• US: North Carolina farm produces emerald shaped into massive gem
• Experts: Exoplanet could be smallest ever found
• New microbe discovered eating oil spill in Gulf of Mexico

• Huffington Post reports on neuroplasticity of the brain, stress, and meditation
• Simple machine facilitates live demonstrations of EEG coherence during Transcendental Meditation
• Live demonstrations of EEG coherence during Transcendental Meditation draw hundreds at yoga conference

• Global warming: Ten key indicators show warming 'undeniable'
• AP: Plankton, base of ocean food web, in big decline
• Video games cause attention problems in kids

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Positive Trends
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

US: North Carolina farm produces emerald shaped into massive gem
31 August 2010 - An emerald so large it's being compared with the crown jewels of Russian empress Catherine the Great was pulled from a pit near corn rows at a North Carolina farm in the United States. While big, uncut crystals and even notable gem-quality emeralds have come from the community 50 miles northwest of Charlotte called Hiddenite, there has never been one so big it's worthy of an imperial treasury, said C R 'Cap' Beesley, a New York gemologist who examined the stone. 'It is the largest cut emerald ever to be found in North America,' Beesley said in a telephone interview from Myanmar, an Asian country rich in precious gems. Emeralds are part of North Carolina's mineral claim to fame. (more)

Experts: Exoplanet could be smallest ever found
29 August 2010 - Scientists say they've identified a sun-like star with as many as seven different planets -- including one that might be the smallest ever found outside the solar system. If confirmed, the planetary system around HD 10180, a star more than 100 light years distant, would be the richest ever discovered. One astronomer says it's part of a growing body of evidence that the universe is full of planets -- and that several could be similar to our own. (more)

New microbe discovered eating oil spill in Gulf of Mexico
29 August 2010 - The Gulf of Mexico oil spill has revealed a previously unknown type of oil-eating bacteria, which is suddenly flourishing. Scientists discovered the new microbe while studying the underwater dispersion of millions of gallons of oil spilled into the Gulf following the explosion of BP's Deepwater Horizon drilling rig. And the microbe works without significantly depleting oxygen in the water, researchers led by Terry Hazen at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory reported in the online journal Science Express. (more)

Science: Deep-sea images reveal colourful life off Indonesia
27 August 2010 - Scientists using cutting-edge technology to explore waters off Indonesia were wowed by colourful and diverse images of marine life on the ocean floor. They predicted that as many as 50 new plant and animal species may have been discovered during a three-week expedition that ended 14 August. A professor at the University of Victoria in Canada said the images provided an extraordinary glimpse into one of the globe's most complex and little-known marine ecosystems. (more)

Scientists discover new pea sized frog found on Borneo island
26 August 2010 - Scientists have discovered a frog the size of a pea, the smallest found in Asia, Africa, or Europe, on the Southeast Asian island of Borneo. The scientists said they tracked the frogs by their call, a series of 'harsh rasping notes' that started at sundown. (more)

South Africa launches climate research centre
25 August 2010 - South Africa has launched the Africa Centre for Climate and Earth Systems Science (Access), which will provide regional decision-makers with reliable climate information, enabling them to balance developmental needs with responses to threats posed by environmental change. Access aims to be an international centre of excellence that draws local and international students to studies of our planet and its management, and that helps to produce the decision-makers of the future. (more)

South Africa scientist historical discovery
20 August 2010 - South African scientist Zubair Jinnah's discovery of 100-million-year-old fossils of a rare and tiny mammal-like crocodile in Tanzania has been described in the prestigious international science journal Nature. The fossils were discovered in the Rukwa Rift Basin of Tanzania, and the unusual creature is changing the picture of animal life at 100 million years ago in sub-Saharan Africa. (more)

Tanzanian's rare toads flown home from US
20 August 2010 - Tiny Tanzanian toads that had been declared extinct only a few years after their discovery have been sent home to replenish stocks after being reared in US zoos. 'The toads now reside at a new, state-of the-art propagation centre in Dar es Salaam ... with the eventual goal of reintroducing them into their former habitat,' the World Bank said in a statement. (more)

