Nature

Predicting boom and bust ecologies

harminka — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 13:32:58 -0500

The natural world behaves a lot like the stock market, with periods of relative stability interspersed with dramatic swings in population size and competition between individuals and species

Tree branching key to efficient flow in nature and novel materials

harminka — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 12:35:15 -0500

Nature, in the simple form of a tree canopy, appears to provide keen insights into the best way to design complex systems to move substances from one place to another, an essential ingredient in the development of novel "smart" materials.

Nature reserves attract humans, but at cost to biodiversity

harminka — Fri, 04 Jul 2008 01:48:37 -0500

Rather than suppressing local communities in developing nations, nature reserves attract human settlement, according to a new study by researchers at the University of California, Berkeley.

Biodiversity as a natural resource

harminka — Thu, 22 May 2008 08:31:53 -0500

What will the loss of biodiversity cost us in the long term? How much do national economies need to invest now in order to stop the trend? And what price will we have to pay if we do not act? These are the questions the TEEB – The Economics of Eco-systems and Biodiversity – project is seeking to answer.

Mimicking nature could help business survive the credit crunch

harminka — Fri, 09 May 2008 07:29:23 -0500

As credits crunch, recession bites, and business struggle to stay primed, researchers in Spain suggest that a more surgical approach to management and business practice is needed if a company is to survive. Writing in the International Journal of Management Practice from Inderscience Publishers, the team explains how businesses could take a cue from nature to them restructure.

Sun Ring in FL Keys

admin_huliq — Wed, 30 Apr 2008 10:28:24 -0500

Today a very strange phenomena occurred in Florida Keys as a Ring around the sun was formed in the clear skies.

Lowly Icelandic midges reveal ecosystem's tipping points

harminka — Wed, 05 Mar 2008 13:15:42 -0600

The midges that periodically swarm by the billions from Iceland's Lake Myvatn are a force of nature.

In Sweden Mushrooms Come Early

seher — Fri, 18 Jan 2008 14:55:13 -0600

In more news from the Swedish wilderness, January brings the first mushrooms of the year to the country’s woods.

Model connects circuit theory to wildlife corridors

harminka — Mon, 24 Dec 2007 06:58:10 -0600

Scientists at Northern Arizona University and the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis have developed a model that uses circuit theory to predict gene flow across landscapes.

One-Quarter of US Bird Species at Risk of Extinction

admin_huliq — Sat, 15 Dec 2007 09:01:37 -0600

Twenty-five percent of all bird species in the United States are at risk of extinction, according to a report by the National Audubon Society and American Bird Conservancy, the nation's leading bird conservation groups. WatchList 2007 is a compilation of the most endangered birds in the United States.

The beauty of nature explained!

harminka — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:58:03 -0600

The beauty of nature is partly due to the uniformity of leaf and flower size in individual plants, and scientists have discovered how plants arrive at these aesthetic proportions.

Nature leads way for next generation of paints, cosmetics

harminka — Thu, 04 Oct 2007 05:57:30 -0500

A plant-like micro-organism mostly found in oceans could make the manufacture of products, from iridescent cosmetics, paints and fabrics to credit card holograms, cheaper and ‘greener’.