Due to the lack of fossil evidences in Africa, it is a common belief among experts that the common ancestors of great apes and humans left the region for Europe and Asia around seven to 13 million years ago. A recent finding, however, suggests otherwise. A 10 million year old jawbone of a great ape has just been found in the Nakali region of Kenya.

The team believe that the jawbone belongs to an entirely new species of the great ape. Click the "read more" link for the full story.

Aside from posing grave threats to the environment (such as the plummeting of the world's bird population), rapid climate change will also be a factor in aggravating international security issues, according to the Center for Strategic and International Studies, as well as the Center for a New American Security.

The report compiled by climate and security specialists predicts that the havoc wrought upon by fast-changing climate will spark international issues, such as the ever-decreasing supply of water in the Middle East and the resulting competition, or the destruction storms in Asia that will force inhabitants to fight over land.


Read more about this grave issue in the full article!

Michael Pritchard invented a new water bottle that filters out the dirtiest water and makes it drinkable. Clean water is usually taken for granted by those of us who live in places where it is readily accessible, so when we find ourselves in a situation where drinkable water isn't similarly available, we might find ourselves choosing dehydration over drinking what we find.

The appropriately named Lifesaver bottle, as seen in the picture, instantly filters out the water without the use of chemicals. The bottle even filters out fecal matter (yes, it cuts the **** out). Basically the water filters out anything longer than 15 nanometers.

Because of such a stringent filter, it even takes out viruses - typically 25 nanometers long - a feat even conventional water filters don't do. The filter automatically shuts off after it expires, preventing dirty water from coming through.

The idea was inspired in Pritchard after the tsunami disaster in South-East Asia last 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in Louisiana in 2005. Fresh, drinkable water was sparse in both situations and refugees had to wait for days for supplies. "Something had to be done. It took me a little while and some very frustrating prototypes but eventually I did it," said Pritchard.

The new invention, which can distill 4,000 to 6,000 litres without changing the filter, is expected to revolutionize the way water is supplied to disaster stricken areas, military troops, and happy campers everywhere.

Researchers from UC San Francisco have finally found some solid evidence that points to a potential cause of the widespread Colony Collapse Disorder that is affecting bees in the U.S. And no, it's not mobile phones.

According to the LA Times, a single-celled parasite called Nosema ceranae has been found in affected hives from across the country. This fungus was responsible for widespread loss of bee colonies in Europe and Asia and may be playing a crucial role in the disappearance of bees in the U.S.

The fungus was also found in some hives where bees had survived. Two other fungi and half a dozen viruses have also been found in the dead bees.

Researchers have cautioned though that the results are still "highly preliminary" and are from only a few hives found in Le Grand in Merced County. "We don't want to give anybody the impression that this thing has been solved," said UCSF biochemist Joe DeRisi. Entomologist Diana Cox-Foster of Pennsylvania State University echoed DeRisi's caution, noting that by itself, N. ceranae "is probably not the culprit ... but it may be one of the key players."

Bee researchers haven't ruled out other factors such as pesticide exposure and inadequate food resources following a drought. "There are lots of stresses that these bees are experiencing," said Cox-Foster, noting that a combination of these factors could be responsible.

If the N. ceranae is found to play a role in CCD, there is still some hope for the bees, which are used to pollinate a third of the country's agricultural crops. There is evidence that the antibiotic fumagillin, used mainly against a closely related parasite called Nosema apis which also affects bees, will also work on N. ceranae.

There are certain kinds of food that are gauged by their odor. The smellier it is, the better. Like fine French cheeses, the durian emits a strong smell that is far from being enticing. But underneath all that lies a flavor that is well-loved by its fans, mostly from Southeast Asia.

So what happens if that smelly appeal is removed from the durian? Apparently, the idea is found to be even more revolting than the putrid smell of the fruit itself. In Thailand, a  government scientist has claimed that he has successfully managed to removed the stink from the fruit, hence making it possible to attract a wider fanbase.