Ocean waves can power Australia's future, scientists say
17 August 2010 - Waves crashing on to Australia's southern shores each year contain enough energy to power the country three times over, scientists said on Tuesday in a study that underscores the scale of Australia's green energy. Ideal sites included Portland in Victoria and Albany in southern Western Australia because of easy grid connections. (more)

Teams set off on global 'zero emissions' electric vehicle race
16 August 2010 - Teams from Australia, Germany, and Switzerland have set off from Geneva for what they hope will be the first carbon neutral race around the world. Participants are using custom built two-seater electric vehicles that will be charged from regular power outlets along the way. At the same time they are feeding electricity generated from solar and wind plants into the grid. (more)

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Success of Maharishi's Programmes
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Huffington Post reports on neuroplasticity of the brain, stress, and meditation
11 August 2010 - Research shows that while unhealthy lifestyles, stress, or traumatic situations may inhibit proper brain development and functioning--leading to poor decision-making and behavioural problems--experiences such as transcending through the practice of Transcendental Meditation help optimize brain functioning. (more)

Simple machine facilitates live demonstrations of EEG coherence during Transcendental Meditation
18 May 2010 - A simple EEG machine, used with great success by leaders of the Global Country of World Peace in Canada and many other countries, makes it easy to give live demonstrations of increased brainwave coherence during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation Programme. (more)

Live demonstrations of EEG coherence during Transcendental Meditation draw hundreds at yoga conference
16 May 2010 - Live demonstrations of EEG coherence during the practice of the Transcendental Meditation Programme drew hundreds of people at a recent yoga conference in Vancouver, Canada. Conference participants appreciated seeing concrete sensory evidence of benefits from the technique. They could see brainwave coherence increase from 30 per cent to 85 per cent, less than a minute after a practitioner began the Transcendental Meditation Technique. (more)

National Meditation Month, USA: Brain research identifies three types of meditation
11 May 2010 - A new study demonstrates that there are three types of meditation techniques, distinguished by specific brainwave patterns and cognitive functions. The study clarifies that methodologies and clinical results differ with various types of meditation. Only the Transcendental Meditation Technique produces total brain function, and results in a wide range of benefits, including deep relaxation, and higher states of consciousness. (more)

Maharishi School students study area water quality, sweep top awards at State
29 April 2010 - The innovative research project of Pearl Sawhney and Minna Mohammadi--two sophomores at Maharishi School in Fairfield, Iowa, USA--recently received recognition at the regional and state levels. The two students researched the link between farm feeding practices and the presence of phosphorus in the water in the Jefferson County, Iowa area. Their project, entitled 'Farm Feeding Practices: Exploring Solutions for Environmental Sustainability', won the Iowa Junior Academy of Science award; earlier they also swept the top prizes at the Eastern Iowa State Science Fair, as well as at the State Science and Technology Fair. (more)

New research on the 'meditating brain'
28 April 2010 - Newly published research on the Transcendental Meditation Technique, featured in three respected journals, indicates that the practice activates the brain's natural 'ground state'. The research was conducted at American University in Washington, DC, USA. (more)

Green building expert: Sandbag building technology easily applied in Vastu architecture
20 April 2010 - Sandbag construction is an inexpensive and easy approach to green building which can readily be applied to create beautiful, comfortable buildings designed according to Vastu principles of Vedic architecture. Joachim Claes, a Belgian expert in environmentally sound building practices, has applied this system successfully in a Vastu project in Ukraine. (more)

Scientific creativity flourishes through Maharishi's Transcendental Meditation Programme
3 April 2010 - By allowing the mind to penetrate beyond thought to the level of the 'Aha' moment, the Transcendental Meditation Technique provides a systematic method to increase creativity and scientific breakthroughs. Dr John Fagan gives an in-depth analysis of the role of creativity in the sciences, as well as a cogent discussion of the vital contribution of Transcendental Meditation in promoting the growth of creativity. (more)

