24/7 Farm  News Coverage
March 01, 2018
CLIMATE SCIENCE
Hidden 'rock moisture' could be key to understanding forest response to drought



Austin TX (SPX) Mar 01, 2018
Research conducted by The University of Texas at Austin and University of California, Berkeley has found that a little-studied, underground layer of rock can hold significant amounts of water that may serve as a vital reservoir for trees, especially in times of drought. The study, published in the journal PNAS looked at the water stored inside the layer of weathered bedrock that commonly lies under soils in mountainous environments. This transitional zone beneath soils and above groundwater is oft ... read more

WATER WORLD
Italy, China propose solution to Lake Chad's water problem
Abuja (AFP) Feb 28, 2018
It sounds like something from Wakanda, the futuristic African kingdom of the hit movie "Black Panther". ... more
FARM NEWS
EU food agency says three pesticides harm bees as ban calls grow
Brussels (AFP) Feb 28, 2018
The European food safety watchdog said Wednesday that three pesticides currently partly banned in the EU pose a risk to wild bees and honey bees, in a long-awaited report. ... more
FARM NEWS
'Noah's Ark' seed vault chalks up a million crop varieties
Longyearbyen (AFP) Feb 26, 2018
Norway's 'doomsday' seed bank, which seeks to protect the world's crops from natural disasters, on Monday said it had gathered more than a million varieties as it marked its 10-year anniversary. ... more
FARM NEWS
The secret to tripling the number of grains in sorghum and perhaps other staple crops
Cold Spring Harbor NY (SPX) Feb 28, 2018
A simple genetic modification can triple the grain number of sorghum, a drought-tolerant plant that is an important source of food, animal feed, and biofuel in many parts of the world. In new ... more
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CLIMATE SCIENCE
Life under extreme drought conditions
Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Feb 28, 2018
The core region of the Atacama Desert in South America is one of the most arid places on earth. Sometimes it is raining only once in a decade or even less, the annual precipitation is far less than ... more
FARM NEWS
New approach to improve nitrogen use, enhance yield, and promote flowering in rice
Washington DC (SPX) Feb 27, 2018
Nitrogen fertilizers (applied as nitrate, NO3-, or ammonium, NH4+) improve the amount of grain produced per acre, but nitrogen runoff and volatilization pollute the water and the air. Production of ... more
ROBO SPACE
Brothers look to harness artificial intelligence for greater good
San Francisco (AFP) Feb 26, 2018
As debate swirls on whether artificial intelligence will be a boon or a curse for humanity, two Indian-American entrepreneur brothers are out to ensure the emerging technologies don't just benefit the richest in society. ... more
FARM NEWS
Berlin films journey into agribusiness wastelands
Berlin (AFP) Feb 24, 2018
From bulldozers ripping through virgin forests to planes spraying pesticides on village schools, documentary film-makers in Berlin are showing the high toll of modern industrial agriculture. ... more
WATER WORLD
Combating sulphuric acid corrosion at wastewater plants
Styria, Austria (SPX) Feb 26, 2018
Wastewater systems are integral to infrastructure in every community. In an ideal world, they operate smoothly and are long-lasting. But biogenic transformation processes in sewage and water treatme ... more
24/7 Disaster News Coverage
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FARM NEWS
Chinese billionaire sees baguette goldmine in French fields
Thiel-Sur-Acolin, France (AFP) Feb 25, 2018
In the peaceful French village of Thiel-sur-Acolin, retired farmer Marc Bernardet is ambivalent about having a Chinese billionaire for a neighbour. ... more
FARM NEWS
Crop-saving soil tests now at farmers' fingertips
Pullman WA (SPX) Feb 26, 2018
Soil pathogen testing - critical to farming, but painstakingly slow and expensive - will soon be done accurately, quickly, inexpensively and onsite, thanks to research that Washington State Universi ... more
FARM NEWS
Land use change has warmed the Earth's surface
Munich, Germany (SPX) Feb 21, 2018
Natural ecosystems play a crucial role in helping combat climate change, air pollution and soil erosion. A new study by a team of researchers from the Joint Research Centre, the European Commission' ... more
FARM NEWS
Macron eyes action against Chinese farm buyers
Paris (AFP) Feb 22, 2018
President Emmanuel Macron promised measures Thursday to help prevent foreign investors buying French farms amid concern that Chinese businesses are taking advantage of low land prices and distressed rural communities. ... more
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Five dead, 15 missing in Indonesia landslide
Jakarta (AFP) Feb 22, 2018
At least five people have been killed and 15 are still missing after a landslide cascaded down the terraced slopes of a rice field on the Indonesian island of Java on Thursday, officials said. ... more


