BIODIVERSITY: A Web Page for Each of the World’s Creatures

Scientists launched a global initiative Thursday called the "Encyclopedia of Life" that will document the Earth's 1.8 million known species and track the impacts of habitat loss and climate change.

ENVIRONMENT: Momentum Grows to “Ban the Bulb”

On Feb. 20, Australia announced it would phase out the sale of inefficient incandescent light bulbs by 2010, replacing them with highly efficient compact fluorescent bulbs that use one-fourth as much electricity.

ENVIRONMENT: Malaysia to Enforce Labelling of GM Foods

A long-awaited law to make the labelling of genetically modified (GM) products mandatory is expected to be finally passed in Malaysian parliament this month and come into force by the end of the year.

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: Hybrid Electric Vehicles – Better Than Ethanol

Hybrid electric vehicles (HEVs) are the best way to achieve a drastic reduction in greenhouse gases produced by vehicle exhaust fumes, until hydrogen-powered models become viable. They are even more environmentally-friendly than the use of biofuels.

BRAZIL: Women Turning Backs on Information Technology Studies

Women are increasingly abandoning information technology courses in Brazil, in line with a global tendency, warns the Brazilian Computer Society (SBC) and women professors in the field.

HEALTH: All Not Well With Global AIDS Vaccine Trials

Why were phase-1 safety trials for an HIV vaccine started in India days before the release of the results of the same trial in Belgium and Germany? And why were phase-2 trials of the same vaccine conducted in Africa?

ENVIRONMENT-BRAZIL: The Amazon Jungle as Vast Savannah

An Amazon region that is less lush, where forest is replaced by grasslands, is the image drawn by the latest scientific reports in which meteorologists are taking the lead, going beyond even the direst warning of ecologists.

ARGENTINA: Software, a Growing Success Story

Software production and information technology services are a rapidly expanding industry in Argentina. This industry has a number of advantages: it is clean, requires little investment, provides employment for highly qualified personnel, and can operate in even the poorest regions.

ENERGY: Brazil Aims to Dominate World Ethanol Market

Brazil is working towards producing enough ethanol to substitute 10 percent of the gasoline consumed worldwide within 18 years. That would mean increasing its current production of 17.3 billion litres a year by a factor of 12, without sacrificing forests, protected areas or food cultivation.

BIODIVERSITY: As Sharks Vanish, Chaotic New Order Emerges

Major declines in large sharks along the U.S. coast have in turn triggered declines in shellfish and reduced water quality, proof that the ocean's food web is collapsing, a groundbreaking new study reveals.

CLIMATE CHANGE: Coastal Mega-Cities in for a Bumpy Ride

About 643 million people, or one-tenth of the world's population, who live in low lying coastal areas are at great risk of oceans-related impacts of climate change, according to a global research study to be released next month.

SOUTH AMERICA: A Cooler Way to Feed the World

The growth in exports of agricultural and livestock products from the countries of the Southern Common Market (Mercosur) trade bloc poses an environmental dilemma, as half their greenhouse gases are emitted in rural areas.

ASIA: Facing the Threat of GE Rice

With an eye to the future of rice farming in Thailand, a local grassroots organisation is bringing together youth in a north-eastern rice-growing province in a celebration of the diverse varieties of this staple grown in the traditional way.

BOLIVIA: El Niño Has Bigger Bite with Climate Change

Bolivia is entering its fourth month of onslaught from El Niño, the climate phenomenon that has grown stronger, and threatens to return with even greater force.

RIGHTS: Pacific Islanders Preyed on by Bio-Pirates

The Pacific region has long been a favourite target of gene hunters, unethical bio-researchers and "patent bottom trawlers" looking to profit from its unique flora, fauna - and human beings.

ENVIRONMENT: German Car Industry Not Doing Its Part, Say Critics

The German automotive industry, which exported 3.9 million cars in 2006 - a large portion to Latin America - is coming under criticism for its inability to produce engines with lower carbon dioxide emissions and for its refusal to accept ambitious environmental targets.

WATER DAY: Thirstier World Likely to See More Violence

A strong link between droughts and violent civil conflicts in the developing world bodes ill for an increasingly thirsty world, say scientists, who warn that drought-related conflicts are expected to multiply with advancing climate change.

ENVIRONMENT: Across the Globe, Warming Viewed as “Critical”

Climate change is of real concern in all parts of the world, but there is disagreement over whether the problem is urgent enough to require immediate, costly measures or whether more modest efforts will be satisfactory, according to an international poll released Wednesday.

EL SALVADOR: Biogas – Killing Two Birds with One Stone

He used to make land mines to stem the advance of the army during El Salvador's 1980-1992 civil war. But today, former guerrilla fighter Félix Vásquez uses his know-how to transform cow manure into biogas.

RIGHTS: One Fumbled Execution Sets U.S. Further Thinking

Last December's botched execution by lethal injection in the U.S. state of Florida has raised to new levels the controversy surrounding capital punishment - and focused public attention here squarely on this particular way of carrying out a death sentence.

ARGENTINA: Digital Library for the Blind

Armed with a computer and their passion for literature, a group of blind people in Argentina have created the first digital library for Spanish-speaking people who are visually impaired. It already has some 20,000 volumes and over 3,000 subscribers in 40 countries.