The Nature Conservancy has brokered the largest debt-for-nature swap in history — a deal that will secure long-term, science-based conservation for Costa Rica’s tropical forests:

• The United States will forgive $26 million in debt owed to it by Costa Rica.
• This move will in turn provide necessary funds that will be used to finance forest conservation in Costa Rica over the next 16 years, protecting one of the world’s richest natural treasures for future generations.

And science — the Conservancy's hallmark — is at the center of the deal.

"This debt swap is unique in that it utilizes scientific analysis to determine the sites towards which the funds will be directed,” says Zdenka Piskulich, program director for the Conservancy in Costa Rica.

Costa Rica is a small nation — but it's home to some of the largest tracts of concentrated biodiversity on Earth. Its lush tropical forests are home to several endangered species such as jaguars, quetzals, scarlet macaws, howler monkeys, tree frogs and a host of other wildlife.

"The funding that is a result of this debt swap will also allow local communities, 80 percent of which live in The Amistad Region, to pursue sustainable and economically viable livelihoods, thus improving their lives and sustaining the biodiverse resources on which they depend," said Piskulich.

Where The Nature Conservancy Works - Year in Review 2007.

Related: Red-Eyed Tree Frog: Rainforest Ambassador.

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"The most beautiful experience we can have is the mysterious. It is the fundamental emotion that stands at the cradle of true art and true science. Whoever does not know it and can no longer wonder, no longer marvel, is as good as dead, and his eyes are dimmed. It was the experience of mystery -- even if mixed with fear -- that engendered religion. A knowledge of the existence of something we cannot penetrate, our perceptions of the profoundest reason and the most radiant beauty, which only in their most primitive forms are accessible to our minds: it is this knowledge and this emotion that constitute true religiosity. In this sense, and only this sense, I am a deeply religious man... I am satisfied with the mystery of life's eternity and with a knowledge, a sense, of the marvelous structure of existence -- as well as the humble attempt to understand even a tiny portion of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."

A bottlenose dolphin goes into labour . . . then a calf emerges, tail first. Mother guides baby gently to the surface, where they swim together for the first time.

Very few dolphin births have been captured on film in such astonishing detail.

This one was recorded at a wildlife park pool in Rimini, Italy, where photographer Leandro Stanzani was in exactly the right place at the right time.

Video: How Baby Dolphins Learn the Secrets of Survival. (National Geographic)

What effortless swimming! 8)

Related:

Just How Smart Are Dolphins?

Who would have thought that the secrets to long life might exist in the naked, wrinkled body of one of the world's ugliest animals? Probably not many, but current research may be leading seekers of the Fountain of Youth to a strange little beast — the naked mole rat.

These small rodents are hairless, wrinkled, blind and buck-toothed. Stan Braude, Ph.D., lecturer in biology in Arts & Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, however, is attracted to these animals and has been studying them for over 25 years, with about 20 of those years being in the field in Kenya.

"I make the case [in my book] that if you really want to understand the lab work you also have to know what these animals are doing in the wild," said Braude.

Some of the "hottest" research on naked mole rats today concerns senescence, or aging. Naked mole rats in the lab have reached up to 28 years of age. And it's not just the controlled environments of their captivity that are doing this. Braude has observed mole rats in the wild that are 17 years and older. But these are the breeders. Lab researchers didn't realize that in the wild workers only live two or three years.

"For a rodent of this size, they are ridiculously long-lived," said Braude.

A key component in the aging of any species is oxidative damage, where the cells accrue damage from poisons, environmental toxins and other effects throughout life. In such a long-lived rodent, it was thought that naked mole rats had a very efficient way of repairing oxidative damage. This wasn't the case, however, and current theory points to the strange metabolism of this hairless wonder.

Naked mole rats appear to deal with oxidative stress in pulses, largely due to their ability to essentially shut down their metabolism when there are hardships, such as lack of food. In this way, mole rats may be able to rid their body of harmful reducing agents and poisons more easily during these metabolic pulses.

He considers himself a behavioral ecologist and takes his perspectives on physiology and applies it to these animals in the wild. He was originally drawn to these animals, as were many researchers at the time, because of their eusocial behavior. Naked mole rats, like bees and ants, have a queen and workers.

During his time with naked mole rats in Kenya, Braude has observed many traits and behaviors that make this animal unique. Naked mole rats in nature kidnap pups from other colonies and bring them back to serve as workers in their own tunnels; naked mole rats will invade neighboring colonies and fight for hostile takeover; and when naked mole rats disperse, or leave the colony to found a new one, they have often been found up to two kilometers away.

Braude is writing a synthetic monograph that will pull together all the different threads — from the ecology in the wild, from the behavior, from the physiology — with the unique perspective of living with these animals in their natural environment for almost 20 years.

Braude has also written an illustrated children's book about the day in the life of a naked mole rat. Imagine that as a bedtime story.

A team of scientists says it has found a string of vast, rich forests in an unexpected setting: far below the coral reefs found in the tropical Pacific Ocean. The new forests are made out of kelp plants that harbor a huge range of plants and animals. Like tropical rainforests, they may be refuges from threats posed by global climate change.

The team of American scientists says it found a vast underwater forest in an unexpected location. "These plants can grow basically down to about 100 150 feet depth and still grow to the surface," Graham said. Scientists don't know everything about how kelp forests work.

Sea creatures of every size and shape hang out inside these underwater forests, weathering storms, laying eggs and hiding from big things that want to eat them.

Graham says his computer model suggests that there are many more tropical kelp forests out there waiting to be discovered. He hopes to find the next one off the coast of Costa Rica.

The book, 'Nordmeer' by Gueorgui Pinkhassov.

The Arctic Sea. Despite its geographical proximity to the North Pole, this most northern sea is full of both mystery and colour. Life-threatening sub-zero temperatures, permanent ice cover, glaringly bright summer nights and fiercely dark winters combine to create both magical moments and extreme dangers. ..

Other Photo Essays from TIME:

Africa Under Water.

Life Beneath Antarctic Ice by Norbert Wu. The book, Under Antarctic Ice.

Related:

Dry Valleys of Antarctica.

Is it more poisonous than a rattlesnake? Does it cause lightning strikes? And can it make a pregnant woman miscarry if she just looks at it?

These are just some of the many myths that surround the wildly misunderstood Heloderma horridum charlesbogerti — more commonly known as the Guatemalan beaded lizard. Actually, the creature is helpful to humans: Its venom is now used as an effective treatment for diabetes.

But fewer than 200 of these lizards survive — with the species in danger of extinction because of poaching and habitat conversion. The Nature Conservancy is implementing a two-pronged approach to save this important reptile:

• We're conserving the lizard’s habitat within the 50,000 acre patch of dry thorn scrub in Guatemala’s Motagua Valley.

• We're working to have it internationally recognized as an endangered species to deter poaching for collectors.

• We're educating the local community to build awareness about the creature's harmless nature and endangered status.

A Rare Species with Life-Saving Venom

• It's around 20 inches long with striking yellow markings and stripes on its tail.

• It has a long, forked tongue and belongs to the only family of venomous lizards in the world. (Its poison is not fatal to humans, but can kill small animals.)

• It endures high temperatures and long periods of drought by becoming totally inactive (a behavior known as aestivating).

• During its dormant period (from January to June), the beaded lizard survives on the food stored in its tail.

Scientists are now researching the beaded lizard's venom for other medicinal properties. But in the meantime, conservationists are trying to save this precious lizard from extinction.

Related: Red-Eyed Tree Frog: Rainforest Ambassador.