24/7 Farm  News Coverage
September 11, 2018
WATER WORLD
S.Africa's Cape Town eases water rationing



Cape Town (AFP) Sept 10, 2018
South Africa's second city Cape Town, battling its worst drought in 100 years, announced Monday that it would ease severe water rationing after significant rains in the region. The Western Cape region had gone without substantial rain for more than three years, forcing Cape Town authorities to slash residential water consumption. "Cape Town's dam levels are nearing 70 percent of storage capacity due to good rainfall at the beginning of winter and the phenomenal conservation efforts of Capetoni ... read more

WATER WORLD
Drought, groundwater loss sinks California land at alarming rate
Ithaca NY (SPX) Sep 11, 2018
The San Joaquin Valley in central California, like many other regions in the western United States, faces drought and ongoing groundwater extraction, happening faster than it can be replenished. And ... more
CLIMATE SCIENCE
'Hunger stones' tell Elbe's centuries-old tale of drought
Decin, Czech Republic (AFP) Sept 10, 2018
Once an ominous harbinger of hard times and even famine due to critically low water levels, a massive "hunger stone" embedded deep in the Elbe River has reappeared in the Czech Republic after Europe's long, dry summer. ... more
FARM NEWS
Urban vineyards: Parisians pick grapes for city vintages
Paris (AFP) Sept 4, 2018
Grape pickers at the Clos des Morillons look like thousands of others at work in vineyards across France at this time of year. But behind them looms a high-rise housing estate and a short walk away is the noisy Paris ring road. ... more
FARM NEWS
Blue-green algae promises to help boost food crop yields
Canberra, Australia (SPX) Sep 10, 2018
Scientists at The Australian National University (ANU) have engineered tiny carbon-capturing engines from blue-green algae into plants, in a breakthrough that promises to help boost the yields of im ... more
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FARM NEWS
Hong Kong dim sum favourite faces uncertain future
Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 2, 2018
Impatient diners crowd around carts of steaming dim sum steered by fierce "trolley aunties" at Hong Kong's Lin Heung Tea House, one of the city's most famous restaurants, now fearing for its future. ... more
FARM NEWS
France's ban on bee-killing pesticides begins Saturday
Paris (AFP) Aug 30, 2018
A ban on five neonicotinoid pesticides enters into force in France on Saturday, placing the country at the forefront of a campaign against chemicals blamed for decimating critical populations of crop-pollinating bees. ... more
FARM NEWS
Brazil court lifts ban on glyphosate weedkiller
Brasilia (AFP) Sept 3, 2018
An appellate court on Monday lifted a court-ordered suspension of licenses in Brazil for products containing glyphosate, an industrial weedkiller in common use in Latin America's agricultural powerhouse. ... more
FARM NEWS
Angry French farmers sow Chinese-owned field in investor protest
Chatillon-Sur-Indre, France (AFP) Aug 30, 2018
Mounted on tractors and wielding flares, angry farmers came from all corners of France to say to Chinese investors: get off our land. ... more
WATER WORLD
Engineered sand removes contaminants from stormwater
Washington (UPI) Aug 30, 2018
Scientists have engineered mineral-coated sand to remove contaminants from storm water. In places where water resources are strained, engineered sand could transform storm water into a valuable asset. ... more
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FARM NEWS
Global warming will make insects hungrier, eating up key crops: study
Tampa (AFP) Aug 30, 2018
Researchers have found a new way that global warming is bad for the planet: more hungry bugs. ... more
TECTONICS
Central California is sinking at an accelerated rate
Washington (UPI) Aug 30, 2018
New research suggests Central California's San Joaquin Valley is once again sinking at an alarming rate, as groundwater is drained faster than it can be replenished. ... more
FARM NEWS
Epigenome of bread wheat mapped to piece together its genetic heritage
Norwich UK (SPX) Aug 31, 2018
Globally, wheat, together with maize and rice, provides the most human nutrition. It can thrive in a whole range of different environments, even within a similar geographical region. Exploring ... more
WATER WORLD
Bolivia petitions ICJ over Chilean border river source
La Paz (AFP) Aug 31, 2018
Bolivia submitted a counterclaim against Chile at the International Court of Justice on Friday regarding a dispute over a border spring between the South American neighbors. ... more
WATER WORLD
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 ... more


