<ul><li>The UNESCO-listed biosphere reserve hosts over 50 mammal species, 254 bird species, 30 reptile species and 50 butterfly species, among a plethora of others.</li><li>The <keyword id="10677348" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="satpura-biosphere-reserve">Satpura Biosphere Reserve</keyword> composes three wildlife regions - the Bori range, Satpura and the <keyword id="488513" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Pachmarhi">Pachmarhi</keyword> range.</li><li>The Son and Denwa rivers weave through this 1427 sq kilometre expanse frequented by a large variety of exotic birds.</li></ul><br />When Shyamla Nayyar, an executive search professional, was told she would be travelling to Pachmarhi in Madhya Pradesh for a family vacation, she was less than thrilled. However, after visiting the place she says, “it turned out to be one of the best trips we had in our lives.” <br /><br />Often referred to as the queen of the <keyword id="5934375" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="satpura-range">Satpura Range</keyword> in central India, the hill station of Pachmarhi lodged at the height of 1100 m is a part of Satpura Biosphere Reserve. The Satpura Biosphere Reserve composes three wildlife regions - the Bori range, Satpura and the Pachmarhi range. <br /><br />            <div type="image" title="Satpura Biosphere Reserve" msid="80598818" hostid="261"></div><br />The <a href="http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/environment/ecological-sciences/biosphere-reserves/asia-and-the-pacific/india/pachmarhi">UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserve</a> hosts over 150 species of flora that is used for medicinal purposes and over 50 mammal species, 254 bird species, 30 reptile species and 50 butterfly species, among a plethora of other species found here. <br /><br />The verdant teak and sal forest is also home to rare and endangered animals like the gaur, bears, tigers, leopards, giant squirrels and crested serpent eagle. Linking two biodiversity hotspots — Eastern Himalaya and the Western Ghats — the Pachmarhi Biosphere Reserve is frequently recognised as a ‘Genetic Express Highway’.<br /><br />The Reserve is also home to two major tribes - the Gond tribes and Korkus tribe whereas the most primitive tribe, <a href="http://www.epco.in/epco_biosphere_pachmarhi.php">Bhariya</a>, reside in the Patalkot region, which is a completely isolated valley in the Chhindwara district of Madhya Pradesh. <br /><br />According to Hindu mythology, it is believed that the five Pandava brothers from Mahabharata built five caves that are located here - thus the place was named Panch (five) Marhi (caves). These caves were first discovered by Captain J. Forsyth in 1862 and feature rock paintings up to 2,500 years old.<br /><br />            <div type="image" title="Satpura Biosphere Reserve" msid="80598840" hostid="261"></div><br /><br /><strong>In and around Satpura National Park:<br /></strong><br />Without a doubt, one of the biggest highlights of visiting Pachmarhi is exploring the treasures in this UNESCO-listed Biosphere Reserve. The Son and Denwa rivers weave through this 1427 sq kilometre expanse frequented by a large variety of exotic birds including the Crested Serpent Eagle, Spotted Owlet and the Common Kingfisher. <br /><br />"I fondly remember our drives around the hill station which boasts of great wildlife and a vast forest cover. The mixed terrain of Panchmarhi is what makes this region truly unique." - Shubh Mukherji, a final year student at the School of Communication, Manipal University, tells us.<br /><br />              <div type="image" title="Satpura Biosphere Reserve" msid="80599027" hostid="261"></div><br /><br />You can explore the jungle either by jeep safari, elephant safari, boat, walking (Satpura is one of the few Indian jungles that visitors can experience on foot) and canoe ride. Locals suggest a visit to the Denwa backwaters, a 2-hour road journey from Pachmarhi, for wildlife and bird sightings. There is also an excellent boat safari into the jungle.<br /><br />            <div type="image" title="Satpura Biosphere Reserve" msid="80598914" hostid="261"></div> <br />Local guides often recommend 'special' places they have come across while living there and one such find was the vulture point. A short trek from the WelcomHeritage Golf View hotel is a spot from where vultures, that are sadly at the verge of extinction, can be viewed with a binocular. "It turned out to be one of the best experiences of the trip, at least for me," Shyamla tells us.<br /><br />The region is also home to some spectacular waterfalls and the famous Irene Pool that was discovered by Irene Bose, wife of Justice Vivian Bose.<br /><br />The best part is that the place is relatively quiet and not teeming with tourists. Shubh gleefully tells us that "While December is usually peak season for most destinations, we were surprised to see a relatively small number of tourists at the time." <br /><br /><strong>Getting there: <br /></strong><br />“We took a train from Nizamuddin Railway Station in Delhi to Itarsi, which was an overnight journey. We reached Itarsi early morning and a pickup was arranged by our hotel. It was a one-and-a-half-hour journey and the roads were pretty decent," says Shyamla. If, however, you don't fancy a train journey, you can always fly down to Bhopal, which is where the closest airport is, and drive down from there.<br />

