San José, Costa Rica – The Americas’ largest wild cat, the elusive and iconic jaguar, received a historic seal of protection yesterday with the official recognition of Costa Rica’s Jaguar Corridor and the establishment of the country’s first official jaguar conservation strategy. On July 5th, Costa Rica’s Minister of Environment, Energy and Telecommunications (MINAET), Dr. René Castro, presided...

Workers digging a secondary drainage canal for a banana plantation in Costa Rica’s Osa canton discovered what is just the latest in series of stone spheres that raise more questions than they answer for archaeologists. Locally the stone spheres are known as Las Bolas. Over the years just over three hundred of them have been discovered across the Diqius Delta and on Isla del Cano in Costa Rica. ...

Pretoma, a Costa Rican nonprofit organization, has been tracking Carey turtles via satellite in Guanacaste since 2010. Since then, more than 15 turtles have been marked and followed with this technology. As a result, researchers have identified the main food source of these turtles to be sea sponges and determined that many turtles live on the rocky reefs for long periods of time. Pretoma’s, ...

Source: National Museum of Costa Rica The recent arrest of a group of suspects caught looting an archeological site and the finding of a new stone sphere illustrate the fact that Costa Rica is a nation that still possesses a rich heritage of material remains left by ancient cultures, and her treasures must be protected. Suspected Huaqueros Caught Extracting Artifacts The nefarious work of huaq...

The search for a missing Orange County woman has taken a deadly turn in Panama and officials there are investigating her disappearance as a homicide. On June 30th, family and friends gathered on the beach in Dana Point — one of Yvonne Baldelli’s favorite places. Rachel Kim, reporting for CBS2 and KCAL9, was at the candlelight vigil held in Baldelli’s honor. “At this time, take a moment to...

For eastern Pacific populations of leatherback turtles, the 21st century could be the last. New research suggests that climate change could exacerbate existing threats and nearly wipe out the population. Deaths of turtle eggs and hatchlings in nests buried at hotter, drier beaches are the leading projected cause of the potential climate-related decline, according to a new study in the journal Natu...

SPECIFICALLY, a study by the CREST Center for Responsible Travel released in 2011 reports that 62% of travelers claim traveling responsible is “important” to them, and over 80% state they want their hotel to be socially and environmentally responsible. But 73% of those polled did nothing to verify their hotel’s environmental practices, and 81% didn’t try to verify their hotel’s social practices...

The Ad Astra Rocket Laboratory located in Earth University at La Flor, has a new guest. They are hosting a full sized model of the VF-200 engine, the same Franklin Chang and his team are building to fly to the International Space Station in 2015. The prototype hangs just above the site that links to a model of the Aurora platform, a structure designed and built in Costa Rica to connect the m...

The magnificent Turrialba in April 2012. Source: RSN Geologists from the National Seismology Network (RSN in Spanish) of the University of Costa Rica (UCR) are keeping a close eye on the seismometers located around the Turrialba volcano in the Cartago province, coordinates 10°2′0″N 83°46′0″W. Costa Rica is located in a region known for high seismic and volcanic activity, and to this extent geolo...

CORPUS CHRISTI (Kiii News) - Thirteen master and doctoral students from Texas A&M University - Corpus Christi will soon be heading to Costa Rica on the ultimate summer trip. It's not all fun and games, though. The counseling students will actually be taking part in a study abroad program. They will coordinate a wellness program at a health clinic down there, providing recommendations of servic...

Representatives of the Ministry of Science and Technology of the Peoples Republic of China (PCR) and of Costa Rica’s Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT) held a meeting this Monday to renew the convention signed by both countries in the year 2007. Cao Jianlin, Chinese Vice Minister of Science and Technology, along with the Chinese Ambassador to Costa Rica and other delegates from the Inte...

Nazira Maria Cross is on the FBI's most wanted list. Please contact the US Embassy, Consulate or FBI if you have any information regarding Nazira Maria Cross. A $1,000,000 (One Million Dollar) reward has been issued for information that leads to the capture of Nazira Maria Cross, a Costa Rican National who may be hiding from United States Law in Costa Rica or Peru with her two children Runar an...

Working hand in hand with the Earthwatch Institute, Ernst & Young are sending 30 skilled volunteers to Costa Rica and Brazil. Their job is to research and recommend methods of sustainable development and practices, both environmental and economic. For four years in a row, Ernst & Young has been sending volunteers on weeklong excursions with Earthwatch. The Earthwatch Institute is a scientific o...

