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Tigers are less closely related to lions, leopards and jaguars than these other big cats are to each other, according to a new comprehensive study.

The genetic analysis also reveals the tiger began evolving 3.2 million years ago, and its closest living relative is the equally endangered snow leopard.

The discovery comes as the BBC launches a collection of intimate videos of wild tigers and the threats they face.

Despite the popularity and endangered status of tigers, much remains to be discovered about them, including how they evolved.

It has long been known that the five species of big cat - the tiger, lion, leopard, jaguar and snow leopard, which belong to the Panthera genus - and the two species of clouded leopard are more closely related to each other than to other smaller cats.

When ants of the species Temnothorax unifasciatus get sick, they abandon their nest, walking far away from their relatives to die alone.

They perform this act of heroism to prevent the illness that is killing them from spreading to the colony.

The discovery, published in Current Biology, is the first time that such behaviour has been shown in ants or any other social insect.

Professor Jurgen Heinze and PhD student Bartosz Walter decided to investigate the ants’ behaviour after becoming interested in anecdotal reports of dying individuals deserting their families.

The workers left the nest voluntarily and were not carried away. Such behaviour has been reported in dogs, cats, elephants and even people. But because it happens occasionally, it cannot be quantifiably studied. So Prof Heinze decided to set up an experiment to study the phenomenon in ants, which he also noticed would occasionally leave the colony for no apparent reason.

A preview of the Census of Marine Life has revealed that the project has discovered over 5,000 new species.

These include bizarre and colourful creatures, as well as many organisms that produce therapeutic chemicals.

A panel of scientists presented these early insights at the American Association for the Advancement of Science annual meeting in San Diego.

The final report from the decade-long census will be released in October 2010.

The project has involved more than 2,000 scientists from 80 countries, and the researchers involved believe the census will lay the scientific foundations for marine policies to protect vulnerable habitats.

The researchers presented images of some of the most striking species discovered in the last decade, including a crab so unusual it warranted a whole new family designation. This member of the new Kiwaidae family of crabs, discovered near Easter Island, was named Kiwa hirsuta because of its furry appearance.

The two important gases for plant survival are carbon di oxide and nitrogen. But with the increase in the carbon di oxide plant biodiversity may get affected. Most abundant plant species would come but the plant biodiversity may reduce. Research was conducted by growing plants in ambient elevated levels of carbon dioxide.

The perennial grasses which were grown showed the elevated levels of carbon was less harmful .The elevated levels of nitrogen were more harmful than carbon dioxide. The increased level of nitrogen reduced the plant diversity by 16%.

The increased level of nitrogen help plants like rice, wheat, barley grow dominantly. Crops like maize, sugarcane millets were difficult to grow in presence of nitrogen. High nitrogen will reduce the plant species richness. The University of Minnesota in USA conducted the research. The carbon dioxide may also effect the plants indirectly scientist REICH said.

When a standing body of water meets the river it is called delta.The progress of delta is stopped due to eroding. The reason behind this stag is due to climate change, sea level rise, and flood management. The drowning deltas may be stopped by diverting more water and sediments into the bay.

The deltas are classified into three types , namely, birds foot shape, fan shaped, funnel shaped. The stickier the sediments the better the deltas are claims Rudy Slingerlands. The study showed the more cohesive the more stable the deltas is. The shape of deltas can be controlled by all types of coastlines.

The University of Minnesota conducted the research and was lead by Rudy. Many deltas were taken into consideration like the sunder bans, Nile river delta, Mississippi. Adding cohesive sediments to many non cohesive deltas may stop them from eroding. The sediment amount is always linked with the amount and type of vegetation around the river.

The whole universe has only 5% of planets, stars, suns, moons and gases.

Astronomers are into a research and say that the universe is full of dark energy. This dark energy is composed of dark matter which affects the rate of universe expansions.

The dark matter also contains WIMPS (weakly interacting massive particles) which has the weight of the nuclei. The WIMPS never interacts with any matter. The dark matter in the universe is having a large amount of gravitational force which holds the universe together. Scientists are now detecting how this black matter helps in the structure of the universe.

Professor of Texas University, Alexey Belyanin has come out with terahertz. Terahertz radiation or THZ or t- rays are in the electromagnetic spectrum. THZ rays lay in-between microwave radiation and infrared radiation. The T-rays are more penetrating than x -rays and have no side effects. T-rays cameras can help us scan anything including suitcase, closed box and inside humans.

The capacity of t-rays to penetrate into opaque materials can make us unknown things visible. Unfortunately t-rays are difficult to produce due to unavailability of resources. The THZ technology application can be used in medicine, chemistry and other studies.

A chemist named Vilas Ganpat Pol from Illinois has come out with a technique of converting low or high density polyethylene into multiwalled carbon nanotubes.

These Nanotubes are used to manufacture lithium-ion batteries.

The process involved is to cook the polythene around 700degree C by using cobalt acetate as a catalyst for 2 hours then the cooked mixture is cooled slowly.

Recycling in this ‘up cycling’ method is the cheapest method.

The lithium-ion batteries got from this nanotubes work nicely when compared to the commercial nanotubes.

A group of 25 scientists formed into a team for the past 10 years were helped by National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) to come out with an comprehensive atlas of the Patagonian sea. American marine ecosystem is globally very important but very difficult to understand.

15 species of Marine animals such as penguins, sea lion albatrosses were used to form this wonderful atlas. Satellite transmitters were fitted on the marine animals and around thousand recordings of individual uplinks were made and to get the most accurate maps of the Patagonian sea .

The Patagonian sea has remarkable importance in affecting the climate, economic change and marine biodiversity. The researches feel that this atlas will be helpful for conservation of the Patagonian Sea, protection of the marine life.

Atlas of the Patagonian Sea: Species and Spaces are available in stores now.

Chimps cannot talk because of the genetic code. The genetic code in humans and chimps differ in their genes function. Chimpanzees share most of their DNA with their human brothers. Chimps and humans shared percentage range from 95 percent 98.5 to percent.
Dan Geschwind, a professor at King’s College London, found out that a gene called FOXP2. FOXP2 is the gene which looks similar in chimps and human. FOXP2 plays an important role in human speech. 4 million to 7 million years ago FOXP2 looked similar in many animals right up to the time the human lineage split off from the chimpanzee.

FOXP2 actually means that it affects the activity of other genes. Humans and chimp brain tissues were analyzed of what FOXP2 actually does?

FOXP2 actually produced two amino acids extra as produced by the gene of the chimp variations in brain structure that may be involved in human language. Research shows that the amino-acid composition of human FOXP2 changed rapidly around the same time that language emerged in modern humans.