Washington, Dec 9 : Scientists have identified two new species of extinct corals, which provide an important link between corals in the Atlantic and Pacific.

The corals - Isopora curcaoensis and Isopora ginsburgi, were found by Dr. Ann F. Budd from the University of Iowa and Dr. Donald McNeill of the University of Miami.

The new species was originally thought to be an elkhorn coral (genus Acropora), a species widely distributed throughout the Caribbean that was informally christened Acropora ginsburgi in 1995.

Washington, Dec 9 : In a new study, it has been found that oil spray can reduce greenhouse gas emissions from the atmosphere.

Greenhouse gas emissions can potentially become a limiting factor in the development and sustainability of animal production and technologies are needed to mitigate pollutant gas emissions.

Oil spray has been used as a mitigation technique to reduce pollution from animal buildings. However, little is known about its effect on greenhouse gas emissions.

Scientists at Purdue University and the University of Missouri have investigated oil spray on air pollutant emissions from pig barns in northern Missouri.

London, Dec 9 : A team of scientists has devised a unique way of refueling aircraft, using a high-powered laser to recharge on-board batteries.

A fundamental problem with aircraft is the amount of fuel they have to carry. Designers are forced to make compromises to reduce fuel consumption and to squeeze the necessarily large fuel tanks into the craft.

All this drives up cost and reduces manoeuvrability.

One alternative is in-flight refuelling, but that can be logistically difficult as well as dangerous, requiring to aircraft to meet in mid-air and transfer liquid fuel via a flexible hose.

Washington, Dec 9 : New analyses have suggested that climate change was responsible for the extinction of the cave bears, 27,800 years ago.

Weighing up to 1,000 kilograms (2,200 pounds), cave bears lumbered in and out of caves throughout Europe for tens of thousand years.

Then, for unknown reasons, they disappeared.

Scientists have long thought that the cave bears went extinct about 15,000 years ago. New analyses, however, suggest that these legendary animals actually vanished
13,000 years before that, and climate change was probably responsible.

London, Dec 9 : A new study has suggested that earthquakes can set off volcanoes by shaking up molten rock like champagne in a bottle until they explode.

According to a report in The Times, researchers at the University of Oxford identified the champagne effect after analyzing records of volcanoes and earthquakes in southern Chile, the region where Charles Darwin first speculated on the likely link in 1835.

The link between volcanoes and earthquakes has long been suspected but the new research has provided the first statistical evidence.

The effects of an earthquake can be felt hundreds of miles from the epicentre and are powerful enough to wake dormant volcanoes.

Canberra, Dec 9 : Scientists have urged Australian consumers to eat more camel meat because the country’s one million-plus population of the animals is out of control, and is also wreaking environmental havoc.

According to a report in the website news. com. au, Murray McGregor, an agribusiness lecturer, said that a good way to bring down the number of camels was to eat them.

“Eat a camel today, I’ve done it,” Professor McGregor said. “It’s a bit like beef. It’s as lean as lean, it’s an excellent health food,” he added.