Environmentally friendly farming practices used by a third of global farms

CLIMATE SCIENCE
India's devastating rains match climate change forecasts
Paris (AFP) Aug 24, 2018
Once-a-century rains that have pounded the Indian state of Kerala and displaced 1.3 million people are in line with the predictions of climate scientists, who warn that worse is to come if global warming continues unabated. ... more
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WATER WORLD
Study uses seismic noise to track water levels in underground aquifers
Boston MA (SPX) Aug 30, 2018
Seismic noise - the low-level vibrations caused by everything from subway trains to waves crashing on the beach - is most often something seismologists work to avoid. They factor it out of models an ... more
WATER WORLD
Portable freshwater harvester could draw up to 10 gallons per hour from the air
Washington 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
FARM NEWS
Plant biodiversity essential to bee health
Washington (UPI) Aug 22, 2018
New research suggests bees can maintain healthy colonies in agricultural regions if provided habitat islands with sufficient plant biodiversity. ... more
FARM NEWS
Bees get hooked on harmful pesticide: study
Paris (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
CLIMATE SCIENCE
California plain shows surprising winners and losers from prolonged drought
Seattle WA (SPX) Aug 27, 2018
The Carrizo Plain National Monument is a little-known ecological hotspot in Southern California. Though small, it explodes in wildflowers each spring and is full of threatened or endangered species. ... more
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PlanetWatchers Announces Breakthrough SAR Analytics Platform
San Francisco CA (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
PlanetWatchers has developed a new multi-source Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) platform that utilizes multiple SAR sources to deliver actionable insights without the usual delays due to weather, time of day, and environmental conditions. Natural resource managers will now receive enhanced risk management and analytical data from the new platform. World-renowned remote sensing specialist Pr ... more
+ China launches new marine satellite
+ How scientists are tracking Florida's red tides with satellites and smartphones
+ Aeolus laser shines light on wind
+ Ocean satellite Sentinel-6A beginning to take shape
+ China is hot spot of ground-level ozone pollution
+ NASA launching Advanced Laser to measure Earth's changing ice
+ UB scientists await launch of NASA ice-monitoring satellite
Antenova offers ultra-small GNSS active antenna module for difficult locations
Hatfield, UK (SPX) Sep 10, 2018
ntenova Ltd, manufacturer of antennas and RF antenna modules for connected devices and the Internet of Things, is now shipping its latest module for tiny positioning devices - the RADIONOVA M20047-1. This is an active antenna module for GNSS applications in the 1559-1609 MHz satellite bands using GPS, GLONASS, GALILEO or BeiDou. The M20047-1 antenna module comprises an SMD antenna with bui ... more
+ UK plans own satellite system after Galileo exclusion
+ Space sector to benefit from multi-million pound work on UK alternative to Galileo
+ US Air Force's first advanced GPS 3 satellite shipped to Cape Canaveral
+ China launches new twin BeiDou navigation satellites
+ Lockheed's first GPS III satellite shipped to Florida for launch
+ Air Force declares second GPS III satellite ready to launch
+ US Air Force declares second Lockheed Martin GPS 3 satellite ready for launch


Norway builds world's tallest timber tower
Oslo (AFP) Sept 5, 2018
Norway has completed the frame of the world's tallest timber building, which is being lauded for being environmentally friendly and fire resistant. The Mjos Tower, which is situated near and named after a lake located about 100 kilometres (60 miles) north of Oslo, saw its last beam hoisted by a crane this week. At 85.4 metres (just over 280 feet), it has 18 floors. Promoters say tha ... more
+ Manmade mangroves could get to the 'root' of the problem for threats to coastal areas
+ How the forest copes with the summer heat
+ Mangrove expansion and climatic warming may help ecosystems keep pace with sea level rise
+ Species-rich forests better compensate environmental impacts
+ Tree species richness in Amazonian wetlands is three times greater than expected
+ Carbon reserves in Central American soils still affected by ancient Mayan deforestation
+ 'Natural enemies' theory doesn't fully explain rainforests' biodiversity
Methane to syngas catalyst: two for the price of one
Sapporo, Japan (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
Hokkaido University researchers have created an improved catalyst for the conversion of methane gas into syngas, a precursor for liquid fuels and fundamental chemicals. Syngas, also known as synthesis gas, is a mixture made primarily of carbon monoxide and hydrogen and is used to manufacture polymers, pharmaceuticals, and synthetic petroleum. It is made by exposing methane to water vapor a ... more
+ Biodegradable plastic blends offer new options for disposal
+ Breakthrough could see bacteria used as cell factories to produce biofuels
+ Serendipitous discovery by IUPUI researchers may lead to eco-friendly lubricant
+ Producing hydrogen from splitting water without splitting hairs
+ Less drain on freshwater supplies with seawater fuel discovery
+ 'Trash is gold' as Benin community turns waste into biogas
+ Ethiopia opens plant to turn waste into energy


