24/7 Farm  News Coverage
January 31, 2017
24/7 Disaster News Coverage
CLIMATE SCIENCE
17 million face hunger in Horn of Africa due to drought



Rome (AFP) Jan 29, 2017
With very little rain in the last weeks and none expected for two months, more than 17 million people face hunger in the Horn of Africa, the UN food agency warned Sunday. Severe drought since the failure of October-December rains is ravaging Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, South Sudan, Sudan and Uganda, the Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) said in a statement. "The time to act is now,", said Maria Helena Semedo, a FAO deputy director-general. "The drought situation in the re ... read more

WATER WORLD
Macedonians send out SOS from Europe's oldest lake
A fishing boat glides across the shimmering surface of Europe's oldest lake, a haven of biodiversity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site - one that conservationists warn faces multiple development threats. ... more
FARM NEWS
Corn turning French hamsters into deranged cannibals: research
A diet of corn is turning wild hamsters in northeastern France into deranged cannibals that devour their offspring, alarmed researchers have reported. ... more
FARM NEWS
Pigs and chocolate: Using math to solve problems in farming
Improving cocoa yields for the chocolate industry, estimating the quality of meat in pigs and refining the design of a hydroponics system, were three farming challenges tackled by academics at a rec ... more
FARM NEWS
Nanoparticle fertilizer could contribute to new 'green revolution'
The "Green Revolution" of the '60s and '70s has been credited with helping to feed billions around the world, with fertilizers being one of the key drivers spurring the agricultural boom. But ... more
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WATER WORLD
Floating towards water treatment
Floating wetlands may seem odd but are perfectly natural. They occur when mats of vegetation break free from the shore of a body of water. That got ecological engineers curious about how they affect ... more
FARM NEWS
Crop achilles' heel costs farmers 10 percent of potential yield
Scientists assumed leaves at the top of a plant would be the best at turning higher levels of light into carbohydrates - through the process of photosynthesis - while the lower shaded leaves would b ... more
WATER WORLD
How water can split into two liquids below zero
Did you know that water can still remain liquid below zero degrees Celsius? It is called supercooled water and is present in refrigerators. At even smaller temperatures, supercooled water could exis ... more
FARM NEWS
How do people choose what plants to use
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 recreati ... 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


Wheat virus crosses over, harms native grasses

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
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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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 Airborne Mission Chases Air Pollution Through the Seasons

How satellite data changed chimpanzee conservation efforts

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

New project to boost Sat Nav positioning accuracy anywhere in world
The service, to be developed at prototype level, will benefit safety-critical industries like aviation and maritime navigation, as well as high accuracy dependent applications such as offshore drilling and production operations, dredging, construction, agriculture and driverless cars and drones, just to name a few. The EU-funded TREASURE project, will integrate signals from satellite navig ... more
Russia to Construct Glonass Satellite Navigation Station in Nicaragua

Clocks 'failed' onboard Europe's navigation satellites: ESA

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



High-tech maps of tropical forest diversity identify new conservation targets
New remote sensing maps of the forest canopy in Peru test the strength of current forest protections and identify new regions for conservation effort, according to a report led by Carnegie's Greg Asner published in Science. Asner and his Carnegie Airborne Observatory team used their signature technique, called airborne laser-guided imaging spectroscopy, to identify preservation targets by ... more
Risk of tree species disappearing in central Africa 'a major concern,' say researchers

Forests 'held their breath' during global warming hiatus, research shows

Trees supplement income for rural farmers in Africa

DuPont Industrial Biosciences to develop new high-efficiency biogas enzyme method
DuPont Industrial Biosciences has been awarded a grant from the European Commission to demonstrate high-efficiency enzyme production to increase biogas yields as part of the DEMETER project, funded from the Bio Based Industries Joint Undertaking under the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program. Enzyme technology has been proven to improve biogas yields and process robustne ... more
Populus dataset holds promise for biofuels, materials, metabolites

Handheld Sensor Unit Determines Biofuel Content Of Diesel Blends

Dual-purpose biofuel crops could extend production, increase profits



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
Eltek to provide solar energy for hospitals in Zimbabwe under UNDP programme

100 percent renewable energy sources require overcapacity

France issues first 'green bonds' with record 7 bln euro sale

Prysmian UK to supply land cable connections for East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm
Prysmian Group, world leader in the energy and telecom cable systems industry, has secured a Pounds 27 million contract with East Anglia One Limited to supply and install the land cable connection for the East Anglia ONE offshore wind farm. Comprising of 102 turbines, the Pounds 2.5 billion wind farm will generate sufficient electricity to power 500,000 homes. The contract involves the ... more
Largest US offshore wind farm gets green light

