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The race to save Myanmar's Inle Lake![]() Nyaung Shwe, Myanmar (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 Myanmar's famed Inle Lake has enchanted tourists for decades with its floating gardens and the graceful leg-rowing style of its fisherman, but experts warn the lake is drying up and urgent action is needed to avoid disaster. Each year around 200,000 foreigners and one million locals visit Inle - a vast, serene body of water surrounded by verdant hills. Many criss-cross the lake on small wooden boats to visit stilted villages of the Intha ethnic minority. Others glide soundlessly overhead in ... read more |
Japan upgrades downpour forecasts before Tokyo 2020Tokyo (AFP) Feb 18, 2019 With an eye on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Japanese researchers are developing a new system to accurately forecast torrential downpours - known in Japan as 'guerilla rainstorms' - 30 minutes before they strike. ... more
'Urgent steps' needed to save Australia's biggest river systemSydney (AFP) Feb 18, 2019 The viability of a key river that feeds into Australia's biggest water system is under threat if poor conditions that killed millions of fish are not improved within six months, scientists warned Monday. ... more
Michelin-star chefs join green cuisine crusadeParis (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 In a city famed for foie gras and filet mignon, some of the world's top chefs gathered Tuesday in Paris to showcase the green side of gastronomy, for the planet and our palettes. ... more
Indigenous hunters improve health of food webs in Australian desertWashington (UPI) Feb 18, 2019 Australia is bleeding mammal species. The island continent's mammal extinction rate is the largest on Earth. But in Australia's desert, the return of indigenous hunters has helped restore ecological balance and slowed the loss of mammals. ... more |
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 Tornado kills six, injures 750 as it wrecks southern Brazil town Winds, rain lash Philippines as super typhoon nears Tornado kills six, wrecks town in Brazil |
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Tracking pollen with quantum dotsStellenbosch, South Africa (SPX) Feb 15, 2019 A pollination biologist from Stellenbosch University in South Africa is using quantum dots to track the fate of individual pollen grains. This is breaking new ground in a field of research that has ... more
Prickly pears: 'humble' cactus brings hope to AlgeriaSidi Fredj, Algeria (AFP) Feb 15, 2019 For generations Algerians like the Gueldasmi family have barely eked out a living growing prickly pear fruits, but thanks to the cactus's new found virtues their lives are steadily improving. ... more
China imposes anti-dumping tariffs on Brazilian chickenBeijing (AFP) Feb 15, 2019 China announced anti-dumping duties on Brazilian chicken Friday, saying investigations had revealed that poultry imports had done "substantive damage" to the domestic broiler industry. ... more
Carbonaceous chondrites provide clues about the delivery of water to EarthMadrid, Spain (SPX) Feb 15, 2019 An international study led by researchers from the Institute of Space Sciences, from the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the Institut d'Estudis Espacials de Catalunya has discovered tha ... more
Scientists developed a method that allows removal of antibiotic residue from waste waterTallin, Estonia (SPX) Feb 14, 2019 In February the article "Metal-doped organic aerogels for photocatalytic degradation of trimethoprim" written by the researchers of two research groups (nanoporous materials and environmental techno ... more |
![]() NASA is Everywhere: Farming Tech with Roots in Space
Researchers provide new definition for major Indian monsoon seasonTallahassee FL (SPX) Feb 11, 2019 Toward the end of every year, the Northeast Indian Monsoon (NEM) batters southern India with torrents of driving rain, but climatologists have never precisely defined when the monsoon begins and end ... more |
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Australia cattle giant warns of 'extreme losses' from floodsSydney (AFP) Feb 12, 2019 Australia's largest cattle company has warned of "extreme losses" after record-breaking floods, as producers said more than 300,000 cows were drowned or washed away in the vast continent's northeast. ... more
On Lake Victoria, a green stain spreads across Africa's blue heartKisumu, Kenya (AFP) Feb 8, 2019 With nets piled onto wooden boats, a group of fishermen joke while gazing out across Lake Victoria and the vast green weed clogging up the waterway. But their laughter has a worried edge as the sun sets. ... more
