24/7 Farm  News Coverage
August 07, 2019
FARM NEWS
Ecological land grab: food vs fuel vs forests



Paris (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. Coping with each of these problems will require a different way of using of Earth's lands, and as experts crunch the numbers it is becoming unnervingly clear that there may not be enough terra firma to go around. A world of narrowing options threatens to pit biofuels, forests and food production against eac ... read more

FARM NEWS
'Like a miracle': Poo powering Kenya's modern farmers
Kiambu, Kenya (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
In 35 years working the land, Kenyan farmer Josphat Muchiri Njonge has never seen his coffee shrubs burst with so much fruit on his verdant hillside plot outside bustling Nairobi. ... more
FARM NEWS
EU agriculture not viable for the future
Leipzig, 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
FARM NEWS
Agriculture's secret weapon: empowering women
Geneva (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
Women farmers face the brunt of the threat posed by climate change, yet they may hold the key to helping limit its fallout, according to a landmark UN report to be released this week. ... more
FARM NEWS
Brazil's agricultural minister defends record pesticide approvals
Brasilia (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
Brazil's agriculture minister on Tuesday defended a record number of pesticide and weedkiller approvals this year, saying the government was not "putting poison on anyone's plate." ... more
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WATER WORLD
Quarter of world's population facing extreme water stress
Washington (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
FARM NEWS
China firms stop purchases of US farm produce: state media
Beijing (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
FARM NEWS
Humanity's next test: feed 10 billion without ruining Earth
Paris (AFP) Aug 2, 2019
Experts Friday began negotiating the most comprehensive scientific assessment ever of the role the land we live off plays in climate change, expected to highlight the stark choices humanity faces to feed 10 billion people while preserving Nature. ... more
WATER WORLD
New wood membrane provides sustainable alternative for water filtration
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 ... more
FARM NEWS
Solar panels cast shade on agriculture in a good way
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2019
Imagine you are a farmer struggling to keep up with production demands because of the increasingly stressful climate. Or perhaps you are a producer of renewable energy struggling with dramatic heat ... more
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FARM NEWS
Overturning the truth on conservation tillage
Washington DC (SPX) Jul 31, 2019
Just as we blend, cut, and fold ingredients together to follow a recipe, farmers use equipment to stir together soil and crop residue (stalks and roots of previous crops) before planting. This mecha ... more
FARM NEWS
Buzz kill: mass bee deaths sting Russian beekeepers
Bobrovka, Russia (AFP) Aug 1, 2019
Anatoly Rubtsov looked despondently at the beehives lining his property. "The farm used to be loud, it sang," he said. Today just a faint buzz is audible but an overpowering rotting stench hung in the air after his bees were likely poisoned by a pesticide. ... more
FARM NEWS
China says has begun purchase of more US farm goods
Beijing (AFP) Aug 1, 2019
China said Thursday that it had begun purchasing more US farm goods, addressing a key sticking point in efforts to resolve a drawn-out trade war between the two economic giants. ... more
FARM NEWS
To conserve water, Indian farmers fire up air pollution
Ithaca 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
FARM NEWS
Microbial manufacturing: Genetic engineering breakthrough for urban farming
Singapore (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 farmland

WATER WORLD
Poland needs to save water for non-rainy day
Warsaw (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
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FARM NEWS
Trump uncorks French wine threat in digital tax retaliation
Washington (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
WATER WORLD
Underground water pipes: another way for cities to keep cool
Boulogne-Billancourt, France (AFP) July 25, 2019
As Paris swelters in record-breaking heat, visitors to some of the French capital's iconic landmarks are being kept cool without even knowing it by a labyrinthine network of underground water pipes. ... more
WEATHER REPORT
Records tumble in Europe as heatwave bites
Paris (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
WATER WORLD
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
WATER WORLD
More Basra water crises unless Iraq govt fixes 'failures': HRW
Baghdad (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
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NASA targets coastal ecosystems with new space sensor
Washington DC (SPX) Aug 05, 2019
NASA has selected a space-based instrument under its Earth Venture Instrument (EVI) portfolio that will make observations of coastal waters to help protect ecosystem sustainability, improve resource management, and enhance economic activity. The selected Geosynchronous Littoral Imaging and Monitoring Radiometer (GLIMR) instrument, led by principal investigator Joseph Salisbury at the Unive ... more
+ CryoSat conquers ice on Arctic lakes
+ Airbus selects exactEarth as AIS Partner for new maritime applications platform
+ Satellite-connected tags set to boost marine conservation
+ China shares satellite data with India to help millions in flood-hit regions
+ Roscosmos postpones launch of second Arctic weather satellite
+ NASA's Spacecraft Atmosphere Monitor Goes to Work Aboard the International Space Station
+ African smoke is fertilizing Amazon rainforest and oceans
Evolution of space, 2SOPS prepares for GPS Block III
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
+ GPS signals no longer disrupted in Israeli airspace
+ An AI technology to reveal the characteristics of animal behavior only from the trajectory
+ European Galileo satellite navigation system resumes Initial Services
+ Europe's Galileo GPS system back after six-day outage
+ Europe's GPS rival Galileo suffers outage
+ Second Lockheed Martin-Built GPS III Satellite Ready for July 25 Liftoff
+ Planes landing in Israel see GPS signals disrupted


