Virtual diving is no longer impossible for the public eager to explore unknown territories on the planet. The Great Barrier Reef panoramic images will be available soon and everyone will have the chance to indulge in a gorgeous virtual experience thanks to the fab collaboration of Google, the University of Queensland Global Change Institute and insurance company Catlin. Using the Catlin Seaview Survey camera specially designed for research scientists will be able to immortalize 50,000 360-degree underwater panoramas illustrating the various sections of the reef.

These images will be uploaded to Google Maps and Google Earth to tame the cravings of the audience for dazzling images. The Director of the Global Change Institute at The University of Queensland, Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg  who is also the chief scientists of this project claimed that the expedition will acquire date to grant scientists with an overall report about the impact of the climate change and extreme weather conditions on the structure of the reef and the ocean’s ecosystems.

According to Professor Ove Hoegh-Guldberg, “The visual nature of the project will also help bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and public awareness,” Professor Hoegh-Guldberg said.[...]The Catlin Seaview Survey comprises a series of studies which will reveal to the public one of the last frontiers on Earth: the oceans.[...]For the first time in history, we have the technology to broadcast the findings and expedition through Google. Millions of people will be able to experience the life, the science and the magic that exists under the surface of our oceans.”.

The expedition will start in September 2012 and will be constantly broadcast on the YouTube channel dedicated to the project. The public will be able to watch livestream videos with the help of the innovative Google Hangouts technology. The project will be made up of three different parts: a shallow reef survey, a deep reef survey and a megafauna survey.

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Numerous animals were disappearing due to mysterious reasons in southern Florida. The latest news reports revealed that snakes are blamed for the decline in Florida’s wildlife. The Burmese python generated the disappearance of foxes, rabbits and bobcats over the past decade. These particular snakes live in southeast Asia and killed numerous animals from the Florida region according to the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. US authorities banned the import of these pythons, however the latest studies demonstrated that the damage in the ecosystem of the Florida Everglades was already produced.

Recent surveys revealed that, there are dramatically less rabbits, opossums and foxes on the roads and the study created by Michael Dorcasa at Davidson College in North Carolina and colleagues at the Department of Fish and Wildlife Conservation and the National Park Service also showed that,  the “severe apparent declines in mammal populations… coincide temporally and spatially with the proliferation of pythons in Everglades National Park.”

Specialists defined as the chief culprit for this dramatic decline the numerous pet owners who let their snakes free in the Florida region when they reached a certain and dangerous size. Other scientists claim that Hurricane Andrew could also be named as one of the main reasons  for the damage of pet stores and the accidental release of various pythons. The earlier mentioned study also claims that, “Whether mammal populations will remain suppressed or will rebound remains to be seen. The magnitude of these declines… justifies intensive investigation into how the addition of novel apex predators affects overall ecosystem processes.”

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The theories about the end of the world triggered numerous debates. The latest science news revealed that the doomsday clock moves closer to midnight, a fact that suggests the imminent arrival of a global disaster. The Bulletin of Atomic Scientists moved the hands of the Doomsday clock to no more than five minutes before midnight in order to illustrate how close  we are to Armageddon due to dramatic climate changes and the use of nuclear weapons.

Numerous catastrophes led to this conclusion, one important disaster was Japan’s Fukushima accident. The BAS also revealed that, “It is five minutes to midnight. Two years ago, it appeared that world leaders might address the truly global threats that we face. In many cases, that trend has not continued or been reversed. For that reason, the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists is moving the clock hand one minute closer to midnight, back to its time in 2007.”

The latest symposium held in the US revealed numerous theories of highly acclaimed scientists about the events which could influence the future of humanity. Bisecurity, nuclearn weapons and surprising climate changes were only some of the most important subjects tackled on the conference. Back in January 2010 the clock illustrated a whole minute advance for the world to stay away from a global disaster. However things changed and the conditions became more threatening.

