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Where fresh is cool in Bay of Bengal![]() Cape Cod MA (SPX) Mar 08, 2018 Each summer, the South Asian monsoon transforms parts of India from semi-arid into lush green lands able to support farming. The annual infusion of rainfall and resulting runoff into the Ganges, Brahmaputra, and other rivers in the region also has a very different, but no less dramatic, impact on the Bay of Bengal in the northeast Indian Ocean. Understanding how the ocean interacts with the atmosphere is particularly important in this region, where about 2.5 billion people depend on the monsoon fo ... read more |
Cape Town averts dry taps in 2018: officialCape Town (AFP) March 7, 2018 Cape Town will not be forced to shut-off normal water supplies in 2018 in response to a three-year-long drought as previously feared, the region's governing party said Wednesday. ... more
Genetic tweak makes plants use 25% less waterParis (AFP) March 6, 2018 Researchers on Tuesday unveiled a genetic modification that enables plants to use a quarter less water with scant reduction in yield. ... more
Carrefour's chicken blockchain set to lay eggsParis (AFP) March 6, 2018 French supermarket group Carrefour said Tuesday it would expand its blockchain-based food traceability programme, which is currently in place for some chickens, to eight other products including eggs by the end of the year. ... more
Soil cannot halt climate changeHarpenden AL5 (SPX) Mar 06, 2018 Unique soils data from long-term experiments, stretching back to the middle of the nineteenth century, confirm the practical implausibility of burying carbon in the ground to halt climate change, an ... more |
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 Vietnam flood death toll hits 40 as Typhoon Kalmaegi looms Fierce mountain storms kill 9 in Nepal Indonesia rescuers search for 23 missing after floods Nepal avalanche kills seven |
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| Previous Issues | Mar 07 | Mar 06 | Mar 05 | Mar 02 | Mar 01 |
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Life under extreme drought conditionsPotsdam, 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
EU food agency says three pesticides harm bees as ban calls growBrussels (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
Hidden 'rock moisture' could be key to understanding forest response to droughtAustin 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 m ... more
Italy, China propose solution to Lake Chad's water problemAbuja (AFP) Feb 28, 2018 It sounds like something from Wakanda, the futuristic African kingdom of the hit movie "Black Panther". ... more
New approach to improve nitrogen use, enhance yield, and promote flowering in riceWashington 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 |
![]() Brothers look to harness artificial intelligence for greater good
Berlin films journey into agribusiness wastelandsBerlin (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 |
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Combating sulphuric acid corrosion at wastewater plantsStyria, 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
Chinese billionaire sees baguette goldmine in French fieldsThiel-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
Crop-saving soil tests now at farmers' fingertipsPullman 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
Land use change has warmed the Earth's surfaceMunich, 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
Macron eyes action against Chinese farm buyersParis (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 |
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Lockheed Martin supports weather services with 2nd Series R weather satellite Cape Canaveral AFS FL (SPX) Mar 03, 2018
A newly launched satellite will augment the GOES-16 weather satellite and provide broad coverage with powerful new weather monitoring technology for meteorologists to provide life and property-saving forecasts. On Thursday, at 5:02 p.m. ET, NOAA's GOES-S weather satellite was launched aboard a United Launch Alliance Atlas V 541 rocket and has successfully established communications.
NOAA's ... more |
GMV leads a project for application of EGNOS to maritime safety Madrid, Spain (SPX) Mar 07, 2018
Satellite navigation systems (GNSS) have now been widely taken up by the public at large as a geolocation and guidance service, but the technology developed to date has a much wider potential use range. These systems are nowadays some of the most trustworthy for improving navigation safety, representing a crucial aid for many means of transport.
Although GPS, GLONASS and Galileo are alread ... more |
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Beetles face extinction due to loss of old trees Paris (AFP) March 5, 2018
Nearly a fifth of Europe's wood beetle species face extinction because the old, decaying trees they depend on have been cleared from forests, scientists warned Monday.
Many saproxylic - literally, "dead wood" - beetles could disappear if remaining old-growth trees are not allowed to decline naturally, according to a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), which ... more |
Malaysia to press EU on planned palm oil ban in biofuels Singapore (AFP) March 1, 2018
Malaysia will press the European Union not to ban palm oil in biofuels during talks this week, the country's trade minister said Thursday, warning the move would hit the rural poor.
