in the shape of an aye-aye: Its piercing orange eyes, bony fingers, large incisors and bat-like ears definitely give this nocturnal primate a unique appearance. Some tribesmen even go so far as to claim that the aye-aye will sneak into your home at night and use its slender middle finger to pierce your heart. These beliefs couldn't be further from the truth. The creature that the local villagers are so petrified to come across spends most of its time searching out grubs, nuts, nectar and fruits rather than people to condemn to death. Unfortunately, superstitions associated with the aye-aye result in the animal being killed on sight. It doesn't help that the aye-aye is almost tame when compared to other wild...

Brazil's Cerrado (translated to mean "inaccessible") is thought to be the most biodiverse savannah in the world. Giant anteaters, armadillos, pampas deer, cougars, macaws and howler monkeys are just a few of the animals that make their homes here. The maned wolf is one of the more unique species living in the region. This animal has a striking appearance, often compared to a fox on stilts with a bushy mane. As these solitary animals stalk their prey in this hot and relatively humid area, stepping on ancient soil and brushing past tall grasses, termites and leaf cutter ants diligently toil away around them. Cerrado's woodlands, now making up 21% of Brazil, are shrinking as the area is being converted to farmland. In an attempt to study the area in detail, scientist from Conservation International (CI) and various Brazilian Universities found 14 undocumented species in the Serra Geral do Tocantins Ecological...

There is an inevitable conflict between economic growth and environmental protection, and balancing these necessities is never easy.  But as environmental regulations continue to increase in scope and degree, there are also new and improved tools for companies to use to monitor and report their performance. For 15 years, ESS (Environmental Support Solutions), based in Tempe, Arizona, with offices all over the US as well as in China and Canada, has pioneered offering automated and integrated solutions to, among other things, environmental compliance.  In recent years, as software has migrated online and become more powerful and affordable, ESS has attracted the attention of very large companies who are still using...

Billions of animals are killed every year to support demand for their parts. It might be hard for some to imagine, but ostrich skin boots, kangaroo skin soccer balls and chairs made from a stuffed elephant's foot are just some of the items available for purchase. Tiger or seal penis soups, bear gall bladders and pangolin meat are another option if the consumer wants to eat a novelty item rather than decorate their home with one. The practice of selling a variety of animals worldwide for slaughter or for the pet industry is a multi-BILLION dollar business and causes irreversible damage to habitats, wildlife populations and local cultures. Organizations like Wildlife Alliance educate local communities on the subject of animal trade in the hopes that doing so reduces demand for these products while also working with governments to provide an alternative means of income for families whose only form of...