Nature

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Blessing of Sheba - The Obelisk Returns

This week the people of Ethiopia had reason to celebrate as one of their culture’s most significant monuments was finally restored. The Axum Obelisk, a 1700 year old remnant of the Kingdom of Axum (and ancient Ethiopian civilization), was restored to its traditional resting place. The obelisk was stolen and taken to Italy in the [...]

5Sep2008 | Phil | 2 comments | Continued
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Deep Sea Exploration beneath the Caribbean

More than 5000 beneath the sea level, in the Cayman Trough, lay the world’s deepest undersea volcanoes that are scheduled to be explored with a robot submarine - Autosub6000.
British scientists of the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton, were offered £462,000 by the Natural Environment Research Council to explore what they call the “lost world” that will [...]

1Sep2008 | Mihaela Lica | 0 comments | Continued
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A Giant Fish Story - The Megafishes Project

Just when you thought it was safe to go swimming in the local lake - megafishes appear from the murky depths. Some of the largest fish in the world are not inhabitants of ocean depths, but instead reside in freshwater rivers and lakes around the world. From the nearly extinct paddlefish of the Yangtze River [...]

29Jul2008 | Phil | 0 comments | Continued
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Reef-Building Corals Facing Extinction

A study published by Science Express identifies more than one third of the world’s reef-building coral species as endangered.
The news released by Conservation International is disconcerting not only for the environmentalists and scientists involved in the study, but also for tourists, marine enthusiasts and local populations.
Corals are used in different industries, including pharmaceutic (to extract [...]

14Jul2008 | Mihaela Lica | 0 comments | Continued
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Biggest Sea Reptile in History

In the summer of 2006 a team of Norwegian paleontologists discovered a 15 m long pliosaur at Svalbard, in the Arctic island chain of Svalbard. One year later, 2007, the monster was finally excavated and till now the fossil has been prepared by a team at the Natural History Museum in Oslo.

This is the largest [...]

11Jun2008 | Mihaela Lica | 0 comments | Continued
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From Cuttlefish to Predator - Camouflage at Its Best

We often find Hollywood characters like Rambo and Dutch (Arnold in Predator) unrealistic, however there is one thing they have in common which is not only realistic, but probably as old as the human race – camouflage.

Humans and animals have natural enemies and act similar in danger situations. Even brave men hide to protect their [...]

19Feb2008 | Mihaela Lica | 2 comments | Continued