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Shedding light on shallow waters![]() Paris (ESA) Aug 28, 2018 Keeping an eye on our waters is more important than ever, as widespread drought continues to sweep Europe this summer. Earth's changing sea levels are crucial indicators of how our environment is fairing, but monitoring it manually can be a labour-intensive, expensive, and at times even dangerous task. Coastal areas provide additional complications, as shifting seabeds and currents make creating accurate and consistent water depth maps - also known as bathymetry - almost impossible. Sa ... read more |
Environmentally friendly farming practices used by a third of global farmsPullman WA (SPX) Aug 29, 2018 Nearly one-third of the world's farms have adopted more environmentally friendly practices while continuing to be productive, according to a global assessment by 17 scientists in five countries. ... more
Portable freshwater harvester could draw up to 10 gallons per hour from the airWashington DC (SPX) Aug 29, 2018 For thousands of years, people in the Middle East and South America have extracted water from the air to help sustain their populations. Drawing inspiration from those examples, researchers are now ... more
Plant biodiversity essential to bee healthWashington (UPI) Aug 22, 2018 New research suggests bees can maintain healthy colonies in agricultural regions if provided habitat islands with sufficient plant biodiversity. ... more
Bees get hooked on harmful pesticide: studyParis (AFP) Aug 28, 2018 Bumblebees acquire a taste for food laced with a pesticide known to harm them, according to a study suggesting the chemicals pose an even greater threat to pollinators than previously thought. ... more |
Philippines digs out from Typhoon Fung-wong as death toll climbs
Philippines digs out from Typhoon Fung-wong as death toll climbs to 18 Three Vietnam men survive 40 hours at sea after typhoon Typhoon Fung-wong floods Philippine towns, leaves 5 dead in its wake Typhoon Fung-wong leaves flooded Philippine towns in its wake Typhoon exposes centuries-old shipwreck off Vietnam port Weakening Typhoon Fung-wong exits Philippines after displacing 1.4 million Super Typhoon Fung-wong makes landfall in Philippines Over 1 million evacuate as deadly Super Typhoon Fung-wong nears Philippines Dam reservoir levels drop below 3% in Iran's second city: media |
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| Previous Issues | Aug 28 | Aug 27 | Aug 24 | Aug 23 | Aug 22 |
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The wheat code is finally crackedWashington DC (SPX) Aug 23, 2018 The International Wheat Genome Sequencing Consortium (IWGSC) published in the international journal Science a detailed description of the genome of bread wheat, the world's most widely cultivated cr ... more
UConn scientists create reverse osmosis membranes with tunable thicknessStorrs CT (SPX) Aug 23, 2018 Currently, more than 300 million people around the world rely on desalinated water for part or all of their daily needs. That demand will only grow with larger populations and improved standards of ... more
Bringing home the bacon: China pork braces for trade war bluesBaiyang, China (AFP) Aug 22, 2018 Twice a day, Chinese pig farmer Jia Tiechui's workers flip levers to deliver plops of soybean-based feed to 18,000 hogs, whose appetite is getting costlier as the US trade war bites. ... more
Study: Human wastewater valuable to global agriculture, economicsChampaign IL (SPX) Aug 22, 2018 It may seem off-putting to some, but human waste is full of nutrients that can be recycled into valuable products that could promote agricultural sustainability and better economic independence for ... more
How do plants rest photosynthetic activity at night?Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Aug 21, 2018 Photosynthesis, the process by which plants generate food, is a powerful piece of molecular machinery that needs sunlight to run. The proteins involved in photosynthesis need to be 'on' when they ha ... more |
![]() Oil palm: few areas in Africa reconcile high yields and primate protection
Volkswagen in dispute with Mexican farmersPuebla, Mexico (AFP) Aug 22, 2018 Mexican farming communities accused German auto giant Volkswagen on Tuesday of "arbitrarily" provoking a drought in the central state of Puebla to protect its newly manufactured cars from hail. ... more |
