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  Princeton NJ (SPX) Aug 05, 2019 Inspired by the intricate system of water circulating in a tree, a team of researchers led by Princeton University, have figured out how to use a thin slice of wood as a membrane through which water vapor can evaporate, leaving behind salt or other contaminants. Most membranes that are used to distill fresh water from salty are made of polymers, which are derived from fossil fuels and are also difficult to recycle. The wood membrane is a more sustainable material, and according to the researchers, ... read more |
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Quarter of world's population facing extreme water stressWashington (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 Nearly a quarter of the world's population lives in 17 countries facing extremely high water stress, close to "day zero" conditions when the taps run dry, according to a report released Tuesday. ... more  
China firms stop purchases of US farm produce: state mediaBeijing (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 Chinese firms have stopped buying US farm produce, state media said Tuesday, following US President Donald Trump's vow to put more tariffs on imports from China. ... more 
EU agriculture not viable for the futureLeipzig, Germany (SPX) Aug 05, 2019 The current reform proposals of the EU Commission on the Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) are unlikely to improve environmental protection, say researchers led by the German Centre for Integrative B ... more 
Ecological land grab: food vs fuel vs forestsParis (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 The overlapping crises of climate change, mass species extinction, and an unsustainable global food system are on a collision course towards what might best be called an ecological land grab. ... more |
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IMF approves $206 mn aid to Sri Lanka after Cyclone Ditwah
Flights cancelled, roads flooded as rare storm soaks UAE Sri Lanka plans $1.6 bn in cyclone recovery spending in 2026 Brazil megacity Sao Paulo struck by fresh water crisis Indonesians reeling from flood devastation plea for global help Levee break near Seattle prompts evacuation order Flash flood kills dozens in Morocco town At least 20 dead in eastern Bolivia floods Press Release from Business Wire: Textron Inc. Flash floods kill 37 in Moroccan coastal town |
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| Previous Issues | Aug 05 | Aug 02 | Aug 01 | Jul 31 | Jul 30 |
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To conserve water, Indian farmers fire up air pollutionIthaca NY (SPX) Jul 31, 2019 A measure to conserve groundwater in northwestern India has led to unexpected consequences: added air pollution in an area already beset by haze and smog. A new study reveals how water-use pol ... more 
Microbial manufacturing: Genetic engineering breakthrough for urban farmingSingapore (SPX) Jul 26, 2019 Researchers at SMART, MIT's research enterprise in Singapore, and National University of Singapore (NUS) have developed a technology that greatly accelerates the genetic engineering of microbes that ... more 
Water meant for Puerto Rican hurricane victims dumped on farmlandSan Juan (AFP) July 29, 2019 Tens of thousands of water bottles destined for desperate Puerto Ricans after devastating back-to-back hurricanes slammed into the US island territory remain unopened on farmland almost two years later, emergency aid officials confirmed Monday. ... more 
Poland needs to save water for non-rainy dayWarsaw (AFP) July 28, 2019 With his two fishing rods planted firmly on the bank of the Vistula river, 85-year-old Tadeusz Norberciak peers at rocks exposed on the dry riverbed, a telling sign of Poland's looming water crisis. ... more 
Trump uncorks French wine threat in digital tax retaliationWashington (AFP) July 27, 2019 US President Donald Trump vowed "substantial" retaliation against France on Friday for a tax targeting US tech giants, threatening to slap tariffs on French wine and blasting President Emmanuel Macron's "foolishness." ... more |
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 Underground water pipes: another way for cities to keep cool  
Records tumble in Europe as heatwave bitesParis (AFP) July 24, 2019 Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands recorded their highest ever temperatures as a European heatwave soared towards its peak on Wednesday, impacting rail transport and prompting a number of drownings with people taking to the water. ... more  |
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Despite monsoon havoc, India monsoons below baseline amid water crisis New Delhi (AFP) July 22, 2019 India's weather agency said Monday it was set to cut estimates for average monsoon rainfall after decades of below-normal downpours, with climate change causing greater variations. ... more
More Basra water crises unless Iraq govt fixes 'failures': HRWBaghdad (AFP) July 22, 2019 Human Rights Watch on Monday warned of a repeat of last year's deadly water crisis in Iraq's oil-rich southern province of Basra unless authorities correct decades of management failures. ... more 
Swine fever sends China's pork prices, imports soaringBeijing (AFP) July 19, 2019 Pork prices have been sent soaring and herds devastated as African swine fever tears through China's massive pig-farming industry, forcing the country to ramp up imports to satisfy demand - but analysts warn worse is yet to come. ... more 
China importers seek to lift tariffs on US farm goods: state mediaShanghai (AFP) July 21, 2019 Chinese importers are applying to their government to lift tariffs on some US agricultural imports, state media reported on Sunday, three weeks after the two sides reached a truce in their trade war. ... more
Lavender back in fashion with French farmersChatuzange-Le-Goubet, France (AFP) July 21, 2019 Working its way across a purple-green field in southern France, a claw-fitted tractor harvests plants of lavender destined to become essential oil as a traditional sector stages a modest comeback. ... more |
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 Cambridge, Canada (SPX) Aug 02, 2019 
exactEarth Ltd., a leading provider of Satellite-AIS data services, announces that it has been selected by Airbus Defence and Space ("Airbus") as AIS partner to support its Ocean Finder maritime service.
Under the terms of this 2-year agreement, exactEarth will provide Airbus with live and archived data from exactView RT, the Company's second-generation real-time satellite-AIS data service ... more |
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 Schriever AFB CO (SPX) Aug 05, 2019 
Lockheed Martin presented the 2nd Space Operations Squadron with a GPS Block III model satellite to celebrate the successful on-orbit testing of the new GPS III satellite at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, July 29.