The BAS claimed that, “The challenges to rid the world of nuclear weapons, harness nuclear power, and meet the nearly inexorable climate disruptions from global warming are complex and interconnected. In the face of such complex problems, it is difficult to see where the capacity lies to address these challenges[...] Political processes seem wholly inadequate; the potential for nuclear weapons use in regional conflicts in the Middle East, Northeast Asia, and South Asia are alarming; safer nuclear reactor designs need to be developed and built, and more stringent oversight, training, and attention are needed to prevent future disasters; the pace of technological solutions to address climate change may not be adequate to meet the hardships that large-scale disruption of the climate portends.” The clock became a symbol for the evolution of our planet.

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Numerous researches are conducted to define the exact date of a dramatic climate change. The latest reports reveal that the next Ice Age is deferred by carbon emission. We know that the last Ice Age ended 11,500 years ago. Now, scientists examine different factors and the date on the planet’s orbit to find out more about the warm interglacial period we live in. Nature Geoscience is the journal which offers the most fascinating reports about climate changes.

From one of the latest issues we find out that the next Ice Age could come in no more than 1,500 years, however, the carbon emission plays an important role in its deferring.  Luke Skinner from Cambridge University stated that, “At current levels of CO2, even if emissions stopped now we’d probably have a long interglacial duration determined by whatever long-term processes could kick in and bring [atmospheric] CO2 down,”. The research team also concluded that even if the emission stopped the concentration would be strong enough to cause the rise of the sea level and the melting of the polar ice for at least 1,000 years.

Other researches were also done by Lawrence Mysak, a professor of atmospheric and oceanic sciences at McGill University in Montreal, Canada who studies the transition from the Ice Age to warm interglacials. The popular scientist claimed about the absorption of the CO2 by the oceans, “takes thousands or tens of thousands of years – so I don’t think it’s realistic to think that we’ll see the next glaciation on the [natural] timescale,”.

Image courtesy of BBC News

The latest environmental report reveals details about the project which claims that the Eiffel Tower could become world’s largest tree. A popular engineering firm proposed the plan of cladding the Eiffel Tower’s structure in no less than 600,000 plants.

The Ginger Group is a French company which succeeded in creating ecological design projects to turn Paris into an eco-city. The calculations done by the company would cost up to $97 million and will contribute to the elimination of 87.8 tons of carbon dioxide. Ginger CEO Jean-Luc Schonebelen  claims that, “We’re told that within the next 30 years the world’s population may reach nine billion, and that 80% of us will live in cities,[...]With this in mind, we need to think about how we’re going to start bringing nature back into the city landscape … so this (proposal) is our call for action.”.

If the project is accepted up to 48 varieties of seedlings will be planted on the iron structure of the Eiffel Tower. The experimental plan will guarantee that the plants will mature by 2014 and would be actually nurtured for other 2 years. Schonebele also reveals that, “Of course we’re not suggesting this be a permanent fixture, we’re proposing this as a temporary installation — just as Mr Eiffel did when he built the tower back in the 19th century,”.

Image courtesy of Ginger Group

Mark Moffet is an adventurer who has found the biggest insect of the world. The cricket-like bug was found by the 53 years old former park ranger who spotted the giant insect on a tree. Those who are fascinated by the latest report on this creature will have the chance to see it on Little Barrier Island, in New Zeeland. As the studies demonstrated these species disappeared from the mainland due to the appearance of rats introduced by the Europeans.

The insect has intriguing characteristics like a wing span of no less than 7 inches. The adventurer decided to feed the insect with carrots before taking him back to his habitat. Mark Moffet claimed that “Three of us walked the trails of this small island for two nights scanning the vegetation for a giant weta.[...]We spent many hours with no luck finding any at all, before we saw her up in a tree.[...]The giant weta is the largest insect in the world, and this is the biggest one ever found, she weighs the equivalent to three mice.[...]She would have finished the carrot very quickly, but this is an extremely endangered species and we didn’t want to risk indigestion.[...]After she had chewed a little I took this picture and we put her right back where we found her.”

Indeed this is the largest insect ever recorded and the though of finding similar insects on this and other exotic islands keeps adventurers on their toes.

Image courtesy of Telegraph.co.uk