An official source informed the press yesterday that Japan has donated $9 Million to Costa Rica, intended for national park protection and forest fire prevention. The Costa Rican Institute of Tourism (ICT) and Ministry of Environment and Energy (MINAET) announced in a communication and confirmed that the donation “will be utilized for the protection of national parks and protected wild-land areas....

In vetro fertilization (IVF) is an assisted reproduction technology normally used as a treatment for infertility. In the process, an egg is removed from the woman’s ovaries and then fertilized with sperm in the controlled environment of a laboratory. When the egg has taken fertilization and become a zygote, it is entered back into the patient’s body (the uterus) with the hope of establishing a suc...

The results of bioprospecting are blatantly beneficial to the medical world. A prime example of these benefits is the advances that have been made in lymphoma and chemotherapy treatments. The advancements stemmed from chemicals found in the Madagascar Rosy Periwinkle. What is bioprospecting? Bioprospecting is an umbrella term describing the process of discovery and commercialization of new p...

According to the Trafficking in Persons Report 2012, the US State Department has removed Costa Rica from its blacklist of countries for people trafficking along with its neighbor Panama, the Dominican Republic, Myanmar and Venezuela which has been in this list since 2009. The report was presented yesterday by U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. Some of the most notable improvement examp...

In an effort to stop the illegal cattle meat trafficking, the MICIT’s Financing Incentive Fund will make it possible to resolve crimes by performing livestock paternity tests. Twenty eight million colones will be destined to this project during a twelve month period. Recently the instances of meat being sold from illegally butchered animals in unsanitary conditions has plunged farmers into a se...

Eleven bright young scientists from Costa Rica were honored with a ceremony yesterday for their participation and achievements at the 2012 International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF), an event organized by Intel. The ISEF event took place in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania back in May, and it attracted 1,500 young scientists, engineers and inventors from all over the world. The Costa Rica Star repo...

SAN JOSE – Crimes related to cattle theft are becoming more frequent in Costa Rica, according to official reports issued by agricultural and law enforcement agencies. The most common crimes involve brazen cattle thieves who operate under cover of darkness in rural Costa Rica, although other crimes such as fraud in the cattle trade and even field mutilations have been reported by ranchers. Rustling...

SAN JOSE – They are born into royalty, from a queen fed and cared for by hundreds of loyal subjects in Costa Rica. The queen then flies away in search of suitable princes that will allow her continue her lineage. After this nuptial flight, the queen will lay up to 200 eggs for years to come, and she will instruct her subjects to extend her vast underground realm, complete with fungus farms that pr...

A recent article in the Co-oerative Press Global News Hub highlights the work of Coopedota, a major coffee growing and roasting co-op in Costa Rica, with regard to its continuing efforts in helping the country achieve carbon neutrality by 2021. In 2011, Coopedota announced the launch of the world's first carbon-neutral coffee. The Costa Rica Star has previously reported on Coopedota's achievement...

The Ad Astra Rocket Company, an aerospace business enterprise with research facilities in Costa Rica and the United States, recently announced the signing of a Support Agreement (Annex 6 - PDF) with the NASA Johnson Space Center to collaborate on aspects of safety, reliability and mission assurance related to the development of the Variable Specific Impulse Magnetoplasma Rocket (VASIMR) technology...

Author's Note: The Costa Rica Star welcomes input from the scientific research community in all topics published herein. Professor Jaime E. Garcia G. is an agricultural scientist from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and the National Distance Education University (UNED) who recently contacted The Costa Rica Star with regard to the article "Why Monsanto Left Costa Rica." Mr. Garcia has researche...

According to a recent article by Marisol Arias Murillo of the Voice of Nosara in Guanacaste, researchers from the University of Costa Rica (UCR) and a local electric utility in Nicoya are doing their best to alleviate the ghastly electrocutions of arboreal species in the region. The two entities will look at the current electric grid and determine the efforts that will be required to prevent elect...

A question in USA Today's popular "Ask the Captain" commercial aviation column deals with Costa Rica's busiest airport, our beloved Juan Santamaria International Airport (SJO) in Alajuela. The question is about the angle of the SJO runway. The reader noticed that the passenger terminal, which runs parallel to the runway, is on a rising incline from gate 1 all the way past gate 20. This means that ...

