ANN ARBOR — Strictly protected areas such as national parks and biological reserves have been more effective at reducing deforestation in the Amazon rainforest than protected zones that allow for controlled removal of trees and other natural resources.
In addition, protected areas established primarily to safeguard the rights and livelihoods of indigenous people performed especially well in places where deforestation pressures are high, two University of Michigan researchers and their colleagues determined. (more…)
“WaterWatchers,” a new mobile app, harnesses the power of crowdsourcing
Johannesburg, South Africa – 22 Mar 2013: IBM marks World Water Day with the launch of a crowdsoucing project to help capture, share and analyze information about the water distribution system in South Africa. The project, called “WaterWatchers,” is driven by a new mobile phone application and SMS capability that will enable South African citizens to report water leaks, faulty water pipes and general conditions of water canals. Every update will provide vital data points to an aggregated “WaterWatchers” report to create a single view of the issues challenging South Africa’s water distribution system.
The free app, which is currently available for Android and available for download at www.ibmwaterwatchers.co.za, and the SMS capability* together provide an easy way for anyone to collect and report issues on local waterways and pipes to a centralized portal. After taking a photo and answering three simple questions about the particular water canal or pipe, the data is uploaded in real-time to a central database. After 30 days, the data will be analyzed and aggregated into a meaningful “leak hot spot” map for South Africa. (more…)
In a new study in Neuron, scientists identified specific key steps in the chain of events that causes stress-related drug relapse. They identified the exact region of the brain where the events take place in rat models and showed that by blocking a step, they could prevent stress-related relapse.(more…)
PASADENA, Calif. — The Planck space mission has released the most accurate and detailed map ever made of the oldest light in the universe, revealing new information about its age, contents and origins. (more…)
Clean Syringes Often Unavailable in St. Petersburg, YSPH Research Finds
Russia’s HIV epidemic is among the fastest growing in the world and injection drug users who often share needles and other supplies are hardest hit. This occurs even though pharmacies are a legal source for clean syringes and can sell them without restriction.
A recent study led by the Yale School of Public Health and St. Petersburg State University mapped the city’s 965 pharmacies and compared their locations and density to HIV prevalence at the district level. (more…)
Russia Has Europe’s Largest Internet Audience, Whilst Turkey Counts the Youngest Users
Highest Penetration in Europe: 2 in 3 Dutch Internet Users Visited Banking Sites
London, UK, 21st March 2013 – comScore, Inc., a global leader in digital measurement and analytics, today released the 2013 Europe Digital Future in Focus report. The report provides a comprehensive overview of the European market and identifies the prevailing trends in web usage, online video, mobile and search. There is also a special scorecard section, which shows the top sites for all 18 European countries measured by comScore as well as an overview of top news, retail and online banking sites per market.
“European consumers are more digitally-engaged than ever before and their usage of mobile, internet-enabled devices is re-defining the media landscape,” said Paul Goode, Chief Advisor Industry Relations for comScore in Europe. “Advertisers, agencies and media owners need to understand the rising number of multi-platform consumers and the more complex digital ecosystem that has developed over the past years. Insights about key trends and underlying drivers enable clients to manage their digital investments effectively.” (more…)
Washington, D.C.— It has long been believed that male lions are dependent on females when it comes to hunting. But new evidence suggests that male lions are, in fact, very successful hunters in their own right. A new report from a team including Carnegie’s Scott Loarie and Greg Asner shows that male lions use dense savanna vegetation for ambush-style hunting in Africa. Their work is published in Animal Behavior. Female lions have long been observed to rely on cooperative strategies to hunt their prey. While some studies demonstrated that male lions are as capable at hunting as females, the males are less likely to cooperate, so there were still questions as to how the males manage to hunt successfully. The possibility that male lions used vegetation for ambushing prey was considered, but it was difficult to study given the logistics and dangers of making observations of lions in densely vegetated portions of the African savanna. (more…)
Drama has become a regular activity for Exeter’s young people in care who have joined forces with students from the University of Exeter to stage a play in Austin, Texas. Stetsons and cowboy boots are at the ready as Exeter’s creative gang of performers head to the United States.
This life changing experience will be the first time that the theatre company ‘Perfectly Mixed Up’ travel and perform outside of Devon. Throughout the week long stay the company will perform their show, More than the Sum, and run two workshops with young people in care in Austin, Texas. ‘Perfectly Mixed Up’ are guests of the University of Texas at Austin who have an exchange programme with the Drama department at University of Exeter. (more…)
