http://www.redorbit.com Science http://www.redorbit.com/modules/news/images/tools/rss_logo.gif http://www.redorbit.com China has been outspoken in its concern over possible carbon tariffs being imposed on exports, stating that the move would represent a breach of guidelines put in place by the World Trade Organization.Yao Jian, spokesman of China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOC), told Xinhua that the proposals “would seriously hurt the interests of developing countries and trigger disputes in international trade.”"This will not help strengthen confidence that the international community can cooperate to handle the (economic) crisis, it also will not help any country's endeavors during the climate change negotiations, and China is strongly opposed to it," according to an online statement from the MOC.Former French President Jacques Chirac first proposed carbon tariffs as a way to raise the duties on imports from countries that are not making the same effort to cut greenhouse gas emissions as their international peers.The US, Canada and the European Union have created proposals that would involve the use of carbon tariffs.However, China’s approach involves the standard of holding "common but differentiated responsibilities" among nations.China’s opposition to such an initiative comes just one week after Congress passed the Clean Energy and Security Act, which involves the concept of “carbon equalization” provisions that would begin in 2025, according to Reuters.Also, an unnamed Indian climate official responded to the new US legislation saying: "We are completely surprised and rather dismayed by the development. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715626/china_india_in_opposition_to_proposed_us_carbon_tariffs/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:30:00 -0500 Science Scientists in Australia have reported the discovery of three new species, including one agile predator that lived 98 million years ago.Writing in the peer-reviewed journal, PLoS ONE, Scott Hocknull and colleagues at the Queensland Museum and the Australian Age of Dinosaurs Museum of Natural History noted the discovery of two large herbivorous sauropods and one carnivorous theropod in the Winton Formation in eastern Australia.Australia doesn’t have a noteworthy fossil record, and many paleontologists see the continent’s Winton Formation in Queensland as the frontier of untapped potential.Hocknull and colleagues discovered the most complete meat-eating dinosaur in Australia to date. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715596/three_new_dino_species_uncovered_in_australia/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 10:50:00 -0500 Science In a fervent attempt to resolve differences on issues of the world’s carbon emissions, officials from a 17-member, majority comprised body are coming together on the eve of a July 8-10 summit of the G8 to hold critical discussions, Reuters accounted.The meeting of the Major Economies Forum (MEF) was called to reduce the gap between wealthy nations and developing countries like India over long-term goals on global warming and emissions, a collection of eight diplomats and climate change officials told the press.The central Italian city of L’Aquila will host an additional meeting for leaders of the MEF nations, scheduled on July 9.  MEF nations account for 80 percent of global emissions, warranting a much needed coalition to combat these issues.Rumors linger that they could take a decisive advancement in dealings for a U.N. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715736/climate_officials_address_differences_prior_to_g8_summit/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 04 Jul 2009 10:45:00 -0500 Science A Vatican official said on Thursday that the Catholic Church should not fear scientific progress and risk repeating the errors it made in condemning astronomer Galileo in the 17th century.Speaking at a news conference, Monsignor Sergio Pagano, head of the Vatican's secret archives, said the modern Catholic Church can learn from previous mistakes and shed their reticence toward science.Tension between science and religion has existed for centuries. For example, Christian Churches have long objected to the evolutionist theories of Charles Darwin because they contradict biblical accounts of God creating the world in six days.And the Inquisition, which sought out heresies, condemned Gallileo in 1633 for declaring that the earth revolved around the sun, saying the assertion conflicted biblical accounts that said "God fixed the Earth upon its foundation, not to be moved forever."The Vatican did not fully redeem Gallileo, who lived from 1564 to 1642 and was known as the father of astronomy, until 1992, almost three centuries later."Can this teach us something today? I certainly think so," said Monsignor Pagano in a rare display of self-criticism of the Vatican."We should be careful, when we read the Sacred Scriptures and have to deal with scientific questions, to not make the same mistake now that was made then," Reuters quoted him as saying."I am thinking of stem cells, I am thinking of eugenics, I am thinking of scientific research in these fields. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715541/vatican_church_should_not_fear_scientific_progress/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:45:00 -0500 Science Environmental group World Wildlife Fund (WWF) said Thursday that an elephant calf has starved to death in Indonesia, which makes this the eighth endangered Sumatran elephant to have died since May.WWF spokeswoman Syamsidar said the calf is thought to be an offspring from an elephant that was poisoned to death recently during a growing conflict between animals and people over land and forest resources. