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UN warns of rising levels of toxic brine as desalination plants meet growing water needs![]() Hamilton, Canada (SPX) Jan 15, 2019 The fast-rising number of desalination plants worldwide - now almost 16,000, with capacity concentrated in the Middle East and North Africa - quench a growing thirst for freshwater but create a salty dilemma as well: how to deal with all the chemical-laden leftover brine. In a UN-backed paper, experts estimate the freshwater output capacity of desalination plants at 95 million cubic meters per day - equal to almost half the average flow over Niagara Falls. For every litre of freshwater outpu ... read more |
Feds, states can help biochar live up to its soil-saving potentialHouston TX (SPX) Jan 15, 2019 Even though every dollar spent on soil improvement can save much more in environmental costs down the road, startup costs can sometimes make it hard for farmers to implement best environmental pract ... more
Million dead fish cause environmental stink in AustraliaSydney (AFP) Jan 14, 2019 As many as a million fish are believed to have died along the banks of a major river system in drought-battered eastern Australia, and the authorities warned Monday of more deaths to come. ... more
Desalination produces more toxic waste than clean waterParis Jan 14, 2019 More than 16,000 desalination plants scattered across the globe produce far more toxic sludge than fresh water, according to a first global assessment of the sector's industrial waste, published Monday. ... more
Rice plants engineered to be better at photosynthesis make more riceWashington DC (SPX) Jan 11, 2019 A new bioengineering approach for boosting photosynthesis in rice plants could increase grain yield by up to 27%, according to a study publishing January 10 in the journal Molecular Plant. The appro ... more |
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 Philippines evacuates hundreds of thousands as super typhoon nears |
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| Previous Issues | Jan 14 | Jan 12 | Jan 11 | Jan 10 | Jan 09 |
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Engineers, zoologists reveal how gulls 'wing morph' for stable soaringToronto, Canada (SPX) Jan 03, 2019 A unique collaboration between University of British Columbia (UBC) zoologists and U of T Engineering's aviation expert Professor Philippe Lavoie provides new insights into how gulls configure their ... more
Bricked in by poverty, Cambodia's farmers fight debt bondagePhnom Penh (AFP) Jan 2, 2019 Bopha should be in school but instead toils seven days a week in a searing brick kiln on the outskirts of Phnom Penh - a 14-year-old trapped in debt bondage in a boom industry preying on the poverty of Cambodia's farmers. ... more
China tobacco monopoly's global unit plans Hong Kong IPOHong Kong (AFP) Jan 2, 2019 The international wing of the world's largest cigarette maker - a Chinese state-owned tobacco monopoly - plans to list on the Hong Kong stock exchange, filing documents showed Wednesday. ... more
A 'bran' new way to preserve healthy food with natural ingredientsUniversity Park PA (SPX) Jan 04, 2019 A natural antioxidant found in grain bran could preserve food longer and replace synthetic antioxidants currently used by the food industry, according to researchers at Penn State. "Currently, ... more
Scientists engineer shortcut for photosynthetic glitch, boost crop growth by 40 percentUrbana IL (SPX) Jan 04, 2019 Plants convert sunlight into energy through photosynthesis; however, most crops on the planet are plagued by a photosynthetic glitch, and to deal with it, evolved an energy-expensive process called ... more |
![]() Drop beef and save millions of lives, slash emissions: WEF
Climate change takes toll on French oyster farmersCancale, France (AFP) Jan 01, 2019 Gulping down oysters has long been a favourite New Year's Eve ritual for the French, but as winters get warmer and summers get drier many growers worry there will soon be fewer of the prized mollusks to go around. ... more |
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Bricked in by poverty, Cambodia's farmers fight debt bondagePhnom Penh (AFP) Jan 2, 2019 Bopha should be in school but instead toils seven days a week in a searing brick kiln on the outskirts of Phnom Penh - a 14-year-old trapped in debt bondage in a boom industry preying on the poverty of Cambodia's farmers. ... more
