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Drought wipes popular Chilean lake from the map![]() Paine, Chile (AFP) March 20, 2019 The cows and horses would have come for the last blades of grass. Now their bones are scattered on the cracked earth, victims of drought that wiped Santiago's weekend playground Lake Aculeo from the map. Lake Aculeo's demise is so sudden and complete it seems as if someone had pulled a giant plug and let all the water out. So sudden was it that as recently as 2011 the 4.6 square-mile (12 square-kilometer) lagoon was a thriving weekend getaway for people from the Chilean capital an hour away. ... read more |
Glyphosate under fire from San Francisco to Sri LankaParis (AFP) March 20, 2019 Glyphosate, the world's most widely used herbicide and the active ingredient in Monsanto's weedkiller Roundup, is the subject of fierce controversy across the globe and is classified by the World Health Organization as "probably" being carcinogenic. ... more
Five things to know about Bayer and MonsantoFrankfurt Am Main (AFP) March 20, 2019 The second cancer victim in a year to win a surprise victory against US pesticide maker Monsanto raises the prospect of a flood of similar lawsuits, potentially leaving the firm's new German owner Bayer with a major case of buyer's remorse. ... more
Nile crisis must be solved to avoid conflict: reportCairo (AFP) March 20, 2019 A water crisis brewing between Egypt, Ethiopia and Sudan over a contentious Nile dam could escalate into a conflict with "severe humanitarian consequences", a think-tank said on Wednesday. ... more
Monsanto's Roundup weedkiller contributed to US man's cancer: jurySan Francisco (AFP) March 20, 2019 The weedkiller Roundup was a "substantial factor" in the cancer of a US man who developed a lump in his throat after decades of spraying his garden - the second major legal defeat to agrochemical giant Monsanto in a year. ... more |
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 Tornado kills five, injures more than 400 in Brazil |
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| Previous Issues | Mar 20 | Mar 19 | Mar 18 | Mar 16 | Mar 15 |
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In Caracas, water an obsession after days of blackoutCaracas (AFP) March 15, 2019 Plastic bottles and containers at the ready, Keisy Perez ignores the stench from the brown river as it slips slowly through the grimy San Agustin district of Venezuela's capital. ... more
Houston, we're here to help the farmersWashington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2019 Farmers irrigating their crops may soon be getting some help from space. In 2018, scientists launched ECOSTRESS, a new instrument now attached to the International Space Station. Its mission: to gat ... more
'Meatless Mondays' on horizon for New York City schoolsNew York (AFP) March 12, 2019 Starting in September, New York city's 1.1 million school students will eat vegetarian meals on "Meatless Mondays," Mayor Bill de Blasio announced Monday. ... more
Duque asks court to allow banned weedkiller on cocaineBogota (AFP) March 7, 2019 President Ivan Duque asked Colombia's constitutional court Thursday to modify a ban on aerial spraying of the herbicide glyphosate in order to tackle record cocaine crops. ... more
EU food watchdog must disclose glyphosate studies: courtLuxembourg (AFP) March 7, 2019 An EU court ruled Thursday that the bloc's food watchdog must make public studies about the toxic or carcinogenic nature of glyphosate, a key ingredient in weedkiller. ... more |
![]() China says 'pests' found in blocked Canadian canola shipments
Pesticides affect bumblebee genes; scientists call for stricter regulationsWashington (UPI) Mar 7, 2019 For the first time, scientists have taken a biomedical approach to measuring the impacts of pesticides on bumblebees and their genes. ... more |
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Probing water's skinThuwal, Saudi Arabia (SPX) Mar 11, 2019 From the wind-whipped surface of the open ocean, to trillions of tiny water drops in clouds, the air-water interface - water's skin - is the site for crucial natural processes, including ocean-atmos ... more
In Nigeria's polluted Ogoniland, signs of a cleanupAlode-Eleme, Nigeria (AFP) March 8, 2019 Young men in the Ogoniland area of southern Nigeria watch excitedly as engineers excavate heaps of polluted soil for treatment. ... more
Rain is important for how carbon dioxide affects grasslandsGothenburg, Sweden (SPX) Mar 07, 2019 Vegetation biomass on grasslands increases in response to elevated carbon dioxide levels, but less than expected. Vegetation on grasslands with a wet spring season has the greatest increase. This ha ... more
A faster, more accurate way to monitor droughtDurham NC (SPX) Mar 06, 2019 More than 2 billion people worldwide are affected by water shortages, wildfires, crop losses, forest diebacks or other environmental or economic woes brought on by drought. A new monitoring me ... more
Plants' drought alert system has unlikely evolutionary origin: underwater algaeGainesville FL (SPX) Mar 04, 2019 Plants' water-to-land leap marks one of the most important milestones in the evolution of life on Earth. But how plants managed this transition when faced with unfamiliar challenges such as drought ... more |
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Tunas, sharks and ships at sea Stanford CA (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
Maps that show where sharks and tunas roam in the eastern Pacific Ocean, and where fishing vessels travel in this vast expanse, could help ocean managers to identify regions of the high seas where vulnerable species may be at risk.
Researchers at Stanford University have created such a map by analyzing the habitats occupied by more than 800 sharks and tunas and 900 industrial fishing vesse ... more |
Frequency Electronics to qualify atomic clocks for potential use on GPS 3F Satellites Mitchel Field NY (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
As a risk reduction effort for the U.S. Air Force's GPS III Follow On (GPS IIIF) satellite program, Frequency Electronics, Inc. (NASDAQ-FEIM) received a contract from Lockheed Martin Space, valued at $5.9 million, for the qualification of FEI's Digital Rubidium Atomic Frequency Standard (DRAFS).