Transcendental Meditation resets brain: New study results
22 March 2010 - A new study on the effects of the Transcendental Meditation Technique, published in the US journal, Cognitive Processing, has added to the considerable body of research indicating that individuals practising the technique experience 'restful alertness'--a special state of deep relaxation, quite distinct from ordinary relaxation and sleep. (more)

New research published: Transcendental Meditation activates default mode network, brain's natural ground state
5 March 2010 - A new EEG study conducted on college students at American University found they could more highly activate the 'default mode network', a suggested natural 'ground state' of the brain, during their practice of the Transcendental Meditation Technique. This three-month randomized control study is published in a special issue of Cognitive Processing dedicated to the Neuroscience of Meditation and Consciousness, Volume 11, Number 1, February, 2010. (more)

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Flops
10 Short Summaries of Top Stories

Global warming: Ten key indicators show warming 'undeniable'
29 July 2010 - Melting glaciers, more humid air, and eight other key indicators show that global warming is undeniable, scientists said on Wednesday, citing a new comprehensive review of the last decade of climate data. Researchers said there was no doubt that every decade on Earth since the 1980s has been hotter than the previous one, and that the planet has been warming for the last half-century. This confirms the findings of the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, which reported with 90 per cent certainty that climate change is occurring. The IPCC also said that human activities contribute to this phenomenon. The new report was released after US Senate Democrats delayed any possible legislation to curb climate change until September at the earliest. Prospects for US climate change legislation this year are considered slim. (more)

AP: Plankton, base of ocean food web, in big decline
28 July 2010 - Despite their tiny size, plant plankton found in the world's oceans are crucial to much of life on Earth. They are the foundation of the bountiful marine food web, produce half the world's oxygen, and suck up harmful carbon dioxide. And they are declining sharply. Worldwide phytoplankton levels are down 40 per cent since the 1950s, according to a study published Wednesday in the journal Nature. The likely cause is global warming, which makes it hard for the plant plankton to get vital nutrients, researchers say. The numbers are both staggering and disturbing, say the Canadian scientists who did the study and a top US government scientist. (more)

Video games cause attention problems in kids
5 July 2010 - Long hours in front of the television, whether channel surfing or gaming, could make it difficult for kids to concentrate in school, psychologists said 5 July. The findings agree with most earlier work on the effects of television watching in kids, they said. Too much screen time has also been linked to increased aggression and, perhaps less surprisingly, expanding waistlines. In the research, children who spent more than two hours per day in front of the screen -- the limit recommended by the American Academy of Pediatrics -- increased their odds of exceeding the average level of attention problems by 67 per cent. Exceeding two hours of daily screen time doubled their risk of landing above average in attention problem. (more)

Humpback whales to be hunted again in Greenland
25 June 2010 - Greenland has won back the right to hunt humpback whales for the first time in a quarter-century after it threatened to leave the world's top whaling body if other nations reject its ancestral traditions. Europeans killing the giant mammals for their oil pushed the animals to the brink of extinction in the last century. Greenland's government says the hunting revenue is vital to the population of the world's biggest island. But some IWC delegates said the argument that Greenlanders needs to hunt whales to survive was spurious as they enjoy one of the highest average household incomes in the world. Whaling opponents say Greenland's whale hunt is big business, the meat sold in supermarkets for ten times the price in traditional markets, and whale steaks served in luxury hotels. (more)

