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Tiny Michigan town in water fight with Nestle![]() Osceola Township , United States (AFP) Feb 4, 2018 Global food conglomerate Nestle is in a battle with critics in tiny Osceola Township, Michigan where residents complain the Swiss company's water extraction techniques are ruining the environment. Maryann Borden, a retired teacher who has lived in the western Michigan town since 1953, has photos documenting changes in the Twin Creek river since Nestle began pumping water in the region in the early 2000s for its "Ice Mountain" brand of bottled water. "It's not the same creek," Borden, 73, told AF ... read more |
New Year canines stashed away in Muslim MalaysiaKuala Lumpur (AFP) Jan 26, 2018 As the Year of the Dog approaches, some shops run by the Chinese diaspora in Malaysia are keeping canine figurines hidden inside to avoid causing offence in the Muslim-majority country. ... more
More rice, please: 13 rice genomes reveal ways to keep up with ever-growing populationCold Spring Harbor, NY (SPX) Feb 05, 2018 Billions of people around the world rely on rice as a mainstay of their diet. The grain provides about 20 percent of the calories consumed by humans worldwide. Rice production is critical for global ... more
World Bank funds fight against Baghdad water woesBaghdad (AFP) Feb 1, 2018 The Iraqi capital's decrepit water network will be overhauled under a $210 million World Bank project aimed at tackling chronic supply shortages and outbreaks of disease. ... more
EU seeks to give millions better access to drinking waterBrussels (AFP) Feb 1, 2018 The European Union proposed Thursday giving millions of people in the 28-nation bloc better access to safe tap water and reduce water consumption via wasteful plastic bottles. ... more |
Death toll tops 100 as Philippines digs out after typhoon
Typhoon death toll soars past 90 in the Philippines Typhoon death toll climbs to 66 in the Philippines CORRECTED: Typhoon Kalmaegi kills 66 in Philippines: civil defence office Reeling from earthquakes, Afghans fear coming winter Typhoon flooding kills over 40, strands thousands in central Philippines Indonesia floods kill 15 Afghan govt says quake death toll rises to 27 Fierce mountain storms kill nine in Nepal Typhoon flooding kills 26, strands thousands in central Philippines |
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| Previous Issues | Feb 03 | Feb 02 | Feb 01 | Jan 31 | Jan 30 |
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Amnesty says Nigerian air force killed 35 people in raidsAbuja (AFP) Jan 30, 2018 Nigerian air raids aimed at stopping herdsmen-farmer clashes killed at least 35 people in December, Amnesty International said Tuesday, describing the government's response as "unlawful". ... more
Satellite and global model estimates vary for land water storageAustin TX (SPX) Jan 29, 2018 Research led by The University of Texas at Austin has found that calculations of water storage in many river basins from commonly used global computer models differ markedly from independent storage ... more
Getting to zero deforestationStanford CA (SPX) Jan 30, 2018 When the world's largest fast food company announced in 2015 that it planned to use only cage-free eggs, poultry farmers scrambled to meet the new standards. So, can we expect zero-deforestation ple ... more
Fearless Philippine farmers defy volcano angerGuinobatan, Philippines (AFP) Jan 29, 2018 As blistering lava spews from the seething volcano nearby, Philippine farmer Jay Balindang leads his buffalo through the ash-strewn paddy fields of the no-go zone, creeping closer to danger in a desperate bid to support his family. ... more
Dairy sector trembles at EU powdered milk mountainHerstal, Belgium (AFP) Jan 25, 2018 Hundreds of thousands of sacks of powdered milk lie stacked on pallets in a warehouse on a nondescript industrial estate in eastern Belgium: part of a vast EU stockpile that is causing dairy producers sleepless nights. ... more |
![]() Panic and blame as Cape Town braces for water shut-off
NOAA research helps predict snowpack before the snow even fallsWashington DC (SPX) Jan 24, 2018 As farmers in the American West decide what, when and where to plant, and urban water managers plan for water needs in the next year, they want to know how much water their community will get from m ... more |