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Rice Uni system selectively sequesters toxins from waterHouston TX (SPX) Aug 10, 2018 Rice University scientists are developing technology to remove contaminants from water - but only as many as necessary. The Rice lab of engineer Qilin Li is building a treatment system that ca ... more
Australia ramps up aid to farmers as drought bitesSydney (AFP) Aug 19, 2018 Financial aid for drought-stricken Australian farmers will be increased to Aus$1.8 billion (US$1.3 billion) as they endure the driest conditions in half a century, the prime minister said Sunday. ... more
The behavior of water: scientists find new properties of H2ONew York NY (SPX) Aug 16, 2018 A team of scientists has uncovered new molecular properties of water--a discovery of a phenomenon that had previously gone unnoticed. Liquid water is known to be an excellent transporter of it ... more
New research collection targets insect pests of pulse cropsAnnapolis MD (SPX) Aug 10, 2018 Around the world, pulse crops - such as beans, peas, chickpeas, and lentils - are an important staple in the modern food supply, and their cultivation is growing in the United States and many other ... more
Britain's dry summer reveals ancient sitesLondon (AFP) Aug 15, 2018 Previously hidden archaeological sites have emerged in fields across Britain after the hot, dry summer exposed new cropmarks, the Historic England agency said Wednesday. ... more |
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NASA launching Advanced Laser to measure Earth's changing ice Washington DC (SPX) Aug 23, 2018
Next month, NASA will launch into space the most advanced laser instrument of its kind, beginning a mission to measure - in unprecedented detail - changes in the heights of Earth's polar ice.
NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 (ICESat-2) will measure the average annual elevation change of land ice covering Greenland and Antarctica to within the width of a pencil, capturing 60 ... more |
US Air Force's first advanced GPS 3 satellite shipped to Cape Canaveral Cape Canaveral FL (spx) Aug 28, 2018
The first of the U.S. Air Force's advanced new, higher-power, harder-to-jam GPS III satellites is making its way to the launch pad.
On August 20, Lockheed Martin shipped the U.S. Air Force's first GPS III space vehicle (GPS III SV01) to Cape Canaveral for its expected launch in December. Designed and built at Lockheed Martin's GPS III Processing Facility near Denver, the satellite was ship ... more |
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Tree species richness in Amazonian wetlands is three times greater than expected Sao Paulo, Brazil (SPX) Aug 29, 2018
Throughout the alluvial plains of Amazonia, there are immense forests that are flooded for almost half the year. These Amazonian wetlands encompass a wide array of types of vegetation in or near stream gullies, including blackwater (igapo) and whitewater (varzea) inundation forest, swamp (pantano), white sand savanna (campina), and mangrove (mangue) types.
According to a new study, the reg ... more |
Producing hydrogen from splitting water without splitting hairs Washington DC (SPX) Aug 27, 2018
New model explains interactions between small copper clusters used as low-cost catalysts in the production of hydrogen by breaking down water molecules
Copper nanoparticles dispersed in water or in the form of coatings have a range of promising applications, including lubrication, ink jet printing, as luminescent probes, exploiting their antimicrobial and antifungal activity, and in fuel c ... more |
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Russelectric Announces Distributed Energy Controller Hingham, MA (SPX) Aug 24, 2018
Russelectric, a leading manufacturer of automatic transfer switches and power control systems and solutions, announces its new Russelectric Distributed Energy Controller (RDEC). RDEC is a fully integrated controller for complex, mission critical distributed energy systems, ranging from back-up generation and demand management to fully functional microgrids.
At the core of each RDEC is the ... more |
Wind energy prices at all-time lows as wind turbines grow larger Berkeley CA (SPX) Aug 27, 2018
Wind energy pricing remains attractive, according to an annual report released by the U.S. Department of Energy and prepared by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab). At an average of around 2 cents per kilowatt-hour (kWh), prices offered by newly built wind projects in the United States are being driven lower by technology advancements and cost reductions.