Changing the type of silicon etching drops solar power costs by more than 10 percent
Houghton MI (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
At the end of one of the hottest summers on record, as fights about how to power homes rage, renewable solar energy continues to present an option that does not significantly add greenhouse gases to the environment in exchange for lighting and cooling our homes. And it's just been given another edge through material science. In a new study published in Energies, researchers have found a wa ... more
+ California commits to 100% clean electricity by 2045
+ Golden sandwich could make the world more sustainable
+ Renewable energy sources: All-in-one light-driven water splitting
+ Researchers use silicon nanoparticles for enhancing solar cells efficiency
+ Power grid automating as wind, solar and global electrification drive market
+ PV Powerhouses Panasonic and SolarEdge Introduce Optimized High-performance Smart Module
+ meeco to enter the clean energy market of Madagascar
Wind Power: It is all about the distribution
Freiburg, Germany (SPX) Sep 06, 2018
Wind power is an important pillar in Germany's energy policy turnaround: According to the German government, the resource should cover 65 percent of German electricity needs by 2030, along with solar, hydropower and biomass. In a recent study, Dr. Christopher Jung and Dr. Dirk Schindler from the University of Freiburg show that it will be possible to cover 40 percent of the current electricity c ... more
+ Big wind, solar farms could boost rain in Sahara
+ DNV GL supports creation of China's first HVDC offshore wind substation
+ China pushes wind energy efforts further offshore
+ Iran opens 61 MW wind farm in Qazvin province
+ Wind energy prices at all-time lows as wind turbines grow larger
+ Denmark gets nod for renewable energy support scheme
+ Searching for wind for the future


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
+ Trump to roll back Obama-era guidelines on coal
+ German insurer Munich Re to curb coal activities
+ U.S. coal consumption last year at historic low
+ Miner Yancoal seeks dual listing in Hong Kong
+ Rescuers save 23 workers trapped in China mine, 11 others dead
+ Dutch to close two oldest coal-fired plants by 2025
+ U.S. wants input on coal plants of the future
China's Didi launches safety revamp after passenger murder
Beijing (AFP) Sept 4, 2018
Chinese ride-hailing giant Didi Chuxing said Tuesday it would halt most late-night ride services for a week as it tries to reassure the public following the rape and murder of a passenger. The company has been slammed by passengers and regulators, including China's transport ministry, after a 20-year-old passenger was raped and murdered by her driver in the eastern city of Wenzhou last month ... more
+ Malaysian island city in trouble as PM targets China-linked projects
+ Hong Kong top court frees 13 pro-democracy activists
+ Kenyan police raid state-owned Chinese TV
+ Hong Kong ushers mainland workers into new station
+ Chinese police arrest 46 after violent protest over schooling
+ Chinese bridge pushes Maldives deeper in debt: opposition
+ World leaders ignore rights in China: censored author Yan


A cyborg cockroach could someday save your life
Storrs CT (SPX) Sep 11, 2018
A tiny neuro-controller created by researchers at the University of Connecticut could provide more precise control of futuristic biobots, such as cyborg cockroaches that are already being tested for use in search and rescue missions inside collapsed buildings. Scientists have spent the better part of the past decade exploring ways to tether live insects to miniaturized computer hardware so ... more
+ Lockheed Martin Partners with Deakin University to Further Develop Industrial Exoskeleton
+ If military robot falls, it can get itself up
+ Robot teachers invade Chinese kindergartens
+ UNC builds better particle tracking software using artificial intelligence
+ Activists urge killer robot ban 'before it is too late'
+ Sony to release AI-infused robotic pups in the US
+ Must do better: Japan eyes AI robots in class to boost English
New construction boom threatens Spanish coastline
Begur, Spain (AFP) Sept 10, 2018
Sandwiched between the crystalline blue sea and green pine trees lies Aiguafreda, one of Spain's last largely unspoiled Mediterranean coves, which is threatened by a new building frenzy. From Catalonia to the Balearic Islands numerous building projects which came to a halt during Spain's 2008 economic crisis have been restarted as growth returns, raising fears among green groups of a new "co ... more
+ Carlsberg cans plastic rings to cut waste
+ Engineered sand zaps storm water pollutants
+ The fate of plastic in the oceans
+ Cleaning up Tokyo's beaches: An Olympic task
+ 'Green hajj' slowly takes root in Mecca
+ Particulate pollution's impact varies greatly depending on where it originated
+ Australian eco-friendly 'Clothes Library' fights fast fashion