The European Parliament earlier this year voted in favour of a draft law on renewable energy that calls for the use of palm oil in biofuels to be banned from 2021, amid mounting worries about its impact on the en ... more |
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Materials 'sandwich' breaks barrier for solar cell efficiency Brooklyn MY (SPX) Mar 06, 2018
Solar cells have great potential as a source of clean electrical energy, but so far they have not been cheap, light, and flexible enough for widespread use. Now a team of researchers led by Tandon Associate Professor Andre D. Taylor of the Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Department has found an innovative and promising way to improve solar cells and make their use in many applications more ... more |
First UK wind farm transfers from commercial to community ownership Bristol UK (SPX) Mar 06, 2018
Over 400 individuals raise an impressive 2.8m pounds in just two weeks to refinance the Mean Moor community wind farm in Cumbria. It's thought to be the first wind farm in the country to be transferred to community ownership from a commercial developer.
Thanks to support from Energy4All, and financing from ethical investment company, Thrive Renewables, three renewable Energy Co-operatives ... more |
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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 |
Naps and noodle talk at Chinese parliament term limit 'debate' Beijing (AFP) March 7, 2018 China is set to pass its first constitutional amendments in 14 years this weekend, but at Wednesday's public discussion on the changes, delegates seemed more interested in talking about beef noodles and taking naps.
No one expected dissent as legislators from the northwest provinces of Gansu and Qinghai gathered in Beijing's cavernous Great Hall of the People Wednesday to deliberate changes ... more |
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UTSA researchers want to teach computers to learn like humans San Antonio TX (SPX) Mar 06, 2018
A new study by Paul Rad, assistant director of the UTSA Open Cloud Institute, and Nicole Beebe, Melvin Lachman Distinguished Professor in Entrepreneurship and director of the UTSA Cyber Center for Security and Analytics, describes a new cloud-based learning platform for artificial intelligence (A.I.) that teaches machines to learn like humans.
"Cognitive learning is all about teaching comp ... more |
Indonesia scrubbing the 'world's dirtiest river' Majalaya, Indonesia (AFP) March 2, 2018
The scabies on Indonesian rice farmer Yusuf Supriyadi's limbs are a daily reminder of the costs of living next to the "world's dirtiest river".
Supriyadi depends on the Citarum's murky waters - a floating carpet of household rubbish, toxic chemicals and animal feces - to irrigate a small rice plot in West Java that sustains his family of six.
The farmer's rice yield is now down by two- ... more |
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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 |
Cape Town averts dry taps in 2018: official Cape Town (AFP) March 7, 2018
Cape Town will not be forced to shut-off normal water supplies in 2018 in response to a three-year-long drought as previously feared, the region's governing party said Wednesday.
Mmusi Maimane, who leads the Democratic Alliance which controls both the Cape Town city council and the wider Western Cape province, said that a 60 percent reduction in consumption averted the shut-off.
"Provide ... more |
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New Zealand summer heatwave sets all-time record Wellington (AFP) March 5, 2018
New Zealand has sweltered through its hottest summer on record and can expect more of the same if climate change continues unabated, the government's scientific agency said Tuesday.
Daily temperatures averaged 18.8 Celsius (65.84 Farenheit), 2.1C more than normal, the National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) said.
With the mercury reaching as high as 38.7C in the South ... more |
Embattled White House promises quick tariff decision Washington (AFP) March 8, 2018
President Donald Trump's team played down talk of a trade war Wednesday as it fought to limit a financial market sell-off, promising a quick decision on contentious tariffs that prompted a popular economic advisor to the president to quit.
Administration big guns Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and Treasury Secretary Steve Mnuchin rushed to the cameras to calm market jitters over proposed ste ... more |
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Public invited to come aboard NASA's first mission to touch the Sun Washington DC (SPX) Mar 07, 2018
Want to get the hottest ticket this summer without standing in line? NASA is inviting people around the world to submit their names online to be placed on a microchip aboard NASA's historic Parker Solar Probe mission launching in summer 2018. The mission will travel through the Sun's atmosphere, facing brutal heat and radiation conditions - and your name will go along for the ride.
"This p ... more |
Hummingbirds make cricket sounds at frequencies outside avian hearing range Washington (UPI) Mar 5, 2018
Scientists have observed a tropical hummingbird species, the black jacobin hummingbird, making an unusual cricket-like sound. According to new research, the high-frequency pitch is unrecognizable by other birds.
Researchers first heard the chirping will studying hummingbirds in the rainforests of eastern Brazil.
"We heard prominent high-pitch sounds that sounded perhaps like a cr ... more |
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