new program 24

How much do habitat protection, anti-trafficking laws, reintroductions, and other conservation efforts help save Earth's threatened animals? A huge international team of researchers recently attempted to answer this question for vertebrates, or animals with backbones. They discovered that without conservation, vertebrates would be declining 18 percent faster than they are now.

South Africa's Blombos Cave has yielded new evidence of early cultural advancement in our species.

Once a popular source of caviar, Atlantic sturgeon may soon be listed on the Endangered Species Act. New research shows that different types of Atlantic sturgeon may travel hundreds of miles from home, cross international waters, and mix with other sturgeon groups. Restoring Sturgeon populations will require protection wherever they swim.

Australia's Great Barrier Reef is home to one of the world's largest networks of marine protected areas. Like other marine reserves, large segments of the Great Barrier Reef have strict rules against human activities, such as fishing and polluting. New research shows that protected areas can help stop the decline of aquatic life-including fish and corals-and sometimes even increase their numbers. The evidence suggests that designating protected regions is an effective way to improve the outlook for marine life in the increasingly threatened ocean.

The human brain contains about 100 billion interconnecting neurons, or cells that create and transmit messages. Scientists are just beginning to understand how this extremely complicated organ is "wired" to process information and relay commands to the body. Using a cutting-edge brain imaging technique called diffusion spectrum imaging, a team of Swiss and American researchers has produced the first detailed map of nerve fibers in the human cerebral cortex, the outer layer of the brain that is believed to be responsible for our species' unique mental capacity.

Three cutting-edge medical technologies inspired by biodiversity. This Bio Bulletin snapshot is third in a series to celebrate the 2010 International Year of Biodiversity.

Between 2000 and 2002, the Chinese State Forestry Administration attempted to count every giant panda living in the temperate mountain forests of central China. The work revealed not only that nearly 1,600 pandas remain in the wild but also where, exactly, they reside. Although scientists have long been aware that pandas live only in isolated forest belts where bamboo grows, they were surprised to discover that pandas also prefer to live in old-growth forest—forest that has never been logged. The finding could help shape how the remaining panda habitat is protected.