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From tree killing beetles to crop disease: Central America's struggles with drought![]() Valle De Angeles, Honduras (AFP) March 21, 2019 Honduran conservationists are worried. A deadly insect that wiped out more than a quarter of the Central American country's conifers between 2013 and 2017 is back. The southern pine beetle - or gorgojo, as it is known locally - appears in large numbers during droughts brought on by El Nino, a climatic phenomenon that occurs every few years and can be a threat to agriculture and even drinking water sources. Cristel Castro from the state forest conservation institute (ICF) admitted officials wer ... 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
Drought wipes popular Chilean lake from the mapPaine, 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. ... 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
Measuring impact of drought on groundwater resources from spaceTempe AZ (SPX) Mar 21, 2019 A team of ASU scientists has been using the latest space technology, combined with ground measurements, to assess the health of one of the nation's most important sources of underground water, a lar ... 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 21 | Mar 20 | Mar 19 | Mar 18 | Mar 15 |
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Millions hit in Manila's 'worst' water shortageManila (AFP) March 15, 2019 Manila has been hit by its worst water shortage in years, leaving bucket-bearing families to wait hours to fill up from tanker trucks and some hospitals to turn away less urgent cases. ... more
Fuelled by China fears, Russians protest Baikal bottling plantMoscow (AFP) March 16, 2019 A China-funded project to bottle water from Russia's Lake Baikal has caused a backlash in Siberia, where people are increasingly angry about what they see as a Chinese land-grab. ... more
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 cocaine
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 |
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China says 'pests' found in blocked Canadian canola shipmentsBeijing (AFP) March 6, 2019 China's removal of the export permit of a major Canadian canola company followed the discovery of "hazardous pests" in shipments, the foreign ministry said Wednesday in a move that has stoked diplomatic tensions. ... more
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
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 |
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Free satellite data available to help tackle public sector challenges Swindon, UK (SPX) Mar 22, 2019
Anyone working in the UK public sector can now receive free access to more than a thousand high-resolution satellite images of Britain, the UK Space Agency announced 21 March 2019.
The archive of images and radar data for research and development projects is available to Government departments, emergency services and local authorities as well as industry and academia if their work meets a ... 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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Floodplain forests under threat Freiburg, Germany (SPX) Mar 20, 2019
A team from the Institute of Forest Sciences at the University of Freiburg shows that the extraction of ground water for industry and households is increasingly damaging floodplain forests in Europe given the increasing intensity and length of drought periods in the summer. The scientists have published their results in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change.
Floodplain forests ... 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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Achieving 100 percent renewable energy production Bethesda MD (SPX) Mar 22, 2019
There is only one country that is close to achieving 100% renewable energy production (for production of electricity). Costa Rica operated 311 consecutive days in 2018 on renewables driven primarily by hydroelectric power production (75%), followed by geothermal power production (15%), then wind power production (5%), solar power production (4%), and a very small sector of biomass power producti ... more |
SeaPlanner to support marine coordination for Taiwan's Formosa I Offshore Wind Farm London, UK (SPX) Mar 22, 2019
Leading Marine Management System, SeaPlanner has been selected to support the construction of Formosa 1 Offshore Wind Farm Phase 2, as part of the SeaRoc's strategic partnership with Specialist Marine Consultants (SMC) who are contracted for deliver marine coordination services for the 120MW project.
SMC will be responsible for managing all operational marine coordination activities during ... 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 |
Police detain labour activist in southern China: wife Beijing (AFP) March 21, 2019
A labour activist has been detained by police in southern China, his wife said Thursday, amid a crackdown on students and activists advocating for worker rights.
Wei Zhili, 30, an editor at a Chinese labour rights media site, was apprehended Wednesday by police in Guangzhou, southern Guangdong province, for "disturbing public order", his wife and prominent feminist Zheng Churan told AFP.
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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 |
A tale of two Delhis: Deadly air exposes rich poor divide New Delhi (AFP) March 21, 2019
Walls draped in lush vertical gardens and air filtered through purifiers insulate diners at a swanky New Delhi food court from the choking haze outside in one of the most polluted places on earth.
But these eco-eateries, offering cleaner air as well as modern menus to the well heeled are beyond reach for the poor, who have little means of escaping the deadly smog which coats the city for muc ... 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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Death toll in China landslide rises to 20 Beijing (AFP) March 21, 2019
Rescuers have retrieved the body of a final missing person in a northern China landslide, bringing the death toll to 20, local officials said Thursday.
The incident last Friday in Shanxi province flattened several residential buildings and a public bathhouse. Authorities initially reported 10 deaths and 10 missing people.
"As of 11:22 am (0322 GMT) on March 21, the last missing person in ... more |
China's new Silk Road gets bumpy as Xi visits Italy Rome (AFP) March 22, 2019
Chinese President Xi Jinping kicked off a whistlestop European tour in Rome on Friday amid growing Western unease over Italy joining the ever-expanding Asian giant's new Silk Road project.
Prime Minister Giuseppe Conte is to sign a memorandum of understanding with Xi on Saturday for Italy to join the $1 trillion Belt and Road Initiative, the first G7 member to do so, despite apparent divisio ... 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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