Science News

Collaborations with various media allow us to create a bank of science news of relevance to the Puerto Rican and Hispanic communities and give a venue that our scientific members can use to keep their communities informed and engaged with science.

Also, the news archive can be used as a resource for students and educators

In this section you can find: news written by members of the CienciaPR team and written by other news media and which are reproduced with permission from the original source.

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Casa Pueblo will create a Trust

Submitted on 19 April 2007 - 1:41pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The Art and Culture Workshop of Adjuntas, better known as Casa Pueblo, will create a community trust that will secure the continuity of their mission and all their projects in their 27 years of existence. The trust will integrate the agricultural programs like Café Madre Isla, the administration of the Bosque del Pueblo (Forest of the people), the voluntary rangers program and a butterfly garden, among others.

Ecological solutions to environmental issues

Submitted on 18 April 2007 - 4:19pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The Industrial Biotechnology Program (Biotec) of the University of Puerto Rico in Mayagüez (RUM) and the communitarian organization Casa Pueblo in Adjuntas offered the Advances in Environmental Restoration course to students of the University of Puerto Rico (UPR) in Carolina, Rio Piedras and Mayaguez, and students of the Interamerican University in Aguadilla. The Communitarian Institute for Biodiversity and Culture of Casa Pueblo was in charge of the residential workshop, from April 1-4, 2007. During those days students analyzed environmental problems in Puerto Rico and proposed restoration alternatives by using molecular bioremediation tools, said Rosa Buxeda, director of Biotec, who emphasized leadership, social responsibility, and environmental ethics skills in students.

Useful habits against global warming

Submitted on 18 April 2007 - 3:53pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Global warming or greenhouse gases occur naturally but humans have contributed to increase their amounts. However, everyday we can take little steps to contribute to their reduction. We can reduce the usage time of equipment that generates carbon dioxide (the main greenhouse gas) –motor vehicles, lawn mowers and electrical appliances- or use other alternatives. We can buy energy saving appliances. Compact fluorescent bulbs save energy and irradiate more light and less heat. We can use solar technology equipments. There is another simple alternative: protect existing trees and sow new ones. Recycling is another way of reducing greenhouse gases.

Devastating effects of global warming

Submitted on 18 April 2007 - 3:04pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

In recent days, global warming and its devastating consequences for humanity have dominated the news. Although most people talk about the devastating effect that global warming will have on the environment and diverse ecosystems, the truth is that this phenomenon will hit the economy hard. Several insurance companies have analyzed the financial impact of climate change. One of this reports, prepared by the British Insurance Association two years ago, estimated that for 2080, losses associated to the most common kinds of storms –hurricanes, typhoons and wind storms- could generated losses of $27,000 million a year. This could cause an increase in catastrophic insurance prime’s prices as well as an increase in the exclusions of this kind of insurance.

Invading species

Submitted on 13 April 2007 - 2:29pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

Ballast water is the ocean’s water used by ships for stability while they are at sea and it’s stored in special compartments. This water is picked up in one body of water and is disposed in another, depending on the need to stabilize and balance the ship. These bodies of water can be very distant and range from bays, estuaries, lakes and open sea. With ballast water come the species that live in those waters; about 7,000 species including fish, algae, mollusks, virus and bacteria. When the ballast water is discarded, these species can establish in their new “territories”, turning into invading species that affect the ecosystem and the native species of the place. The San Juan Bay is the second most important port on the East Coast of the United States due to its high marine transport traffic. For this reason, it is suspected that many invading species get here through ballast water. However, in Puerto Rico, the presence of only two exotic marine species has been documented: the White spotted jellyfish (Phyllorhiza punctata) and the red lion fish (Pterois volitans).

Clean air for the first time in 15 years

Submitted on 13 April 2007 - 12:06pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

For the first time in 15 years, Puerto Rico meets the highest air quality standards of the Environmental Protection Agency and Puerto Ricans can, at least, breathe clean air. However, the environmental picture for the Island is not very encouraging, according to Sodeberg, in three years other 7 garbage dumps will close and in 2020 there will be 4.4 million cars. Also, he predicts that the water supply and urban spill crisis will continue. According to this expert, in the United States jurisdiction, Puerto Rico is in third place with the highest population density; second in Latin America and eleventh world-wide.

Climate change congress at UPRRP

Submitted on 13 April 2007 - 11:40am

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The University of Puerto Rico in Rio Piedras will reunite local and international scientists for the Gaia and Climate Change International Congress. The debate, to be held from April 19-25, 2007 at the institution’s theater, will be an open discussion about the Gaia hypothesis, created by chemist James Lovelock in 1969, and supported and extended by Lynn Margulis, whom will be represented by her student Melishia Santiago. The Gaia hypothesis is a group of scientific models of the biosphere that postulates that life foments and maintains adequate conditions for itself by affecting its surrounding environment.

Ecologists ask for Senate action

Submitted on 12 April 2007 - 2:55pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The Coalition Pro NEC asked the Legislature to see their case as soon as possible, to designate the Northeast Ecological Corridor (NEC) as a natural reserve. Almost half of the land in the NEC is public and the Conservation Trust and the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources could give $18 million to buy the land that it’s privately owned to create the reserve, which is in the Senate’s hands. The NEC has been recognized by federal and state agencies and international organizations as one of the areas with the highest natural value in the Island. Two megahotels are being proposed to be built in the area, Dos Mares Marriott Resort and San Miguel Four Seasons Resort.

Puerto Rican government still protects the manatee

Submitted on 12 April 2007 - 2:32pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

The manatee will keep being protected by the laws of the Puerto Rican Government, independent of the recommendations of the United States Fishing and Wildlife Service to remove it from the endangered species list, said Javier Velez Arocho, director of the Department of Natural and Environmental Resources.

The Government will have to recycle

Submitted on 12 April 2007 - 2:12pm

This article is reproduced by CienciaPR with permission from the original source.

According to an executive order, signed by Governor Aníbal Acevedo Vilá, all the state agencies have to establish their own recycling programs. Every agency will have to designated a recycling coordinator within 180 days, to fulfill the preparation of a plan in coordination with the Solid Waste Management Agency.

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