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Escaping death and rebirth on Varanasi's sacred riverbanks![]() Varanasi, India (AFP) Nov 23, 2018 Boats loaded with wood arrive almost constantly at the ghats of Varanasi for around 200 cremations per day on the banks of India's holy Ganges river. Each pyre needs between 200 and 400 kilogrammes (440 and 880 pounds) of wood, meaning the sacred city in northern India burns through as much as 80 tonnes every day. To reduce the volume used, as well as air and water pollution, authorities have tried to push the use of alternative burning materials such as cow-dung. But without much success. ... read more |
French wine market to shrink further, but organics surge: reportParis (AFP) Nov 23, 2018 Sales of French wines made with organically grown grapes are set to double between now and 2022, even as the downward trend for overall wine consumption appears firmly in place, an industry research group reported Friday. ... more
Drought-fueled dust storm blankets SydneySydney (AFP) Nov 22, 2018 A large dust storm swirled over eastern Australia on Thursday, driven over the coast by a weather front barrelling across the drought-stricken interior. ... more
Monsanto appeals Roundup cancer verdictSan Francisco (AFP) Nov 21, 2018 Monsanto on Tuesday said it was asking a US appeals court to toss out a damning verdict in a landmark Roundup weed-killer cancer trial and grant it another hearing. ... more
New study details the genetic evolution of domesticated animalsWashington (UPI) Nov 20, 2018 How has the domestication process impacted the evolution of gene regulation among dogs, cows, pigs, rabbits and other tamed animals? That's the question researchers at the Earlham Institute are trying to answer. ... more |
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 Philippines evacuates one million, woman dead as super typhoon nears Japan observes tiny tsunami following 6.7 magnitude quake |
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| Previous Issues | Nov 23 | Nov 22 | Nov 21 | Nov 20 | Nov 19 |
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Drought-hit Cape Town should cut down 'alien' trees: studyCape Town (AFP) Nov 16, 2018 The South African city of Cape Town, which nearly ran out of water this year, could beat future droughts by cutting down non-native trees including pine, acacia and eucalyptus, according to a study released Friday. ... more
Activists board ship off Spain in palm oil protest: GreenpeaceMadrid (AFP) Nov 17, 2018 Greenpeace said Saturday six of its activists boarded a tanker off Spain loaded with "dirty" palm oil to protest against a Nature-damaging commodity found in everything from soap to biscuits. ... more
US paves way to get 'lab meat' on platesNew York (AFP) Nov 17, 2018 US authorities on Friday agreed on how to regulate food products cultured from animal cells - paving the way to get so-called "lab meat" on American plates. ... more
Seismic study reveals huge amount of water dragged into Earth's interiorSaint Louis MO (SPX) Nov 15, 2018 Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously estimated, according to a first-of-its-kind seismic study that sp ... more
Scientists debunk potential link to crop cold toleranceUrbana IL (SPX) Nov 15, 2018 When temperatures drop, the enzyme Rubisco that fuels plant growth and yield gets sluggish. Many crops compensate by producing more Rubisco; however, scientists speculated that some crops may lack s ... more |
![]() The dawn of a new era for genebanks
Soil's history: A solution to soluble phosphorus?Washington DC (SPX) Nov 16, 2018 The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations estimates that around 45 million tons of phosphorus fertilizers will be used around the world in 2018. Much will be applied to soils ... more |
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Greenpeace Poland files legal complaint against minister over pesticide useWarsaw (AFP) Nov 15, 2018 Environmental activist group Greenpeace lodged a legal complaint against Poland's agriculture minister Thursday, accusing him of wrongly allowing the use of neonicotinoid pesticides restricted by the EU over fears that they imperil bee populations. ... more
Shrinking Sea of Galilee has some hoping for a miracleEin Gev, Israel (AFP) Nov 13, 2018 It was not so long ago when swimmers at Ein Gev would lay out their towels in the grass at the edge of the Sea of Galilee. ... more