'Hundreds of thousands' of cattle feared dead after Australia floodsTownsville, Australia (AFP) Feb 8, 2019 Hundreds of thousands of cattle weakened from a severe drought are feared to have died in record-breaking floods in northeastern Australia, authorities said Friday, as they stepped up efforts to feed surviving livestock. ... more
Meat consumption is pushing 150 large animal species toward extinctionWashington (UPI) Feb 6, 2019 The significant environmental costs of humans' meat consumption are becoming increasingly apparent. ... more
Four crops alone comprise close to 50 per cent of all crops grown globallyToronto, Canada (SPX) Feb 07, 2019 A new U of T study suggests that globally we're growing more of the same kinds of crops, and this presents major challenges for agricultural sustainability on a global scale. The study, done b ... more |
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Van Allen Probes begin final phase exploring Earth's radiation belts Laurel MD (SPX) Feb 13, 2019
Two tough, resilient, NASA spacecraft have been orbiting Earth for the past six and a half years, flying repeatedly through a hazardous zone of charged particles around our planet called the Van Allen radiation belts.
The twin Van Allen Probes, launched in August 2012, have confirmed scientific theories and revealed new structures and processes at work in these dynamic regions. Now, they'r ... more |
Angry Norway says Russia jamming GPS signals again Oslo (AFP) Feb 11, 2019
Norway's foreign intelligence unit on Monday expressed renewed concerns that its GPS signals in the country's Far North were being jammed, as Oslo again blamed Russia for the "unacceptable" acts.
In its annual national risk assessment report, the intelligence service said that in repeated incidents since 2017, GPS signals have been blocked from Russian territory in Norwegian regions near the ... more |
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Indonesian firms owe $1.3 bn in forest damage fines: Greenpeace Jakarta (AFP) Feb 15, 2019
Indonesian firms owe at least $1.3 billion in unpaid fines for environmental damage caused by widespread forest clearing and deadly fires linked to tens of thousands of premature deaths, a Greenpeace study said Friday.
Citing government data, the environmental group said it examined 11 civil court cases between 2012 and 2018 where palm oil and pulp-and-paper companies were ordered to pay fin ... more |
New insights into radial expansion of plants can boost biomass production Gent, Belgium (SPX) Feb 11, 2019
Besides the obvious longitudinal growth, plants also enlarge in the radial sense. This thickening of plant stems and roots provides physical support to plants, provides us with wood and cork, and plays a major role in sequestering atmospheric carbon into plant biomass.
The tissues responsible for this radial expansion are the vascular tissues which transport water and nutrients around plan ... more |
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Researchers develop flags that generate energy from wind and sun Manchester UK (SPX) Feb 12, 2019
Scientists have created flags that can generate electrical energy using wind and solar power.
The novel wind and solar energy-harvesting flags have been developed using flexible piezoelectric strips and flexible photovoltaic cells.
Piezoelectric strips allow the flag to generate power through movement, whilst the photovoltaics is the best known method of harnessing electric power by ... more |
Sulzer Schmid's new technology platform slashes cost of drone-based rotor blade inspections Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 07, 2019
Sulzer and Schmid Laboratories AG reports it has launched a new highly competitive inspection platform. The company's new 3DX HD product has been developed as a cost-effective solution to cope with large volumes of high definition blade inspections.
Based on the compact and flexible DJI M-210 drone, Sulzer Schmid's latest innovation delivers high performance and fully autonomous drone insp ... more |
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The global impact of coal power Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Feb 20, 2019
Coal-fired power plants produce more than just the carbon dioxide that contributes to global warming. When burning coal, they also release particulate matter, sulphur dioxide, nitrogen br>
oxide and mercury - thus damaging the health of many people around the world in various ways.