The contract's intent is to qualify FEI's DRAFS for potential use on the new GPS IIIF satellite ... more |
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USAID and NASA harness science, technology for Amazon sustainability Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) with support from NASA have initiated activities for SERVIR-Amazonia, a five-year effort that will use NASA's unique observations of Earth to address environmental and development challenges in the Amazon Basin.
Operating as a regional hub, SERVIR-Amazonia will help people and institutions use satellite observations and geospatial tools ... more |
Making xylitol and cellulose nanofibers from paper paste Kobe, Japan (SPX) Mar 20, 2019
The ecological bio-production of xylitol and cellulose nanofibers using modified yeast cells, from material produced by the paper industry has been achieved by a Japanese research team. This discovery could contribute to the development of a greener and more sustainable society. The findings were published on March 4, in Green Chemistry.
The research was carried out by a group led by Assis ... more |
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New record: Over 16 percent efficiency for single-junction organic solar cells Beijing, China (SPX) Mar 19, 2019
As a promising technology for renewable energy, organic solar cells (OSCs) have attracted particular interest from both industrial and academic communities. One of the main challenges to promote practical applications of OSCs is their less competitive power conversion efficiency than that of the counterpart photovoltaic technologies such as inorganic silicon, CIGS, or perovskite solar cells.
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Improved hybrid models for multi-step wind speed forecasting Beijing (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
To help mitigate global warming by reducing the emissions that are largely responsible, wind is widely expected to become an alternative source of energy. Wind power generation utilizes the surface atmosphere, where movement blows the wind turbine to generate the power output.
However, due to the turbulence in the near-surface layer, wind speeds show strong variation and disturbance charac ... more |
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China investigates officials after deadly mine accident Beijing (AFP) Feb 28, 2019
Five officials are under investigation in northern China after 22 miners were killed when their transport crashed into the side of a mine tunnel, local authorities said.
The accident, which left another 28 miners injured, happened last Saturday in the region of Inner Mongolia after the vehicle experienced brake failure.
A photo published by state-run media shows a bus-like vehicle with h ... more |
Hong Kong to build $79 bn artificial island Hong Kong (AFP) March 19, 2019
Hong Kong plans to build one of the world's largest artificial islands with an eye-watering $79 billion price tag, city officials announced Tuesday.
The government's HK$624 billion proposal to reclaim 1,000 hectares (2,471 acres) of land around the territory's largest island, Lantau, has been touted as a solution to the pressing housing shortage in the city, which is notorious as one of the ... more |
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Mathematics of sea slug movement points to future robots Washington DC (SPX) Mar 11, 2019
What do pizza slices, sea slugs and one possible design for future soft-bodied robots have in common? They all have frilly surfaces, and new insights about the surprising geometry of frilly surfaces may help a future generation of energy-efficient and extremely flexible soft-body robots move.
The complex folds of a frilly surface like coral reefs or kale leaves is a surface mathematicians ... more |
Remote Cape with 'world's cleanest air' offers smog respite Cape Grim, Australia (AFP) March 18, 2019
As much of Asia wheezes, coughs and sniffles its way through another smog season, one isolated and windswept corner of Australia is serving as the global standard for clean air.
With panoramic views of swaying tussock grass and the vast crystalline expanse of the Southern Ocean, Tasmania's beautiful Cape Grim peninsula is an unlikely reference point for the scientific world.
But since 19 ... more |
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The day the world burned Santa Barbara CA (SPX) Mar 14, 2019
When UC Santa Barbara geology professor emeritus James Kennett and colleagues set out years ago to examine signs of a major cosmic impact that occurred toward the end of the Pleistocene epoch, little did they know just how far-reaching the projected climatic effect would be.
"It's much more extreme than I ever thought when I started this work," Kennett noted. "The more work that has been d ... more |
Bluefin tuna passing submerged listening lines help reveal species' survival Stanford CA (SPX) Mar 21, 2019 |
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GRAPES-3 muon telescope discovers record 1.3Gv potential in thundercloud Mumbai, India (SPX) Mar 21, 2019
Thunderstorms are a spectacular manifestation of electrical discharges of thunderclouds, and have fascinated humans through millennia. There is a dark side of thunderstorms as thousands of lives are lost every year worldwide, making them a leading cause of death by natural disasters.
The technique of muon imaging developed by GRAPES-3 collaboration showed that huge voltages develop in supe ... more |
China's Xi to visit Europe amid disquiet over Silk Road, Huawei Beijing (AFP) March 19, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping heads to Europe on Thursday as the continent is divided over his cherished Belt and Road trade infrastructure project and under US pressure to shun telecom giant Huawei.
Xi will start his trip in Italy before heading to Monaco - the first visit by a Chinese president to the posh principality - and cap his five-day journey in France.
His visit comes a week a ... more |
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Probability of catastrophic geomagnetic storm lower than estimated Barcelona, Spain (SPX) Mar 13, 2019
Three mathematicians and a physicist from the Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona (UAB), the Mathematics Research Centre (CRM) and the Barcelona Graduate School of Mathematics (BGSMath) propose a mathematical model which allows making reliable estimations on the probability of geomagnetic storms caused by solar activity.
The researchers, who published the study in the journal Scientific Repo ... more |
'Insectageddon' is 'alarmist by bad design': Scientists point out the study's major flaws Washington DC (SPX) Mar 20, 2019
Amidst worldwide publicity and talks about 'Insectageddon': the extinction of 40% of the world's insects, as estimated in a recent scientific review, a critical response was published in the open-access journal Rethinking Ecology.
Query- and geographically-biased summaries; mismatch between objectives and cited literature; and misuse of existing conservation data have all been identified i ... more |
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