OK4me2

Cajoling bored friends to keep playing with you is not limited to humans. A gorilla that wants to continue a game will also try to do this, and will even deliberately lose if necessary. This hints that gorillas may have "theory of mind" – the capacity to attribute mental states to others.

Just one more go [...]

Map shows carbon stocks and potential emissions of selected forest protected areas in the Brazilian Amazon. (Credit: WWF)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2010) — A new study involving scientists from 13 different organizations, universities and research institutions states that forest protection offers one of the most effective, practical, and immediate strategies to combat climate change. The study [...]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — Beyond the headline-grabbing proposals on bluefin tuna and ivory trade, the largest wildlife trade convention meeting this week will also address several timber-related issues — an often overlooked responsibility of the Convention on International Trade and Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES).

In a CITES meeting on Friday, Peru [...]

Capuchin monkey. (Credit: iStockphoto/Auke Holwerda)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 16, 2010) — Given a choice between spending a token to get their absolute favorite food or spending it to have a choice from a buffet of options, capuchin monkeys will opt for variety.

In fact, they'll even eat a less-preferred food from that buffet when the favorite food is [...]

Orangutan in Sarawak, Borneo. (Credit: iStockphoto/Charles Taylor)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — Research into the long calls of male Orangutans in Borneo has given scientists new insight into how these solitary apes communicate through dense jungle. An acoustic analysis of the calls, published in Ethology, reveals that the calls not only serve to attract females, but [...]

Governments need to crack down on illegal tiger trading if the big cats are to be saved, the UN has warned.

There are now considerably more tigers in captivity than in the wild.
The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) meeting in Doha, Qatar heard that tiger numbers are continuing to fall.
Organised crime rings are [...]

Purple loosestrife is an invasive plant. (Credit: iStockphoto/Ellen Morgan)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — The flowering plant — purple loosestrife — has been heading north since it was first introduced from Europe to the eastern seaboard 150 years ago. This exotic invader chokes out native species and has dramatically altered wetland habitats in North America. But [...]

Elevation contours outline tree heights, allowing for research on effects of light on the forest. (Credit: James Clark)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — It's a paradox that's puzzled scientists for a half-century. Models clearly show that the coexistence of competing species depends on those species responding differently to the availability of resources. Then why do studies [...]

Wild arctic reindeer in the wilderness of Svalbard islands, Norway. (Credit: iStockphoto/Laila Røberg)

ScienceDaily (Mar. 15, 2010) — In the far northern reaches of the Arctic, day versus night often doesn't mean a whole lot. During parts of the year, the sun does not set; at other times, it's just the opposite. A new study reported [...]

ScienceDaily (Mar. 14, 2010) — Researchers at the University of Calgary have discovered the unique genes that allow the opium poppy to make codeine and morphine, thus opening doors to alternate methods of producing these effective painkillers either by manufacturing them in a lab or controlling the production of these compounds in the plant.

University of [...]