Water Crisis: The Stress of the Planet
	Water appeared on Earth 3.5 billion years ago and it is perhaps the most valuable resource of the planet. H2O means life to anything, from bacterium to elephants and humans. There is no biochemical or physiological reaction in the absence of the water. We must consume on average 2.5 liters of water from food and beverages to remain healthy. Water is also necessary for livestock and farming, the means for producing our food. The vit ... [read more >>]
	21 April 2008, 08:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Menaces to Danube Delta
	Danube Delta represents the largest wetland inside European Union. It is the nesting, stop or wintering place for over 300 species of birds, whose areal stretch from Africa and Asia, beyond the Polar Circle. This place harbors Europe's largest pelican colonies. Despite the fact that the place represents a Biosphere Reserve, it has been experiencing many aggressions. During the communist times of Romania (until 1989), large areas o ... [read more >>]
	16 April 2008, 09:26GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Grand Canyon May Have Appeared During the Time of the Dinosaurs
	It is the symbol of the American Southwest and western movies. But how old is the Grand Canyon? A new research suggests that it could have started to form during the dinosaur era. The over a mile (1.6 km) deep canyon in Arizona is the work of the Colorado River digging through ancient rock layers when the plateau of the canyon was uplifted. This started millions of years ago. One research published one month ago dated this to ... [read more >>]
	16 April 2008, 03:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Indians Of the Orinoco
	Until 1951, nobody knew the source of the Orinoco River. Accumulating continuously torrents and rivers, Orinoco grows gradually while heading northward through the territory of Venezuela on over 2,000 km (1,250 mi) of thick jungle. In some places, the waters of Orinoco are as big as those of the Amazon and discharge into the Atlantic forming one of the largest deltas of the world. The compact and yellow mass of freshwater penetrates deep i ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 17:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Wonder of Sahara: Mzab
	At the beginning of the 17th century, a Berber tribe took refuge in a totally arid area in the heart of Sahara, 400 mi (640 km) south of Alger. The oued (temporary desert river) called Mzab, which irrigates the plateau and the dry valleys once a year, gave its name to the region and the people established here[A ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 09:23GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Fastest Raising Mountains
	The Sino-Tibetan mountainous chain, also called the "the Alps of Sichuan", are located between Tibet and China. The highest peak is Gongga (7,556 m or 25,186 ft), China's highest peak outside Himalaya, located in the Hengduan Mountains. The Sino-Tibetan chain is the place on Earth where the terrestrial crust experiences its highest rising rhythm: 12 cm (4.8 in) per year, much faster than in Himalaya, Andes, Rocky o ... [read more >>]
	11 April 2008, 08:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Spanish Jewel: Doñana
	Doñana National Park is located in southwestern Spain, at the mouth of the Guadalquivir River. It was created in 1969, initially having a surface of 37,000 hectares. In 1978, the park was augmented to 50,720 hectares, to which 26,540 hectares of protected areas, located at its periphery, are added. The park is in a continuous change, being influenced by both Mediterranean and oceanic clime. The winters are rainy and the summers, long an ... [read more >>]
	09 April 2008, 10:09GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The First Ever Lungless Frog
	So far, scientists have known about some salamanders (of the family Plethodontidae) and caecilians (worm-like amphibians) that had lost their lungs. Now they can add a ... [read more >>]
	08 April 2008, 03:56GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Camargue: Wild Horses and Flamingoes
	A protected area with multiple functions, Camargue Regional Park was created in 1970, in the department Bouches du Rhone, for protecting various bird species, wetland ecosystems and to find viable methods of exploiting the natural resources without degrading it. In 1990, the 85,000 hectares of the park were labeled as "Biosphere Reserve" by UNESCO, being a model of how humans can cohabit with wildlife. The park generally over ... [read more >>]
	07 April 2008, 16:11GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Sophisticated Cultural Display for Sex
	A man will spend money on expensive gifts, best wine, finest sweets and flowers. But in the murky waters of the Amazon, boto or the Amazon River dolphin (Inia geoffroyensis) (which also inhabits the Orinoco River) males offer branches, rocks, weeds and lumps of clay to their females, in a parade also intended to chase away sex competitors. The art of conquering a dolphin girl and keeping the other males at bay seems to be a learned cultur ... [read more >>]
	26 March 2008, 14:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Mystic River: Nile
	This river is the maker of the oldest civilization recorded by the historical sources: 5,000 years ago, the Egyptian state emerged on its banks. It is best known as the longest river on the planet. Nile is consensually considered so as it has 6,695 km in length, even if some say that Amazon is longer (6,800 km). The problem is that nobody could tell where Amazon ends, due to its huge mouth. Anyway, while Amazon is the mightiest riv ... [read more >>]
	15 March 2008, 09:05GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

