Biodiversity

Asian stink bugs have invaded the East Coast, are spreading, and are getting into people's yards and houses. When disturbed, they emit an unpleasant smell.

Are fireflies vanishing from the U.S. and Canada because of light pollution? A new study by the Museum of Science Boston aims to use the backyard observations of hundreds of citizens to find out.

"Across the Far North, populations of caribou — an indispensable source of food and clothing for indigenous people — are in steep decline. Scientists point to rising temperatures and a resource-development boom as the prime culprits."

"We've always played with our food — even before we knew about genes or how to change them. ... Now comes an Atlantic salmon that is genetically engineered to grow twice as fast as a regular salmon. If U.S. regulators approve it, the fish would be the first such scientifically altered animal to reach the dinner plate. Scientists have already determined that it's safe to eat. They are weighing other factors, including environmental risks, after two days of intense hearings."

"A number of the playful marine mammals are being poisoned by an ancient microbe that appears to be on an upsurge in warmer, polluted waters around the world."

"The world's most deadly form of human malaria, a parasite known as Plasmodium falciparum, is of gorilla origin, and not chimpanzee, bonobo or ancient human origin as scientists previously thought."

"While a genetically engineered salmon is almost certainly safe to eat, the government should pursue a more rigorous analysis of the fish's possible health effects and environmental impact, members of a federal advisory committee said yesterday."

"The first genetically modified animal could move one step closer to the U.S. market on Monday, when a federal advisory panel makes its recommendation on whether such food -- a salmon -- is safe for consumers to eat."

"Australian scientists Thursday said they had made a breakthrough in the fight to save the cancer-hit Tasmanian devil by mapping the species' genome for the first time."

"Asia's tiger population could be close to extinction with fewer than 3,500 tigers remaining in the wild and most clustered in fragmented areas making up less than 7 percent of their former range in Asia, a study says. The study in the latest issue of the online journal PLoS Biology says saving tigers living in 42 sites across Asia from poachers, illegal loggers and the wildlife trade is crucial to prevent the species becoming extinct in the wild."