Discovered in the deep: the extraordinary sawshark with a weapon-like snout
With the help of fishers in Madagascar and Tanzania, scientists discovered two new species of rare sixgill sawsharksSwimming through the ocean are sharks that look as if they have a hedge trimmer fixed to their heads and a dangling moustache part way along it. These are sawsharks and they use their formidable headgear to slash through shoals of fish. The moustache is a sensory device that helps the sharks detect prey.“Sawsharks are something extraordinary,” says Simon Weigmann from the Elasmobranch Research Laboratory in Hamburg, Germany.Continue reading... (Source: Guardian Unlimited Science)
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - December 7, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Helen Scales Tags: Sharks Oceans Marine life Wildlife Environment Animals Biology Zoology Science Source Type: news
A naturalistic observation study of motorcycle helmet use rates in Antananarivo, Madagascar [conference abstract #33] - Silva AL, Perego P, Brambati F, Randrianarisoa J, Siebert F.
Proceedings of the 14th World Conference on Injury Prevention and Safety Promotion (Safety 2022)
Context In Antananarivo, Madagascar's capital city, motorcycle and scooter traffic is increasing, and newspapers frequently report on crashes that injure or... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - December 2, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Jurisprudence, Laws, Legislation, Policies, Rules Source Type: news
Human population boom may have doomed Madagascar ’s giant animals
Two thousand years ago, lemurs the size of humans and giant “elephant birds” roamed Madagascar. A thousand years later, they were nearly gone. This mass extinction coincided with a boom in Madagascar’s human population, according to a new study, when two small groups of people linked up and took over the island.
It’s an “exciting” study, says Laurie Godfrey, a paleontologist at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, who was not involved. The results, she says, add genetic support to the idea that a growing human population and a shift to agricultural lifestyles did in these giant animals.
The ...
Source: ScienceNOW - November 4, 2022 Category: Science Source Type: news
Researchers reveal secret of aye-ayes ’ long middle finger
Video shows captive Madagascan primates using elongated finger to pick nose and eat the mucusWith its big eyes, bushy tail and sensitive ears, the aye-aye may appear a cute, if quirky, creature. But now researchers have discovered it has a less endearing trait: it uses its long middle finger to pick its nose – and eat the mucus.Aye-ayes are – like humans – primates, but they are nocturnal, endangered and only found in Madagascar. An object of superstition, they have a number of unusual features, including rodent-like teeth and a skinny, elongated finger with a ball-and-socket joint.Continue reading... (Source: Guardi...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - October 26, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Nicola Davis Science correspondent Tags: Animals Science Madagascar Wildlife Environment Africa Source Type: news
Africa: How 78-Year-Old Traditional Healer Supports Covid-19 Vaccine Uptake
[WHO-AFRO] Ambatondrazaka, Madagascar -- "The vaccine at all costs to survive the COVID-19 pandemic." (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - October 3, 2022 Category: African Health Source Type: news
From cyclones to safe births, midwives stay and deliver in Madagascar
MANANJARY, Madagascar– “I’m so proud and happy to have helped this young girl to give birth safely today,” said Marie Nancy Christiane, gazing at the new mother and daughter after supporting the deli (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - June 8, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Madagascar: Midwife Helps a Mother Deliver Safely in UNFPA-Supplied Tent in Cyclone-Affected Madagascar #AfricaClimateCrisis
[UNFPA] MANANJARY, Vatovavy region -- At mid-afternoon, a special baby lets out her first cry. Weighing a healthy 2.5kgs, Noelia has just been born in a tent serving as a temporary maternity ward at Mananjary's referral hospital, after the main structure was destroyed during cyclones Batsirai and Emnati earlier this year. (Source: AllAfrica News: Pregnancy and Childbirth)
Source: AllAfrica News: Pregnancy and Childbirth - May 20, 2022 Category: OBGYN Source Type: news
Inequality Tightens Its Grip on the Most Vulnerable
Every year, 570 million tons of food are wasted at the household level people. Global food waste accounts for 8–10% of greenhouse gas emissions. Credit: Claudia Ciobanu/IPSBy Baher KamalMADRID, May 13 2022 (IPS) Please do not say you were not aware that the world produces enough food to feed all human beings on Earth, while nearly double the combined European Union’s population go to bed hungry… every single night.
And please don’t pretend you did not know that 20% of all humans –those who live in the wealthiest countries– waste about 35% of the food they buy, throwing it in the garbage.