The many marvels of Satpura Biosphere Reserve in Madhya Pradesh

<ul><li><strong>The flood situation in <keyword id="6354915" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="assam">Assam</keyword> again deteriorated on Wednesday while two more persons died in Barpeta and Morigaon districts, taking the death toll to 89, while around 26.32 lakh people in 26 of the state's 33 districts continue to be hit.</strong></li><li><strong>According to <keyword id="1989513" type="COMPANY" weightage="20" keywordseo="the-forest-department">the Forest Department</keyword> and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials, at least 120 animals have been killed in floods and 147 rescued even as 90 per cent of the 430 sq km, world-famous <keyword id="49706" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kaziranga-National-Park">Kaziranga National Park</keyword>, home to more than 2,200 one-horned Indian rhinoceros, remained inundated.<br /></strong></li><li><strong>ASDMA officials said that of the 26.32 lakh people currently affected, over 16.52 lakh are only in five western districts of Goalpara (468,460), Barpeta (381,522), Morigaon (308,571), Dhubri (278,041) and South Sakmara (216,207).</strong><br /></li></ul><br /> After a marginal improvement earlier this week, the flood situation in Assam again deteriorated on Wednesday while two more persons died in Barpeta and Morigaon districts, taking the death toll to 89, while around 26.32 lakh people in 26 of the state's 33 districts continue to be hit.<br /><br />According to the Forest Department and the Assam State Disaster Management Authority (ASDMA) officials, at least 120 animals have been killed in floods and 147 rescued even as 90 per cent of the 430 sq km, world-famous Kaziranga National Park, home to more than 2,200 one-horned Indian rhinoceros, remained inundated.<br /><br />ASDMA officials said that of the 26.32 lakh people currently affected, over 16.52 lakh are only in five western districts of Goalpara (468,460), Barpeta (381,522), Morigaon (308,571), Dhubri (278,041) and South Sakmara (216,207).<br /><br />They said that the floods -- which have inundated the state for over a month now -- had claimed 89 lives so far in Kamrup (Metro), Baksa, South Salmara, Darrang, Sonitpur, Biswanath, Tinsukia, Lakhimpur, Bongaigaon, Kamrup, Golaghat, Sivasagar, Morigaon, Dhubri, Nagaon, Nalbari, Barpeta, Dhemaji, Udalguri, Goalpara and Dibrugarh districts, while 26 others were killed in separate landslides since May 22.<br /><br />The ASDMA officials said that besides the Brahmaputra, as many as seven more rivers -- Dhansiri, Jia Bharali, Kopili, Beki, <keyword id="4768363" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="kushiyara">Kushiyara</keyword>, Sankosh, Dharamtul -- are flowing above the danger mark in a large number of places in 12 districts. Over 2,525 villages and 115,515 hectares of crop area in 26 districts have been flooded. <br /><br />The district administrations have set up 391 relief camps and distribution centres in 26 districts, where around 45,300 men, women and children have taken shelter.<br /><br />Of the 26 affected districts, 15 -- Dhubri, Goalpara, Barpeta, Morigaon, South Sakmara, Dhemaji, Lakhimpur, Darrang, Nalbari, Kamrup (Metro), Kamrup (Rural), Nagaon, Golaghat, Majuli, Bongaigaon -- are the worst-hit.<br /><br />Besides erosion of river banks at a large number of places, roads, embankments, bridges, culverts and other infrastructure were damaged at many locations in 24 districts, the officials said, adding that hundred of houses were fully or partially damaged due to the floods.<br /><br />Around 14 lakh domesticated animals and over 8 lakh poultry birds were affected. Besides Kaziranga National Park, located on edge of the eastern Himalayan biodiversity hotspots of Golaghat and Nagaon districts, the Manas, R.G. Orang and Tinsukia national parks, the Pabitora and Tinsukia wildlife sanctuaries were also affected.<br /><br /><strong>SEE ALSO: <br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/science/health/news/coovid-vaccine-from-oxford-serum-institute-and-astrazeneca-shows-promising-immune-response/articleshow/77069321.cms">The COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford and AstraZeneca shows 'promising' results in early human trials</a><br /><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/careers/news/from-intel-and-wipro-to-tcs-and-google-here-are-the-top-job-openings-in-the-multinational-companies/articleshow/77058769.cms">From Intel and Wipro to TCS and Google— Here are the top job openings in the multinational companies</a><br /></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.in/tech/mobile/news/checkout-upcoming-affordable-smartphone-oneplus-nord-launch-price-specifications-features/articleshow/77061620.cms"><strong>OnePlus Nord launch price, specs and more – Everything we know about the upcoming affordable OnePlus smartphone</strong></a><br />

Assam flood situation worsens again, death toll rises to 89

<ul class="summary-list"><li>Researchers in <keyword id="22501" type="COUNTRY" weightage="60" keywordseo="New-Zealand">New Zealand</keyword> identified a new, extinct <keyword id="6354605" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Penguin">penguin</keyword> species via fossils.</li><li>The discovery indicates that crested penguins have lived in New Zealand for millions of years.</li><li>Based on this and other findings, researchers believe all modern-day penguins evolved from ancient penguins that roamed the now-sunken continent of <keyword id="4182442" type="PERSON" weightage="60" keywordseo="zealandia">Zealandia</keyword>.</li></ul><p>Earth's lost eighth continent, Zealandia, sank into the sea between <a href="https://www.nsf.gov/discoveries/disc_summ.jsp?cntn_id=300018&amp;org=NSF&amp;from=newsrom=news">50 and 35 million years ago</a>. Today, we know the tiny fraction of it that remains above the waves as New Zealand.</p><p>But before most of Zealandia disappeared — about 60 million years ago — ancient penguins walked upon the 2-million-square-mile continent. In fact, a recent discovery has led scientists to conclude that all modern-day penguins likely descended from Zealandia's ancient birds.</p><p>The newly identified fossils of an extinct penguin species offer a crucial, previously missing link between ancient and modern penguins.  </p><p>Last month, <a href="https://royalsocietypublishing.org/doi/abs/10.1098/rspb.2020.1497">researchers announced</a> that they'd found a set of well-preserved 3-million-year-old fossils, including a skull and a wing bone, on New Zealand's North Island. They identified the bones as belonging to a previously unknown species of crested penguin, which they named Eudyptes atatu.</p><p>The finding serves as "an important clue that New Zealand might have been a biodiversity hotspot for seabirds for millions of years," Daniel Thomas, a zoologist at Massey University and the lead author of the study, told Business Insider.</p><p>That's far longer than researchers previously realized; earlier studies had only dated the presence of crested penguins on New Zealand back about 7,000 years, Thomas said. The new timeline suggests the region is the penguin's most likely place of origin.</p><p> "We propose that New Zealand is likely to be where the earliest ancestor to all crested penguins lived, and where the ancestor of all penguins lived," Thomas said.</p><h2>New Zealand is the 'seabird capital of the world'</h2><div type="image" title="e atatu penguin bones" height="960" width="1280" msid="78265897" hostid="261"></div><p>The word atatu comes from the Maori term ata tū, which means dawn; Eudyptes refers to crested penguins — those with feathery yellow stripes above their eyes. There are between four and seven species of them alive on Earth today, depending on <a href="https://www.inaturalist.org/taxa/3822-Eudyptes">which taxonomist you ask</a>.</p><p>New Zealand is home to <a href="https://www.google.com/search?q=new+zealand+13+penguin+species&amp;rlz=1C5CHFA_enUS911US911&amp;oq=new+zealand+13+penguin+species&amp;aqs=chrome..69i57.3402j0j4&amp;sourceid=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8=chrome&amp;ie=UTF-8">13 species of penguin</a> for at least part of the year – the most of any country on Earth. More broadly, the island nation is considered the "seabird capital of the world," according to its <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/sea-and-shore-birds/">Department of Conservation</a>. More than a third of its 80 native seabird species <a href="https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/birds/sea-and-shore-birds/#:~:text=More%20than%20a%20third%20of,endemic%2C%20or%20found%20nowhere%20else.">aren't found</a> anywhere else in the world. </p><p>The fossils from the extinct Eudyptes atatu penguin were found embedded in rock near the coastal region of Taranaki. Local collectors discovered them first, then alerted researchers at the Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa. </p><p>After their analysis found the fossils to be about 3 million years old, the researchers compared the fossils to bones of other, living crested penguin species. They found that the ancient penguin was fairly similar to modern-day crested penguins, though its beak was more slender. That's a clue it had a different diet than its modern cousins, most of whom survive mainly on small fish, krill, and crustaceans.</p><div type="image" title="group of northern rockhopper penguins" height="1258" width="1900" msid="78265900" hostid="261"></div><p>So E. atatu could either be an ancestor of some species of modern crested penguin, or it could be a sister species that shares a common ancestor. </p><p>The researchers fed the information from their analysis into a software program that uses data about fossils and other information to map species' most likely origin points and migration patterns. That simulation is what led them to conclude that all modern penguins likely descended from the same Zealandia-dwelling ancestor.</p><h2><strong>Ancient penguins roamed the lost continent of Zealandia </strong></h2><p>E. atatu lived in New Zealand tens of millions of years after the rest of Zealandia sank. But the researchers think its ancestor evolved about 60 million years ago, suggesting that penguins likely once wandered the continent while the rest of its surface lay above sea level.</p><div type="image" title="Zealandia_topography" height="1617" width="1391" msid="78265902" hostid="261"></div><p>These ancient penguins may have been gigantic. In 2017, researchers <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-017-08565-y">found</a> that prehistoric "mega-penguins" stood 5 feet 8 inches tall and weighed 220 pounds.</p><p>The majority of Zealandia, which is about half the size of Australia, now sits <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/maps-reveal-eighth-continent-zealandia-underwater-2020-6">3,500 feet under the sea</a>. In addition to mega-penguins, the continent was once likely home to dinosaurs and lush rainforest. </p>