Scientists: 'Time is ripe' to use big data for planet-sized plant questionsGainesville FL (SPX) Jan 01, 2019 A group of Florida Museum of Natural History scientists has issued a "call to action" to use big data to tackle longstanding questions about plant diversity and evolution and forecast how plant life ... more
Iran sees 'revival' of imperilled Lake UrmiaMiandoab, Iran (AFP) Dec 30, 2018 It is one of the worst ecological disasters of recent decades, but the shrinking of Iran's great Lake Urmia finally appears to be stabilising and officials see the start of a revival. ... more
China customs gives green light for US rice importsBeijing (AFP) Dec 28, 2018 China's customs administration announced Friday it had approved US rice imports, a move that comes during a 90-day tariff truce between the two countries which are engaged in a bruising trade war. ... more
Tree-ring analysis explains physiology behind drought intoleranceCorvallis OR (SPX) Dec 27, 2018 Tree rings tell the story of what's happening physiologically as fire suppression makes forests more dense and less tolerant of drought, pests and wildfires, new research shows. Scientists at ... more |
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UK Space Agency COMPASS project aims to to improve crop yields for Mexican farmers Harwell UK (SPX) Jan 11, 2019
SIAP, the Secretariat of Agriculture, Livestock, Rural Development, Fisheries and Food - part of the Mexican Ministry of Agriculture (SAGARPA) - has signed a declaration of intent with the UK Space Agency to provide historic, statistical and satellite data to support Rezatec's development of a crop yield optimisation tool for Mexican farmers and other supply chain stakeholders.
The Mexican ... more |
US Air Force contracts Lockheed Martin to continue GPS ground control supprt Colorado Springs CO (SPX) Jan 11, 2019
The U.S. Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin the GPS Control Segment Sustainment II (GCS II) contract to continue to sustain and further modernize the Global Positioning System (GPS) satellite constellation's ground control system through 2025. This is the follow-on contract to Lockheed Martin's current GCS contract awarded in 2013.
Under the GCS II contract, the continued upgrade of the GPS ... more |
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Beech trees are dying, and nobody's sure why Columbus OH (SPX) Jan 10, 2019
A confounding new disease is killing beech trees in Ohio and elsewhere, and plant scientists are sounding an alarm while looking for an explanation.
In a study published in the journal Forest Pathology, researchers and naturalists from The Ohio State University and metroparks in northeastern Ohio report on the emerging "beech leaf disease" epidemic, calling for speedy work to find a culpri ... more |
Yeast makes ethanol to prevent metabolic overload Groningen, Netherlands (SPX) Jan 08, 2019
Why do some yeast cells produce ethanol? Scientists have wondered about this apparent waste of resources for decades. Now, University of Groningen scientists think they have a solution: yeast cells produce ethanol as a 'safety valve', to prevent overload when their metabolic operation reaches a critical level. The implications of this new theory, which was published in Nature Metabolism on 7 Jan ... more |
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ASU engineers break solar cell record Tempe AZ (SPX) Jan 14, 2019 |
US Wind Inc. agrees to sell its New Jersey offshore lease to EDF Renewables North America Baltimore MD (SPX) Jan 14, 2019
US Wind, Inc., the Baltimore-based US subsidiary of the Italian Toto Holding Group, has finalized an agreement with EDF Renewables North America, a subsidiary of French Multinational Group EDF, that has resulted in the sale of its lease to develop up to 2,500 megawatts of energy roughly seven miles off the coast of Atlantic City on the Outer Continental Shelf. EDF Renewables currently holds the ... more |
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Death toll in China mining accident rises to 21 Beijing (AFP) Jan 13, 2019
The death toll in a coal mine roof collapse in northern China has risen to 21 after rescuers found two more miners dead on Sunday, state media reported.
A total of 87 people were working underground in the Shaanxi province mine at the time of the accident on Saturday afternoon, according to official news agency Xinhua, citing local authorities.