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Ancient rice heralds a new future for rice productionBrisbane, Australia (SPX) Jan 25, 2018 Wild rice growing in northern Australia's crocodile-infested waters could help boost global food security, say University of Queensland researchers who have mapped its genetic family tree. Val ... more
Researchers reveal how microbes cope in phosphorus-deficient tropical soilOak Ridge TN (SPX) Jan 25, 2018 A team led by the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory has uncovered how certain soil microbes cope in a phosphorus-poor environment to survive in a tropical ecosystem. Their novel a ... more
Root discovery may lead to crops that need less fertilizerUniversity Park PA (SPX) Jan 25, 2018 Bean plants that suppress secondary root growth in favor of boosting primary root growth forage greater soil volume to acquire phosphorus, according to Penn State researchers, who say their recent f ... more
Cape Town now faces dry taps by April 12Cape Town (AFP) Jan 23, 2018 As Cape Town suffers its worst drought in a century, residents were warned Tuesday that they face losing piped water to their homes on April 12 - a whole nine days earlier than predicted. ... more
New 'Buck' naked barley: Food, feed, brewWashington DC (SPX) Jan 19, 2018 Researchers at Oregon State University (OSU) are giving an ancient grain a new life: this barley is naked, but not in an indecent way. Most barley grains are covered rather than naked. Covered ... more |
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NASA's small spacecraft produces first 883-gigahertz global ice-cloud map Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 31, 2018
A bread loaf-sized satellite has produced the world's first map of the global distribution of atmospheric ice in the 883-Gigahertz band, an important frequency in the submillimeter wavelength for studying cloud ice and its effect on Earth's climate.
IceCube - the diminutive spacecraft that deployed from the International Space Station in May 2017- has demonstrated-in-space a commercial 883 ... more |
Europe claims 100 million users for Galileo satnav system Paris (AFP) Feb 06, 2018
The Galileo satellite navigation system, Europe's rival to the United States' GPS, has nearly 100 million users after its first year of operation, the French space agency CNES said Thursday.
The system, seen as strategically important to Europe, went live in December 2016, having taken 17 years at more than triple the original budget to get there.
Initial services offered only a weak sig ... more |
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Forest conservation can have greater ecological impacts by allowing sustainable harvesting Columbia MO (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
New research at the University of Missouri has found that forest owners at greater risk of illegally cutting trees from their forests prefer to participate in conservation programs that allow sustainable timber harvesting. The findings of the study, conducted by Francisco Aguilar and Phillip Mohebalian, could be used to craft conservation contracts that are more likely to be accepted by forest o ... more |
Bio-renewable process could help 'green' plastic Madison WI (SPX) Jan 29, 2018
When John Wesley Hyatt patented the first industrial plastic in 1869, his intention was to create an alternative to the elephant tusk ivory used to make piano keys. But this early plastic also sparked a revolution in the way people thought about manufacturing: What if we weren't limited to the materials nature had to offer?
Over a century later, plastics are an abundant part of daily life. ... more |
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Kyocera TCL Solar completes 21MW solar plant on repurposed land Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Feb 02, 2018
Kyocera Corporation and Tokyo Century Corporation report that Kyocera TCL Solar LLC has completed construction of a 21.1 megawatt (MW) utility-scale solar power plant in Hagi City, Yamaguchi Prefecture, Japan. 78,144 Kyocera solar modules were installed on approximately 1km2 of land originally planned for the construction of an industrial waste disposal facility which was abandoned, then repurpo ... more |
Ireland pushing for greener economy Washington (UPI) Jan 31, 2018
The Irish government, despite what happens for Great Britain, is committed to the European Union's energy and renewable policies, the environment minister said.