Fossils found in New Zealand suggest the ancestor of all penguins lived on Earth's lost 8th continent, Zealandia

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Thomson Reuters</span></p><p class="caption">Tourist hotspots aren't immune from war.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>Numerous destinations around the world that rely on tourism for their survival happen to located in places where war and socio-political tensions are a part of everyday life.</p><p>Some of the world's most biodiverse and historical spots are in places most at risk of violent conflict.</p><p>The State Department has a full list of places on their <a href="https://travel.state.gov/content/travel/en/traveladvisories/traveladvisories.html">website</a> they discourage Americans from traveling to. While that list includes any destination where they say American tourists should use caution, there are only a couple attractions in the world that remain directly in the path of violent conflict.</p><p>Here are six incredible tourist destinations around the world that were threatened or destroyed by war in 2017:</p>

6 incredible tourist destinations that were endangered by war in 2017

<keyword id="6362858" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kerala-Tourism">Kerala Tourism</keyword> is targeting a healthy 10-12 per cent growth in both arrivals as well as in earnings in the year to March 2020 as the state has returned to normalcy after the worst deluge in a century had ravaged the entire state last year, a senior official has said.<br /><br />Despite the killer floods, the state had recorded a 6 per cent increase in both footfalls and revenue in 2018.<br /><br />It can be noted that tourism was one of the worst affected business sectors of the state's economy that was impacted by the worst deluge in a century that ravaged the entire state in August-September of 2018.<br /><br />The tourism hot-spot <keyword id="30469" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="Kochi">Kochi</keyword> and the surrounding areas and the Alappuzha, known for its famed boat-houses and backwaters, bore the brunt of the floods bringing the industry to a complete standstill.<br /><br />Apart from remittances, tourism is the mainstay of the Kerala economy with 12 per cent of the state GDP is contributed by this.<br /><br />"After the worst floods last year, tourism has recovered fully from January 2019. We saw 8.07 per cent growth in arrivals in the first quarter at 41,90,468 against 38,77,712 during the same period last year.<br /><br />Looking at the current trends we expect 10-12 per cent growth in both arrivals as well as in earnings this fiscal year," Kerala Tourism information officer Suraj PK told PTI.<br /><br />Despite the floods, Kerala closed 2018 with total footfalls of 16.7 million, up 6 per cent over 2017 while the earnings were over Rs 36,520 crore, up from Rs 28,740 crore, he added.<br /><br />In 2017, the footfalls were 15.67 million, recording an increase of 5.93 per cent. Of the total footfalls, 1.09 million were foreign tourists. The share of revenue from foreign visitors touched Rs 8,764.46 crore.<br /><br />Domestic tourism sector also gained during the period with visitors exceeding 15.6 million, showing an increase of 6.35 per cent, according to the numbers shared by the department.<br /><br />Buoyed by a healthy surge in domestic tourist arrivals, Kerala Tourism is all set to kick-start a new aggressive marketing campaign with a string of partnership meets across 10 cities, showcasing a combination of the state's traditional art forms and its attractive products of touristy appeal.<br /><br />Suraj said tourism will also get a boost from the very first edition of the Kerala's Champions Boat League (CBL), which began from late August. The boat league is conceived in the IPL format.<br /><br />"Every weekend any tourist who comes to Kerala will be able to witness one 'Champions Boat Race' in any of the major backwaters. It will end with the President's Trophy Boat Race in <keyword id="6357351" type="LOCATION" weightage="20" keywordseo="kollam">Kollam</keyword> on November 23, holding 12 races during the intervening weekends. It will be a world-class experience for the guests," he added.<br /><br />To attract tourists, the state has also added an array of new destinations and experiences that will make Kerala a 365-day destination for leisure travel.<br /><br />"A special attraction would be the <keyword id="61688" type="PERSON" weightage="20" keywordseo="Jatayu">Jatayu</keyword> Earth Centre, an hour drive north of the state capital Thiruvananthapuram, which houses a giant statue of Jatayu, he said.<br /><br />The statue is 200-feet long, 150 feet wide and 70 feet in height, making it the largest functional bird sculpture in the world, Suraj added.<br /><br />Another new attraction is the country's first biodiversity museum, which is tucked away on the outskirts of the capital city.<br /><br />This museum, once a boathouse, is now home to the state's first-ever science-on-sphere system. Another first is the <keyword id="489015" type="CITY" weightage="20" keywordseo="Muziris">Muziris</keyword> Heritage Project, expected to be completed this year, is the largest heritage conservation project in the country.<br /><br />The remains of a once-thriving port frequented by the Arabs, the Romans and the Egyptians during the first century BC is preserved across 25 museums.<br /><br />Another offering in the historical space is the Spice Route Project that rekindles the 2,000-year-old ancient sea links and the shared cultural and culinary legacies with 30 countries.<br /><br />Kerala is keen to figure prominently in the meetings, incentives, conferences, and events (MICE) tourism destinations as well, Suraj said.