The power of wind energy and how to use it

Renewables a big boost for GE's profits



Rio Tinto signals coal exit with Australia sale
Rio Tinto has sold most of its underperforming Australian coal assets to China-backed Yancoal in a deal worth up to US$2.45 billion as part of a divestment drive analysts expect will lead to a complete exit from the sector. In the face of tumbling prices and wild volatility in commodities markets the Anglo-Australian firm, the world's number-two miner, has embarked on a cost-cutting programm ... more
IEA urges Poland to curb reliance on coal

People aren't the only beneficiaries of power plant carbon standards

China to cut coal capacity by 800 million tonnes by 2020

China sentences former senior official to life term for graft
A Chinese court Monday sentenced a former top official to life in prison for corruption involving millions of dollars, the latest high-profile conviction in President Xi Jinping's crackdown on graft. Su Rong, 66, was a vice chairman of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC), a discussion body that is part of the Communist Party-controlled government structure. He ... more
Hong Kong leadership favourite testifies in corruption trial

Trump to ruffle feathers in Year of the Rooster

2016 baby bump after China relaxes one-child rule



Making AI systems that see the world as humans do
A Northwestern University team developed a new computational model that performs at human levels on a standard intelligence test. This work is an important step toward making artificial intelligence systems that see and understand the world as humans do. "The model performs in the 75th percentile for American adults, making it better than average," said Northwestern Engineering's Ken Forbu ... more
NASA develops AI for future exploration of extraterrestrial subsurface oceans

Over to you, automation

Swarm of underwater robots mimics ocean life

Toxic mercury in aquatic life could spike with greater land runoff
A highly toxic form of mercury could jump by 300 to 600 percent in zooplankton - tiny animals at the base of the marine food chain - if land runoff increases by 15 to 30 percent, according to a new study. And such an increase is possible due to climate change, according to the pioneering study by Rutgers University and other scientists published in Science Advances. "With climate change, w ... more
Synthetic chemicals: Ignored agents of global change

How India's 'Garden City' became garbage city

Cookware made with scrap metal contaminates food



Chile wildfires kill 10 people: president
Raging forest fires in central Chile have killed 10 people, displaced thousands and destroyed entire villages, the government said Thursday. Multiple blazes fueled by strong wind and drought conditions have ravaged 273,000 hectares (680,000 acres) in just over a week. The latest fatality was a fireman killed when a tree fell on his truck in the Biobio region 550 kilometers (340 miles) so ... more
More than 40 detained in Chile for spreading forest fires

Chile fires cause 'worst forestry disaster' in its history

Chile orders extra funds to fight fire 'catastrophe'

Macedonians send out SOS from Europe's oldest lake
A fishing boat glides across the shimmering surface of Europe's oldest lake, a haven of biodiversity and a UNESCO World Heritage Site - one that conservationists warn faces multiple development threats. Lake Ohrid, which straddles the mountainous border of Macedonia and Albania, has been in existence for up to three million years and is home to more than 200 species of flora and fauna found ... more
Marine microbes recycle iron from the debris of dead algae

Mako shark makes 13,000-mile trek across Atlantic Ocean

Invasive sedge protects dunes better than native grass



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?

Japan posts first annual trade surplus since Fukushima
Japan on Wednesday reported its first annual trade surplus since the 2011 Fukushima nuclear disaster sent the country's energy import bills soaring. The government trade data showed imports in 2016 fell nearly 16 percent, mainly due to the falling cost of crude oil and liquified natural gas. That left Japan with a 4.07 trillion yen ($35.8 billion) annual trade surplus last year, the firs ... more
An uneasy Silicon Valley denounces Trump immigration ban

EU envoy says China must open market to match soaring words

Australia opens door to China in push to save TPP

Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

New space weather model helps simulate magnetic structure of solar storms
The dynamic space environment that surrounds Earth - the space our astronauts and spacecraft travel through - can be rattled by huge solar eruptions from the sun, which spew giant clouds of magnetic energy and plasma, a hot gas of electrically charged particles, out into space. The magnetic field of these solar eruptions are difficult to predict and can interact with Earth's magnetic fields, cau ... more
Extreme space weather-induced blackouts could cost US more than $40 billion daily

ALMA starts observing the sun

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

Researchers develop label-free technique to image microtubules
Imaging very small materials takes not only great skill on the part of the microscopist, but also great instruments and techniques. For a refined microscopic look at biological materials, the challenges include getting an image that is free from "noise," the interference that can be caused by a number of items, including the area surrounding an item. Labels, dyes, or stains that are added ... more
Rapid trait evolution crucial to species growth

Scientists identify earliest protein necessary for cell division

How insects decide to grow up





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