20 Things About Water
	1.About 97% of the water is found in the oceans and seas, 2% in glaciers and ice caps, 0.6% in the table water and 0.02% in rivers and lakes. Water vapors found in the atmosphere and forming the clouds represent 0.001%. Annual rainfall and snowfall on Earth is of 113,000 million cubic meters. This would satisfy human needs, if they fell uniformly. Snowfall and winter rainfall are extremely important for maintaining the level of the water t ... [read more >>]
	24 January 2008, 06:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

5 Issues About the Otters
	1.Otters are nothing more than water weasels. The oldest otter was found in France: Potamotherium, 30 million years old. The upper carnassial teeth were similar to those of a seal, very different from those of the weasels. This could have also been an ancestor of the seals. The genus Lutra, comprising most modern otters, emerged in Eurasia and spread to North America and northern Africa. The modern otter of Eurasia (Lutra lutra) was pre ... [read more >>]
	11 January 2008, 16:52GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How to Get Energy From Wind, Rivers, Tides and Waves
	Windmills have been used even since the 6th century in Persia (Iran). Unlike the later type used in Europe, this one had a vertical ax with sails which worked on horizontal supports. Mill stones from the inferior end ground the cereals for getting flour. The first mention of a windmill in Europe is that of Bury St Edmunds from Suffolk, England. The first European windmills were the type pillar mill. The sails rotated on an al ... [read more >>]
	07 January 2008, 16:46GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Records of Mekong
	The largest river in Southeastern Asia, Mekong is also the 11th-longest river in the world and the 12th-largest in volume (discharging 475 km³ of water annually). Its estimated length is 4,880 km (3,032 mi), and it drains an area of 810,000 km² (313,000 sq mi). From the Tibetan Plateau it runs through Yunnan (China), Burma, Thailand, Laos, Cambodia and Vietnam. The name Mekong comes from Thai "Mae Nam Khong", "Mother of all ... [read more >>]
	18 December 2007, 06:48GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

How Did the Tower Bridge Function?
	It is perhaps the most worldwide known symbol of England: the Tower Bridge. It is associated with the Tower of London, not to be confused with the London Bridge. During the 18th and 19th centuries, many bridges were built over Thames. In 1750, the old London Bridge had such a weak foundation and was so narrow that it caused an almost continuous circulation blockage. Ships coming from all over the world crowded to pass below it, to find ... [read more >>]
	03 December 2007, 08:50GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Largest North American Fall: Niagara
	Niagara Falls consists of a couple of massive waterfalls located on the Niagara River, forming the frontier between Ontario (Canada) and New York state (US). Niagara river, flowing northward, joins Lake Ontario and Lake Erie, being closer to Lake Ontario, and it's just 56 km (35 mi) long. Niagara Falls comprises three separate waterfalls (one in Canada, the other two in the U.S.): the Canadian Horseshoe Falls (Canada), by far the ... [read more >>]
	03 December 2007, 06:59GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Nature's Loggers: Beavers
	The first beavers appeared in North America about 32 million years ago (at the beginning of Oligocene); by the end of Oligocene, 23 million years ago, they entered Europe, and by the end of Miocene, 5 million years ago, they entered Asia. There are 22 extinct genera of beavers. In Pleistocene, 2 million years ago, Trogontherium (Europe) and Castoroides (North America) were as big as a large bear, having up to 300 kg (670 pounds). They ... [read more >>]
	29 November 2007, 17:28GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

World's Largest Swamp
	In Spanish "pantano" means marshland and Pantanal is indeed the world’s largest swamp, in a gently sloping relief with meandering rivers. Pantanal is located in southwestern Brazil, but small areas are also found in the neighboring Bolivia and Paraguay, covering a surface of 150,000 square kilometers, more than England! During the rainy season (December-May), 80% of the area is flooded and here the highest variety o ... [read more >>]
	29 November 2007, 03:51GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

6 Amazing Facts About Hippopotamuses
	1. The closest relatives of the hippopotamus are ...the whales and dolphins! 2-3 million years ago, there were numerous species of hippopotamus, including outside mainland Africa in Europe (UK included), Asia (plus Sri Lanka), and Madagascar. Hippopotamus gorgops, which inhabited deeper waters than the current species, lived 120,000 years ago in the UK. 10,000 years ago, in Cyprus, Crete, Malta and Sicily lived dwarf species of hipp ... [read more >>]
	24 November 2007, 10:28GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Mighty Amazon: Records and Fragility
	It is the "father of all rivers". With 6,800 km (4,250 mi) in length, it overpasses the Nile (6,695 km or 4,184 mi). But the Amazon's debit is 60 times bigger than that of the former: 200,000 cubic meters/second (the largest in the world, delivering 20 % of the freshwater volume penetrating the oceans). While the Nile does not have any affluent on its last 2,400 km (1,500 mi), the Amazon receives 1,100 along its course, ... [read more >>]
	24 November 2007, 04:00GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