Kerala wants to bounce back after floods, eyes 10-12% growth in tourism

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>Alexander Teynié</span></p><p class="caption">The crew at the WWF believes this fellow's shiny head bears a resemblance to Ziggy Stardust.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>The world is still full of mysterious and fascinating creatures.</p><p>While many of us might think we've seen most of what's alive on this planet - or at least on land - the <a href="http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2011/08/110824-earths-species-8-7-million-biology-planet-animals-science/">majority of global species are still unknown</a> and uncategorized.</p><p>In 2015 alone, at least 163 new species were discovered in the biodiversity hotspot of the Greater Mekong region, a part of Southeast Asia that includes Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam, according to <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/greatermekong/discovering_the_greater_mekong/species/new_species/species_oddity/">a report released by the World Wildlife Fund today</a>. This biological treasure trove includes a "rainbow-headed snake, a dragon-like lizard, and a newt that looks like a Klingon from Star Trek," <a href="http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/greatermekong/discovering_the_greater_mekong/species/new_species/species_oddity/">according to the report</a>.</p><p>Unfortunately, many of these species are threatened by both the unprecedented pressure for development in the region and by the illegal wildlife trade, one of the <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/photos-illegal-wildlife-trafficking-2016-9">largest criminal enterprises on the planet</a>.</p><p>With WWF's permission, we've published some of our favorite photos of these strange and recently discovered species here - a glimpse into what we're finding now and the sorts of things that still remain completely undiscovered out there.</p>

Dozens of strange and fascinating new species were recently discovered in a Southeast Asia jungle