Poverty, armed con...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - May 13, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Baher Kamal Tags: Development & Aid Food and Agriculture Global Headlines Health Humanitarian Emergencies Inequality Poverty & SDGs Source Type: news
UNFPA and WFP join forces to meet soaring reproductive health and nutrition needs in southern Madagascar
AMBOASARY/GRAND SUD, Madagascar– Just weeks away from delivering her fifth child, Homoroe Haova, 33, looked down at her stomach and smiled, reassured she could give birth safely as well as feed her c (Source: UNFPA News)
Source: UNFPA News - May 4, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news
Perils of Hunger, Food Insecurity in Southern Africa- Challenges & Opportunities
By Menghestab HaileJOHANNESBURG, South Africa, Apr 5 2022 (IPS) Food systems are under severe stress around the world now. The thresholds of tolerance are already exceeding limits with millions facing acute food and water scarcity throughout all continents. Over a quarter of Africa’s population are facing hunger and food insecurity. Conflict, droughts, flooding, rising unemployment, inequality, economic crises, and the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic have been ravaging the Continent on an unprecedented scale.
Menghestab HaileIn Southern Africa, the food systems are heavily dependent on traditional small holder farmers who ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - April 5, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Menghestab Haile Tags: Armed Conflicts Climate Change COVID-19 Economy & Trade Environment Food and Agriculture Food Security and Nutrition Food Sustainability Global Headlines Inequality Labour TerraViva United Nations IPS UN Bureau Source Type: news
The burning island: spatiotemporal patterns of fire occurrence in Madagascar - Frappier-Brinton T, Lehman SM.
Anthropogenic fire use is widespread across Madagascar and threatens the island's unprecedented endemic biodiversity. The vast majority (96%) of lemur species are already threatened with extinction, and Madagascar has already lost more than 44% of its fore... (Source: SafetyLit)
Source: SafetyLit - April 4, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Tags: Burns, Electricity, Explosions, Fire, Scalds Source Type: news
The Singing Penis, The Masquerading Clitoris, and Other Sex Secrets of the Animal World
Living organisms have been colonizing the planet for nearly four billion years. They’ve taken on countless forms through assorted evolutionary and adaptive mechanisms to survive in environments where conditions are highly specific and always changing. One of the most striking aspects of animals that have evolved to reproduce by means of internal fertilization is the morphological diversity of the genital organs. Remarkably, in species with little variation in terms of general morphology, the differences between the genitals of males (which have received more attention from researchers than those of females) are consi...
Source: TIME: Science - March 14, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Emmanuelle Pouydebat Tags: Uncategorized animals Books Excerpt healthscienceclimate Source Type: news
Madagascar: Taking on Drought and Hunger One School Meal at a Time
[WFP] "When I grow up, I want to be the chief of WFP - like Edmond Vorizo," says Seraphin, 12. "I want to give orders such as, 'Build a water well here, build another one there.'" (Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine)
Source: AllAfrica News: Health and Medicine - March 1, 2022 Category: African Health Source Type: news
Cyclone Ana Floods Choke Malawi ’s Water and Sanitation Goals
Residents survey the damage after Cyclone Ana triggered winds and floods in Malawi. There has been a call following the latest flooding for climate-resilient approaches to WASH because damaged infrastructure, especially water infrastructure, has serious health consequences. Credit: Charles Mpaka/IPSBy Charles MpakaBlantyre, Malawi, Feb 22 2022 (IPS) On the night of January 24, 2022, as Cyclone Ana-triggered rains incessantly rattled on the rusty roof of her house, amid intervals of gusty winds, a thud woke up Josephine Kumwanje from her sleep.
Her heart leapt as she thought thieves had broken into the house.
She summoned ...
Source: IPS Inter Press Service - Health - February 22, 2022 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Authors: Charles Mpaka Tags: Africa Aid Climate Change Development & Aid Featured Headlines Health Poverty & SDGs TerraViva United Nations Water & Sanitation #CycloneAna IPS UN Bureau Malawi UNICEF WASH Source Type: news
How Covid changed medicine for the future
The global pandemic sparked a huge superhuman effort to control coronavirus. But the billions spent have also had an unexpected impact on medicine and scienceWhen Tom Pooley, 21, became the first person to receive an experimental vaccine against plague as part of a medical trial last summer after tests on mice, he was inspired by the thought that his involvement could help to rid the world of one of the most brutal killers in human history.“They made it quite clear I was the first human to receive it,” says Pooley, a radiotherapy engineering student. “They didn’t dress it up, but they made it clear it was as safe a...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - February 20, 2022 Category: Science Authors: Mattha Busby Tags: Coronavirus Infectious diseases Health Science World news Society Medical research Source Type: news