Eleven missing, 14 injured in Indonesia landslide

FARM NEWS
Global grazing lands increasingly vulnerable to a changing climate
Minneapolis MN (SPX) Feb 21, 2018
Some 800 million people around the world depend on livestock that graze on natural vegetation for their livelihoods and food security. In a good season, grasses and other plants flourish, supporting ... more
SEED DAILY



FARM NEWS
Farming crops with rocks to reduce CO2 and improve global food security
Sheffield UK (SPX) Feb 21, 2018
Farming crops with crushed rocks could help to improve global food security and reduce the amount of CO2 entering the atmosphere, a new study has found. The pioneering research by scientists a ... more
FARM NEWS
Pesticide traces in three-quarters of French fruit: report
Paris (AFP) Feb 20, 2018
Almost three- quarters of fruit and more than two-fifths of non-organic vegetables contain traces of pesticide in France, with grapes and celery the most affected, a report said Tuesday. ... more
WATER WORLD
Cape Town now faces dry taps by July 9
Cape Town (AFP) Feb 20, 2018
Residents of drought-stricken Cape Town received good news Tuesday when city officials said they now face losing piped water to their homes by July 9 - a month later than last forecast. ... more
FARM NEWS
Giant London glasshouse to reopen with world's rarest plants
London (AFP) Feb 14, 2018
A gleaming monument to the ambition and creativity of its age, the world's largest Victorian glasshouse will once again welcome visitors to see some of the world's rarest plants following a lengthy facelift. ... more
FARM NEWS
Growing crops with crushed rocks could reduce CO2 emissions
Washington (UPI) Feb 19, 2018
Just add rocks. In a recent study, scientists at the University of Sheffield showed the addition of reactive silicate rocks to agricultural soil can boost crop production while limiting the amount of CO2 released into the atmosphere. ... more
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US blasts off another satellite to boost weather forecasts
Miami (AFP) March 1, 2018
A new US satellite that offers speedy, high-resolution images of storms and may save lives by making forecasts more accurate blasted off Thursday from a NASA launchpad. "Three, two, one and liftoff!" said a NASA commentator as the Atlas V rocket rumbled into the blue sky at 5:02 pm (2202 GMT) over Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida, carrying the Geostationary Operational Environment ... more
+ NASA joins international science team in exploring auroral cusp from Norway
+ How does GEOS-5-based planetary boundary layer height and humidity vary across China?
+ New partnership aids sustainable growth with earth observations
+ CloudSat Exits the 'A-Train'
+ Swarm trio becomes a quartet
+ Tracking the global footprint of industrial fishing
+ Tracking a typhoon's seismic footprint
Why Russia is one step ahead of US Army's plans for future GPS
Moscow (Sputnik) Feb 12, 2018
The Pentagon and Israel's Defense Ministry have launched 'Urban Navigation Challenge', a startup competition to create advanced 'counter-terror' navigation systems which don't use GPS. The project makes no mention of officially designated US "rivals" like Russia or China, but according to Russian experts, it would make no difference even if it did. The project, officially dubbed the Combat ... more
+ Europe claims 100 million users for Galileo satnav system
+ Airbus selected by ESA for EGNOS V3 program
+ Pentagon probes fitness-app use after map shows sensitive sites
+ China sends twin BeiDou-3 navigation satellites into space
+ 18 satellites in exactEarth's real-time constellation now in service
+ 'Quantum radio' may aid communications and mapping indoors, underground and underwater
+ Raytheon to provide GPS-guided artillery shells