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container full float_right"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/5565696408/">Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a></span></p><p class="caption">A cure for cancer might be found here.</p></div><p></p></div>Venomous cone snails sting passing fish, paralyzing them so they can be digested alive. Fire coral causes painful scrapes and infections when touched, a means of self-defense. And certain reef-dwelling mollusks swallow microbes to build up a protective coat of toxins on their skin.</p><p>Coral reefs and other rare environments aren't just fascinating and beautiful.</p><p>The potent and diverse chemicals created by nature might hold the key to better treatments for cancer, HIV, and many other diseases that stymie doctors - but only if we can reach them in time.</p><p>Harvesting and adapting these natural compounds is crucial to the advancement of modern medicine. But many of the best potential sources of new drugs are at risk of extinction.</p><p>Around the world, reefs - the heart of the ocean ecosystem, the most biodiverse places on the planet - are currently undergoing what could be the worst "bleaching event" ever recorded. Stress from high temperatures damages the organisms that make up the corals, causing them to lose their color, making them vulnerable to disease, and eventually, if temperatures don't drop, killing them.</p><p>A study published <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6283/338">April 15 in the journal Science</a> found that up to this point, corals in Australia's Great Barrier Reef have been somewhat protected from bleaching events (and able to recover) because of internal protective mechanisms. But the study argues that now, those mechanisms have been essentially overwhelmed and won't be able to keep up with ongoing temperature changes. That means more and more of that reef will die, along with others around the world.</p><p>We're losing not just a crucial ecosystem, with untold environmental consequences, but also one of our most promising sources of medicine. Countless potential new treatments will be lost before we ever have a chance to discover them.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/37467370@N08/8368786104/in/photolist-dKwdxA-Eckp6-oDrUTV-a7117y-oDrVtx-9Asdmn-8D9fRX-emRe8S-7WwCh-qUhCfD-8DaqGd-8NWmDC-dKqKin-7cVh5V-ad3p91-63JevR-qbEYJ5-4Lc7yP-4u8Rw9-ja1sBU-bVwbcB-6iFGju-nZScqT-7WwLD-3FE4x-8DaT6m-7gVGqW-oDroZu-aLgLvv-8DaSb7-8ptTfn-hmm94J-8D7jye-8D8v32-auzR32-8DaSSE-8Dcnas-7cZa1o-8DaSN3-8DaSAs-fky5Mx-8DcnGS-8Dcnyw-8D9fE2-8DcnRh-4k5x35-8D9ffM-8D9fZZ-qUrM5z-8DaShq">Greg Goebel / Flickr (CC-BY-SA-2.0)</a></span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><h2>Finding drugs in nature</h2><p>The first modern antibiotic, penicillin, comes from a fungus.</p><p>Ancient Greeks used molds to fight infections. Polynesian seafarers and 14th-century Chinese people derived painkillers from reef creatures. And in recent years we've learned much more about how to extract chemicals and medicines from natural sources.</p><p>"Mother Nature has been doing her chemistry over the last 3 billion years," says David Newman, the former chief of the <a href="http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/branches/npb/repository.html" target="_blank">Natural Products Branch</a> of the National Cancer Institute. "She isn't making anti-tumor compounds," he explains, but the same chemical that a sea sponge uses to fight predators might also be able to kill cancer cells or viruses.</p><p>Cone snail venom is now being used as a painkiller - one that's 50 times more potent than morphine - that eliminates phantom limb pain in amputees. Tunicates, marine invertebrates frequently found around coral reefs, provide anticancer and antiviral chemicals. AZT, the first effective drug against AIDS, comes from a chemical produced in a lab, but the chemical was first <a href="http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/sea-sponge-hiv-medicine" target="_blank">found in, and modeled from</a>, a Caribbean sea sponge.</p><p>Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that <a href="http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/values/medicine/#b" target="_blank">more than half of modern pharmaceuticals are derived</a> from the natural world. In particular, they say that reefs and the creatures that live on and around them <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/features/economic_0309/medicines.html" target="_blank">show special potential</a> for medicine.</p><p>A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22316239" target="_blank">2012 review found</a> that of the new drugs approved to fight cancer between 1981 and 2010, only 20.2% were purely synthetic - meaning purely made in a lab, not found in nature or made, derived, or copied from something natural. The same was true for new drugs used to fight infections. Just 22.6% of those were purely synthetic.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificklaus/3985819399/in/photolist-75dnf8-6i3ZnY-6zvxSP-6zvz9V-9Gtac9-6oEk45-6zzDE1-6zzH8A-h45LsX-6AmxWm-7hGm2z-4NNddR-4NSsT5-adHh2i-9jeufZ-9jhAzd-677ZB7-7Y1tgm-75VTme-7TVfNF-5fzmfW-eUAd1C-jaacvW-aqgsLA-7vojNs-eDFWxC-bDcUKd-5ZEYaq-jrzTa9-8UcUnp-8UfZcq-8UfZh1-hBeFq3-aqguLd-bxETGq-7p7XwJ-75ZMiC-75ZMrs-8BnHGp-4GD3A7-8BnHS8-8BnJjX-8BqQvd-8BqQGY-8BqQUh-4NSsDu-afhyJL-5fzm9A-cQhzij-8Fw7LC">Klaus Stiefel/flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">Tunicates are particularly promising organisms, largely for the microbes they harbor.</p></div><p></p></div></p><h2>Killing off potential treatments</h2><p>Nature has amazing medical potential because of its biodiversity, but finding new medicines is hard work.</p><p>For every medically useful molecule found, thousands have been tested unsuccessfully. Some of those useful molecules, and the species that produce them, can be found in only a few vulnerable places.</p><p>"When we lose a single reef or part of a forest due to changes in climate or other causes, we do not know what we have lost," says Newman.</p><p>Natural resources with great potential have been squandered before.</p><p>Newman tells the story of a researcher who in the late 1980s collected samples of biological material from a certain type of algae growing among mangroves on the coast of a Caribbean island. Tests later showed that the algae contained what seemed to be a promising new antitumor agent. But when the researcher returned, the mangroves had been uprooted, and the area filled in and turned into a golf course.</p><h2>Why coral reefs matter</h2><p>The ocean in particular is considered both one of the least explored and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23428572" target="_blank">potentially most useful</a> sources of new medicines. Called the "medicine cabinets of the 21st century" <a href="http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_medicine.html" target="_blank">by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, coral reefs are the most biodiverse sites in the sea.</p><p>But they're also the most vulnerable.</p><p>They cover less than 1% of the ocean's floor, and more than a quarter of marine life <a href="http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/values/biodiversity/" target="_blank">directly depends on them</a>. But they are in dire shape because of the effects of rising temperatures, pollution, and ocean acidification. Many researchers think it might <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/opinion/a-world-without-coral-reefs.html?_r=1&amp;">already be too late</a> to save reefs.</p><p>According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warming and acidification <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ipcc-climate-change-is-destroying-the-oceans-2014-3">will cause high extinction rates</a> throughout the tropics, where most reefs are located.</p><p>The <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/352/6283/338">latest studies</a> about the state of reefs are even more dire.</p><p>"This is a huge, looming planetary crisis, and we are sticking our heads in the sand about it," Justin Marshall, the director of CoralWatch at Australia's University of Queensland, <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/10/world/asia/climate-related-death-of-coral-around-world-alarms-scientists.html?rref=collection%2Fsectioncollection%2Fscience">told The New York Times.</a></p><p>Reefs are essential for medicine, but they do far more than that too. The ocean food chain - which provides food for one billion people, one-seventh of the world - all depends on these hotspots of life.</p><p>And right now, reefs aren't the only sites at risk.</p><p>"We are effectively undoing the beauty and the variety and the richness of the world which has taken tens of millions of years to reach," Elizabeth Kolbert <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275885377/in-the-worlds-sixth-extinction-are-humans-the-asteroid" target="_blank">told NPR's Terry Gross</a> while discussing her book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Sixth-Extinction-Unnatural-History/dp/0805092994" target="_blank">The Sixth Extinction</a>."</p><p>There have been five mass extinctions in earth's history, when some tragic event caused the number of species on the planet to plummet. <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/2011/03/are-we-middle-sixth-mass-extinction" target="_blank">Many</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/11/there-have-been-five-mass-extinctions-in-earths-history-now-were-facing-a-sixth/" target="_blank">people</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/are-we-in-the-midst-of-a-sixth-mass-extinction.html?_r=0" target="_blank">think</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21368823" target="_blank">that</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22257223" target="_blank">climate change</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19782832" target="_blank">ocean acidification</a>, and habitat destruction have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-is-already-happening-2014-7" target="_blank">started a sixth extinction</a> event, which could cause the "extinction of one-third of all reef-building corals, a third of all freshwater mollusks, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles, and sixth of all birds," according to Kolbert.</p><p>A study published in <a href="http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/5/e1400253">Science Advances in January of 2015</a> said that extinction event is "already under way."</p><h2><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_sea_coral_reef.jpg">Hagainativ/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></p><p class="caption">Reefs aren't the only sites with medical potential, but they are among the most vulnerable.</p></div><p></p></div>If these sites are lost</strong></h2><p>The <a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/83/1/thomascd1.pdf" target="_blank">loss of much of the world's</a> biodiversity <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/6-scary-takeaways-from-the-uns-huge-climate-report-2014-4">is only one of the expected effects</a> of climate change. But that one effect could have an even greater impact on humanity than we know.</p><p>It can't be said with certainty that climate change will destroy the molecule that would provide the perfect cure for leukemia or breast cancer or the chemical that could universally eliminate HIV.</p><p>New compounds with medical potential could theoretically be found anywhere. A molecule that could treat anthrax <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201302749/abstract" target="_blank">was discovered</a> in underwater sediment off the coast of California. The source of an amazing new drug for fighting cancer might exist in some rare, never-analyzed species of fungus growing in New York's Central Park.</p><p>But so far, many of the most promising sources of new medicine in the world are in the biodiverse hotspots most at risk of being lost. Sites like reefs are beautiful, interesting places. But even if they weren't, they'd be worth preserving for their medical potential alone.</p><p>Unfortunately for much of the world, it could already be too late.</p><p><em>This is an updated version of a story first published in July of 2014.</em></p>

