Herpsilochmus  stotzi Photo by Fabio Schunck

Zimmerius chicomendesi Photo by Fabio Schunck

Myrmotherula oreni      Photo by Lars Petersson

An international team of researchers coordinated by ornithologist Bret Whitney has published 15 species of birds previously unknown to science. The formal description of these birds has been printed in a special volume of the “Handbook of the Birds of the World” series. Not since 1871 have so many new species of birds been introduced under a single cover. Whitney is with the  Museum of Natural Science at  Louisiana State University,

Authors also include ornithologists from Colombia.

Most of the new species were discovered by detecting differences in their songs and calls in the field.

“Birds are, far and away, the best-known group of vertebrates, so describing a large number of uncatalogued species of birds in this day and age is unexpected, to say the least,” said Whitney.  “But what’s so exciting about this presentation of 15 new species from the Amazon all at once is, first, highlighting how little we really know about species diversity in Amazonia, and second, showing how technological advances have given us new toolsets for discovering and comparing naturally occurring, cohesive  populations with other, closely related populations.”

Amazonia is home to far more species of birds – approximately 1,300 – and more species per unit area, than any other area. Technological advances such as satellite imagery, digital recordings of vocalizations, DNA analysis and high-powered computation power have taken the age of discovery to the next level, and were key ingredients in the discovery of these new species. However, such discoveries still depend on exploration of remote areas of the Amazon rainforest, just as they did a century ago, and this sort of fieldwork has been carried out by the museum staff every year since the early 1960s.


Mandela returns to his home
and continued medical care


Former South African president Nelson Mandela has been discharged from Medi-clinic Heart Hospital in the country’s capital, Pretoria, where he spent close to three months being treated for a recurring lung infection. However, his health is said to remain critical and at times unstable, and his doctors will keep providing him with intensive care at his Johannesburg home.

A spokesman for South African President Jacob Zuma has confirmed that Mandela left the hospital Sunday morning.  Presidential spokesperson Mac Maharaj says the anti-apartheid icon is now recovering at his home in the Johannesburg suburb of Houghton. Mandela had been hospitalized since June 8.

Maharaj referred to Mandela using his clan name, Madiba.

"We would like to wish him all the best as he continues his recovery at his Johannesburg home. Madiba's condition remains critical and is at times unstable," said Maharaj. "Nevertheless, his team of doctors are convinced that he will receive the same level of intensive care at his Houghton home that he received in Pretoria.

Maharaj went further to dispel fears that South Africa’s first black president will not receive adequate medical care at his home.

His home has been reconfigured to allow him to receive intensive care there," said Maharaj. "The health care personnel providing care at his home are the very same who provided care to him in hospital. If there are health conditions that warrant another admission to hospital in future, this will be done.

Mandela’s release from the hospital came a day after a flurry of media reports that he had already been released, but the South African presidency Saturday dismissed the reports as false.

The hospital in Pretoria had become a beehive of activity, with dozens of people from all over the country visiting daily to wish him well.

This hospitalization was Mandela's fourth since December 2012. The 95-year-old first tested positive for tuberculosis in 1988 while he was still in prison for his role in fighting the apartheid regime.

He was released after spending 27 years in prison, and in 1994 was elected as South Africa’s first black president.

Mandela retired from public life in 1994.


Rim Fire won't be controlled
for two months, firemen say


More than 5,000 firefighters are battling a massive wildfire in the western U.S. state of California that is expanding into areas of a famous national park.
 
The U.S. Forest Service says the so-called Rim Fire has engulfed more than 90,000 hectares since it started two weeks ago on the edge of Yosemite National Park. It has destroyed more than 100 homes, businesses and other structures, with about 4,500 other structures still threatened.
 
Firefighters say they have contained 40 percent of the massive blaze. They now estimate it will take until Oct. 20 to fully contain the Rim Fire, a full month longer than expectations voiced just two days ago.
 
The wildfire is still some distance from Yosemite National Park's major attractions, including granite rock formations and waterfalls.
 
It is the largest fire in the United States this year and the fifth largest California wildfire on record.
 
Mandatory evacuations are in place in at least two areas.
 
Authorities have been using an unmanned military Predator drone, similar to those used in Afghanistan, to provide information on new fires they would otherwise not be able to see.
 
The cause of the fire that broke out Aug. 17 is under investigation. It is one of dozens of large wildfires burning in the western United States, which has been plagued by a lack of snow and rainfall this year.


Philippines and U.S. negotiate
rules for placing troops there


Philippine negotiators are emphasizing the temporary nature of plans to have more American forces rotate through the Philippines as they work toward forging an agreement on the deployments with the United States.
 
The Philippine negotiators say there will be clear language mandating the presence of U.S. troops will be temporary.
 
They said at meetings with their U.S. counterparts in Washington, both sides agreed that any U.S. activities would first need Philippine approval. The Philippine side says places where equipment will be ready for U.S. forces to use will belong to the Philippines and anything built and funded by the U.S. for specific activities will be removed once the activities are over.
 
National Defense Spokesman Peter Paul Galvez says the guidelines of what the Americans will be allowed to do are all in keeping with the Philippine Constitution.
 
“As long as they are in the country, all the facilities would remain the property of the Philippines, because otherwise, it would be basing, right?”
 
The Philippines, a former American colony, was host to U.S. bases for nearly a century, but a surge of domestic opposition forced them to close in 1992.
 