Brazilian Amazon deforestation surges, embattled institute says
Sao Paulo (AFP) Aug 7, 2019
Deforestation of the Brazilian Amazon increased 278 percent year-over-year in July, according to official data released Tuesday by a government institute embroiled in a row with President Jair Bolsonaro over the scale of the problem. The National Institute for Space Research, known by its initials INPE, said that deforestation had cleared 870 square miles (around 2,250 square kilometers) of ... more
+ Indonesian leader threatens sackings over rampant forest fires
+ There's a limit to the rainforest's carbon storage abilities
+ Brazil research chief says sacked over Bolsonaro deforestation spat
+ Bolsonaro vows to fight 'illegal deforestation' in Brazil
+ OU-led study shows improved estimates of Brazilian Amazon gains and losses
+ Going green: Ethiopia's bid to plant four billion trees
+ Brazil police probe tribal leader's killing, village invasion
Supercomputing improves biomass fuel conversion
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
+ Novel catalysis approach reduces carbon dioxide to methane
+ Researchers develop technology to harness energy from mixing of freshwater and seawater
+ Solar energy becomes biofuel without solar cells
+ A catalyst for sustainable methanol
+ Whole-tree harvesting could boost biomass production
+ Research shows black plastics could create renewable energy
+ Vampire algae killer's genetic diversity poses threat to biofuels


A good first step toward nontoxic solar cells
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
+ SibFU scientists discovered material that can make solar cells more efficient
+ Clearing up the 'dark side' of artificial leaves
+ 'Deforming' solar cells could be clue to improved efficiency
+ Canadian Solar signs electricity agreement on Alberta's largest solar photovoltaic project
+ Treating solar cell materials reveals formation of unexpected microstructures
+ Yellow is not the new black: Discovery paves way for new generation of solar cells
+ Breakthrough material could lead to cheaper, more widespread solar panels and electronics
Kenya launches Africa's biggest wind farm
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
+ Stanford study shows how to improve production at wind farms
+ Windmill protesters placed on Dutch terror list
+ Can sound protect eagles from wind turbine collisions?
+ UK hits historic coal-free landmark
+ BayWa r.e. sells its first Australian wind farms to Epic Energy
+ The complicated future of offshore wind power in the US
+ SeaPlanner to support marine coordination for Taiwan's Formosa I Offshore Wind Farm


French journalists arrested at Australia anti-coal protest
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
+ Coal-dependent Poland to compensate industry for carbon costs
+ Indian tycoon Adani rejects Australian mine criticism
+ Three miners dead after tremor in Poland
+ Coal dust and smog plague lives on S.Africa's Highveld
+ Planned coal plant blackens the mood in Kenya's idyllic Lamu
+ German energy giant RWE vows action against climate activists
+ Trump administration completes rollback of Obama anti-coal plan
Clashes, travel chaos in Hong Kong as leader warns city on brink
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
+ Beijing officials to address Hong Kong unrest
+ Hong Kong's summer of rage now a war of attrition
+ China warns Hong Kong protesters of 'dangerous abyss'
+ Chinese billionaire indicted in $1.8bn tariff evasion scheme
+ China warns Hong Kong protesters of 'immense strength' of government
+ China reiterates support for Hong Kong's embattled leader
+ China warns HK protesters with slick military video


