Source: ACAE The year 2015 will be crucial for a project being developed by the Central American Aerospace Association (Spanish acronym: ACAE), which aims to launch a satellite made in Costa Rica into space for the purpose of monitoring levels of CO2 concentration above the forests of Guanacaste.   According to a news report by Pablo Rojas of online news daily Costa Rica Hoy, this a...

Source: Wikimedia Commons In the mid-1990s, alternative rock band They Might Be Giants released a single titled Why Does the Sun Shine? As a way of partial explanation, the band explained that the Sun is a mass of incandescent gas, but the rest of the lyrics provide an answer that would be considered superficial to Advanced Physics researcher Álvaro Chavarría Gordienko from Costa Rica. &nbs...

A few days after the much-anticipated trailer of Jurassic World, a summer blockbuster film expected to arrive in theaters next year, a website for the fictional amusement park located in the equally non-existent Isla Nublar of Costa Rica began operating. At first sight, www.jurassicworld.com provides visitors with lots of information on the park, from a brief bio of the founder to an interactive m...

Source: Wikimedia Commons The town of Puerto Viejo in the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica is a haven for backpackers, vacationers and expats seeking a warm climate, an ultra-relaxed atmosphere and the friendliness of the local Afro Costa Ricans and indigenous inhabitants. Alas, the infrastructures of Puerto Viejo and the city of Limon are vulnerable to natural disasters such as storm surge and t...

The first major land-based marine conservancy effort carried out in Costa Rica by the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society, founded by the ever-controversial Canadian activist Paul Watson, has wrapped up its operations for the year. Reports by Sea Shepherd and the Latin American Sea Turtles Association (LAST) are calling Operation Pacuare a success.   Before getting to the Sea Shepherd pre...

A renowned ufologist and researcher of paranormal activity has determined that the ongoing eruption of the Turrialba volcano presents an ideal opportunity for sightings of unidentified flying objects (UFOs) in Costa Rica. Sixto Paz Wells is a Peruvian UFO researcher who has written dozens of books on topics that transcend the space-time continuum that most of us strive to understand. Mr. Paz wa...

Although the Jurassic World trailer was supposed to be unleashed on Thanksgiving, it appears that Universal Pictures jumped the gun (or the shark, if you watch the trailer below closely) and released an exciting theatrical trailer two days before planned. This new film, which is scheduled to be the mega summer blockbuster of 2015, is faithful to the fictional Jurassic Park universe created by the ...

Young robotics engineers from Costa Rica have done their country proud at the 11th World Robot Olympiad (WRO) currently underway in Sochi, Russia. According to an official press release from the Ministry of Science, Technology and Telecommunications, engineers representing our country in the College Category advanced to the final stage and received a special award for their robotic creation. La...

Costa Rica is blessed with various kinds of hummingbirds; some are more colorful than others, but they are all adorable and fascinating. We even have one hummingbird species that prefers climbing to hovering when it comes to feeding on the sweet nectar of colorful tropical flowers, but there is nothing like watching hovering hummingbirds in Costa Rica. Aeronautical engineers and scientists have...

Although Costa Rica has the lowest regional mortality rate for vector-borne diseases such as dengue and malaria, the fact remains that children from low-income families are the most affected by mosquito bites. As recently reported by The Costa Rica Star: The most dangerous organism in Costa Rica is not even a vertebrate, but it kills approximately three quarters of a million humans each year. ...

One of the most pristine beaches in Costa Rica is home to luxury resorts, spectacular real estate, lush vegetation, sugary sands, and yellow-bellied snakes that slither right out of the ocean and give some people a good scare. Playa Flamingo is located on the Gold Coast of Guanacaste, one of the hottest tourist spots in Costa Rica, and it is here where sightings of Pelamis platura, yellow-bellied ...

Source: RSN UCR There is a new and attractive lake atop the crater of the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago; alas, volcano tourists should not yet rejoice. The park remains closed and under yellow alert due to an early morning eruption on Thursday, which sent heavy plumes of ash followed by a gas exhalation phase. Needless to say, the lake is strictly off-limits to swimmers. &nbs...

The waters surrounding Cocos Island of Costa Rica and the Galapagos Archipelago of Ecuador are two of the most important shark habitats in the world. These two nations have been working together to protect their shark treasures, and they recently contributed to the Convention on Migratory Species. Here's the official press release on this important marine conservation matter: Historic Advances in...