Songpol Somsri has concocted the Chantaburi line of durians, naming them by numbers, depending on the gradation of smell emitting from the fruit. Chantaburi No. 1, he says, would smell only mildly, like a banana. Chantaburi No. 3, meanwhile, would still smell as bad as the original, but only after three days from the picking, hence making odorless transport possible.

But many are skeptic, and many are unconvinced. See, in Southeast Asia, the durian is more than just a smelly fruit. It stands for something deeper in society, even being pointed to as a source of local culture. Ultimately, the smell of the durian is what defines the fruit. Hence, the creation of an odorless variety is just a step towards the degradation of the durian culture.

Economically, an odorless durian, while sure to be an instant novelty, especially to those who are repulsed by the smell, would be less beneficial. "If the durian doesn't have a strong smell the customer only pays one-third the price."

Bob Halliday, a Bangkok-based food writer, concurs. "To anyone who doesn't like durian, it smells like a bunch of dead cats. But as you get to appreciate durian, the smell is not offensive at all. It's attractive. It makes you drool like a mastiff."

Seemingly, as well, the odor provides flavor to the durian: "nutty, sweet, with hints of vanilla, and an occasional bitter bite." Says Suchart Vichitrananda, director of Thailand's Horticultural Research Center, where the odorless durians are bred, "I can't say it's better than the original durian, but it'll do."

The new variety of odorless durians will soon be getting its approval from Thailand's Ministry of Agriculture in the coming weeks. The official presentation of this variety to the public is yet to happen, though.

The Sumatra-Andaman Earthquake of 2004 left a lot of damage to the world. Also known as the Indian Ocean Earthquake of 2004, the event was a great undersea earthquake of Magnitude 9 (M9), that triggered a series of devastating tsunamis and killed a great number of people around South and Southeast Asia.

No one ever predicted this earthquake. As a matter of fact, the area where the earthquake occurred was thought to be one of the least likely area that an M9 earthquake could happen. This is why in the March 23 issue of the journal Science, a geophysicist from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute urges the public and policy makers to consider previously thought M9 earthquake-free areas to be as dangerous as those labelled M9 earthquake-prone.

Robert McCaffrey, the said geophysicist, has been tracking the movement of the earth under Sumatra through Global Positioning System since 1989. He noticed as early as then that the area was already loaded for a potential great earthquake.

Geophysicists have previously predicted the possibility of M9 earthquakes happening by studying records that go as far back as 100 years. M9 earthquakes occur at boundaries called "subduction zones", where one teutonic plate is gently slipping another plate, causing friction and lifting of the plates. Slips lengthy enough to cause an M9 occur only every 200 to 1,000 years.

McCaffrey says that:

Now is the time to use the knowledge that we have gained and work to save lives should another M9 hit tomorrow or hundreds of years from now. Many didn’t know about tsunamis before the quake; we must make sure that now they never fail to remember their destructive force.

About two centuries ago, people all over the world started reporting sightings of snowflakes as large as dinner plates plummeting from the sky. None of those sightings were verified until recently because the fragility of the flakes made it hard to document the phenomenon. The scientists of today, however, say that these stories may not be whoppers after all.

Meteorologists say that although the snowflakes are fragile and can easily be broken up by wind, there's a very slim chance that some actually make it to the ground.

"There is every reason to suppose that such instances might occur almost every day during winter somewhere in Europe or the maritime fringes of North America and Asia," he said. But, he added, such extraordinary snowfalls "are seldom reported or authenticated," said William Pike of the Royal Meteorological Society in Britain.

And Pike isn't the only one who thinks so. "Clearly, they exist, because people pull them out of their freezers. Some of these things can be very, very rare, but not impossible," says Kenneth Librecht of the California Institute of Technology. Librecht asserted that the laws of physics have not ruled out the existence, or the possibility thereof, of such flakes to exist.