A disconcerting ocean event could destroy one of our most promising sources of medicine

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span>CDC/James Gathany</span></p></div><p></p></div></div></p><ul><li><strong>Malaria parasites carried by mosquitoes in the Greater Mekong region have started to become resistant to the main drugs used to treat the disease.</strong></li><li><strong>Malaria still kills more than 400,000 a year and the spread of a resistant strain like this could kill millions.</strong></li><li><strong>Southeast Asia is where drug-resistant malaria tends to emerge before spreading to other parts of the world.</strong></li></ul><p>In a hot and humid part of the world a threat that could kill millions is growing.</p><p>A mutated malaria parasite carried by mosquitoes in the Greater Mekong region of western Cambodia, northeastern Thailand, southern Laos, and the south of Vietnam has started to become a dominant malaria parasite in that region.</p><p>And this particular line of malaria parasite is resistant to not just one but two of the most effective drugs we have for treating the devastating illness.</p><p>This is a "sinister development" that "presents one of the greatest threats to the control and elimination of malaria," a group of researchers from Thailand, Vietnam, and the UK wrote in a recent <a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30524-8/fulltext">letter to the medical journal The Lancet</a>.</p><p>Medicine is an ever-evolving battle. Scientists find a treatment that's able to kill a pathogen; any members of that pathogen species able to survive the treatment then pass their resistance on, making the treatment less useful. New treatments are found or developed and the process repeats - unless the bug can be contained using other strategies (like alternating between different types of treatment so no one form of resistance becomes paramount) or unless that bug can be wiped out completely.</p><p>The most well-known example of this comes from the ongoing fight against bacterial infections. <a href="http://www.who.int/medicines/news/2017/world-running-out-antibiotics-WHO-report/en/?utm_source=STAT+Newsletters&amp;utm_campaign=638824a318-MR&amp;utm_medium=email&amp;utm_term=0_8cab1d7961-638824a318-149867861">Bacteria are developing resistance</a> to medicine faster than we're developing new antibiotics, threatening to return the world to a pre-antibiotic era where a simple scratch could become fatal (the risks from any surgery become astounding in that scenario) - something experts call a growing threat that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/biggest-misconception-about-antibiotic-resistance-2017-2">could kill 10 million people a year by 2050</a>.</p><p>The same thing is happening with our medications for the malaria parasite.</p><h2>From Southeast Asia to Africa</h2><p>While the development of resistance isn't new, this particular case is disturbing. In the past, malaria-causing mosquitoes developed resistance to pesticides like DDT and to chloroquine, once a widely used malaria treatment that's now not effective for the form of the disease that kills the most people.</p><p><div class="KonaFilter image-container display-table float_right"><div><div class="image on-image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://www.thelancet.com/journals/laninf/article/PIIS1473-3099(17)30524-8/fulltext">The Lancet</a></span></p><p class="caption">The resistant strain was first discovered near Pailin in 2008, but it has now spread throughout the region.</p></div><p></p></div></div></p><p>There are five different types of malaria-causing parasite, and each carries a version of the disease with unique levels of severity and associated difficulties in treatment. The one that's developing resistance in the Mekong is called Plasmodium falciparum. It's both the most common and most fatal, accounting for 90% of the <a href="http://www.who.int/malaria/en/">more than 400,000 annual deaths that malaria</a> causes.</p><p>According to the <a href="http://www.who.int/malaria/en/">World Health Organization</a>, malaria still infects 212 million people a year, meaning that a strain that our most effective drugs can't treat would have devastating consequences. Approximately 92% of malaria deaths occur in Sub-Saharan Africa. But the distance between there and Southeast Asia is no reassurance.</p><p>"Almost always, drug resistance has emerged in Southeast Asia and jumped to Africa," Janice Culpepper, a senior program officer on the Malaria Program Strategy Team in Global Health at the Bill &amp; Melinda Gates Foundation, explained in a conversation with reporters that Business Insider participated in last fall. The biodiversity hotspot in the Mekong region is a place where new mutations like drug resistance tend to appear, but successful species there can spread to other parts of the world easily.</p><p>In this location, medical professionals had been using a combination of the drugs artemisinin (which was becoming less effective) and piperaquine as a combination therapy, with the idea that it was hard for parasites to develop resistance to two drugs at once.</p><p>But in this case, a strain of Plasmodium falciparum that was already resistant to artemisinin has developed resistance to piperaquine too.</p><p>"It's a race against the clock - we have to eliminate it before malaria becomes untreatable again and we see a lot of deaths," Arjen Dondorp, head of a malaria research unit in Bangkok and one author of the Lancet letter, <a href="http://www.bbc.com/news/health-41351160">told the BBC</a>.</p><p>In theory, malaria can be eliminated from a region. A number of countries have done so over the years. But in this case, with the resistant strain spreading, time is short.</p><p>"The evolution and subsequent transnational spread of this single fit multidrug-resistant malaria parasite lineage is of international concern," the authors of the letter wrote.</p>    <div class="margin-top">        <h3>NOW WATCH: <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/hurricane-irma-lightning-space-footage-2017-9">Incredible footage from space shows massive lightning storms in Hurricane Irma</a></h3>        <div>                    </div>    </div>

A drug-resistant malaria superbug is on the rise - here's why that's so concerning

