The truth is historians don’t know who built the first zoo, or when it was built. But we can be confident it happened a very long time ago. Human fascination with animals goes back as far as humans do. In the oldest cave paintings discovered, some of which are up to 40,000 years old, there...
Smithsonian’s National Museum of Natural History researcher Murilo Pastana and his colleagues have discovered and described two new species of Amazonian fish—one with striking red-orange fins and the other so small it is technically considered a miniature fish species—in a paper published today, May 16, in the Zoological Journal of the Linnean Society. Both species inhabit waters located at...
The first detailed academic study of East African maritime traditions shows changes in boatbuilding techniques but the continuing use of wooden vessels by fishers. Researchers have documented the watercraft using the Zanzibar Channel – using photogrammetry technology – which so many livelihoods depend. Large local vessels – the mtepe, dau la mtepe, and even the...
International organisations and governments offering aid to Ukraine are not targeting their assistance effectively, according to research published in the peer-reviewed journal Public Money and Management. More than $15 billion overall has been pledged so far in financial, technical and humanitarian support since Russia’s invasion in February triggered a human-made crisis. A comprehensive analysis of 35...
The U.N. General Assembly voted Thursday to suspend Russia from the world organization’s leading human rights body over allegations that Russian soldiers in Ukraine engaged in rights violations that the United States and Ukraine have called war crimes. It was a rare, if not unprecedented rebuke against one of the five veto-wielding members of the...
Russia’s war on Ukraine has most Americans at least somewhat worried that the U.S. will be drawn directly into the conflict and could be targeted with nuclear weapons, with a new poll reflecting a level of anxiety that has echoes of the Cold War era. Close to half of Americans say they are very concerned that Russia would...
One of the great mysteries of late medieval history is why did the Norse, who had established successful settlements in southern Greenland in 985, abandon them in the early 15th century? The consensus view has long been that colder temperatures, associated with the Little Ice Age, helped make the colonies unsustainable. However, new research, led by...
Despite global Sustainable Development Goals and commitments made in 2015, just 29 African nations have made some progress over the past three to five years, 25 have made none, according to the UN’s first-ever assessment of water security in Africa. Published on the eve of World Water Day (March 22) by UN University’s Canadian-based Institute...
This part of Maceio, the capital of Brazil’s northeastern Alagoas state, used to buzz with the sounds of cars, commerce and children playing. It went silent as residents evacuated en masse, eager to escape the looming destruction of their homes, which were cracking and crumbling. Beneath their floors, the subsurface was riddled with dozens of...
Last month, Russia and China declared that their friendship had “no limits.” But since Russia launched its attack on Ukraine, that friendship has been strained. As the war has gone on, China has sought to distance itself from Russia to avoid the same financial sanctions and economic isolation that has rocked Russia in recent weeks....