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715361/another_sumatran_elephant_found_dead/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:47:05 -0500 Science Federal officials have halted a plan by the Idaho Fish and Game Commission to halve the number of pelicans nesting in eastern and southern Idaho by 2013.In May, Idaho officials approved a five-year plan to kill American white pelicans in southeastern Idaho in order to protect sport fish and the Yellowstone cutthroat trout populations.The plan requires the approval of the U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715540/idahos_pelican_plan_put_on_hold/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 07:20:00 -0500 Science A new study has shed light on the extent and causes behind the oceans’ quickly vanishing seagrass meadows, a vital resource for thousands of species of marine life.In the study published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, researchers reported that 58 percent of the world’s seagrass meadows have been shrinking at a rate of about 7 percent a year since 1990.  Scientists based their conclusions on data from over 200 surveys and some 1,800 observations dating as far back as 1879, which show seagrass meadows disappearing at a pace similar to that of rainforests and coral reefs.“Seagrasses are disappearing because they live in the same kind of environments that attract people,” explained co-author of the report James Fourqurean of Florida International University.“They live in shallow areas protected from large storm waves, and they are especially prevalent in bays and around river mouths.”Marine biologists say that seagrass plays a vital role in marine ecosystems.  Breaking-down and processing waste, stabilizing sediment on the seabed, and providing food and shelter to countless species of marine life are just a few of the functions of seagrass, which fills a niche in the aquatic world comparable to that occupied by plants and fungus in terrestrial biomes.Scientists are blaming global climate change as one of the critical factors contributing to the decline of seagrass, which they say is sensitive to the rising ocean levels and warming water temperature caused by greenhouse gases.  But researchers are also pointing to another man-made problem that may be having a more immediate effect on seagrass’ ability to thrive.  Ocean water made cloudy by pollution from coastal industry is able to transmit less sunlight to the photosynthetic plants, ultimately restricting the depth at which they are able to grow. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715730/study_highlights_oceans_steadily_vanishing_seagrass/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 04 Jul 2009 08:30:00 -0500 Science The newest revolution in microbiology testing walks on four legs and says "baa."It's the hair sheep, a less-hirsute version of the familiar woolly barnyard resident. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715733/rare_sheep_could_be_key_to_better_diagnostic_tests/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 04 Jul 2009 09:00:00 -0500 Science What Europe can learn from the successful reintroduction of a once extinct butterfly in BritainIntelligent countryside management could improve the survival chances of animal and plant species threatened by climate change. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715358/reintroduction_of_a_once_extinct_butterfly_in_britain/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:25:00 -0500 Science A similarity in brain disturbance between insects and people suffering from migraines, stroke and epilepsy points the way toward new drug therapies to address these conditions.Queen's University biologists studying the locust have found that these human disorders are linked by a brain disturbance during which nerve cells shut down. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715355/studying_locusts_to_find_new_treatment_for_stroke_and_migraine/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:10:00 -0500 Science Practice, practice, practice might get you to Carnegie Hall, but for aspiring musicians, there's new evidence that genes may influence one's ability to get there, as well.Perfect pitch, also known as absolute pitch, is the rare ability to recognize and name musical notes without any reference pitch for comparison, detecting, for instance, A before middle C. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715578/perfect_pitch_research_offers_window_into_influences_of_nature_and/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:12:33 -0500 Science The ability of plants to tell the time, a mechanism common to all living beings, enables them to survive, grow and reproduce. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715356/plants_internal_clock_may_improve_climatechange_models/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 15:16:18 -0500 Science The head of a Japanese expedition in the Antarctic says so-called Green Room growth techniques have proved invaluable to the researchers. Expedition leader Shuki Ushio said the Japanese agricultural breakthrough that uses fluorescent lights to grow vegetables indoors has allowed expedition members to eat more than simple freeze-dried food products, Kyodo News reported Saturday. I didn't think we could eat fresh crispy vegetables, Ushio said. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715762/green_room_helping_japanese_expedition/index.html?source=r_science Sat, 04 Jul 2009 14:52:35 -0500 Science Gene mutations that once helped humans evolve and survive could increase the risk of cancer and other diseases today, researchers in Israel said. The mutations were found in the genome of the mitochondria, the part of cells responsible for energy production that is passed from mother to child, scientists at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev said. Although mitochondria's role in the emergence of new species has been investigated recently, the idea that they are responsible for our susceptibility to illness startles many, Dr. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715658/old_gene_mutations_may_cause_cancer_today/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:40:48 -0500 Science NOW Foods is recalling products containing whey protein concentrate because of possible Salmonella contamination, the U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715656/now_foods_recalls_whey_products/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:27:30 -0500 Science Letting Pacific Northwest forests age longer would increase carbon storage and help mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, researchers in Oregon said. If, for example, the region's forests were allowed to increase in age by 50 years, their potential to store atmospheric carbon would increase by 15 percent, researchers at Oregon State University, Corvallis, said. That would significantly offset the nation's carbon budget since the Pacific Northwest accounts for 14 percent of the live biomass in the United States, said Beverly Law, a professor of forest science at the university. Law's team analyzed two decades worth of information from 15,000 forest plots in the North American Carbon Program. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715657/older_forests_store_more_carbon/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 15:19:53 -0500 Science Genetic engineering could make grapevines immune to a common virus that now results in smaller grapes and crop loss, German scientists said. Modified plants have produced antibodies against Grapevine fanleaf virus, caused by the vine louse, or rust mite, researchers at the Institute for Molecular Biology and Applied Ecology, in Aachen, said. These antibodies 'recognize' the viruses and prevent them from spreading in the plant and causing damage, said Dr. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715655/genetically_modified_vines_avoid_virus/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 14:46:42 -0500 Science The reintroduction of the Large Blue butterfly to Britain offers lessons in helping plants and animals threatened by climate change, scientists said. The Large Blue, whose scientific name is Maculinea arion, was successfully reintroduced 25 years ago after becoming extinct in 1979, scientists at the Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research said in a release Friday. Large Blues imported from Sweden were aided by the creation of small heat-shielded habitats, which could give today's threatened species more time to adapt or migrate to regions better suited to them, Jeremy A. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715654/butterfly_offers_lessons_in_climate_change/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:43:32 -0500 Science Modern Tuscans show no genetic relationship to the Etruscans who occupied the area during the Bronze Age, Italian researchers have found. While there is a genetic link between Medieval Tuscans and the current population, no link could be found to inhabitants from the Bronze Age, David Caramelli of Florence University and Guido Barbujani of Ferrara University said. Immigration and forced migration have diluted the Etruscan genetic inheritance so much as to make it difficult to recognize, the researchers said in a release. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715653/no_dna_link_between_etruscans_tuscans/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 13:07:38 -0500 Science A new drug to be tested in three African countries could greatly reduce cases of onchocerciasis, commonly called river blindness, health officials said. This is a devastating illness that has plagued 30 African countries for centuries, said Dr. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715598/new_river_blindness_drug_shows_promise/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 12:03:17 -0500 Science A decrease in California's endangered sea otter population likely means their water has grown more contaminated, scientists said. In a survey taken this spring, 2,654 otters were counted from Point Conception in the Santa Barbara area north to Half Moon Bay, about a 250-mile range, the U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715597/fewer_california_sea_otters_reported/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:37:25 -0500 Science Milder weather brought about by climate change is causing Soay sheep to shrink on an uninhabited British island, scientists said. On Hirta Island in the St. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715595/soay_sheep_shrinking_in_climate_change/index.html?source=r_science Fri, 03 Jul 2009 11:30:16 -0500 Science U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715484/hammering_men_more_accurate_than_women/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:21:31 -0500 Science NASA's Fermi Gamma-ray Space Telescope -- able to identify pulsars by gamma-ray emissions -- has provided data for two studies, U.S. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715401/nasas_fermi_telescope_finds_16_pulsars/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:08:20 -0500 Science A U.S.-led team of physicists says it has created the first rudimentary, solid-state quantum processor, moving science closer to building a quantum computer. Yale University scientists said they also used the two-qubit superconducting chip to successfully run elementary algorithms, such as a simple search, demonstrating quantum information processing with a solid-state device for the first time. Our processor can perform only a few very simple quantum tasks, which have been demonstrated before with single nuclei, atoms and photons, Yale Professor Robert Schoelkopf said. http://www.redorbit.com/news/science/1715400/first_solidstate_quantum_chip_is_created/index.html?source=r_science Thu, 02 Jul 2009 16:05:56 -0500 Science