24/7 Farm  News Coverage
January 26, 2017
24/7 Disaster News Coverage
FARM NEWS
How do people choose what plants to use



Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Jan 24, 2017
There are about 400,000 species of plants in the world. Humans use approximately 10-15% of them to cover our basic needs, such as food, medicine and shelter, as well as other needs, such as recreation, art, and craft. But why and how have humans selected only a small fraction of all plants to utilize? A new study published in Nature Plants sheds new light on these questions by investigating how people use palms in South America. The overall conclusion is that people are very selective when it come ... read more

FARM NEWS
Intense industrial fishing
China, the world's largest seafood producer, has done something extraordinary. For the past 20 years, despite minimal management and some of the most intense industrial fishing in the world, it has ... more
WOOD PILE
Trees supplement income for rural farmers in Africa
Trees may be easy to spot on the plains of Africa but they are often overlooked as a source of income for farmers. A University of Illinois study shows trees on farms may help reduce rural poverty a ... more
FARM NEWS
Wheat virus crosses over, harms native grasses
Once upon a time, it was thought that crop diseases affected only crops. New research shows, however, that a common wheat virus can spread and harm perennial native grasses. In the current iss ... more
FARM NEWS
Harvests in the US to suffer from climate change
Some of the most important crops risk substantial damage from rising temperatures. To better assess how climate change caused by human greenhouse gas emissions will likely impact wheat, maize and so ... more
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WATER WORLD
Mighty river, mighty filter
Huckleberry Finn wouldn't recognize today's lower Mississippi River. Massive walls separate the river from low-lying lands along the bank, an area called the floodplain. Floodplains were once the sp ... more
WATER WORLD
New plant opens in bid to head off Gaza water crisis
The largest desalination plant in the Gaza Strip partially opened Thursday with international help as the impoverished and blockaded Palestinian enclave seeks to prevent a water crisis. ... more
WATER WORLD
Syria regime encircles rebel area supplying Damascus water
Syrian government forces encircled a key rebel area northwest of Damascus on Thursday that serves as the capital's main water supply, a monitoring group said. ... more
WOOD PILE
Norway spurs $400mn rainforest fund at Davos
Norway on Thursday said it will raise $400 million to encourage Brazil's farmers to stop destroying the rainforests, launching a fund also backed by food giants Unilever and Nestle. ... more
FARM NEWS
Common crop chemical leaves bees susceptible to deadly viruses
A chemical that is thought to be safe and is, therefore, widely used on crops - such as almonds, wine grapes and tree fruits - to boost the performance of pesticides, makes honey bee larvae signific ... more


Nothing to eat but cactus in Madagascar's hunger capital

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Drought may add famine to Somalia's humanitarian woes
A serious drought has left parts of Somalia at risk of famine and 320,000 children are already severely malnourished and in need of care, the UN humanitarian agency said Tuesday. ... more
WATER WORLD
Bay Area methane emissions may be double what we thought
Emissions of methane - a potent climate-warming gas - may be roughly twice as high as officially estimated for the San Francisco Bay Area. Most of the emissions come from biological sources, such as ... more

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NASA measures 'dust on snow' to help manage Colorado River Basin water supplies
When Michelle Stokes and Stacie Bender look out across the snow-capped mountains of Utah and Colorado, they see more than just a majestic landscape. They see millions of gallons of water that will eventually flow into the Colorado River. The water stored as snowpack there will make its way to some 33 million people across seven western states, irrigating acres of lettuce, fruits and nuts in Cali ... more
NASA's Terra Satellite Sees Alaskan Volcanic Eruption Wrapped in White

NOAA's GOES-16 Satellite Sends First Images to Earth

How satellite data changed chimpanzee conservation efforts

Russia to Construct Glonass Satellite Navigation Station in Nicaragua
Experts from the Russian Central Research Institute of Machine Building (TsNIIMash) will construct a ground Glonass satellite navigation tracking station in Nicaragua, the TsNIIMash's press service said Monday. "The TsNIIMash's specialists will construct a station for tracking data of the Glonass and other global satellite navigation systems in Nicaragua," the press release reads. Ac ... more
Clocks 'failed' onboard Europe's navigation satellites: ESA

Russia, China Work on Joint High-Precision Satellite Navigation System

Raytheon completes qualification testing of next-gen GPS Launch and Checkout System



Forests 'held their breath' during global warming hiatus, research shows
Global forest ecosystems, widely considered to act as the lungs of the planet, 'held their breath' during the most recent occurrence of a warming hiatus, new research has shown. The international study examined the full extent to which these vital ecosystems performed as a carbon sink from 1998-2012 - the most recent recorded period of global warming slowdown. The researchers, including Pr ... more
Trees supplement income for rural farmers in Africa

How much drought can a forest take?

Activists slam giant Indonesian mill for environmental damage

Populus dataset holds promise for biofuels, materials, metabolites
Researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (ORNL) have released the largest-ever single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) dataset of genetic variations in poplar trees, information useful to plant scientists as well as researchers in the fields of biofuels, materials science, and secondary plant metabolism. For nearly 10 years, researchers with DOE's BioEnergy Scie ... more
Handheld Sensor Unit Determines Biofuel Content Of Diesel Blends

Dual-purpose biofuel crops could extend production, increase profits

Iowa State engineer helps journal highlight how pyrolysis can advance the bioeconomy



Scientists lay foundations for new type of solar cell
An interdisciplinary team of researchers has laid the foundations for an entirely new type of photovoltaic cell. In this new method, infrared radiation is converted into electrical energy using a different mechanism from that found in conventional solar cells. The mechanism behind the new solid-state solar cell made of the mineral perovskite relies on so-called polaron excitations, which combine ... more
Asia Pacific to gain edge in low-carbon growth

