• UN stresses economic benefits of saving rare species
• Thirteen countries agree plan to save wild tigers
• Scores of new plant species discovered in Africa

• Great Britain: Leading researcher demonstrates increased brain coherence during Transcendental Meditation
• Germany: New scientific documentary discusses benefits of Transcendental Meditation practice
• New US study to examine adding Transcendental Meditation to standard care for heart disease patients

• New form of malaria threatens Thai-Cambodia border
• Special Report - Amazon projects undercut Brazil's new green path
• Study finds weed killer affects frogs' development

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

UN stresses economic benefits of saving rare species
3 February 2010 - In 2010 -- the International Year of Biodiversity -- the United Nations wants efforts to slow the accelerating pace of extinctions to reach beyond nature lovers, to companies and economists. Shifting emphasis from emotional images of wildlife that stress the fragility and beauty of nature, the focus is on a harder-headed assessment of how the natural world is a key to economic growth and new products. 'Boosting biodiversity can boost the global economy,' the UN Environment Programme said. Natural services by coral reefs, forests or wetlands are too often undervalued, it said. (more)

Thirteen countries agree plan to save wild tigers
29 January 2010 - A dozen Asian nations and Russia vowed Friday to double the number of wild tigers by 2022, crack down on poaching that has devastated the big cats, and prohibit the building of roads and bridges that could harm their habitats. The historic declaration adopted by the 13 countries will now be considered for approval by heads of state of the 13 countries in September at a meeting in Vladivostok, Russia. (more)

Scores of new plant species discovered in Africa
20 January 2010 - East and tropical Southern Africa yielded the greatest number of new plant species in 2009, according to the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. The leafy bounty of almost 300 new species included palms and rainforest trees, rare orchids, and an aquatic plant related to ancient ferns. A whopping 67 new species were discovered in Tanzania -- more than in any other country. 2010 is the International Year of Biodiversity. (more)

South Africa's radio astronomy project set to make big strides in 2010
18 January 2010 - This year is going to be a key year in the history of science, engineering, and technology in South Africa as the country's globally significant radio astronomy programme reaches key milestones. South Africa has created a Radio Astronomy Reserve in the Karoo, and is currently developing the MeerKAT radio telescope array which, when it starts operation in 2013, will be one of the biggest and most important such instruments in the world. (more)

UK: Wildlife survey aims to involve school children
18 January 2010 - A British charity launched its biggest survey of the wildlife in school yards on Monday, aiming to get thousands of children watching excitedly to find out which creatures share their playgrounds. Wild birds are an unbeatable teaching resource, the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds says. Colourful, active and abundant, they enthuse and inspire children about nature. (more)

'World's least known bird' found breeding in Afghanistan
17 January 2010 - Researchers have found in Afghanistan the first known breeding area of the large-billed reed warbler, which was dubbed in 2007 as 'the world's least known bird species'. A preliminary paper on the finding appears in BirdingASIA, describing the discovery in Afghanistan as 'a watershed moment' in the study of this bird. The first specimen of the large-billed reed warbler was discovered in India in 1867 but the second find was not until 2006 in Thailand. The breeding area in the remote and rugged Wakhan Corridor of north-eastern Afghanistan has escaped the worst effects of war. (more)

Antarctic wind farm reduces bases' reliance on diesel
17 January 2010 - The world's southernmost wind farm has been opened in Antarctica, the first in what could be a number of renewable energy projects aimed to lower the frozen continent's reliance on diesel for power. The joint New Zealand-US project will provide 11 per cent of the power needed to run the two nations' science bases on Antarctica's Ross Sea coast. (more)

Britain's Royal Society putting Newton's encounter with apple online
17 January 2010 - An 18th-century account of how a falling piece of fruit helped Isaac Newton develop the theory of gravity is being posted to the Web, making scans of the fragile paper manuscript widely available to the public for the first time. Britain's Royal Society said it was making the documents available online Monday. The incident occurred in the mid-1660s when Newton was at his family home in northern England. Users can flip through documents on Newton using page-turning software. (more)