"Ireland is now a world leader in integrating renewables onto the electricity grid," Irish Environment Minister Denis Naughten said in comments emailed Wednesday from a renewable energy conference in Dublin. "Whatever the final ... more |
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New York unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment New York (AFP) Jan 10, 2018 New York announced plans Wednesday to sell off $5 billion in fossil fuel investments from city pension funds after suing for billions of dollars in damages from oil companies to help fund protection against climate change.
While other cities in Europe and the United States have already taken similar steps, New York hailed its move as significant as it is the biggest metropolis in the country ... more |
Vatican's delicate China mission runs into trouble Vatican City (AFP) Feb 2, 2018 Pope Francis is facing a complex row over the Vatican's warming ties with Communist China, which have sparked a new war of words with a Hong Kong cardinal and growing bitterness among some Chinese faithful.
Beijing and the Vatican severed diplomatic relations in 1951, and although ties have improved in recent years as China's Catholic population has grown, they remain at odds over which side ... more |
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Applying machine learning to the universe's mysteries Berkeley CA (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
Computers can beat chess champions, simulate star explosions, and forecast global climate. We are even teaching them to be infallible problem-solvers and fast learners. And now, physicists at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) and their collaborators have demonstrated that computers are ready to tackle the universe's greatest mysteries. The team fed t ... more |
These bacteria produce gold by digesting toxic metals Halle, Germany (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
High concentrations of heavy metals, like copper and gold, are toxic for most living creatures. This is not the case for the bacterium C. metallidurans, which has found a way to extract valuable trace elements from a compound of heavy metals without poisoning itself. One interesting side-effect: the formation of tiny gold nuggets.
A team of researchers from Martin Luther University Halle-W ... more |
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NASA Covers Wildfires from Many Sources Greenbelt MD (SPX) Jan 25, 2018
NASA's satellite instruments are often the first to detect wildfires burning in remote regions, and the locations of new fires are sent directly to land managers worldwide within hours of the satellite overpass. Together, NASA instruments, including a number built and managed by NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, detect actively burning fires, track the transport of smoke ... more |
ACTUV "Sea Hunter" Prototype Transitions to Office of Naval Research for Further Development Washington DC (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
DARPA has successfully completed its Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) Continuous Trail Unmanned Vessel (ACTUV) program and has officially transferred the technology demonstration vessel, christened Sea Hunter, to the Office of Naval Research (ONR). ONR will continue developing the revolutionary prototype vehicle-the first of what could ultimately become an entirely new class of ocean-going vessel ab ... more |
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Reflective surfaces alleviate heatwaves Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
Climate change will make heatwaves more common, and continental areas and urban regions that become significantly warmer in summer will be particularly affected. Together with colleagues from Australia and the US, ETH researchers have now detailed a practical approach that combines clever land use and urban radiation management to help cool extreme summer temperatures locally. Their study has ju ... more |
Xi wants 'new level' of China-Britain ties as May visits Beijing (AFP) Feb 1, 2018 Chinese President Xi Jinping told British Prime Minister Theresa May on Thursday that their countries should take trade ties to "a new level" as London scouts the globe for fresh partnerships after its contentious EU exit.
Hounded by Brexit rows at home, May is seeking to deepen trade relations with the world's second largest economy as Britain prepares to leave the European Union next year. ... more |
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What's behind the most brilliant lights in the sky Madison WI (SPX) Feb 01, 2018
Space physicists at University of Wisconsin-Madison have just released unprecedented detail on a bizarre phenomenon that powers the northern lights, solar flares and coronal mass ejections (the biggest explosions in our solar system). The data on so-called "magnetic reconnection" came from a quartet of new spacecraft that measure radiation and magnetic fields in high Earth orbit.
"We're lo ... more |
Indonesian orangutan 'beheaders' claim self-defence: police Jakarta (AFP) Feb 1, 2018 Two Indonesian men arrested for shooting an orangutan multiple times and then decapitating it before tossing the corpse into a river, have told investigators they acted in self-defence, police said Thursday.
The suspects, both rubber plantation workers on the island of Borneo, admitted they killed the critically endangered male Bornean orangutan whose headless body was found last month.
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