Science news – lungless frog, Kenyan wildlife, cautious Green Brown, storm flags up, green Filipinos

Lungless frog in Borneo

A lungless frog is an evolutionary throwback, apparently breathing through its skin. Researchers said small body sizes, slow metabolisms and living in fast-flowing cold water where oxygen and carbon dioxide are exchanged quickly appear to allow this.

Kenyan parks in peril

The current government instability in Kenya is killing tourism. And, the loss of tourists is threatening a compensation scheme for Maasai farmers living next to the famed Maasai Mara. The tribespeople are killed when predators like lions kill their livestock, but now the government can’t afford it. It also can’t afford to pay anti-poaching patrols inside the reserve.

Gordon Brown wants biofuels addressed

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown wants biofuels’ effects on world food prices addressed at the next G8 summit. Brown notes it’s threatening to roll back developed-world work in increasing growth in the developing world.

Batten down the Gulf hatches

Your first Atlantic hurricane forecast: Fifteen named tropical storms, with eight becoming hurricanes, four of them major – Category 3 or higher. That’s above the historical average of 9.6 tropical storms, 5.9 and 2.3 major ones.

“Based on our latest forecast, the probability of a major hurricane making landfall along the US coastline is 69 percent compared with the last-century average of 52 percent,” said Phil Klotzbach, a scientist at the University of Colorado. “We are calling for a very active hurricane season this year, but not as active as the 2004 and 2005 seasons.”

Is an election-year Katrina possible?

Philippines smarter than Shrub

Or more conscientious. Filipino schoolchildren will now learn about global warming. It’s going to be part of the national school curriculum, something that our Preznit will never add to No Child Left Behind (in the rising seas).