Source: Paul Freed, California Academy of Sciences A groundskeeper in Rio de Oro de Santa Ana, province of San Jose, was cleaning up weeds and brush in an empty lot when he suddenly ran into a creature that resembled a large snake, but far uglier and slimier. The groundskeeper was startled and could have hacked the unsightly organism to pieces with his machete; fortunately, he isolated the ani...

Source: OVSICORI It's been five days since scientists from the Observatory on Seismology and Volcanology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI) and the National Seismology Network (Spanish initials: RSN) climbed to the top of the Turrialba volcano along with emergency management officials after a powerful eruption.. As previously reported by The Costa Rica Star, geologists, petrologists, vo...

A special geodesic instrument similar to devices that connect to the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite network will measure minuscule terrain changes near the Turrialba volcano for the purpose of assessing future eruptions. In the meantime, the forecast for acid rain in some regions of Costa Rica remains along with warnings about continuing ash clouds. Scientists from the Observatory on...

Source: OVSICORI Conditions have slightly improved for the agricultural communities that lie on the skirts of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica. Incandescence and isolated events of pyroclastic flow are still being detected, which is why the Turrialba National Park remains off-limits to visitors; however, the danger presented by eruptions of ash and great blocks of igneous volcanic matter ha...

Source: Ge PC Facebook Days after the powerful magmatic eruption of the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago, ash clouds and acid rain are affecting the lives of thousands of residents in Costa Rica. The impact of this geological aftermath has had a negative effect on public health and the agricultural sectors, but the tourism economy in the region has yet to report losses.   ...

Source: OVSICORI Teams of earth scientists and emergency management officials who climbed to the top of the Turrialba volcano in Costa Rica yesterday issued a volcanology report that supports yellow alert conditions in the area. Although the presence of lava was not detected in the crater area, the colossus is still very active in terms of expelling other volcanic matter. As previously repo...

After brief deliberation and disagreement, geologists from the two main Earth science research centers in Costa Rica have come to the agreement that the recent eruptions of the Turrialba volcano in the province of Cartago are magmatic rather than phreatic. They also agree that the ongoing activity could result in stronger volcanic eruptions such as the one that sent heavy ash clouds over the Centr...

A few hours after a 4.2 MW earthquake scared Halloween revelers in Guanacaste, residents of the Central Valley in Costa Rica were jolted awake by a 4.3 MW seism that occurred at 1:23 am. This geological event was followed by a number of aftershocks that culminated in a stronger temblor at 3:27 am. The epicenter of these seismic disturbances, which happened just hours before people in Costa Rica pr...

Source: OVSICORI Trick-or-treaters and costumed revelers in the Gold Coast beaches of Costa Rica were shaken up by a 4.2 MW earthquake, which was felt in the communities of Santa Cruz, Nicoya, Cerro Negro, Diria, Nambi, Playa Samara, Playa Grande, Hojancha, and Playas del Coco. The epicenter was located inland, about 9 km south of Diria, between Liberia and the Nicoya peninsula, at a depth of ...

A dairy cow is evacuated as the Turrialba rains down ash. Photo: RSN About 20 minutes before midnight on October 29th, the Turrialba Volcano in the province of Cartago woke up from its slumber without warning and delivered the strongest eruption in the last 150 years. The quiet agricultural town of Turrialba was shaken by a few seismic movements, which were followed by massive ash clouds that ...

One of the most pristine coastal areas of Costa Rica will be partially shut down after dark from now until March 15, 2015. The Las Baulas (Leatherback Turtles) Marine Park in the Osa Peninsula will close down beach access to Playa Grande, Playa Ventanas, Playa Langosta, and Playa Carbon from 6:00 pm to 5:00 am to allow for the massive arrivals of Dermochelys coriacea during nesting season. The ...

President of Nicaragua Daniel Ortega Members of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC) have issued a resolution that calls for the immediate cessation of all activity related to the construction of the controversial Nicaragua Canal, a quixotic project to build an interoceanic waterway to rival the Panama Canal. The ATBC resolution is based on what the organization estimat...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Earlier this week, the Animal Planet cable television network premiered a new, two-hour documentary focusing on primate intelligence, particularly among the simian species. This engrossing TV program, which travels to Borneo, Thailand and Costa Rica, shows us how apes are smarter than we think, and that humans still have a lot to learn from our fellow species. Let's p...

Source: Sea Shepherd Readers of The Costa Rica Star are very familiar with our extensive reporting on the saga of Paul Watson, the controversial founder of the Sea Shepherd Conservation Society. In late September, we reported on the Sea Shepherd chapter in Costa Rica, which is actively involved in the protection of sea turtles in our Caribbean coast. We now bring you an update by Sea Shephe...

