Category: Environment

WASHINGTON, March 6, 2014 (AFP) – E-cigarette use among US youths doubled in just one year, and those who tried the unregulated devices were more likely to smoke conventional cigarettes as well, a study said Thursday. Commonly sold at convenience stores and gas stations, e-cigarettes are battery powered gadgets that deliver nicotine through a vapor […]

CAMPANARIOS DE AZABA, March 6, 2014 (AFP) – In an oak wood spanning the border of Spain and Portugal, an ancient sight unfolds: wild horses, not saddled or shoed, but roaming free as they did centuries ago.Farming has declined in Spain, leaving the countryside deserted, conservationists say. Now the wild things are coming back: wolves, […]

LOS ANGELES, March 5, 2014 (AFP) – Los Angeles lawmakers voted Tuesday to ban e-cigarette use in public places where tobacco smoking is prohibited, including work places, restaurants and bars.The LA City Council agreed by 14-0 to outlaw their use in indoor workplaces, outdoor dining areas, parks, recreational areas, beaches, bars and nightclubs where lighting […]

WASHINGTON, January 17, 2014 (AFP) – Smoking cigarettes can cause even more health problems than lung cancer, including blindness, diabetes, erectile dysfunction and liver cancer, said a major US government report on Friday.The latest Surgeon General’s findings on the health consequences of smoking were to be formally announced at the White House, in a ceremony […]

SYDNEY, December 26, 2013 (AFP) – Three icebreaking ships were Thursday hurrying to reach a Russian vessel carrying 74 people on a scientific expedition which is trapped by ice off Antarctica, with Australian authorities coordinating the rescue mission.The Australian Maritime Safety Authority (AMSA) said the MV Akademik Shokalskiy sent a distress message on Wednesday to […]

WASHINGTON, December 17, 2013 (AFP) – New findings at an old Neanderthal burial ground in France have bolstered the notion that cavemen cared for their elders, researchers said Monday.The research is based on excavations around the skeleton of an elderly Neanderthal man who could barely walk and had lost his teeth, and who was painstakingly […]

PARIS, December 9, 2013 (AFP) – Europeans with long-term exposure to particulate pollution from road traffic or industry run a higher risk of premature death, even if air quality meets EU standards, a study said on Monday.Published in The Lancet, the paper pointed the finger at fine particles of soot and dust, emissions of which […]

GENEVA, November 26, 2013 (AFP) – The giraffe-like Okapi and the White-winged Flufftail, one of Africa’s rarest birds, are on the verge of extinction, conversation body the IUCN warned on Tuesday. But it has been given a helping hand by the US National Park Service, via captive breeding, reintroduction, vaccination against canine diseases and relocation […]

SYDNEY, November 1, 2013 (AFP) – Plans to create two vast ocean sanctuaries in Antarctica to protect the pristine wilderness failed Friday for a third time with Russia and China blocking the bids, delegates at multi-nation talks said.The proposals for two huge Marine Protected Areas were on the table at the Commission for the Conservation […]

SYDNEY, October 28, 2013 (AFP) – An expedition to a remote part of northern Australia has uncovered three new vertebrate species isolated for millions of years, with scientists Monday calling the area a “lost world”.buy cymbalta Canada buy cymbalta Tim Laman, a National Geographic photographer and Harvard University researcher who joined Hoskin on the expedition, […]

WASHINGTON, October 18, 2013 (AFP) – A stunningly well-preserved skull from 1.8 million years ago offers new evidence that early man was a single species with a vast array of different looks, researchers said Thursday.With a tiny brain about a third the size of a modern human’s, protruding brows and jutting jaws like an ape, […]

WASHINGTON, October 9, 2013 (AFP) – Astronomers said Wednesday they have found a lonely planet outside the solar system floating alone in space and not orbiting a star.Other telescopes in Hawaii showed that the planet has similar properties to those of gas giants orbiting around young stars, but PSO J318.5-22 lacks a host star. During […]