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Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world’s highest places

By Guest PostJuly 4, 2013General, Scienceabu dhabi, access to sea, altitude sickness, andes dwellers, biological tolerance, Bolivia, China, chinese province, chinese security forces, christopher paik, clinica chimica acta, demographic patterns, effect of elevation, enze han, ethnic demographics, ethnic friction, ethnic integration, ethnic segregation, gansu, han chinese, highest places, himalayas, life on high, low oxygen conditions, migration patterns, modern times, new york university, population, princeton university, qinghai, qinghai tibet railway, role of factors, Sichuan, soil quality, tibetan autonomous region, tibetan name, tibetan plateau, tibetan settlements, traditional han settlements, university of london, wangyal shawa, world, yunnan

Ethnic segregation in nations straddling the world’s highest terrains may be reinforced by the biological tolerance different peoples have to altitude, according to one of the first studies to examine the effect of elevation on ethnic demographics.

Research from Princeton University published in the journal Applied Geography suggests that people native to low-lying areas can be naturally barred from regions such as the Tibetan Plateau, the Andes or the Himalayas by altitude sickness, which is caused by low oxygen concentration in the air and can be life-threatening. As a result, the homogeny of the local population can increase with elevation. In nations shared by people of high- and lowland extractions, this separation can potentially increase ethnic tension. (more…)

To Turn Up The Heat in Chilies, Just Add Water

By Guest PostJanuary 5, 2012Sciencebiologists, Bolivia, carlos manchego, david haak, defense, douglas levey, dry areas, dryer environments, fitness based tradeoff, focal populations, fungus, fusarium fungus, haley morris, heat, hot chilies, joshua tewksbury, leslie mcginnis, non pungent plants, pungency, pungent fruit, range of rainfall, self defense, sigma xi, spicy capsaicin, university of washington, vince stricherz, wetter regions, why some chilies are hot, wild chilies

Biologists have learned in recent years that wild chilies develop their trademark pungency, or heat, as a defense against a fungus that could destroy their seeds. But that doesn’t explain why some chilies are hot and others are not.

New research provides an answer: Hot chilies growing in dry areas need more water to produce as many seeds as non-pungent plants, but the Fusarium fungus is less of a threat in dryer environments so chilies in those areas are less likely to turn up the heat. In wetter regions, where Fusarium thrives, wild chilies build up their reserves of spicy capsaicin in self-defense. (more…)

Catastrophic Drought Looms for Capital City of Bolivia

By Guest PostNovember 13, 2010Environmentandean ecosystems, andean forests, andes, Bolivia, carbonate deposition, catastrophic drought, climatologist, ecology, fit, florida institute of technology, interglacial periods, lake poopo, lake titicaca, mark bush, paul filmer, peru, sherilyn fritz, temperatures rise, vegetation change

*Historical ecology of the Andes indicates desert-like setting on the horizon*

Catastrophic drought is on the near-term horizon for the capital city of Bolivia, according to new research into the historical ecology of the Andes.

If temperatures rise more than 1.5 to 2 degrees Celsius (3 to 5 degrees Fahrenheit) above those of modern times, parts of Peru and Bolivia will become a desert-like setting.

About the image: Lake Titicaca from space. Its outline may look very different in the future. Image credit: NASA (more…)

Maradona Vows to Run Naked

By PravdaJune 10, 2010Sportsaleksei federov, Argentina, Bolivia, buenos aires, diego maradona, el grafico au naturelle, fifa 2010 world cup, Greece, group b, national soccer team, nigeria, obelisk, radio fm, republic of korea, south, South Africa

The Head Coach of the Argentina National Soccer team, Diego Maradona, has vowed to run naked through Buenos Aires if his team wins the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa. 🙂

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Tag Archives: Bolivia

Altitude sickness may hinder ethnic integration in the world’s highest places

To Turn Up The Heat in Chilies, Just Add Water

Catastrophic Drought Looms for Capital City of Bolivia

Maradona Vows to Run Naked