Overlooked trends in annual precipitation reveal underestimated risks worldwideOrono ME (SPX) Nov 15, 2018 A reanalysis of worldwide annual trends in precipitation demonstrates that risk to human and environmental systems has been underestimated, according to a team of University of Maine researchers. As ... more
Wolves at the door, Alpine shepherd can't imagine any other lifeSaint-Colomban-Des-Villards, France (AFP) Nov 14, 2018 He sleeps fully dressed, dreading a midnight wolf attack on the flock of sheep penned in close by his hut, high up in the French Alps. ... more
'Scaring' soybeans into defensive mode yields better plants a generation laterUniversity Park (SPX) Nov 15, 2018 By temporarily silencing the expression of a critical gene, researchers fooled soybean plants into sensing they were under siege, encountering a wide range of stresses. Then, after selectively cross ... more |
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SSTL releases first images from S-Band Synthetic Aperture Radar satellite, NovaSAR-1 Guildford, UK (SPX) Nov 26, 2018
Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd (SSTL) has released the first Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) images taken from orbit by NovaSAR-1, a technology demonstration mission launched into a 580km sun-synchronous orbit on 16 September 2018.
The S-Band SAR images released have been acquired using the satellite's stripmap mode at 6 metre resolution and are 20km wide by 87km long. They were taken over ... more |
China expands use of BeiDou navigation system in transportation Beijing (XNA) Nov 26, 2018
China will expand the application of its home-grown BeiDou navigation system to cover all transportation fields, according to an official from the Ministry of Transport (MOT).
Over the past few years, over 6.17 million domestic vehicles nationwide and 35,000 vehicles of postal services or courier companies have installed or become compatible with the BeiDou navigation system, according to ... more |
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Large areas of the Brazilian rainforest at risk of losing protection Gothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Nov 16, 2018
Up to 15 million hectares of the Brazilian Amazon is at risk of losing its legal protection, according to a new study from researchers at Chalmers University of Technology and KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden, and the University of Sao Paulo, Brazil. This is equivalent to more than 4 times the entire forest area of the UK.
"Brazil has favourable conditions for increasing productio ... more |
Affordable catalyst for CO2 recycling Bochum, Germany (SPX) Nov 19, 2018
A catalyst for carbon dioxide recycling, Mineral pentlandite may also be a conceivable alternative to expensive precious metal catalysts. This is the result of a study conducted by researchers from Ruhr-Universitat Bochum (RUB), Fritz-Haber Institute Berlin and Fraunhofer Umsicht in Oberhausen.
Pentlandite had previously been known as a catalyst for hydrogen production. By adding a suitabl ... more |
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Explaining the plummeting cost of solar power Boston MA (SPX) Nov 23, 2018
The dramatic drop in the cost of solar photovoltaic (PV) modules, which has fallen by 99 percent over the last four decades, is often touted as a major success story for renewable energy technology. But one question has never been fully addressed: What exactly accounts for that stunning drop?
A new analysis by MIT researchers has pinpointed what caused the savings, including the policies a ... more |
Roadmap to accelerate offshore wind industry in the United States Albany, NY (SPX) Nov 16, 2018
The National Offshore Wind Research and Development Consortium (Consortium), the first federally funded public-private partnership focused on advancing research and development to accelerate the offshore wind industry in the United States, has announced the release of its first Research and Development Roadmap (Roadmap) to advance offshore wind technology, drive wind innovation and combat climat ... more |
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Trump to nominate ex-coal lobbyist to head environment agency Washington (AFP) Nov 16, 2018
US President Donald Trump said Friday he intended to nominate a former coal and energy industry lobbyist to head the Environmental Protection Agency.
Andrew Wheeler has been acting head of the EPA since Scott Pruitt resigned in July amid a flurry of ethics scandals over his spending and conduct in office.
