November 2008 Archives

Dr. Goodall does not handle wild chimps.  This orphan chimpanzee lives at a JGI sanctuary.
Photograph courtesy Michael Neugebauer

Jane Goodall, the well-renowned primatologist, has received the prestigious Leakey Prize for achievement in the fields of ape and human evolution. Dr. Leakey moved to the African jungle of Lake Tanganyika in 1960 to study chimpanzees, the closest living relatives of humans. Dr. Goodall has spent her career observing and documenting chimp behavior and working to conserve their natural habitats.
 
Dr. Goodall's research showed us that chimpanzees use tools, hunt, and form complex family relationships.  The Jane Goodall Institute for Wildlife Research, Education and Conservation includes a conservation education program, Roots & Shoots, which works with young people around the world.

Want to learn more about chimps? Check out the Creature Feature.

Scientists are using transmitters the size of three or four grains of rice, powered by a tiny hearing-aid battery, to track bees. The transmitters are small and light enough to attach to the backs of bees from two larger bee species with just a bit of eyelash glue and superglue.

Even loaded up with these backpacks, nearly a third of their body weight, "they fly beautifully," says zoologist Martin Wikelski, a 2008 National Geographic Emerging Explorer and director of the Max Planck Institute of Ornithology in Seewiesen, Germany.

Honeybees have been disappearing and scientist hope that using radio transmitters may be a way to find out where they are going and why and they may help scientists explore native bee behaviors and understand the best ways to use native bees as crop pollinators instead of domestic honeybees.

Read about the disappearing honeybees here.

Learn more about the tiny transmitters on National Geographic News.

One of the Endeavour astronauts accidentally lost a tool bag during a spacewalk on Tuesday after a grease gun inside the bag exploded. Objects have been lost in space before, but this was one of the largest items ever lost by an astronaut on a spacewalk.

A previously unknown pyramid was found buried under 23 feet (7 meters) of sand last week in Saqqara, Egypt. It is believed to be the tomb of Pharaoh Teti's mother, Queen Sesheshet, who lived 4,300 years ago. This pyramid may be "the most complete subsidiary pyramid ever found at Saqqara," according to Zahi Hawass, secretary general of Egypt's Supreme Council of Antiquities and a National Geographic Society explorer-in-residence. It is considered to be a subsidiary, or satellite, pyramid to the tomb of Teti.

Read more about the discovery on National Geographic News.

Read about the remains found in the pyramid on National Geographic News.

Photograph by Susan Poulton


The space shuttle Endeavour blasted off from Cape Canaveral in Florida at 7:55 p.m. EST on Friday, November 14. The shuttle docked with the International Space Station on November 15, and is scheduled to return with its crew of seven astronauts on November 27.

The shuttle carried important cargo to the space station, including a new toilet and a water purifier that will make sweat and urine into drinkable water!

See more pictures of the shuttle launch on National Geographic's Breaking Orbit blog.

The Orangutan Foundation celebrates Orangutan Week from November 10 to November 16 this year. On Friday, November 14, dress in orange to celebrate Orangutan Day. Ask your friends to wear orange, too! Orangutans are Asia's only great ape species and they are endangered.

Want to learn more about orangutans? Check out the Creature Feature.

Photograph courtesy Karin Jaeger (Medical University of Vienna, Austria)

A new study says that our hair is related to reptile claws. Hair is made from a protein called keratin. Findings suggests that modern birds, reptiles, and mammals--as well as dinosaurs--shared an early common reptilian ancestor that had claws built from keratin more than 300 million years ago. Keratin evolved into strands of hair only in mammals.

Read more on National Geographic News. 

Photograph by Jason Reed/Reuters

The citizens of the United States of America voted in record numbers yesterday, and they chose Barack Obama as the 44th president of the country. During his victory speech last night from Chicago, Senator Obama thanked his family, his vice president-elect Joe Biden, his campaign manager, and the people who came out to vote. He also congratulated Senator John McCain on his achievements during the presidential race.

President-elect Obama will be sworn into office on Inauguration Day, which is January 20, 2009.

Today's the day everyone's been talking about--election day! Will the next president be Barack Obama or John McCain? Visit ePals Election Central to learn more about the candidates.

The new president will not take office until Inauguration Day, which is January 20, 2009.