Researchers today outlined in a series of reports how governments, organizations and corporations are successfully moving away from short-term exploitation of the natural world and embracing a long-term vision of “nature as capital” – the ultimate world bank upon which the health and prosperity of humans and the planet depend.The reports, published in the Proceedings…

From heat waves to damaged crops to asthma in children, climate change is a major public health concern, argues a Michigan State University researcher in a new study. Climate change is about more than melting ice caps and images of the Earth on fire, said Sean Valles, assistant professor in Lyman Briggs College and the Department…

The Environmental Protection Agency took its first steps toward regulating the greenhouse gas emissions that escape airplane engines and pollute the atmosphere. The EPA intends to update the Clean Air Act, which was first introduced in 1963, to include jurisdiction limiting the emissions from these plane engines.

Lack of physical activity – along with unhealthy diets – are key risk factors for major non-communicable diseases such as cardiovascular diseases, cancer, and diabetes, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).Thirty to 70% of EU citizens are currently overweight, while 10-30% are considered obese,according to the WHO, which warned against an obesity crisis in…

Dogs do not like people who are mean to their owners, Japanese researchers said Friday, and will refuse food offered by people who have snubbed their master.The findings reveal that canines have the capacity to co-operate socially — a characteristic found in a relatively small number of species, including humans and some other primates.

 The age of the Grand Canyon (USA) has been studied for years, with recent technological advances facilitating new attempts to determine when erosion of this iconic canyon began. The result is sometimes conflicting ages based on different types of data; most data support the notion that the canyon began to erode to its current form…

In response to a petition and lawsuit from the Center for Biological Diversity, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife today recommended state Endangered Species Act protection for the fisher in the southern Sierra Nevada portion of its range. Though this cat-like member of the weasel family was once wide-ranging, today only two naturally occurring fisher populations survive —…

Certain spiders and centipedes—despite being separated by more than 500 million years—have independently evolved the same type of venom from an insulinlike hormone. The find, reported today, could lead to greener insecticides and potentially help fight chronic pain and cancer.

It‘s not often that a simple, doable thing comes along that’s also incredibly good for you, but I think this is it: eat a half a handful of nuts every day.According to a new study out of the Netherlands, just 10 grams (about a third of an ounce) of nuts or peanuts (technically a legume)…

The worldwide demand for legumes, one of the world’s most important agricultural food crops, is growing; at the same time, their production has been adversely affected by drought. In an Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis research paper published today in the journal PLOS ONE, researchers provide information that could help agricultural planning and management to minimize…