Rescuers had been searching for two remain ... more |
Age no barrier for China's senior catwalk models Shanghai (AFP) Jan 15, 2019
Wearing a bright floral ensemble with her short hair dyed blonde, Chinese model Ma Yinhong struts a Shanghai catwalk with a style and swagger that belie her 56 years.
She made her modelling debut just two years ago and is already in demand, working for leading fashion brands such as Dolce & Gabbana.
Ma is one of a growing number of older models sought after by Chinese and international ... more |
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Artificial bug eyes Washington DC (SPX) Jan 10, 2019
Single lens eyes, like those in humans and many other animals, can create sharp images, but the compound eyes of insects and crustaceans have an edge when it comes to peripheral vision, light sensitivity and motion detection.
That's why scientists are developing artificial compound eyes to give sight to autonomous vehicles and robots, among other applications. Now, a report in ACS Nano des ... more |
Fixing the environment: when solutions become problems Paris (AFP) Jan 14, 2019
In a world where climate change, air and water pollution, biodiversity loss, water scarcity, ozone depletion, and other environmental problems overlap, a fix in one arena can cause trouble in another.
Here are a few examples of what might be called Earth's "zero-sum" dilemma in the 21st century.
- Water vs. ocean pollution -
A study released Monday shows for the first time that more ... more |
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Trump threatens to axe emergency fire aid for California Washington (AFP) Jan 9, 2019
President Donald Trump on Wednesday said he is cutting emergency federal aid sent to help California after devastating wildfires unless the Democratic-led state gets its "act together."
"Billions of dollars are sent to the State of California for Forrest fires that, with proper Forrest Management, would never happen," Trump tweeted, initially misspelling the word forest before repeating the ... more |
Upper-ocean warming is changing the global wave climate, making waves stronger Santa Cruz CA (SPX) Jan 15, 2019
Sea level rise puts coastal areas at the forefront of the impacts of climate change, but new research shows they face other climate-related threats as well. In a study published January 14 in Nature Communications, researchers report that the energy of ocean waves has been growing globally, and they found a direct association between ocean warming and the increase in wave energy.
A wide ra ... more |
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Koala drinks from water bottle in Australia heatwave Sydney (AFP) Jan 1, 2019
As Australia swelters in an extreme heatwave, a video of a woman in the state of Victoria pouring water into the mouth of a thirsty koala has melted hearts online.
The vast continent has experienced intense heat over the past week, with the mercury up 16 degrees Celsius (60 degrees Fahrenheit) higher than usual for this time of year in southern Australia.
Numerous towns set new December ... more |
China's trade surplus with the US grew in 2018 but tariffs bite Beijing (AFP) Jan 14, 2019
China's trade surplus with the United States widened last year, data showed Monday, while the country's imports and exports fell in December as the long-running trade war begins to bite in the world's number two economy.
The surplus with the US is a major source of anger within the Trump administration, which imposed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars worth of Chinese goods last year ... more |
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Five things to know about January's total Lunar eclipse Syracuse NY (SPX) Jan 10, 2019
This month's rare total eclipse will be the last one visible from the United States until 2022.
Walter Freeman is an assistant teaching professor in the Physics Department at Syracuse University. Freeman answers five questions about the upcoming eclipse.
Freeman says: What should those in the viewing area of the Jan. 20-21 total lunar eclipse expect to see?
"Viewers will see a ... more |
Skull scans reveal how prehistoric dogs caught dinner Washington (UPI) Jan 11, 2019
To better understand how the earliest dogs hunted, scientists scanned and analyzed the skulls of lions, wolves and hyenas. The research showed the earliest known dog species, Hesperocyon gregarius, likely pounced on its prey, just like foxes and coyotes.
Scientists also determined the largest known dog species, Epicyon haydeni, were the size of grizzly bears.
Computerized scans o ... more |
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