Staff Sgt. Joseph Wood, 2nd SOPS mission chief, said the model is a physical representation of the modernization underway.
"The GPS III provides improved capabilities ... more |
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 Jakarta (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 
Indonesian leader Joko Widodo warned Tuesday that officials would be sacked if they failed to stamp out rampant forest fires that are belching out toxic smog over Malaysia and Singapore.
The threat came as Indonesia faced pressure from its neighbours to douse the blazes, which are blamed for sending air quality plummeting in parts of Southeast Asia.
"I've told the military and police chi ... more |
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 Riverside CA (SPX) Aug 05, 2019 
Fuels made from agricultural or forestry wastes known as lignocellulosic biomass have long been a champion in the quest to reduce use of fossil fuels. But plant cell walls have some innate defenses that make the process to break them down more difficult and costly than it could be.
In a leap forward that could be a game changer for understanding how plant biomass can be more efficiently br ... more |
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 St. Louis MO (SPX) Jul 31, 2019 
Solar panel installations are on the rise in the U.S., with more than 2 million new installations in early 2019, the most ever recorded in a first quarter, according to a recent report by Solar Energy Industries Association and Wood Mackenzie Power and Renewables.
To meet the ever-increasing demands, low-cost and more efficient alternatives to silicon-based solar cells - currently the most ... more |
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 Lake Turkana, Kenya (AFP) July 19, 2019 
Kenya on Friday formally launched Africa's biggest wind power plant, a mammoth project in a gusty stretch of wilderness that already provides nearly a fifth of the country's energy needs.
The $680-million (600 million euro) scheme, a sprawling 365-turbine wind farm on the eastern shores of Lake Turkana, is delivering 310 megawatts of renewable power to the national grid of East Africa's most ... more |
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 Sydney (AFP) July 22, 2019 
A French television crew filming a protest against a newly approved Indian-owned coal mine was arrested by Australian police Monday and charged with trespassing.
Construction of the Adani project near the Great Barrier Reef has been under fierce debate for almost a decade, with environmentalists warning that fossil fuels damage the climate.
France 2 reporter Hugo Clement and three member ... more |
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 Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 
Hong Kong riot police clashed with pro-democracy protesters for a third straight day Monday, as the city's leader warned the global financial hub was nearing a "very dangerous situation" and a rare strike caused transport chaos.
Clouds of tear gas billowed across multiple locations on Monday afternoon as the city buckled under a general strike, which protesters pushed to emphasise they still ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Jul 31, 2019 
If you see the latest robot from the University of California, Berkeley scurrying across your kitchen floor, don't bother trying to step on it. The novel roach-like robot, described this week in the journal Science Robotics, can't be squashed.
The new robot, developed by engineers at Cal, can run nearly as fast as a cockroach and as is even harder to kill. If one were to stomp on the li ... more |
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 Beirut (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 
Sitting at a plastic table outside her flatbread sandwich shop in the Lebanese capital, Nadime Yazbeck says she wishes the government would deal with the stench from the local trash dump.
"They really need to find a solution to these smells," said the 66-year-old Beirut resident, in a spotless white t-shirt and hair net.
Four years after a garbage crisis sparked political protests in Leb ... more |
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 Washington (AFP) Aug 1, 2019  US President Donald Trump spoke on Wednesday with Russia's President Vladimir Putin about wildfires in Siberia and trade, the White House said.
Trump "expressed concern over the vast wildfires afflicting Siberia. The leaders also discussed trade between the two countries," according to a brief statement from Trump's press office.
Earlier, the Russian state-run news agency Ria reported th ... more |
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 Paris (ESA) Jul 31, 2019 
Over the last month, massive quantities of the Sargassum seaweed have been washing up on the shores of Mexico, Florida in the US and some Caribbean islands, creating a serious environmental problem and causing havoc for the tourist industry. ESA has been tracking this slimy infestation from space.
Sargassum is a large brown algae, first spotted by Columbus during his voyage to the Americas ... more |
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 Conakry (AFP) Aug 1, 2019 
Six children aged between four and 10 died after they were struck by lightning while making tea under a mango tree in north-eastern Guinea on Wednesday, a witness said.
The storm began shortly before 7:00 pm (1900 GMT) in the town of Siguiri, close to the border with Mali, witness Mamadi Doumbouya, a local resident, told AFP.
He said eight children in total, accompanied by two of their m ... more |
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 Paris (AFP) Aug 6, 2019 
Chinese internet giant Tencent is in early talks to take a stake in the Universal Music Group, a behemoth in the global music industry, UMG's French owner said on Tuesday.
If a deal is confirmed, Shenzhen-based Tencent is to take 10 percent in Universal Music, with an option to pick up another 10 percent.
This would translate into an investment by Tencent of up to six billion euros ($6.7 ... more |
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 Madison WI (SPX) Jul 30, 2019 
The sun's solar wind affects nearly everything in the solar system. It can disrupt the function of Earth's satellites and creates the lights of the auroras.
A new study by University of Wisconsin-Madison physicists mimicked solar winds in the lab, confirming how they develop and providing an Earth-bound model for the future study of solar physics.
Our sun is essentially a big ball of ... more |
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 Larrau, France (AFP) Aug 5, 2019 
As day breaks over the Pyrenees mountains, hundreds of sheep scuttle up a valley, the clanging of their neck bells echoing around the hills that fringe the French-Spanish border.
For generations, shepherds in the region have steered sheep up the mountains in summer to graze on higher pastures, against breathtaking backdrops of sheer precipices and plunging valleys.
But the arrival last y ... more |
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