University of Kansas gets grant for 'green' engineering building
8 January 2010 - The University of Kansas has received a $12.3 million federal grant to build a 'green technologies' facility for its engineering school. The university will raise $6.5 million in matching funds for construction of the Measurement, Materials, and Sustainable Environment Center. The building is expected to be completed by spring 2012. (more)

US: Waste heat from data centre to warm a conservatory
4 January 2010 - Just as data farms need to have that warmth removed, day in/day out, greenhouses, by contrast, need a supply of consistent warmth, summer and winter. Put the two together and you have a marriage made in heaven. Indiana's University of Notre Dame will house its computer servers in a standard shipping container next to a conservatory for cacti and other desert plants and will funnel the heated air through the conservatory so the waste heat warms the desert plants. Indiana has cold snowy winters, and the state relies on electricity from coal. Warming the desert plants with waste heat from the data centre reduces greenhouse gases. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Great Britain: Leading researcher demonstrates increased brain coherence during Transcendental Meditation
7 February 2010 - One of the world's most published researchers on the brain, meditation, and education, Dr Fred Travis, visited London, England, in December 2009. Dr Travis, Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition at Maharishi University of Management, USA, presented a live EEG (electroencephalogram) demonstration of increased coherence in the frontal lobes of the brain during Transcendental Meditation. (more)

Germany: New scientific documentary discusses benefits of Transcendental Meditation practice
11 January 2010 - A Teacher of the Transcendental Meditation Programme from Germany, Gottfried Vollmer, was featured in a new documentary, titled R'Evolution 2012, in which he lectures on the benefits of Transcendental Meditation practice for counteracting future effects of increased sunspot activity and its influence on the geomagnetic field of the earth and the human brain. (more)

New US study to examine adding Transcendental Meditation to standard care for heart disease patients
25 December 2009 - A new study will examine how adding the Transcendental Meditation Programme to standard care for heart disease patients compares with standard care alone. The current therapy--considered top-of-the-line in conventional medicine--will be compared to top-of-the-line conventional therapy plus a new addition from Maharishi Vedic Approach to Health: the experience of Transcendental Consciousness. (more)

Advanced cardiac imaging technology allows US researchers to examine effect of Transcendental Meditation on the heart itself
23 December 2009 - While previous studies have examined the effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique on risk factors including high blood pressure, smoking, and alcohol, a new study proposes to look directly at the effects of Transcendental Meditation on the heart itself. Utilizing a new advanced technology--quantitative Positron Emission Tomography (PET)--researchers will see what happens to the heart, the blood vessels, the coronary arteries, and the blood flow through those coronary arteries. (more)

New Transcendental Meditation study in US awarded funding through federally sponsored competition
21 December 2009 - Following the success of a nine-year study showing a 47 per cent reduction of heart attack, stroke, and death through the Transcendental Meditation Technique, a new study to examine the effects of Transcendental Meditation on the heart itself is beginning. The new study was among only 800--four per cent--chosen for funding from 20,000 submissions to a federally sponsored competition in the US. (more)

Live EEG demonstrations to feature unique brain coherence during Transcendental Meditation: International training conference
8 December 2009 - This past weekend, 4-6 December, a conference on 'Brainwaves and Transcendental Meditation: Basic Science and Global Application' was held in MERU, Holland. The goal of the course was to explain--and demonstrate using an EEG machine--the unique brain wave patterns found during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

Brain research reveals how inner wakefulness during Transcendental Meditation maintained in dynamic activity: Dr Fred Travis
10 November 2009 - In his presentation on the business webinar, 'How to Optimize Your Brain to Realize Your Full Leadership Potential,' in New York 23 October, Dr Fred Travis, Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, gave a demonstration of EEG brain wave coherence during Transcendental Meditation. He explained that during the technique, 'all the localized processes settle down and there is just the experience of wakefulness, awareness.' (more)