A stem cell research company firm is opening an office in Costa Rica, according to a press release issued by the Global Stem Cells Group, Inc. In Costa Rica, clinical trials and stem cell research on humans was a gray area of the law for about four years. One of the last Executive Decrees signed by former President Laura Chinchilla gave more freedom to stem cell research in Costa Rica, which ha...

Playas del Coco in Guanacaste The Gold Coast beaches of Guanacaste were jolted by an earthquake as residents and tourists were preparing to enjoy the weekend. According to a report by the Observatory of Seismology and Volcanology of Costa Rica (Spanish acronym: OVSICORI), the seismic movement was detected at a few minutes past 1:00 pm, with an epicenter 14 kilometers north of Playas del Coco a...

Self-guided tours in the Monteverde Cloud Forest Reserve of Costa Rica are just one of the many activities that allow you to get really, really close to Nature. In this video by travel journalist Elizabeth Donatelli, she spots butterflies and a friendly white-nosed coati (or pizote) that comes right up to her. Afterwards, she boards Sky-Trek to get the true feeling of just how humid this amazing p...

Longline tuna haul. Source: Greenpeace. By means of an Executive Decree signed on Tuesday by President of Costa Rica Luis Guillermo Solis, parts of the Pacific Ocean are now off limits to commercial tuna fishing. The two main oceanic locations where tuna fishing is absolutely prohibited are the Isla del Coco (Cocos Island) National Park and the Seamount Conservation Area. The National Coast Gu...

The coastal community of Playa Ostional, located in the Guanacaste province, is home to one of the most magical beaches in the Gold Coast of Costa Rica. There is something about the sand on this beach that is attracting more and more sea turtles to massively arrive during nesting season. Although climate change is affecting sea turtle arrivals in other parts of Costa Rica, this is clearly not the ...

In this video by U.S. journalist and videographer Elizabeth Donatelli, she visits the vast Chirripó National Forest of Costa Rica and somehow manages to hike up a cloud forest reserve in her sandals. Then she turns into real estate agent and tries to sell you the amazing Cloudbridge Nature Reserve. For $899,000, it is a bargain; however, absent landowners need not apply: A contractual ownership cl...

Days before wildlife organizations around the world celebrated International Sloth Day, the Sloth Institute Costa Rica (SICR) reported on the rescue of a pregnant female sloth that fell from a tree and eventually required a surgical intervention to help her deliver an adorable baby. Here is the story as written by SICR Manager and primate conservationist Sam Trull, who has been interviewed by BBC ...

Ever since the incisive and controversial documentary Blackfish premiered at the Sundance Film Festival in 2013, marine mammal park operator SeaWorld has been engaged in a careful public relations campaign that goes beyond the company’s longstanding tradition of rescuing, rehabilitating and releasing wildlife. SeaWorld is not about to give up its business model of keeping marine mammals such as ki...

Although residents of Costa Rica are mostly used to feeling an earthquake or two each week and experiencing periods of increased volcanic activity, concern over catastrophic natural disasters is currently at higher than usual levels. Not long after celebrations of Columbus Day commemorated the discovery of the New World and its wonderful natives, people in Costa Rica were jolted by phreatic erupti...

The Poas Volcano in the province of Alajuela is currently one of the most active in Costa Rica, and on Monday morning it treated tourists to an awesome display of Nature’s sheer and beautiful power. A video recorded by geologists at the Observatory of Seismicity and Volcanology of the National University shows a massive phreatic (ground water) eruption that sent Earth matter flying up in at a heig...

Source: Wikimedia Commons Following the September 27th eruption of Mount Ontake, a volcano in Japan that was considered to be mostly dormant since 1979, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Costa Rica issued an official communiqué extending condolences and solidarity to the honorable people of this Asian island nation at a time when the death count has climbed to 54.   Hiking to the p...

Due to the mild and welcoming weather that can be enjoyed throughout most of the country, Costa Rica is an ideal location for eco-friendly construction techniques. This is a country that has pioneered many sustainable practices over the years, particularly with regard to residential construction materials and techniques. To this end, “eco bloques” (eco-bricks) have been attracting plenty of at...

  The fictional universe created by the late author Michael Crichton around Jurassic Park has developed into a very popular, highly successful and extremely lucrative industry. Films, novels, video games, comic books, and merchandising have been generating millions of dollars for the Jurassic Park universe, which Mr. Crichton specifically placed in Isla Nublar, which is based in a mixture ...