Geological change confirmed as factor behind extensive diversity in tropical rainforests
Mainz, Germany (SPX) Mar 01, 2018
The tropical rainforests of Central and South America are home to the largest diversity of plants on this planet. Nowhere else are there quite so many different plant species in one place. However, the entire region is increasingly threatened by human activity, which is why researchers are stepping up their efforts to record this astonishing biodiversity and find out how it developed. In a ... more
+ Reforesting US topsoils store massive amounts of carbon, with potential for much more
+ Drier conditions could doom Rocky Mountain spruce and fir trees
+ Tropical trees use unique method to resist drought
+ Poland illegally logged in ancient forest: EU court advisor
+ Polish logging in ancient forest breaches EU law: court advisor
+ Hunting wolves in Serbia's southern forests
+ A theory of physics explains the fragmentation of tropical forests
Digestive ability of ancient insects could boost biofuel development
York UK (SPX) Feb 27, 2018
A study of the unusual digestive system of an ancient group of insects has provided new insights into future biofuel production. Published in Nature Communications, the research reveals that the ability of some insects to efficiently digest cellulose could be exploited for industrial processes, such as the production of sustainable low carbon fuels to cut greenhouse gas emissions associate ... more
+ New tool tells bioengineers when to build microbial teams
+ Pausing evolution makes bioproduction of chemicals affordable and efficient
+ Malaysia to press EU on planned palm oil ban in biofuels
+ How biofuels from plant fibers could combat global warming
+ Evolution plays many tricks against large-scale bioproduction
+ Fungal enzymes could hold secret to making renewable energy from wood
+ The new bioenergy research center: building on ten years of success


World's first solar fuels reactor for night passes test
Almeria, Spain (SPX) Feb 27, 2018
International solar thermal energy researchers have successfully tested CONTISOL, a solar reactor that runs on air, able to make any solar fuel like hydrogen and to run day or night - because it uses concentrated solar power (CSP) which can include thermal energy storage. The promise of solar fuels is that we could have zero carbon fuels like hydrogen without the climate-damaging carbon em ... more
+ Avaada Power commits bllion to Uttar Pradesh solar projects
+ Wind, solar could meet 80 percent of US demand: study
+ Aqueous storage device needs only 20 seconds to go
+ New clean energy targets put South Australia on the world map
+ A new approach towards highly efficient and air-stable perovskite solar cells
+ Why polymer solar cells deserve their place in the sun
+ EU nations should seize chance to boost renewable energy: study
Windlab exceeds prospectus forecast; scales up operations
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Mar 02, 2018
Windlab Limited has released its annual results for the 2017 year. Windlab delivered a strong financial result for 2017, and in doing so met its prospectus revenue forecast and exceeded its Net Profit Before Tax (NPBT) statutory prospectus forecast. The Company achieved strong revenue and earnings growth. Revenue for the year grew 36% to $23.3M, excluding equity accounted profits from asso ... more
+ World's first floating wind farm put to the test
+ New wind farm construction starts in Italy
+ Ireland pushing for greener economy
+ China wind turbine-maker guilty of stealing US trade secrets
+ Scotland sets up $83 million low-carbon fund
+ German offshore wind farm closer to powering mainland
+ The wave power farm off Mutriku could improve its efficiency