<p><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/usfwspacific/5565696408/">Jim Maragos/U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service</a></span></p><p class="caption">A cure for cancer might be found here.</p></div><p></p></div>Venomous cone snails sting passing fish, paralyzing them so they can be digested alive. Fire coral causes painful scrapes and infections when touched, a means of self-defense. And certain reef-dwelling mollusks swallow microbes to build up a protective coat of toxins on their skin.</p>
<p>Coral reefs and other rare environments aren't just fascinating and beautiful. The potent and diverse chemicals created by nature might hold the key to better treatments for cancer, HIV, and many other diseases that stymie doctors - but only if we can reach them in time.</p>
<p>Harvesting and adapting these natural compounds is crucial to the advancement of modern medicine. There's just one problem:<strong> Many of the best potential sources for new drugs are at risk of extinction.</strong><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/haniamir/3215514278/in/photolist-5U9mnm-GCYxX-iB16M-66toFK-EoqrF-7gYe2S-EoqfQ-Eoqsw-EoqtL-Eoqv9-Eoq6c-Eoq8k-EoqhX-Eoqw1-EoqAy-Eoqna-Eoqhd-EoqiY-Eoqpt-Eoq9x-EoqMy-EoqQC-778Rso-aCDP3s-EoqJj-EopVt-aXuQS6-aLjjXk-6rQLEz-4YCTye-2Vd2yC-AnUs-4N6riC-Eoqdh-4JhjmY-7tMyq6-7jhtD2-7BWeb9-7rucqs-7rueoY-ciobp-5Kqgsj-778R1Y-EH5ij-dS7rAD-9RkWpX-8WqfQ5-crUn1Y-GX9wd-2mXPT">Hani Amir/flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">Chemicals in the skin probably make this guy taste bad. But they could be repurposed, too.</p></div><p></p></div></strong></p>
<h3>Finding Drugs In Nature</h3>
<p>The first modern antibiotic, penicillin, comes from a fungus.</p>
<p>Ancient Greeks used molds to fight infections. Polynesian seafarers and 14th-century Chinese-derived painkillers from reef creatures. And in recent years we've learned much more about how to extract chemicals and medicines from natural sources.</p>
<p>"Mother Nature has been doing her chemistry over the last 3 billion years," says David Newman, chief of the <a href="http://dtp.nci.nih.gov/branches/npb/repository.html" target="_blank">Natural Products Branch</a> of the National Cancer Institute. "She isn't making anti-tumor compounds," he explains, but the same chemical that a sea sponge uses to fight predators might also be able to kill cancer cells or viruses.</p>
<p>Cone snail venom is now being used as a painkiller - one that's 50 times more potent than morphine - that eliminates phantom limb pain in amputees. Tunicates, marine invertebrates frequently found around coral reefs, provide anticancer and antiviral chemicals. AZT, the first effective drug against AIDS, comes from a chemical produced in a lab, but the chemical was first <a href="http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-photos/sea-sponge-hiv-medicine" target="_blank">found in, and modeled from</a>, a Caribbean sea sponge.</p>
<p>Scientists from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration say that <a href="http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/values/medicine/#b" target="_blank">more than half of modern pharmaceuticals derive</a> from the natural world. In particular, they say that reefs and the creatures that live on and around them <a href="http://www.noaa.gov/features/economic_0309/medicines.html" target="_blank">show special potential</a> for medicine.</p>
<p>A <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22316239" target="_blank">2012 review found</a> that of the new drugs approved to fight cancer between 1981 and 2010, only 20.2% were purely synthetic - meaning purely made in a lab, not found in nature or made, derived, or copied from something natural. The same was true for new drugs used to fight infections. Just 22.6% of those were purely synthetic.</p>
<h3><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="https://www.flickr.com/photos/pacificklaus/3985819399/in/photolist-75dnf8-6i3ZnY-6zvxSP-6zvz9V-9Gtac9-6oEk45-6zzDE1-6zzH8A-h45LsX-6AmxWm-7hGm2z-4NNddR-4NSsT5-adHh2i-9jeufZ-9jhAzd-677ZB7-7Y1tgm-75VTme-7TVfNF-5fzmfW-eUAd1C-jaacvW-aqgsLA-7vojNs-eDFWxC-bDcUKd-5ZEYaq-jrzTa9-8UcUnp-8UfZcq-8UfZh1-hBeFq3-aqguLd-bxETGq-7p7XwJ-75ZMiC-75ZMrs-8BnHGp-4GD3A7-8BnHS8-8BnJjX-8BqQvd-8BqQGY-8BqQUh-4NSsDu-afhyJL-5fzm9A-cQhzij-8Fw7LC">Klaus Stiefel/flickr</a></span></p><p class="caption">Tunicates are particularly promising organisms, largely for the microbes they harbor.</p></div><p></p></div>Killing Off Potential Treatments</strong></h3>
<p>Nature has amazing medical potential because of its biodiversity, but finding new medicines is hard work.</p>
<p>For every medically useful molecule found, thousands have been tested unsuccessfully. Some of those useful molecules, and the species that produce them, can be found in only a few vulnerable places.</p>
<p>"When we lose a single reef or part of a forest due to changes in climate or other causes, we do not know what we have lost," says Newman.</p>
<p>Natural resources with great potential have been squandered before.</p>
<p>Newman tells the story of a researcher who in the late 1980s collected samples of biological material from a certain type of algae growing among mangroves on the coast of a Caribbean island. Tests later showed that the algae contained what seemed to be a promising new antitumor agent. But when the researcher returned, the mangroves had been uprooted, and the area filled in and turned into a golf course.</p>
<h3>Why Coral Reefs Matter</h3>
<p>The ocean in particular is considered both one of the least explored and <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23428572" target="_blank">potentially most useful</a> sources of new medicines. Called the "medicine cabinets of the 21st century" <a href="http://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/coral_medicine.html" target="_blank">by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a>, coral reefs are the most biodiverse sites in the sea.</p>
<p>But they're also the most vulnerable.</p>
<p>They cover less than 1% of the ocean's floor, and more than a quarter of marine life <a href="http://coralreef.noaa.gov/aboutcorals/values/biodiversity/" target="_blank">directly depends on them</a>. But they are in dire shape because of the effects of rising temperatures, pollution, and ocean acidification. Many researchers think it might <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/14/opinion/a-world-without-coral-reefs.html?_r=1&amp;">already be too late</a> to save reefs.</p>
<p>According to the latest report from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, warming and acidification <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/ipcc-climate-change-is-destroying-the-oceans-2014-3">will cause high extinction rates</a> throughout the tropics, where most reefs are located.</p>
<p>And they aren't the only sites at risk.</p>
<p>"We are effectively undoing the beauty and the variety and the richness of the world which has taken tens of millions of years to reach," Elizabeth Kolbert <a href="http://www.npr.org/2014/02/12/275885377/in-the-worlds-sixth-extinction-are-humans-the-asteroid" target="_blank">told NPR's Terry Gross</a> while discussing her book "<a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Sixth-Extinction-Unnatural-History/dp/0805092994" target="_blank">The Sixth Extinction</a>."</p>
<p>There have been five mass extinctions in earth's history, when some tragic event caused the number of species on the planet to plummet. <a href="http://news.sciencemag.org/2011/03/are-we-middle-sixth-mass-extinction" target="_blank">Many</a> <a href="http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/wonkblog/wp/2014/02/11/there-have-been-five-mass-extinctions-in-earths-history-now-were-facing-a-sixth/" target="_blank">people</a> <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2012/06/03/opinion/sunday/are-we-in-the-midst-of-a-sixth-mass-extinction.html?_r=0" target="_blank">think</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21368823" target="_blank">that</a> <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22257223" target="_blank">climate change</a>, <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19782832" target="_blank">ocean acidification</a>, and habitat destruction have <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/earths-sixth-mass-extinction-is-already-happening-2014-7" target="_blank">put us on the cusp of a sixth extinction</a> event, causing the "extinction of one-third of all reef-building corals, a third of all freshwater mollusks, a third of sharks and rays, a quarter of all mammals, a fifth of all reptiles, and sixth of all birds," according to Kolbert.</p>
<h3><strong><div class="KonaFilter image-container full"><div class="image"><p class="source"><span><a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Red_sea_coral_reef.jpg">Hagainativ/Wikimedia Commons</a></span></p><p class="caption">Reefs aren't the only sites with medical potential, but they are among the most vulnerable.</p></div><p></p></div>If These Sites Are Lost</strong></h3>
<p>The <a href="http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/83/1/thomascd1.pdf" target="_blank">loss of much of the world's</a> biodiversity <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/6-scary-takeaways-from-the-uns-huge-climate-report-2014-4">is only one of the expected effects</a> of climate change. But that one effect could have an even greater impact on humanity than we know.</p>
<p>It can't be said with certainty that climate change will destroy the molecule that would provide the perfect cure for leukemia or breast cancer or the chemical that could universally eliminate HIV.</p>
<p>New compounds with medical potential could theoretically be found anywhere. A molecule that could treat anthrax <a href="http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/anie.201302749/abstract" target="_blank">was recently found</a> in underwater sediment off the coast of California. The source of an amazing new drug for fighting cancer might exist in some rare, never-analyzed species of fungus growing in New York's Central Park.</p>
<p>But so far, many of the most promising sources of new medicine in the world are in the biodiverse hotspots most at risk of being lost. Sites like reefs are beautiful, interesting places. But even if they weren't, they'd be worth preserving for their medical potential alone.</p>
<p>Unfortunately for much of the world, it could already be too late.</p>