Danger at sea: Toxic metals threaten whales
24 June 2010 - American scientists who shot nearly 1,000 sperm whales with tissue-sampling darts discovered stunningly high levels of toxic and heavy metals in the animals that they say could affect the health of both ocean life and the millions who eat seafood. A report Thursday noted high levels of cadmium, aluminum, chromium, lead, silver, mercury, and titanium in the mammals, according to samples taken over five years during a research expedition that traveled 87,000 miles (140,000 kilometres). Analysis of cells from the sperm whales showed that pollution is reaching the farthest corners of the oceans. 'The entire ocean life is just loaded with a series of contaminants, most of which have been released by human beings,' biologist Roger Payne said. Payne called it the most comprehensive report ever done on ocean pollutants. The researchers were stunned with the results. The consequences could be horrific for both whale and man, he said. 'All mercury levels are higher than the maximum US figure' considered safe, Payne said. 'The report 'is right on target' for raising issues critical to humans as well as whales, US Whaling Commissioner Monica Medin told The Associated Press. (more)

US: Birds frozen in oil: image of a desperate summer
5 June 2010 - They are the ghastly images of a summer fouled before it started. Squawking seagulls and majestic brown pelicans coated in oil. Even the professional photographers want to turn away. They can't. 'They get me. It's just inherently sad,' said Nils Warnock, a wildlife recovery specialist. 'You see this bird totally covered in oil and all you can see are those eyes looking at you blinking. You'd have to be pretty tough not to be affected by that image.' Birds that get oiled can die from being too cold, or too hot, because the crude oil interferes with the natural oils that make them waterproof. That means their sensitive skin is exposed to extremes in temperature. Even in the relatively mild Gulf waters, they can 'die from hypothermia,' said Ken Rosenberg, director of conservation science at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology. They can also drown. (more)

Fighting bull cloned for 1st time in Spain
19 May 2010 - Scientists in Spain say they have cloned a fighting bull for the first time. Vicente Torrent, a specialist in veterinary genetics, says the newborn calf, named Got, is an exact replica of a muscular, horned specimen of the type matadors face in bullrings. The animal was unveiled Wednesday, a day after being born. It now weighs 24 kilogrammes (53 pounds). Animal cloning began in 1996 with Dolly the sheep. Torrent said it took three years of work to devise a means of preserving what he called valuable bull genes. (more)

Asian ivory trade poses danger to African elephant
16 May 2010 - A surge in demand for ivory in Asia is fuelling an illicit trade in elephant tusks, especially from Africa. Over the past eight years, the price of ivory has gone up from about $100 per kilogram ($100 per 2.2 pounds) to $1,800, creating a lucrative black market. Experts warn that if the trade is not stopped, elephant populations could dramatically plummet. The elephants could be nearly extinct by 2020, some activists say. Sierra Leone lost its last elephants in December, and Senegal has fewer than 10 left. 'If we don't get the illegal trade under control soon, elephants could be wiped out over much of Africa, making recovery next to impossible,' said Samuel K Wasser, director of the Center for Conservation Biology at the University of Washington. (more)

Rampant cheating hurts China's research ambitions
11 April 2010 - Ghostwriting, plagiarizing, or faking results is so rampant in Chinese academia that some experts worry it could hinder China's efforts to become a leader in science. State-run media recently exulted over reports that China publishes more papers in international journals than any except the US. But not all the research stands up to scrutiny. In December, a British journal retracted 70 papers from a Chinese university, all by the same two lead scientists, saying the work had been fabricated. 'Academic fraud, misconduct, and ethical violations are very common in China,' said professor Rao Yi, dean of the life sciences school at Peking University in the capital. 'It is a big problem.' Critics blame weak penalties and a system that bases faculty promotions and bonuses on number, rather than quality, of papers published. (more)

Australia: Salvage operation could take weeks on Great Barrier Reef
4 April 2010 - A salvage team could take weeks to remove a grounded coal-carrying ship from Australia's Great Barrier Reef where it is leaking oil in a pristine marine environment, a state leader said on Monday. The Chinese Shen Neng 1 ran aground late Saturday on Douglas Shoals, a favorite pristine haunt for recreational fishing east of the Great Keppel Island tourist resort. Authorities fear an oil spill will damage the world's largest coral reef, which is off northeast Australia. (more)