Botanical treasure haul
Three new species of coffee, one of ebony and a new busy Lizzie have been discovered in the remote highlands of Cameroon, the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, London, announced on Monday. The expedition unearthed nearly 50 new species of plants and fungi in all.
Nuclear lapse
Another US nuclear weapons facility is in trouble over missing documents. The National Nuclear Security Administration announced on 19 August that three electronic copies of a document containing nuclear weapons data are missing from its office in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Security lapses at nearby Los Alamos National Laboratory triggered the check. Classified operations at both sites are suspended.
Exam-seeking virus
A computer virus reportedly designed to seek out and steal exam papers has been discovered by internet security company Jiangmin SciTech in Beijing. The virus saves files with names such as 鈥渆xam鈥� or 鈥渢est questions鈥� to a remote computer. A Chinese exam paper was leaked in June, but it is not clear if the virus was to blame.
Advertisement
Warm and wet
Europe is warming more quickly than the rest of the world, and its winters will disappear by 2080, says a European Environment Agency report issued on 18 August. The agency warns of devastating consequences, including more frequent heat waves, flooding, rising sea levels and melting glaciers.
Asteroid near miss
An asteroid passed within 6500 kilometres of Earth on 31 March 鈥� the closest approach without hitting the atmosphere ever observed. It was spotted by an automated camera at the MIT Lincoln Laboratory in Socorro, New Mexico, astronomers revealed on Sunday. At just 10 metres across, it posed no danger, and the fact that such a small object was detected shows that surveillance systems are improving.