A big nano boost for solar cells

Xinhua: U.S. wasting opportunity in clean energy

Renewables a big boost for GE's profits
Gains in the renewable energy sector and deals in exploration and production helped boost fourth quarter profits substantially, General Electric said Friday. GE said its earnings during the fourth quarter increased to about $3.5 billion, against the $2.6 billion reported during the same period last year. By sector, the company's renewable energy sector saw total revenues increase 29 per ... more
Essen, Germany wins greenest city honors

Obama puts offshore North Carolina on wind energy map

DNV GL certifies new prototype of Siemens' 8 MW Offshore Wind Turbine



People aren't the only beneficiaries of power plant carbon standards
When the Environmental Protection Agency finalized the Clean Power Plan in 2015 it exercised its authority to regulate carbon dioxide emissions to protect public welfare. The Plan, now the focus of escalating debate, also put the nation on course to meet its goals under the Paris Climate Agreement. Given that other pollutants are emitted from power plants - along with carbon dioxide - research h ... more
China to cut coal capacity by 800 million tonnes by 2020

Norway fund blacklists more coal groups over climate concerns

Black coal, thin pickings: China's miners face decline

Trump to ruffle feathers in Year of the Rooster
US president Donald Trump will strut through the Year of the Rooster, thriving as Hong Kong geomancers predict 2017 will be marked by the arguments and aggression that are characteristic of the animal. With Trump at the top of the pecking order, the volatile traits of the rooster - combined with the year's signature element of fire - mean rocky times ahead, particularly in the western wor ... more
2016 baby bump after China relaxes one-child rule

Hong Kong's 'Mr Pringles' announces leadership bid

Hong Kong leader slams independence movement in final speech



Researches replicate ocean life with swarm of underwater robots
Scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography wanted to know what life is like for plankton. To find out, they built a fleet of mini underwater robots designed to mimic plankton existence. For now, there are 16 of the miniature autonomous underwater explorers, or M-AUEs, but someday scientists could deploy thousand of the devices. Each robot is roughly the size of a grapefruit and i ... more
NASA develops AI for future exploration of extraterrestrial subsurface oceans

Swarm of underwater robots mimics ocean life

For white-collar staff, AI threatens new workplace revolution

Cookware made with scrap metal contaminates food
Aluminum cookware made from scrap metal in countries around the world poses a serious and previously unrecognized health risk to millions of people according to a new study. The highest levels were found in cookware from Vietnam including one pot that released 2,800 times more lead than California's Maximum Allowable Dose Level (MADL) of 0.5 micrograms per day. Researchers at Ashland Unive ... more
Research targets cookstove pollution using supercomputers and NASA satellites

Indonesian province declares alert as haze fears grow

Europe chokes under freezing smog



Chile orders extra funds to fight fire 'catastrophe'
Chile's president Tuesday ordered extra funds to be spent on tackling what she called the country's worst forest fires ever, as other countries sent aid and firefighters to help. Flames have destroyed 155,000 hectares (600 square miles) of land in the center of the country and at least 4,000 people have been evacuated, the National Emergency Office said. President Michelle Bachelet visit ... more
Chile fires cause 'worst forestry disaster' in its history

'Catastrophe' declared as wildfires rage in central Chile

Chile forest fire ravages 50 hectares, destroys homes

Barrier-island migration drives large-scale marsh loss
If you've visited North Carolina's Outer Banks or other barrier islands, you've likely experienced their split personalities - places where high waves can pound the sandy ocean shore while herons stalk placid saltmarsh waters just a short distance landward. New research by a team from William and Mary and its Virginia Institute of Marine Science shows that these seemingly disparate ecosyst ... more
Super El Nino and the 2015 extreme summer drought over North China

Researchers discover greenhouse bypass for nitrogen

Oceanographic analysis offers potential crash site of MH370



California state of emergency over storm damage
Governor Jerry Brown late Monday declared a state of emergency for counties across California to help deal with damage from powerful December and January storms. Drought-stricken California was hard-hit by rainstorms that struck in early December, and high winds and heavy rains from a storm that began in early January and continued through the weekend. "I find that conditions of extreme ... more
Bangladesh plants million trees to cut lightning toll

Powerful storms kill at least 16 in southeast US

It's freezing inside... that tornado?

Australia opens door to China in push to save TPP
Australia said Tuesday it was working to recast the Trans-Pacific Partnership without the United States and opened the door for China to sign up after President Donald Trump ditched the huge trade pact. The deal included a dozen Asia-Pacific nations which together account for 40 percent of the global economy, but Trump declared Monday he had "terminated" it in line with election pledges to s ... more
Chinese growth slows in 2016 with outlook uncertain

Trump trade moves chilling, could hurt US business: trade experts

China-backed trade pact gains as Trump threatens to ditch TPP

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily
The daily U.S. economic cost from solar storm-induced electricity blackouts could be in the tens of billions of dollars, with more than half the loss from indirect costs outside the blackout zone, according to a new study. Previous studies have focused on direct economic costs within the blackout zone, failing to take into account indirect domestic and international supply chain loss from ... more
ALMA starts observing the sun

Next-generation optics offer the widest real-time views of vast regions of the sun

NASA moon data provides more accurate 2017 eclipse path

In African 'fairy circles,' a template for nature's many patterns
Be it the Mima mounds of Washington state or the famous "fairy circles" of Namibia in southwestern Africa, people are captivated by the regular patterns of plant growth that blanket desert and grassland landscapes, often with mesmerizing consistency. Scientists have long debated how these phenomena originate and persist. Now, a new theory suggests that instead of a single overarching cause ... more
Snap, digest, respire

TSRI scientists create first stable semisynthetic organism

From tiny phytoplankton to massive tuna





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