As of 10:20 pm (04:20 Greenwich Mean Time) on Sunday, June 3rd, the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology (OVSICORI in Spanish) of the National University in Costa Rica had reported the following seismic readings: 02:52 – Magnitude 2.6 Richter at a depth of 12 kilometers, epicenter located 36 kilometers southwest of Estero Garita in Aguirre, province of Puntarenas. 05:55 – Magnitude 3.6 ...

Storm clouds over Costa Rica a few days ago produced a little over 0.11 percent of the average daily global lighting strikes in just two hours. The impressive thunderstorm that soaked great portions of the Central Valley on Wednesday evening delivered 2,000 lightning strikes, frying household appliances and electronics and striking fear in the hearts of dogs that affected by canine astraphobia ...

Fuerza Publica officers assigned to Operation Save our Gar in the Chorotega Region of Costa Rica have been busy confiscating fish and rescuing turtles from the nefarious hands of poachers. They are even getting lessons in marine ecosystems as they were surprised to find odd-looking fish that should be swimming in the Amazon river in South America, not in Costa Rica. It all transpired earlie...

An amazing celestial event will take place on June 5th, and the Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT in Spanish) will hold a workshop on May 31st for the public to learn more about this rare phenomenon, which is expected to capture the attention of astronomers, scientists, stargazers, and many others in Costa Rica and around the world. The unique event consists of the rare transit of the p...

Researchers and scientists recently planted Clearfield rice, a transgenic crop produced in Costa Rica and marketed by biotechnology giant BASF, in farmland located in Guanacaste and other sectors of the country's Northern Zone. BASF is based in Germany, but the Clearfield seeds were developed by scientists at the private Rice Investigation Institute (INARROZ in Spanish). According to an article...

Drivers in Costa Rica are very attached to their manual transmissions. Until a few decades ago, automatic transmissions were as rare as a Cadillac in Costa Rica. The option of buying a new car with an automatic transmission instead of a stick shift is fairly new among Tico automobile dealerships. There are many factors related in the dominance of manual transmissions in Costa Rica. The main fac...

The Ministry of Science and Technology (MICIT) announced last week the opening of the Laboratory for the Cultivation of Vegetable Cell Tissue, a new biotech center in the Turrubares region of Costa Rica. This new center will be part of the Technical and Professional School, and it is part of the Tech Business Creation initiative of the MICIT. Minister Alejandro Cruz presided over the opening ce...

In the last 24 hours, the Observatory of Volcanology and Seismology of Costa Rica (OVSICORI) of the National University has reported one earthquake and increased activity in the Turrialba volcano, which is currently under green alert due to an aperture caused by an accumulation of pressurized gas and vapors that took place back in January. The two events are not connected. The earthquake wa...

Perseverance and innovation were the keys to success for two bright young Ticos who elevated Costa Rica's standing in the international stage earlier this week at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Pittsburgh. As reported in The Costa Rica Star yesterday, Luis Gerardo Leon and Jose Miguel Gonzalez each took second place awards at the international technology...

Jose Miguel Gonzalez Arias, a young high school student at the Don Bosco Technical and Professional Institute, received the second-place award from the United States Patent and Trademark Office Society at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) in Pittsburgh last night. According to an official communication in Costa Rica by the Ministry of Science and Technology (M...

The French Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs announced yesterday that a high-level government official returned six pre-Columbian artifacts to Ambassador Carlos Bonilla Sandoval for repatriation to Costa Rica. According to an official release by France Diplomatie,  Jean-Paul Balzamo made the return of six ceramic and pottery objects, some made into human and animal shapes. The Agence Fra...

A previous article in The Costa Rica Star discussed the Tayni (pronounced "thai-knee") red bean, the seedpod of a leguminous plant that was created by the Investigative Project on Beans (PIF) of Zamorano University. Tayni has been around since 2001. The commercial application of Tayni was approved on Thursday, February 23rd, and the Ministry of Agriculture published an official press release that ...

On Sunday, May 13th, eleven of Costa Rica's most brilliant young minds will travel to Pittsburgh, where they will represent our country at the 2012 Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) with six high-tech projects. From May 14th to the 18th, the young Ticos will compete against 1,500 students from 68 countries at the David L. Lawrence Convention Center. At a ceremony at Intel'...

In the Pacific coast of Costa Rica, hammerhead sharks spend their nights feeding on squid and their days healing their wounds near underwater aid stations where other fish symbiotically cleanse their injuries. Their vision is poor, but their curiously shaped heads sense the magnetic waves emanated by an underwater mountain ridge that is advancing towards Costa Rica, and which has been identified a...