NASA assists in efforts to contain California wildfires
Edwards AFB CA (SPX) Aug 28, 2018
An effort by multiple NASA centers to assist with the California wildfires included capturing satellite data of the smoke plumes and aircraft flights over burned areas to collect information for recovery planning. The California Air National Guard asked the NASA Earth Science Disasters Program for support with the wildfires that have destroyed more than 410,000 acres and 11 disaster progra ... more
+ A World On Fire
+ German firefighters stop spread of huge blaze, warn of ongoing threat
+ Montana State research determines reasons for massive fires in south-central Chile
+ Raging forest fire bears down on German villages
+ Can we have a fire in a highly vacuumed environment
+ Canada's westernmost province declares wildfires emergency
+ Carbon Monoxide from California Wildfires Drifts East
Researchers discover new source of formic acid over Pacific, Indian oceans
Livermore CA (SPX) Sep 11, 2018
Insights from experiments at Sandia National Laboratories designed to push chemical systems far from equilibrium allowed an international group of researchers to discover a new major source of formic acid over the Pacific and Indian oceans. In addition to being the smallest organic acid and an important chemical for communication among ants, formic acid is the most abundant organic acid in ... more
+ S.Africa's Cape Town eases water rationing
+ Pakistan's Khan launches fundraising appeal for dams to avert drought
+ Nauru demands China apology over 'crazy' envoy
+ Study says coral bleaching on the Great Barrier Reef not limited to shallow depths
+ UK backs French navy patrols in Channel amid scallop row
+ Global warming, El Nino could cause wetter winters, drier conditions in other months
+ The Ocean Cleanup project sails out to sweep Pacific plastic


Prague records hottest summer on record
Prague (AFP) Sept 6, 2018
The Czech capital Prague has experienced its hottest summer since records started in 1775, the weather institute said on Thursday. "Record heat was recorded in Prague this summer, with average temperatures the highest since observations began 244 years ago," the Hydrometeorological Institute said. Summertime average daytime temperatures hit 22.7 degrees Celsius (72.5 Fahrenheit) at th ... more
+ Nice sunny days can grow into heat waves
+ Stalling summer weather patterns set stage for extreme heat
+ Shanghai heat turns shopping street into giant slumber party
+ Study finds possible connection between US tornado activity, Arctic sea ice
+ Monsoon, landslides kill 20 in southern India
+ Europe bakes again in near-record temperatures
+ Earth risks tipping into 'hothouse' state: study
A more prosperous global future is possible
Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
If we proactively implement effective fisheries management and limit global temperature rise, the world's oceans still have the potential to be significantly more plentiful in the future than today, despite climate change. This finding is among several that appear in a first-of-its kind study, "Improved fisheries management could offset many negative effects of climate change," that appears in t ... more
+ Trump turns up the heat in trade conflict with China
+ Deutsche Bank shares drop on reports of Chinese sell-off
+ China's trade surplus with US hit new record in August
+ Canada upbeat on trade deal progress, China tariffs loom
+ US trade policy at a crossroads with Canada, China
+ China's Zijin to buy Canadian miner Nevsun for $1.41 bn
+ China's 'Silk Road' project runs into debt jam
Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

NASA-funded Rocket to View Sun with X-Ray Vision
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Sep 07, 2018
Without special instrumentation, the Sun looks calm and inert. But beneath that placid facade are countless miniature explosions called nanoflares. These small but intense eruptions are born when magnetic field lines in the Sun's atmosphere tangle up and stretch until they break like a rubber band. The energy they release accelerates particles to near lightspeed and according to some scien ... more
+ Solar eruptions may not have slinky-like shapes after all
+ European researchers develop a new technique to forecast geomagnetic storms
+ JPL roles in NASA's Parker Solar Probe
+ How scientists predicted corona's appearance during total solar eclipse
+ Discovering trailing components of a coronal mass ejection
+ Crystalline silica in meteorite brings scientists closer to understanding solar evolution
+ New kind of aurora is not an aurora at all
Head-turning violence helps tiny songbirds kill big prey: study
Paris (AFP) Sept 4, 2018
They may be small and striking, but shrikes are songbirds known for viciously impaling their victims with a razor-sharp bill although experts have long wondered about their ability to subdue much larger prey. Now researchers say these carnivorous killers use powerful beak-and-jaw motions to shake their victims vigorously, whirling them around at speeds which cause injuries akin to whiplash. ... more
+ Nearly 100 elephants killed for ivory in Botswana
+ Northern birds live fast, molt quickly, die young, researchers say
+ Elk keep antlers through the winter to deter wolf attacks
+ Bioengineers unveil surprising sensory and self-healing abilities of seashore creatures
+ Successful ant colonies hint at how societies evolve
+ Sri Lanka probes deaths of wild elephants
+ The incredible marathon of New Zealand Tawaki penguins


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