For the United States, being welcomed in the Philippines will mean more access to a region where it is strengthening military, diplomatic and economic ties. The Philippines, which is modernizing its weak and aging military, sees more U.S. troop rotations as a way to strengthen its minimum credible defense posture in the face of growing territorial disputes.
 
A major issue is the South China Sea, where China says it has indisputable territory, while the Philippines, Vietnam, Malaysia, Brunei and Taiwan also have stakes in the resource-rich waters.
 
The Philippine negotiator, Foreign Affairs Assistant Secretary Carlos Sorreta, said Friday after the meeting with the U.S. panel that the military buildup is not directed at any country.  Instead he said, “the enemy is misunderstanding and uncertainty.” Sorreta says with this plan, “no nation should ever be uncertain that we will defend what is ours.”

The Philippines is looking to boost its maritime security and maritime surveillance capabilities through this partnership with the United States. Both sides plan training exercises and activities. And spokesman Galvez says the Philippines will have authority over these.
 
“Securing the perimeter and everything is of course under our responsibility of course, because it’s our country,” said Galvez.
 
In a statement, Sorreta said he expected the duration of the arrangement to be less than 20 years, which is the typical length of a U.S. program with other defense partners.
 
He says the negotiations are more than halfway through. The next meeting will be held in mid-September in Washington.


Stored water at reactor in Japan
shows big hike in radioactivity


Japanese nuclear officials say the radiation level of a tank holding highly contaminated water at Japan's crippled Fukushima nuclear plant has jumped in just one week to a potentially dangerous level.

Tokyo Electric Power Company, or Tepco, said the reading of 1,800 milisieverts at the tank Saturday is enough to kill an exposed person in four hours. On Aug. 22, the same tank measured 100 milisieverts per hour, just a fraction of Saturday's reading.

Tepco also revealed that a pipe connecting two other tanks is leaking. However, the energy company said the water levels of the tanks had not changed. The French news agency says the leak has been patched with plastic tape.

Last month, a tank was found to have leaked 300 tons of highly toxic water.

The tanks at Fukushima are built with steel plates and are held together with bolts.

Tepco is seeking foreign experts for advice on how to deal with the highly radioactive water leaking from the site.

The Fukushima Daiichi power plant, north of Tokyo, was devastated by a tsunami in March 2011 that resulted in fuel-rod meltdowns at three reactors, radioactive contamination of the air, sea and food, and the evacuation of more than 100,000 people.


Statins may prolong life
by protecting chromosome


Statins, long prescribed to those with high cholesterol, may actually prevent aging and extend lifespan, according to new research in the September 2013 issue of The FASEB Journal.

The research indicates that statins reduce the speed at which telomeres shorten, a key factor in the aging process. A telomere is a region of DNA strand at the end of a chromosome that protects the end of the chromosome from deterioration.

“Statins may represent a new molecular switch able to slow down senescent [aging] cells in our tissues and be able to lead healthy lifespan extension," said Giuseppe Paolisso, a researcher involved in the work from the Department of Internal Medicine, Surgical, Neurological Metabolic Disease and Geriatric Medicine at Second University of Naples in Naples, Italy.

Researchers worked with two volunteer groups to test statins’ effects on telomeres. One group was under statin therapy, while the second group did not use the drugs. The group using statins had higher telomerase activity in their white blood cells, which was associated with less shortening of the telomeres.

The researchers say higher telomerase activation prevents the excessive accumulation of short telomeres.

"The great thing about statins is that they reduce risks for cardiovascular disease significantly and are generally safe for most people. The bad thing is that statins do have side effects, like muscle injury," said Gerald Weissmann, editor-in-chief of The FASEB Journal. "But if it is confirmed that statins might actually slow aging itself — and not just the symptoms of aging — then statins are much more powerful drugs than we ever thought."


Early humans had settlements
in Bolivia 10,000 years ago


Previously unknown archeological sites in forest islands reveal human presence in the western Amazon as early as 10,000 years ago, according to research published last week in the open access journal PLOS ONE by Umberto Lombardo from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and colleagues from other institutions.

The study focuses on a region in the Bolivian Amazon thought to be rarely occupied by pre-agricultural communities due to unfavorable environmental conditions. Hundreds of forest islands,  small forested mounds of earth, are found throughout the region, their origins attributed to termites, erosion or ancient human activity. In this study, the authors report that three of these islands are shell middens, mounds of seashells left by settlers in the early Holocene period, approximately 10,400 years ago.

Samples of soil from these three mounds revealed a dense accumulation of freshwater snail shells, animal bones and charcoal forming the middens. The mounds appear to have formed in two phases: an older layer composed primarily of snail shells, and an overlying layer composed of organic matter containing pottery, bone tools and human bones. The two are separated by a thin layer rich in pieces of burnt clay and earth, and the uppermost layer of deposits was also seen to contain occasional fragments of earthenware pottery.

Radiocarbon analysis of two middens indicates that humans settled in this region during the early Holocene, approximately 10,400 years ago, and shells and other artifacts built up into mounds over an approximately 6,000 year period of human use. The sites may have been abandoned as climate shifted towards wetter conditions later. Lombardo adds, "We have discovered the oldest archaeological sites in western and southern Amazonia. These sites allow us to reconstruct 10,000 years of human-environment interactions in the Bolivian Amazon."