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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. Although they make up more than half the agricultural labour force in developing nations, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), women farmers are far less likely than men to own the land they till. This makes it difficult for them to invest in sustainable practices that would enhance yields whi ... read more |
Scientists reveal key insights into emerging water purification technologyFort Collins CO (SPX) Aug 08, 2019 With water scarcity a critical challenge across the globe, scientists and engineers are pursuing new ways to harvest purified water from unconventional sources, like seawater or even wastewater. ... more
Common bee disease spread through flowersWashington (UPI) Aug 7, 2019 A common honeybee disease can make the jump to wild bees via flowers, according to a new study. ... more
Brazil's agricultural minister defends record pesticide approvalsBrasilia (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
'Like a miracle': Poo powering Kenya's modern farmersKiambu, 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 |
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 07 | Aug 06 | Aug 05 | Aug 02 | Aug 01 |
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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
Overturning the truth on conservation tillageWashington 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
Buzz kill: mass bee deaths sting Russian beekeepersBobrovka, 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
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 says has begun purchase of more US farm goodsBeijing (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 |
![]() To conserve water, Indian farmers fire up air pollution
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 |
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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
Underground water pipes: another way for cities to keep coolBoulogne-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
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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Earth's last magnetic field reversal took far longer than once thought Madison WI (SPX) Aug 08, 2019
Earth's magnetic field seems steady and true - reliable enough to navigate by.
Yet, largely hidden from daily life, the field drifts, waxes and wanes. The magnetic North Pole is currently careening toward Siberia, which recently forced the Global Positioning System that underlies modern navigation to update its software sooner than expected to account for the shift.
And every several ... more |
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 |
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Climate change could wipe out California's Joshua trees by end of century Los Angeles (AFP) Aug 8, 2019
Joshua trees, an iconic species of the arid southwestern United States, may totally disappear by the end of the century because of climate change, according to a new study.
A team from the University of California at Riverside used data from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change to assess the impact of warming on the distribution of Joshua trees (Yucca brevifolia) in their namesake ... more |
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 |
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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 |
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 |
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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 |
Hong Kong lawyers march in silence to support democracy protesters Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 7, 2019 Hong Kong lawyers held a silent march in support of anti-government protesters on Wednesday, highlighting the movement's enduring broad appeal despite increasingly ominous warnings from Beijing.
Hundreds of lawyers dressed in black marched under the scorching sun from the city's highest court to the justice secretary's office.
The rally came as daily demonstrations have become increasing ... more |
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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 |
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 |
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'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 |
Kleos and Spire join forces on "Safety at Sea" collaboration Luxembourg (SPX) Aug 08, 2019
Kleos Space S.A. (ASX: KSS, Frankfurt: KS1), a space-powered Radio Frequency Reconnaissance data provider, announces that it will collaborate with Spire Global, one of the world's largest space to cloud analytics companies. Kleos and Spire will collaborate to combine
Spire AIS data with KLEOS RF data to create a new shared capability to bring safety at sea. Kleos and Spire have entered int ... more |
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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 |
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 |
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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 |
Plant roots began following gravity 350 million years ago Washington (UPI) Aug 2, 2019
To make the transition from sea to land, plant roots had to learn to grow downward, to follow gravity. This ability, gravitropism, helped plants anchor to the soil and retrieve water and nutrients.
New analysis of this vital adaptation suggests the ability first emerged roughly 350 million years ago.
Scientists have studied gravitropism in flowering plants, but until now research ... more |
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