Roach-inspired robot nearly as fast as real thing, unsquashable
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
+ A computer that understands how you feel
+ In the shoes of a robot: The future approaches
+ Kitchen disruption: better food through artificial intelligence
+ Get up and go bots getting closer, study says
+ Russia's Humanoid Robot FEDOR Renamed to Skybot Ahead of Its First Space Mission
+ A squeaky clean: friendly robots spruce up Singapore
+ Robot-ants that can jump, communicate with each other and work together
Lebanese kick up stink over smell fix for garbage woes
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
+ Curbing air pollution won't speed up global warming
+ Malawi's top court outlaws single-use plastic
+ Paris downplays Notre-Dame lead poisoning fears
+ 'I like plastic': Pakistan's toxic 'love affair' with waste
+ Asian countries turning back wealthy world's waste
+ Plastic junk spawns desert island disaster in Pacific
+ Earth's 2019 resources 'budget' spent by July 29: report


'Siberia is burning': Russians choke on forest fire smog
Boguchany, Russia (AFP) Aug 6, 2019
Svetlana Tuflyakova is in a hurry as she pushes her small son in his pram, keen to get back inside her house and away from the permeating smoke of Siberian wildfires: "It feels like it fills your whole body," she says. Tuflyakova lives in the village of Boguchany in Krasnoyarsk region, about 100 kilometres (60 miles) from raging fires which have engulfed vast territories and filled residenti ... more
+ Trump, Putin discuss Russian wildfires: White House
+ Siberia forest fires spark potential 'disaster' for Arctic
+ Israeli forest fire spares Christian shrine
+ Arctic wildfires continue to burn, releasing record amounts of CO2
+ Why is Portugal so prone to wildfires?
+ 1,300 firefighters battle Portugal wildfires
+ Portugal wildfires '90 percent' under control
Washed up: Sargassum blankets beaches
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
+ 500 years on, how Magellan's voyage changed the world
+ Turkey begins to fill controversial dam, say activists
+ Quarter of world's population facing extreme water stress
+ Beaches choked with stinky seaweed could be the new normal
+ Commercial fishing to blame for planet's declining shark numbers
+ China beach fans never without their inflatable
+ Pacific leaders want summit focus on climate, not China


July heatwave up to 3C hotter due to climate change
Paris (AFP) Aug 2, 2019
The record-shattering heatwave that baked much of northern Europe last month was likely between 1.5 to 3.0 degrees Celsius hotter due to manmade climate change, an international team of scientists said Friday. The three-day peak saw temperature records tumble in Belgium, the Netherlands and Britain while the city of Paris experienced its hottest day ever with the mercury topping out at 42.6C ... more
+ Half-a-degree warmer means 30,000 more deaths yearly in urban China: study
+ July hottest month measured, 2019 set to be among warmest years
+ Six children killed by lightning in Guinea: witness
+ China landslide death toll jumps to 42, nine missing
+ China landslide death toll rises to 36 with 15 still missing
+ Notre-Dame cathedral site, schools shut over lead fears
+ Nordic countries sizzle as European heatwave moves north
Tencent set to take stake in Universal Music
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
+ Chinese currency steadies after turbulent trading
+ Chinese yuan falls to weakest level against dollar since 2010
+ US-China trade war in 10 dates
+ Weaponising the yuan: a double-edged sword for Beijing
+ China vows to strike back at US tariffs threat
+ Indonesia economy loses steam in Q2 amid US-China trade war
+ U.S. Steel job cuts highlight EU sector woes
Daily Newsletters - Space - Military - Environment - Energy

Magnetic plasma pulses excited by UK-size swirls in the solar atmosphere
Sheffield UK (SPX) Aug 07, 2019
An international team of scientists led by the University of Sheffield have discovered previously undetected observational evidence of frequent energetic wave pulses the size of the UK, transporting energy from the solar surface to the higher solar atmosphere. Magnetic plasma waves and pulses have been widely suggested as one of the key mechanisms which could answer the long-standing quest ... more
+ Researchers recreate the sun's solar wind and plasma "burps" on Earth
+ Airbus brings a SMILE to ESA
+ 'Terminators' on the sun trigger plasma tsunamis and the start of new solar cycles
+ Details of Solar Science Mission Revealed at UK Astronomy Meeting
+ Citizen scientists discover cyclical pattern of complexity in solar storms
+ UK-led solar science mission to use cubesats
+ Research details response of sagebrush to 2017 solar eclipse
In French mountains, bear attacks leave shepherds skittish
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
+ Plant roots began following gravity 350 million years ago
+ India's wild tiger population jumps to almost 3,000: census
+ Vietnam seizes 125 kilos of rhino horn hidden in plaster
+ India tiger population doubles; Bangladesh 'extremely worried' over low male tiger numbers
+ Aussie drug offers hope for stamping out wombat-killing disease
+ Different genes control lifespan, healthspan, worm study says
+ Study details differences in gene expression among male, female mammals


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