To estimate where action is most urgently required, the research group led by Stefanie Hellweg from ETH Zur ... more |
Male privilege: The rural Hong Kong men who have special rights Hong Kong (AFP) Feb 17, 2019 Sitting in the spacious courtyard of an 18th-century ancestral hall belonging to his clan, William Liu defiantly rejects a lucrative birthright that his special status as one of Hong Kong's male indigenous villagers affords him.
Liu hails from the rural northern part of Hong Kong known as the "New Territories" which were leased by Britain from China in 1898.
Under a colonial-era policy t ... more |
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Can we trust scientific discoveries made using machine learning? Washington DC (SPX) Feb 18, 2019
Rice University statistician Genevera Allen says scientists must keep questioning the accuracy and reproducibility of scientific discoveries made by machine-learning techniques until researchers develop new computational systems that can critique themselves.
Allen, associate professor of statistics, computer science and electrical and computer engineering at Rice and of pediatrics-neurolog ... more |
In New York, one non-profit looks to combat textile waste New York (AFP) Feb 14, 2019
The fashion industry generates tons of fabric waste each year, notably in New York - one of the world's shopping capitals and host twice a year to runway shows, a major contributor to the wider problem.
Enter Fabscrap, a non-profit organization dedicated to recycling and reusing textiles that are unsuitable for donation.
Every day, 3,000 pounds (some 1,350 kilos) of scraps arrive at the ... more |
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Forest fires as an opportunity for ecosystem recovery Seville, Spain (SPX) Feb 20, 2019
Great forest fires are ever more frequent globally and their consequences more severe and destructive. Climate change and human activity are influencing the capacity of ecosystems and the life forms that inhabit them to recover from forest fires. However, the actions to recover the affected environment can be an opportunity to recover lost natural values.
It is estimated that globally ther ... more |
Five teams will help DARPA detect undersea activity by analyzing behaviors of marine organisms Washington DC (SPX) Feb 18, 2019
Goliath grouper, black sea bass, and snapping shrimp, along with bioluminescent plankton and other microorganisms, are set to be the unlikely heroes of DARPA's Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) program.
Five teams of researchers are developing new types of sensor systems that detect and record the behaviors of these marine organisms and interpret them to identify, characterize, and ... more |
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Death toll in Cuba tornado rises to six Havana (AFP) Feb 4, 2019
The number of people killed in the powerful tornado that ripped through part of Havana last week has risen to six, authorities said Sunday.
Public Health Minister Jose Angel Portal Miranda said in state media that "sadly, two people have died among the 13 who were in critical condition." The earlier death toll was four.
The storm which hit Havana area towns including Regla, Guanabacoa, ... more |
BHP posts lower profits, warns of China trade risk Sydney (AFP) Feb 19, 2019
Anglo-Australian mining giant BHP on Tuesday reported a lower-than-expected US$3.73 billion half-yearly profit, as it warned of a softening Chinese market and growing trade rows.
The underlying profit for the six months to December 31 was eight percent lower than the US$4.05 billion recorded in the previous corresponding period, missing market expectations after a series of operational probl ... more |
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Scientists use spacecraft's measurements to study solar wind heating Washington (UPI) Feb 14, 2019
With the help of a NASA spacecraft, astrophysicists have uncovered the process by which energy is transferred between electromagnetic fields and plasma in space.
Most of the visible matter in the universe exists in the form of plasma, an ionized state of matter. Understanding how energy is transferred to and from ionized particles in space can help scientists to better understand a vari ... more |
Germany moots tougher insect protections Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) Feb 17, 2019
Germany plans an insect protection law to slash use of pesticides and pump tens of millions of euros (dollars) into research, a minister said Sunday, as global concern grows over mankind's impact on the crucial invertebrates.
"We human beings need insects, they deserve to be protected with their own law," Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told weekly Bild am Sonntag.
Her "action plan f ... more |
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