Michigan utility company to go zero coal
Washington (UPI) Feb 20, 2018
Coal will no longer be used as an energy source for Michigan residents as more renewables come on stream in the decades ahead, a utility company said. Public utility company Consumers Energy, which provides gas and electricity to about 60 percent of the state population, said it would no longer be using coal as a power source by 2040. By then, the company said it expects more than 40 pe ... more
+ Australia won't fund mega Adani mine rail link
+ New York unveils plans for fossil fuel divestment
+ French energy company EDF to replace coal in China
+ Poland opens Europe's largest coal-fired power unit
+ BHP to exit global coal body over climate change policy
+ Coal demand falling, IEA says
+ Adani drops contractor for contentious Australia mega mine
China's 'super rich' legislators get richer
Beijing (AFP) March 2, 2018
The Chinese Communist Party's annual legislative session will count more than 150 "super rich" members whose total net worth has soared to $650 billion, or double Ireland's annual GDP, a report showed Friday. From internet tycoons to real estate barons and auto industry leaders, some of the wealthiest people in the world's second-largest economy will grace the corridors of the Great Hall of ... more
+ Very rare Qing Dynasty bowl seen topping $25 mn at auction
+ China's Xi takes another stride in Mao's footsteps
+ China investigates former top politician
+ In China's eSport schools students learn it pays to play
+ China takes over Anbang, prosecutes ex-boss for 'economic crimes'
+ China rules out arson in Tibetan temple fire
+ Anbang mess tightens state grip on China Inc: analysts


Berkeley Lab 'minimalist machine learning' algorithms analyze images from very little data
Berkeley CA (SPX) Feb 28, 2018
Mathematicians at the Department of Energy's Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) have developed a new approach to machine learning aimed at experimental imaging data. Rather than relying on the tens or hundreds of thousands of images used by typical machine learning methods, this new approach "learns" much more quickly and requires far fewer images. Daniel Pelt and James S ... more
+ Snake-inspired robot uses kirigami to move
+ Robo-picker grasps and packs
+ Beware of replicating sexism in AI, experts warn
+ Robotic crystals that walk n' roll
+ Brothers look to harness artificial intelligence for greater good
+ Google Assistant adds more languages in global push
+ New stretchable electronic skin sensitive enough to feel ladybug footsteps
Gabon accuses France's Veolia of pollution
Libreville (AFP) Feb 27, 2018
Gabon on Tuesday accused Veolia of pollutingthe country as the government and the French company wage an increasingly bitter dispute in public over the cancellation of a contract for water and electricity distribution. "There is considerable environmental damage at almost all of the sites exploited by SEEG," Communication Minister Alain-Claude Bilie By Nze told journalists, referring to the ... more
+ Vietnam suspends steel firms after pollution protests
+ UK, EU spar over who will be greenest after Brexit
+ German nights get brighter - but not everywhere
+ The plastics industry is leaking huge amounts of microplastics
+ Thai junta under pressure to tackle pollution 'crisis'
+ EU court says Poland broke air quality laws
+ Enhanced education could help turn the tide on marine litter


Rash of forest fires breaks out in Indonesia
Pekanbaru, Indonesia (AFP) Feb 21, 2018
Indonesia was battling a rash of forest fires Wednesday as it raised an alert over the blazes which occur every year and emit choking smog that can envelop neighbouring Singapore and Malaysia. Fires have broken out in four provinces - South Sumatra, Riau, West Kalimantan and Central Kalimantan - prompting them to declare "alert emergency" status, one notch below the most severe warning. ... more
+ NASA Covers Wildfires from Many Sources
+ Fort McMurray researchers find simple key to risk of severe peat fires
+ Charcoal remains could accelerate CO2 emissions after forest fires
+ Wet winters may not dampen small wildfires
+ Returning winds churn up heightened alert in fire-hit California
+ Thomas fire mostly contained in charred
+ After the fire, charcoal goes against the grain, with the flow
Italy, China propose solution to Lake Chad's water problem
Abuja (AFP) Feb 28, 2018
It sounds like something from Wakanda, the futuristic African kingdom of the hit movie "Black Panther". But "Transaqua" is a very real proposal for a very real problem - how to replenish the shrinking waters of Lake Chad. It imagines a 2,600-km (1,600-mile) canal from the Democratic Republic of Congo across the Central African Republic to meet the Chari River that feeds into the freshw ... more
+ Chile's Bachelet unveils massive marine parks in legacy move
+ New Zealand FM's 'strategic anxiety' about Pacific
+ Marine animals explore the ocean in similar ways
+ The West Coast is losing its biggest Chinook salmon
+ Better ocean turbulence models to improve climate predictions
+ Stagnation in the South Pacific
+ Temperatures to keep rising in Pacific Northwest, new climate models confirm


