Happy Nirvana

Native Amazonian children– not from the Yanomami tribe but still critical in protecting our planet’s lungs, the Amazon. Photo: Jess Root When I traveled to the Amazon Rainforest in 2008, scoping out the work of non-profit Projeto Saude e Alegria, I came home with one of those “Duh!” lightbulb moments. A large part of protecting [...]

Image: Flickr via Roberto Verzo Veles, a town in northern Macedonia where industrial pollution has left the soil with heavy metals seven times over the international safety limit, thinks it has found a solution: plants. Specifically, roses. The problem stems from a lead and zinc smelter that has left a 30-year legacy of contamination but [...]

Bear photo: AndyeMcee/CC. Cemetery photo: infomatique/CC Imagine a troubling future where heat waves and wildfires sweep across the globe,… Read the full story on TreeHugger Credits to:TreeHugger

Image: Reconstructed photo of the monkey by Dr. Thomas Geissmann Conservationists have found a new species of monkey in northern Burma that has such a uniquely shaped nose, its upturned nostrils fill with water when it rains, causing it to sneeze. On rainy days, the monkeys are known to sit with their heads tucked between [...]

Photo: WWF The Amazon rainforest, one of the largest and most diverse ecosystem on the planet, has been a virtual treasure-trove for ambitious biologists aiming to uncover new species. In the last ten years alone, scientists have identified 1,200 remarkable organisms which were previously unknown — at the rate of three new discoveries being made [...]

Photo: AFP In places throughout the Amazon, some stretches of the region’s most important rivers and tributaries have dried up almost entirely, reducing the normally flowing waterways to a vast plain of broken clay and mud. For some people who live and work in this part of the world, life has come to a screeching [...]

Sea life in Papua New Gunea; Photo via Angell Williams In a move that is highly controversial among environmentalists, scientists and indigenous people, Papua New Guinea has given the go-ahead for a deep sea mineral mine that will extract materials such as copper, zinc and gold. This is a great case-in-point for Stephen’s recent post [...]

Imogen Heap at Poptech 2010. Photo: Kris Krug, Creative Commons, Flickr. Imogen Heap, the British singer perhaps most famous for her ‘the OC’-approved song Hide & Seek, made a surprise appearance at Poptech to give a sneak peak of her latest project: A crowd-sourced nature documentary that she’s scoring for an orchestra. Called ‘Love the [...]

Photo credit: Wikimedia Commons Typically, a deep study of a genus or family can uncover a new species or two. But when it comes to micro mollusks, it turns out, the opportunity for discovery is much greater—if researchers are willing to do the painstaking work required. After ten years of research, two scientists commissioned by [...]

Images: Panthera It’s no secret that traditional conservation methods, while noble, have been failing miserably. Since the first forest and wildlife conservation programs were embraced internationally some 40-50 years ago, half of the world’s forests have been razed, and biodiversity has plummeted around the globe, to the point where many scientists are already terming this [...]