"Wind energy pric ... more |
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Trump administration moves to relax coal pollution rules Washington (AFP) Aug 22, 2018
President Donald Trump's administration announced a plan Tuesday to weaken regulations on US coal plants, giving a boost to an industry that former leader Barack Obama had hoped to phase out to cut harmful emissions that drive global warming.
The Environmental Protection Agency's new Affordable Clean Energy (ACE) rule would allow states the flexibility to set their own standards for performa ... more |
Hong Kong democracy group says members were detained in China Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 27, 2018
A Hong Kong pro-democracy group led by high-profile activist Joshua Wong said Monday two of its members had been detained and questioned in mainland China.
The pair were released within hours but were warned not to publicise their experiences, the Demosisto party said in a statement.
Hong Kong has rights unseen on the mainland but concerns are growing that those liberties are under serio ... more |
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Activists urge killer robot ban 'before it is too late' Geneva (AFP) Aug 27, 2018 Countries should quickly agree a treaty banning the use of so-called killer robots "before it is too late", activists said Monday as talks on the issue resumed at the UN.
They say time is running out before weapons are deployed that use lethal force without a human making the final kill-order and have criticised the UN body hosting the talks - the Convention of Certain Conventional Weapons ... more |
Paris, Tokyo, New York and others pledge to slash waste New York (AFP) Aug 28, 2018
By slashing food waste and improving waste management and recycling, 23 global cities and regions representing 150 million people pledged Tuesday to significantly cut the pollution-causing garbage they generate by 2030.
Places like New York, Tokyo, London, Paris and Sydney vowed to "cut the amount of waste generated by each citizen 15 percent by 2030," said a statement from C40 Cities, a glo ... more |
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A World On Fire Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 24, 2018
The world is on fire. Or so it appears in this image from NASA's Worldview. The red points overlaid on the image designate those areas that by using thermal bands detect actively burning fires. Africa seems to have the most concentrated fires. This could be due to the fact that these are most likely agricultural fires.
The location, widespread nature, and number of fires suggest that these ... more |
Myanmar dam overflow floods 100 villages Bago, Myanmar (AFP) Aug 29, 2018
Monsoon rains caused a central Myanmar dam to overflow early Wednesday, inundating about 100 villages and blocking the country's biggest highway, a government official said.
No casualties have been reported but thousands were displaced and took shelter in temporary camps.
Swar Chaung dam's spillway structure, which regulates the release of water from the levee, broke due to heavy seaso ... more |
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Nice sunny days can grow into heat waves Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Aug 24, 2018
Be it heavy downpours or super-hot spells, summer weather becomes more persistent in North America, Europe and parts of Asia. When those conditions stall for several days or weeks, they can turn into extremes: heatwaves resulting in droughts, health risks and wildfires; or relentless rainfall resulting in floods.
A team of scientists now presents the first comprehensive review of research ... more |
Trump's trade pledges have backfired, energy trade group says Washington (UPI) Aug 24, 2018
U.S. President Trump is admired for fulfilling campaign promises, but some of those actions are harming his own ambitions on energy, a trade group said.
On the campaign trail, Trump promised to "use every tool under American and international law to end these (trade) abuses." Nearly two years into his term, he's made good on that pledge by targeting North American, European and Chinese ... more |
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How scientists predicted corona's appearance during total solar eclipse Greenbelt MD (SPX) Aug 29, 2018
It was Aug. 14, 2017, just one week before the Moon would cross paths with the Sun and Earth, casting its shadow across the United States. The entire country buzzed with anticipation for the fleeting chance to see the corona, the Sun's tenuous outer atmosphere.
But the wait was uniquely nerve-wracking for a group of scientists at Predictive Science Inc., a private research company in San D ... more |
To attract mates, male fruit flies sing songs with their wings Washington (UPI) Aug 24, 2018
Fruit flies are agile fliers. Evading the swat of a human hand is easy. But for males, wings aren't just a tool for travel and evasion. They're an instrument - an instrument the would-be dads use to woo females.
With the help of powerful microphones and neuron tracking technology, scientists at Aarhus University in Denmark identified the song motor circuit male fruit flies depend on fo ... more |
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