Ice Crystals Thwart BP Containment Dome

BP's efforts to contain the Gulf oil leak with a specialized steel dome proved unsuccessful due to the harsh undersea environment.

Lighter-than-water crystals called hydrates have thwarted BP's attempts to contain the gulf oil leak with a 100-ton funnel. The extreme pressure and low temperatures at the sea floor are creating tiny shards of crystallized gas that clogged the steel and concrete cofferdam and threatened to make the structure buoyant. BP has moved the containment dome 650 feet away from the well while their engineers continue to evaluate options.

Fruit Growers Battle New Invasive Asian Fly

CORVALLIS, Oregon, April 19, 2010 (ENS) - A tiny Asian fly that is new to North America is threatening much of the West Coast fruit industry and has been detected in Florida too, warn state and federal agricultural experts.

The spotted wing drosophila, Drosophila suzukii, an invasive vinegar fly native to southeast Asia, first appeared on fruit crops from California to British Columbia last fall.

US Backs Plan to Legalize Regulated Whaling

The United States has brought forward a plan that would legalize whaling in exchange for detailed monitoring, regulation, and trade controls. Anti-whaling groups are opposed to the compromise.

The United States formally introduced a plan crafted in St. Petersburg Beach, Florida last March during a meeting of the International Whaling Convention. The plan would allow whaling nations to do so legally within the IWC. Currently, Norway and Iceland whale in objection to the moratorium placed by the IWC in 1986. Japan whales under the guise of "lethal research," but brings the meat to market. The US plan will allow these nations and others to whale legally, but will subject them to a rigorous monitoring process. The controversial treaty would expire 10 years after ratification.

New Species of Early Man Found in South Africa

JOHANNESBURG, South Africa, April 8, 2010 (ENS) - A new species of early man that dates back almost two million years has been discovered in the Cradle of Humankind World Heritage Site, about 170 miles northeast of Johannesburg.

A team led by Professor Lee Berger, a palaeoanthropologist from the University of the Witwatersrand in Johannesburg found two well-preserved skeletons of a human ancestor species that has never before been seen. Berger and his team described the new hominid and named it Australopithecus sediba.