Four dimensions of peak performance: Transcendental Meditation promotes higher development in many areas simultaneously - Dr Harald Harung
7 November 2009 - Dr Harald Harung, Associate Professor of Management, Oslo University College, Norway, and Dr Fred Travis, Director of the Center for Brain, Consciousness, and Cognition, have conducted research on peak performers in sports and business over the last five years. Dr Harung spoke recently about the four dimensions of peak performance: brain integration, self-actualization, higher individual consciousness, and higher collective consciousness. By promoting higher development, the Transcendental Meditation Programme creates beneficial effects in many areas of life--for example, health, education, rehabilitation, and performance--simultaneously. (more)

Higher consciousness for higher achievement: Brain integration in world-class performers similar to Transcendental Meditation effects
5 November 2009 - For five years Dr Harald Harung and Dr Fred Travis have been conducting research on world-class performers, to determine the characteristics of those who are the top performers in the world. They found that the high levels of brain integration and psychological maturity these high performers display are the same characteristics developed through the practice of Transcendental Meditation. (more)

First Global EEG Training Conference: Demonstrating worldwide the brain wave patterns of enlightenment
4 November 2009 - After learning how to use new, portable EEG equipment in live demonstrations of the dynamics of total brain functioning during Transcendental Meditation, participants in the First Global EEG Training Conference, 4-6 December 2009, in MERU, Holland will learn about EEG patterns of enlightenment. Presentations will demonstrate how, through regular practice of Transcendental Meditation, the high level of coherence in EEG brain wave patterns during meditation becomes stabilized in activity--a characteristic of higher states of consciousness. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

New form of malaria threatens Thai-Cambodia border
28 December 2009 - An isolated spot on the Thai-Cambodian border is home to a form of malaria that keeps rendering one powerful drug after another useless. Scientists have confirmed the first signs of resistance to the only affordable treatment left in the global medicine cabinet for malaria: Artemisinin. If this drug stops working, there's no good replacement to combat a disease that kills 1 million annually. As a result, earlier this year international medical leaders declared resistant malaria here a health emergency. Malaria is just one of the leading killer infectious diseases battling back in a new and more deadly form. After decades of the overuse and misuse of antibiotics, diseases like malaria, tuberculosis, and staph have started to mutate. The result: The drugs are slowly dying. (more)

Special Report - Amazon projects undercut Brazil's new green path
13 December 2009 - Nearly 20 per cent of the Amazon has already disappeared and large chunks of the forest are still destroyed every year. In the year through July 2009 an area the size of the US state of Delaware was chopped down. Political pressure -- such challenges are likely to be multiplied with the planned construction of the much larger Belo Monte dam on the upper Xingu river. The region is home to numerous Indian tribes and the dam would directly impact 120,000 people. The environmental agency Ibama is again under pressure, this time to speed up the Belo Monte approval process. Again, two officials resigned and conservationists cried foul. Perhaps the biggest worry for environmentalists is the planned pavement of the BR 319 motorway between Porto Velho and Manaus, which leads through one of the most pristine areas of the Amazon. Satellite images showing patterns of deforestation show how roads attract settlers to set up farms and cattle ranches. (more)

Study finds weed killer affects frogs' development
3 December 2009 - The widely used weed killer atrazine affects the sexual development of frogs, raising questions about the effects of its use in the environment, the University of Ottawa said on Thursday. A study by researchers at the University found that at low levels comparable to those measured in the Canadian environment, fewer tadpoles reached the froglet stage and the ratio of females to males increased. The EPA said in October that it was reviewing the health impacts of the herbicide. Some studies have tied it to birth defects, low birth weight, and premature babies. Syngenta AG, a major Swiss manufacturer of atrazine, has long defended its safety. (more)

Report shows Pfizer manipulated studies to show favourable results for Neurontin
12 November 2009 - A study of internal company documents suggests Pfizer Inc altered or omitted unfavourable study findings to expand its epilepsy drug Neurontin's market, US researchers said on Wednesday, offering a look at how drugmakers influence scientific research. Clinical trials are supposed to answer a specific, predetermined scientific question, but experts found that eight out of 20 study reports never made it into medical journals. And in eight of the 12 published studies, the primary outcome -- the answer to the main scientific question -- was changed by Pfizer. The company paid $430 million to settle a lawsuit over illegal promotion of Neurontin, and was sued again last year for holding back negative study results and changing the design of its trials to produce more favourable results. That case was the latest in a string of allegations against the pharmaceutical industry suggesting it has controlled the flow of clinical trial research to boost its marketing position. (more)