During an informal moment at a medal ceremony in the White House, Trump commended W ... more |
New Zealand pressured to defend rights of China researcher Wellington (AFP) Nov 26, 2018 Prominent New Zealand researchers called on Wellington Monday to defend academic freedoms following the harassment of a university professor investigating Beijing's foreign policy.
The open letter to Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern from 29 university academics and human rights campaigners, including Amnesty International New Zealand, was triggered by the alleged intimidation of prominent China ... more |
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GMV leads an ambitious campaign of space robotics trials Madrid, Spain (SPX) Nov 26, 2018
Since mid-September the technology multinational GMV has been taking part in the final field tests of the projects included under the European Commission's (H2020) Strategic Research Cluster ( SRC ) programme. These tests are due to run until December 15.
The main aim of the space robotics SRC is to create, within the timeframe of 2020-2030, the necessary tools for consolidating the techni ... more |
Campaigners dig in against Ghana bauxite mining plans Kyebi, Ghana (AFP) Nov 25, 2018
Ghana's President Nana Akufo-Addo smiles and waves from fading billboards in his hometown of Kyebi, in the Akyem Abuakwa area of the country's Eastern Region.
Nearby is another sign for the Atewa Range Forest Reserve, whose steep slopes and cloud-topped peaks rise from the fields of cassava and trees of ripening bananas and cocoa pods below.
"Save Atewa Forest Now!" it reads in a message ... more |
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NASA mobilizes to aid California fires response Pasadena CA (JPL) Nov 26, 2018
For the past two weeks NASA scientists and satellite data analysts have been working every day producing maps and damage assessments that can be used by disaster managers battling the Woolsey Fire near Los Angeles and the Camp Fire in Northern California. The agency-wide effort also deployed a research aircraft over the Woolsey Fire on Nov. 15 to identify burned areas at risk of mudslides in adv ... more |
Escaping death and rebirth on Varanasi's sacred riverbanks Varanasi, India (AFP) Nov 23, 2018
Boats loaded with wood arrive almost constantly at the ghats of Varanasi for around 200 cremations per day on the banks of India's holy Ganges river.
Each pyre needs between 200 and 400 kilogrammes (440 and 880 pounds) of wood, meaning the sacred city in northern India burns through as much as 80 tonnes every day.
To reduce the volume used, as well as air and water pollution, authorities ... more |
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Raindrops keep falling: Climate change makes storms worse - study Tokyo (AFP) Nov 14, 2018
Climate change is increasing the amount of rain that hurricanes produce, and as warming picks up storms will become increasingly wetter and windier, according to new research.
The findings are based on extensive modelling that involved millions of computing hours on a supercomputer, and they show that climate change is already affecting the intensity of storms.
"Climate change so far - ... more |
Trump says prepared for G20 meeting with China's Xi Palm Beach, United States (AFP) Nov 22, 2018
US President Donald Trump insisted Thursday he was "very prepared" for a meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping next week at the G20 summit in Argentina, and suggested a deal could be reached to end the trade war.
The president will meet Xi on the sidelines of the summit, which is taking place from November 30 to December 1 in Buenos Aires.
"I have been preparing for it all my l ... more |
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Auroras help scientists study energy instabilities in space Washington (UPI) Nov 26, 2018
Scientists are using auroras to better understand the physics of explosive energy instabilities in space.
"An instability is a physical process whereby the energy output can essentially grow very quickly without limits," Colin Forsyth, physicist at the University College London's, told UPI in an email.
When a clean swell breaks and crashes on the beach, or when a pile of sand sud ... more |
Gigantic mammal 'cousin' discovered Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Nov 26, 2018
During the Triassic period (252-201 million years ago) mammal-like reptiles called therapsids co-existed with ancestors to dinosaurs, crocodiles, mammals, pterosaurs, turtles, frogs, and lizards. One group of therapsids are the dicynodonts.
Researchers at Uppsala University in Sweden, together with colleagues in Poland, have discovered fossils from a new genus of gigantic dicynodont. The n ... more |
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