How cities heat up
Boston MA (SPX) Feb 26, 2018
The arrangement of a city's streets and buildings plays a crucial role in the local urban heat island effect, which causes cities to be hotter than their surroundings, researchers have found. The new finding could provide city planners and officials with new ways to influence those effects. Some cities, such as New York and Chicago, are laid out on a precise grid, like the atoms in a cryst ... more
+ Record high temperatures for February in New York
+ Lightning storms less likely in a warming planet, study suggests
+ Reflective surfaces alleviate heatwaves
+ Storm damage to cost Germany 500 mln euros as death toll rises
+ Nine dead as huge storms batter Europe
+ Death toll from California mudslides rises to 20
+ Dozens still unaccounted for in California mudslides
US, China clash on tariffs on Chinese aluminum foil
Washington (AFP) Feb 28, 2018
The United States on Tuesday upheld tariffs imposed last year on imports of Chinese aluminum foil valued at nearly $400 million a year, angering Beijing which vowed to hit back. The decision intensified the mounting trade confrontation between Beijing and Washington, which is considering far-reaching duties on Chinese goods in an effort to reduce the US trade deficit. However, the move w ... more
+ Standard Chartered brings back dividends as profits jump
+ Germany 'watchful' of Chinese investment in Daimler
+ China factory expansion slows to 19-month low in February
+ $1bn painting 'only matter of time' as art prices surge
+ Trump says China ties 'best ever' but trade a problem
+ Macau sees future in Portuguese past
+ Funding evaporates for Nicaragua's $50 billion ocean-to-ocean canal
Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

NASA's SDO reveals how magnetic cage on the Sun stopped solar eruption
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 26, 2018
A dramatic magnetic power struggle at the Sun's surface lies at the heart of solar eruptions, new research using NASA data shows. The work highlights the role of the Sun's magnetic landscape, or topology, in the development of solar eruptions that can trigger space weather events around Earth. The scientists, led by Tahar Amari, an astrophysicist at the Center for Theoretical Physics at th ... more
+ Towards a better prediction of solar eruptions
+ Pulsating aurora mysteries uncovered with help from THEMIS and ERG missions
+ Where no mission has gone before
+ HINODE captures record breaking solar magnetic field
+ What's behind the most brilliant lights in the sky
+ NASA's newly rediscovered IMAGE mission provided key aurora research
+ GOLD will revolutionize our understanding of space weather
Scientists discover strange new water bear species
Washington (UPI) Mar 1, 2018
Just when you thought tardigrades couldn't get any weirder, scientists discover an algae-eating water bear that lays tentacled eggs. Tardigrades are the eight-legged micro-animals that appear both adorable and freakish, and have earned a reputation as the toughest animals on planet Earth. Kazuharu Arakawa, a molecular biologist at Japan's Keio University, found the new tardigrade ... more
+ Mexican troops partner with activists to save vaquita porpoise
+ Birds are essential to the dispersion of rare wild chili pepper seeds
+ The giant wave that marks the beginning of the end - the neurobiology of dying
+ Malaysia elephant sanctuary trumpets effort to cut human-animal conflict
+ Indonesian woman mauled to death by crocodile
+ Today's elephants don't interbreed like ancient species
+ Corporations key to rescuing nature, says WWF chief


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