UK starts study on using human DNA in animals
12 November 2009 - British scientists begin a new study on Tuesday to consider how human DNA is used in animal experiments and to determine what the boundaries of such controversial science might be. Experts have been swapping human and animal DNA for years -- like replacing animal genes with human genes or growing human organs in animals. Scientists also have tried to grow human organs in animals that could one day be transplanted back into humans -- like a mouse onto whose back scientists grew a human ear. Two years ago, controversy erupted in Britain after scientists announced plans to create human embryos using empty cow and rabbit eggs. Scientists said they are now trying to determine where the line should be drawn on experiments that use human material in animals. At the moment, the regulation on how much human DNA can be put into an animal is vague. (more)

Deforestation sped demise of Nasca in Peru: study
2 November 2009 - The mysterious people who etched the 'Nasca Lines' across deserts in Peru hastened their own demise by clearing forests 1,500 years ago, according to a study on Monday. The Nasca people, famed for the lines that depict animals or geometric shapes most clearly visible from the air, became unable to grow enough food in nearby valleys because the lack of trees made the climate too dry, scientists said. The Nasca people cleared valleys for farming by felling huarango trees -- a key species which can live more than 1,000 years and helps regulate soil fertility and moisture, Remaining huarango forest in the region is now being destroyed by illegal charcoal-burning operations. (more)

World must use GM crops, says UK science academy
21 October 2009 - The world needs genetically modified crops both to increase food yields and minimize the environmental impact of farming, Britain's top science academy said on Wednesday. The world must develop over the next 16 years through genetic modification and conventional breeding varieties of crops resistant to disease, drought, salinity, heat, and toxic heavy metals, the report said. Progress in DNA-sequencing had made more plant genes available for engineering, improving the predictability of results in a 'second generation' GM approach. But the pressure group Greenpeace said GM crops were a costly distraction from tackling hunger through fighting poverty and helping smallholders in developing countries sell their product. (more)

Human's faulted as Arctic now warmest in 2000 years
6 September 2009 - Climate-warming greenhouse gas emissions pushed Arctic temperatures in the last decade to the highest levels in at least 2,000 years, reversing a natural cooling trend that should have lasted four more millennia. 'If it hadn't been for the increase in human-produced greenhouse gases, summer temperatures in the Arctic should have cooled gradually over the last century,' Bette Otto-Bliesner, a co-author from the National Center for Atmospheric Research, said in a statement. (more)

Scientists study huge plastic patch in the Pacific Ocean
5 August 2009 - Marine scientists from California are venturing this week to the middle of the North Pacific for a study of plastic debris accumulating across hundreds of miles (km) of open sea dubbed the 'Great Pacific Garbage Patch'. The expedition will study how much debris -- mostly tiny plastic fragments -- is collecting in an expanse of sea known as the North Pacific Ocean Gyre, how that material is distributed and how it affects marine life. Besides the potential harm to sea life caused by ingesting bits of plastic, the expedition team will look at whether the particles could carry other pollutants, such as pesticides, far out to sea, and whether tiny organisms attached to the debris could be transported to distant regions and thus become invasive species. (more)

World 'sleepwalking' into disasters: UN aid chief
16 June 2009 - The world is 'sleepwalking' toward preventable natural disasters whose effects could be cut significantly with a modest increase in spending on risk reduction, the United Nations aid chief said on Tuesday. 'The trends in disasters, particularly from climate change, are of enormous concern,' said John Holmes, UN undersecretary-general for humanitarian affairs. About 90 per cent of disasters are climate-related, said Mr Holmes, who noted cyclones in Brazil in 2004 and Oman in 2007 had been of an intensity never before seen in those regions. (more)