Logging into extinction

An Indonesian lowland forest habitat that is home to about 100 Sumatran orangutans recently reintroduced to the wild could be destroyed within months if a massive logging plan proceeds, a coalition of five conservation groups warns. A joint venture of Asia Pacific Pulp & Paper (APP) and Sinar Mas Group had received a license to clear the largest portion of natural forest remaining outside the Bukit Tigapuluh National Park in Jambi province of Sumatra. "It took scientists decades to discover how to successfully reintroduce critically endangered orangutans from captivity into the wild. It could take APP just months to destroy an important part of their new habitat," said Peter Pratje of the Frankfurt Zoological Society, one of the groups. The unprotected forest is also home to about 100 of the last 400 critically endangered Sumatran tigers remaining in the wild.

Pollution damages DNA

Being exposed to polluted air for only a few days appears to cause enough damage to human DNA to reduce a person's ability to fight off cancer. University of Milan researcher Andrea Baccarelli and colleagues compared blood samples from 63 healthy workers who were exposed to high levels of air pollution for only three days at a foundry near Milan. The researchers found changes in the workers' genes that may have been caused by a chemical transformation linked to gene reprogramming. The same changes have also been detected in the blood and tissue samples of lung cancer patients. Baccarelli hopes a therapy can be designed to return damaged genes to normal and reduce the health risks of exposure to air pollution.

Sea level paradox

One area of Alaska is bucking the global trend of rising sea level due to climate change with land actually emerging from the water. Residents around Juneau have noticed that coastline formerly submerged, or swamped by high tides, is now high and dry. The New York Times reports that receding glaciers in the mountains just east of the capital are resulting in less weight pushing down on the land. The ground has begun to bounce back like a cushion, lifting much faster than rising sea level can keep up with it.

Roo cull halted

A program to reduce the burgeoning number of kangaroos in a military training area near Canberra was suddenly suspended after complaints by an animal-rights group. About 4,000 of the up to 9,000 targeted marsupials had already been killed when Animal Liberation New South Wales complained the project was started without a proper scientific evaluation of the area's environment. Some experts say the cull is needed to reduce the abundance of kangaroos in the area and to allow more food for other animal species.

Earthquakes

Los Angeles was jolted by two moderate quakes within as many days, putting the sprawling metropolitan area on edge. The shaking damaged walls in an apartment building, where 18 residents had to evacuate due to fears of a collapse.

• Earth movements were also felt in metropolitan Dallas-Fort Worth, western Virginia, New York's Hudson River Valley, southern Peru and Indian-controlled Kashmir.

Mindful mockingbirds

A study by the University of Florida of its campus' low-nesting mockingbird population reveals that the species apparently can recognize, remember and respond to people they deem as threats while completely ignoring others passing by. For several days, student volunteers walked up to the nests, gently touched them and then walked away. Writing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, UF biology professor Doug Levey said that on the third and fourth days, the birds flushed from their nests more rapidly each time the increasingly familiar students appeared. This occurred even though the students took different paths toward the nests on successive days and wore different clothes. But when different, unfamiliar students approached the nests on the fifth day, the birds hardly ruffled their feathers until the last moment. It's believed that the recognition ability is one way the species has adapted to thrive in urban environments.

Saudi rumblings

A series of strong tremors in a volcanic region of western Saudi Arabia prompted officials to briefly evacuate the entire populations of five villages due to concerns of a possible eruption. Villagers near Harrah Al-Shaqah reported a pungent smell and many said they believed the smell came from seismic and volcanic activity. The Saudi Geological Survey said the strongest of the numerous tremors registered a magnitude of 5.7. An eruption in the lava beds near Medina in 1256 produced six new volcanic cones.