Cory Richards, the award-winning photographer and climber for The North Face, will not return to Mount Everest after suffering respiratory distress that forced his evacuation from 23,000 feet on Saturday. Doctors in Kathmandu cleared Richards to return to the mountain after finding no evidence of altitude-related illness, but team leaders at Base Camp remain concerned for Richards' health and have pulled him from the expedition. "Though I'm deeply disappointed in the decision not to let me ret... Read More
The deaths in China of 32 Yangtze finless porpoises over the past two months is fueling fears among conservationists that the endangered marine mammal may be headed for extinction. The porpoises, of which only an estimated 1,000 remain in the wild, are under pressure from pollution and food shortages caused by the construction of hydroelectric dams along the Yangtze; at least two of the animals recovered were killed by electrofishing or boat propellers. A 2007 report by China's State Environme... Read More
The International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) on Wednesday announced a four-year ban for Portuguese marathon runner Helder Ornelas as a result of an abnormal blood profile detected by the Biological Passport program. Scientists first noted abnormalities in Ornelas' blood in May 2011. Further study suggested that the abnormalities could only have been caused by the use of performance-enhancing drugs. In a statement, the IAAF said there "was no known reasonable explanation for ab... Read More
The owners of a 1860s-era Cape May, New Jersey, home last week found a thriving colony of 30,000 honeybees—and 25 pounds of honey—living in their attic. Victoria Clayton and Richard White noticed a stream of forager bees hauling pollen and nectar from their garden to a third-floor laundry vent. Gary Schempp, an exterminator-turned-bee-rescuer, excavated the hive from beneath the floorboards and relocated them to his apiary. "A comb this size and this active could have caused huge p... Read More
A study published in the Canadian Journal of Zoology on Tuesday found that polar bears in the Arctic are able to swim far greater distances than previously believed. Between 2004 and 2009, researchers used GPS-enabled collars to track 52 female polar bears in the southern Beaufort Sea off the coast of Alaska. Several bears were observed making swims of around 100 miles, including one bear that swam nearly 220 miles over the course of 10 days. The study is further evidence that melting sea ice ... Read More