A Giant 2.4 m (8 ft) Long Catfish!
	This is the largest freshwater fish. Just before midnight on November 13, fishers in Cambodia captured this individual of Mekong giant catfish, 8 ft long (2.4 meters long) ands weighing 450 pounds (204 kg). "This is the only giant catfish that has been caught this year so far, making it the worst year on record for catch of giant fish species", said Zeb Hogan, a fisheries biologist at the University of Reno in Nevada ... [read more >>]
	23 November 2007, 14:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Three Bizarre Hindu Beliefs
	Each day, about 1,000 worshipers and about 70 tourists visit the temple of Karni Mata, Deshnoke, India. Why? Because in this temple, about 300 rats wander freely while the believers bring their offerings to these idols. The rats are adored and any necessity that they might have is satisfied by the ecstatic prayers. The priests of the temple and the rats eat from the same dishes and drink the same water. The priests say these rats are g ... [read more >>]
	21 November 2007, 14:06GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Sea Whale Found Stranded 1,000 mi (1,600 km) Deep into the Amazon
	Some sea creatures can sometimes go upstream on large rivers, like for example the sharks. The bull sharks, a dangerous species for all humans, does it in many tropical areas. But this took everyone by surprise: an 18-foot (6 m) long and 12 tons heavy minke whale stranded on a sandbar in the Amazon jungle about 1,000 mi (1,600 km) from the ocean, signaled the Brazilian media on Friday. A large crowd gathered along the Tap ... [read more >>]
	19 November 2007, 07:12GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Largest Inland Delta in the World
	This is a geographic accident located in the desert sands of the Kalahari (Botswana) like the mouth of a large river: a lot of streams and small lakes forming a wet labyrinth where you can see herds of buffaloes and elephants and lions stalking their prey. But the peculiarity of the Okavango is the way it dies. The river springs from the central Angola and after running 1,400 km (880 mi), it literally evaporates in the Kalahari desert, ... [read more >>]
	14 September 2007, 14:07GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Why is Amazon the River of the Superlatives?
	This is the river of the superlatives. Nile is consensually considered the longest river on Earth, with 6,695 km in length, but some say the Amazon has this honor, with 6,800 km in length. Some researchers even state that Amazon is 7,100 km long. The problem is that nobody could tell where Amazon ends, due to its huge mouth. Anyway, Amazon's debit is 60 times bigger than that of the former: 200,000 cubic meters/second (of course, the ... [read more >>]
	03 July 2007, 12:10GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Top 10 Waterfalls
	A waterfall appears when a running water, a stream or a river, flowing over an erosion-resistant hard rock formation forms a sudden break in elevation. In the mountains, the waterfall can emerge due to relatively sudden geological processes like landslides, faults or volcanic action. This is a list with the world's most famous waterfalls. 1.Angel Falls is the world's highest waterfall at 979 m (3,212 ft), w ... [read more >>]
	23 June 2007, 07:35GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Is the Amazon River Longer Than the Nile?
	There is a debate that has been going on for quite some time now: which is the world's longest river: the Amazon or the Nile? In the 20th century, consensus "granted" the title to the Nile. But now, Brazilian researchers claim the Amazon River, not the Nile, is the longest in the world. The Amazon is by far the world's largest river by debit, but the general opinion is that it is slightly shorter than Africa's Nile ... [read more >>]
	19 June 2007, 05:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

Hundreds of Big Lakes Under the 2 Miles (3 Km) Thick Antarctic Ice Sheet
	This represents one of the "last unexplored places on Earth": a unique system of lakes buried thousands of meters under the Antarctic ice sheet. The recently discovered lakes have been cut off from the outside world for millions of years. Now, scientists are preoccupied to "ensure that the environmental management of subglacial environments is held to the highest standards." Before any efforts are made t ... [read more >>]
	04 June 2007, 03:02GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia

The Largest Mobile Dam in the World, One of the Modern Seven Wonders of the World
	In Holland, there is a millenary struggle between man and the sea. 700 years ago, on the western shore of the Netherlands the Zuider Zee (Southern Sea) gulf was formed, which flooded hundreds of cities. In 1420, the Meuse River broke the dams at the south of Dardrecht and the waters swallowed 70 villages, leaving over 10,000 victims. The phenomenon repeated 150 years later, when the sea water drowned over 30,000 people. In the end, in ... [read more >>]
	17 May 2007, 16:31GMT | (c) 2008 Softpedia