Ebola isn’t the only serious disease people are concerned about, though it is certainly a disease to worry about. Malaria is still very much a risk for people in various parts of the world.

It’s now thought that monkeys may be carrying the disease and passing it onto humans, particularly with the macaque monkeys on the island of Borneo. Knowing this, scientists are using GPS tracking and drones to figure out how to avoid this from happening.

Malaria is a very serious disease that can also be fatal. People get flu-like symptoms when they have malaria, including a high fever and chills. People usually get a vaccine when traveling to companies that are known for the disease, but this doesn’t prevent the disease for everyone.

Historically, malaria was originally carried by mosquitoes in areas like South Asia and the sub-Saharan parts of Africa. These mosquitoes bite monkeys there, who then can pass it on to humans.

However, there is now an increased rate of monkeys being bitten by Malaria-ridden mosquitoes, which is causing researchers to want to study this further and figure out what exactly is happening.

“One of the hypotheses is that it’s due to environmental change, which includes an increase in population and farming, and changes in land use, which are putting pressure on the macaque population to change their behavior,” said Chris Drakeley, who is a professor at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine: Read the rest of this entry »

The color of your vehicle has more impact than you probably think, and not just how cool it makes you and your ride look. Nor is your vehicle color choice simply related to how likely you are to get pulled over by law enforcement.

Did you know there are also some colors stolen more often?

A survey conducted by CCC Information Services and reported on by Property Casualty 360, looked at car colors, and which tend to be targeted by criminals more often.

If you have a car with one of these below colors, you might want to practice more caution to prevent a theft, such as installing a security system. You also might want to look into a GPS tracking device for your car, in order to find your car quickly if in fact it is stolen.

Silver

The most commonly stolen car color is silver, with over $4.3 billion worth of thefts of silver vehicles in 2012 alone. The average loss for victims with silver cars was $6,019. Read the rest of this entry »

Science has discovered a new way to learn about wetlands. University of Missouri researchers recently fitted 20 mallard ducks with GPS trackers in order to closely track their migrations patterns as they make their journey from Canada into the U.S. Midwest and then back again.

The GPS tracking technology was able to follow their movements closely and to determine that the ducks rely heavily on public and private wetlands during their yearly migrations.

The GPS tracking devices attached to the ducks operated are solar powered and transmit the ducks’ locations every four hours so that researchers were able to monitor the ducks in real time.

Dylan Kesler, assistant professor of fisheries and wildlife for the College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural Resources at MU, stresses that this is a signal of just how important these wetland areas are and the need for substantial efforts to maintain and protect these wetlands. Read the rest of this entry »

Solar flares may soon be predicted with the invention of an advanced computer simulation program.

For many years, scientists have been looking for a way to predict solar flares. Solar flares, which are a flash of bright light occurring over the Sun, can have a great impact even here on Earth. They affect different layers of the solar atmosphere, including the chromospheres, corona and photosphere. The radiation produced from solar flares can also disrupt satellite communications, which can have a direct impact on GPS navigation and GPS tracking.

By looking for ways to predict solar flares before they occur, scientists believe the impact will be lessened, particularly with these essential communications on Earth. Now, scientists from ETH Zurich believe they have the solution.

They have invented a computer simulation that may soon lead to the potential of predicting these solar storms before they occur, in order to better prepare for them.

Solar storms and solar flares can release more energy than is produced in a volcanic eruption, which is up to a million times as much energy. When the energy reaches Earth, it affects satellites, electrical plants, and radio traffic with all the excess energy coming from the sun’s surface. In 2003, there was a major solar flare that caused major power failure and communication failure in Sweden. In 2012, there was yet another large solar flare. Read the rest of this entry »

It seems that bears in Yosemite are going after more than picnic baskets these days, leaving wildlife management personnel looking for a new tool to help the more than four million park visitors from bear activity throughout the year. This tool is a GPS tracking device.

How big is Yosemite’s bear problem?

As recently as 20 years ago, it was not at all uncommon for bears to damage cars in search of food. As many as 600 cars per year became targets of bears in search of grub.

The new solution they’ve found?

Thanks to advances in GPS tracking technology over the past several years, the park is going to outfit 20 of its bears with shiny new collars complete with GPS trackers to help rangers keep up with what’s going on with bear population.

Specifically, rangers are looking for information concerning where bears are, how often they wander into campground areas, and which bears are the primary offenders. Read the rest of this entry »