The 6th Mass Extinction Could Destroy The Future Of Medicine

<p><div class="image-container float_right" style="width:618px"><div class="image"><a href="/mystery-of-fairy-circles-solved-2013-3#an-aerial-view-of-namibrand-namibia-shows-tracks-of-antelopes-crossing-fairy-circles-1"></a></div><p class="source">NamibRand Nature Reserve</p></div>Carnivorous ants, poisonous plants, meteor showers, and underground gas vents have all been considered as possible culprits of "fairy circles" — bare patches of soil bordered by a ring of taller grasses and found dotting the desert grasslands of Namibia in southern <keyword id="12925" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="60" keywordseo="Africa">Africa</keyword>. </p>
<p>But time and time again, these various theories have been thrown out due to lack of evidence.</p>
<p>Now, scientist Norbert Juergens believes he has unlocked the mystery behind these circular gaps in vegetation that persist for decades before suddenly disappearing: <keyword id="627857" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Termites">termites</keyword>. </p>
<h2><a href="/mystery-of-fairy-circles-solved-2013-3#an-aerial-view-of-namibrand-namibia-shows-tracks-of-antelopes-crossing-fairy-circles-1">See fairy circles in the wild &gt; </a></h2>
<p>Juergens has detailed his findings in a study published Thursday, March 28, in the journal <keyword id="41551" type="ENTERTAINMENT" weightage="100" keywordseo="science">Science</keyword>. <a href="/mystery-of-fairy-circles-solved-2013-3#an-aerial-view-of-namibrand-namibia-shows-tracks-of-antelopes-crossing-fairy-circles-1"></a></p>
<p>The termite theory is actually not new. Florida State University biologist Walter Tschinkel thought the circles were formed by harvester termites, but could find no evidence of their nests. Last year, Tschinkel published a study in the journal PLoS One that <a href="http://www.businessinsider.com/mystery-fairy-circles-walter-tschinkel2012-7">detailed the life cycle of fairy circles</a>, but their cause remained a mystery.   </p>
<p>Juergens shows in the new study that the bare patches are likely formed by a <strong>particular species of sand termite called Psammotermes.</strong></p>
<p>Among the species of termites, only the sand termite was found at all <keyword id="1752518" type="UNKNOWN" weightage="60" keywordseo="Fairy-Circle">fairy circle</keyword> hotspots that Juergens investigated. It made no difference if the fairy circles were young or old. </p>
<p>The theory goes that termites eat the roots of vegetation, resulting in barren circular patches. At the outer edge of the circle, taller grasses grow because of extra water in the soil from the empty areas — these are called perennial belts.</p>
<p>The lack of grass at the center, Juergens hypothesizes, means that rain water is not lost through evaporation from plants. At the same time, water rapidly sinks into a deeper soil layer because of the absence of vegetation.  </p>
<p>This extra soil water helps perennial, or long-living, grass plants grow on the border of the barren patches, which in turn, helps the termites survive in a hostile <keyword id="6356826" type="COMPANY" weightage="60" keywordseo="environment">environment</keyword>. </p>
<p>Juergens also found that fairy circles, because of their unique environment, attract ants, bees, wasps, small animals, and other plants. The termites also serve as food for desert animals like geckos, aardvarks, foxes, and jackals.  </p>
<p>"Fairy circles can be regarded as an outstanding example of allogenic ecosystem engineering resulting in unique landscapes with increased biodiversity, driven by key resources such as permanently available water, perennial plant biomass, and perennial termite biomass," Juergens writes.</p>
<p>Here are some examples of fairy circles in the wild.</p>

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