Staff revolt at Baghdad museum
Iraq's national museum, home to many priceless artefacts that were thought to have been looted after the fall of Baghdad, has been plunged into a new crisis because of a revolt by staff. More than 130 of the 185 staff of Iraq's state board of antiquities office in Baghdad, which runs the museum, have signed a petition demanding the resignation of its directors. Staff said they believed that some of the thefts from the museum were an inside job.
(The Guardian)
True cost of new oil rush
Washington's determination to find an alternative oil source to the Middle East is leading to a new rush in Africa which could cause conflict, corruption and environmental degradation.
(The Guardian)
Anti-whalers claim victory for conservation
Sweeping improvements in whale conservation are in prospect following a historic change of direction by the International Whaling Commission. At its annual meeting in Berlin on Monday, delegates voted by 25 votes to 20 to accept a resolution dubbed the "Berlin Initiative" which aims to push the IWC towards conserving whales, rather than managing how many are caught.
(New Scientist)
Cycling 'causes thousands of men to be impotent'
Cycling can double the risk of impotence, scientists said at the start of National Bike Week - an attempt to encourage the 10 million Britons who own a cycle but never use it to take to the road. Scientists at University Hospital in Brussels found that male cyclists were twice as likely to be impotent as men who never rode a bike.
(Independent)
New reef found in Australia
A new coral reef has been found off the coast of Queensland, Australia. Its 120 square kilometres sit in murky waters 30m below the surface, leaving researchers rethinking their understanding of the world's reefs.
(Nature)
Britain's 'earliest' prehistoric cave art
Archaeologists have discovered the earliest known example of prehistoric cave art in Britain. It consists of 12,000-year-old engravings of birds and an ibex carved into the stone walls at Creswell Crags, Derbyshire.
(BBC)
Colour vision ended human pheromone use
The development of colour vision may have lead old-world primates, and hence their human descendants, to lose their ability to detect pheromones, a new genetic study suggests.
(New Scientist)