The Guinness Book of Records says that the largest snowflake ever found was in a Montana snowstorm in the 1800's when a rancher captured a flake 15 inches in diameter. That record may soon be broken though. NASA and other space agencies are expected to hunt for these marvels by 2015 with weather satellites all at the low price of $1 billion.

The World Wildlife Fund (now called World Wide Fund for Nature) has introduced a new species into its great cat family. A new kind of the tree-hopping clouded leopard has been discovered in South-East Asia, in the islands of Borneo and Sumatra. Right now, it's creatively dubbed as *drumroll* the Bornean clouded leopard. If you wanna be scientific about it, Neofelis diardi.

Although scientists have been observing this furry for a couple of years now, they never realized how unique it actually was. As early as 1821 (almost two centuries ago!), the clouded leopard was filed under Neofilis nebulusa. It's always been believed that the "stripe-spotted" great cats inhabiting both the mainlands and outlying islands have been of the same species. Until now, of course.

DNA tests from the National Cancer Institute have revealed that there are 40-odd genetic differences between the mainland cats and those in the Borneo islands. They've even dated this evolutionary branching to about 1.4 million years ago. Now just so you know, between lions and common leopards, there are around 56 genetic differences. Clearly, if two different leopards have 40-ish genetic differences, then that makes them unique enough to have their own scientific name descriptor.

Now as for the Bornean clouded leopard, they have the trademark clouded spots, but they sport 1) gray fur that's darker than their mainland cousins, 2) a double stripe down its back, and 3) the longest canine teeth relative to size of any other feline. They are the main predators in the islands, feeding on birds, lizards, monkeys, and small deer.

It's still to be confirmed if Steve Jobs has any form of influence in the identification of this leopard. (teehee!)

Well, it sure looks like that a lot of people have reserved front row seats for the recent lunar eclipse show. CNN reports that stargazers were thrilled by the total lunar eclipse. At the Croydon Observatory in southeast London, about a dozen people - young and old - have gathered to watch the show. According to Paul Harper, the Chairman of the Croydon Astronomical Society, the eclipse was "really very dark...and it was quite a nice one".

Other spectators are really excited about it too. A 60-year-old architect compared the deep red color of the moon to the planet Mars. He says he felt excitement and he mentions that "it's like having the red planet on your doorstep". A young Cub Scout, on the other hand, said "I've never seen anything like it before. I'm really excited."

Cloudy conditions over most parts of Europe didn't faze the event as a variety of Webcasts carried the event live and astronomers urged the public to not miss out on the show. Residents of East Asia saw the eclipse for quite some time as it was cut short by moonset. Those in the eastern parts of North and South America were also able to see it.

Eastern Australia, Alaska, and New Zealand missed out on the lunar eclipse. But on August 28, they'll be in for a treat since another lunar eclipse is set to happen and they have front row seats to it.

 

The image above doesn't quite cut it since the lunar eclipse later today would be a total lunar eclipse, as opposed to the partial seen above.

Anyway, lunar eclipses occur when the moon gets into the Earth's shadow (meaning the Earth is between the sun and the moon). This happens when the Earth, sun and moon are lined up - plus the moon has to be full. During a total lunar eclipse, the moon would appear to have a reddish orange color or an ashen gray. This will happen for one hour and 13 minutes today and all the continents would have a chance to see it. Europe and Africa, however, have the best seats.

Observers in Europe and Africa will be able to see the Earth's shadow creeping along the moon's surface. Australia and Asia will only catch a glimpse of the eclipsed moon as it disappears. On this side of the world, the east coast will get a chance to watch the eclipse at 4:30 P.M. EST, ending at 8:50 EST. Fred Espenak, an astrophysicist at NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center says, "The total eclipse will be in progress just at sunset. You'll have to be patient for the sky to get dark enough to pick out the moon."

Don't worry if you're going to miss this one, there's another eclipse on August 28 and will favor the West Coast.