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  Tokyo (AFP) Dec 20, 2018 Japan is considering pulling out of the International Whaling Commission (IWC), officials told AFP on Thursday, as Tokyo reportedly gears up to resume commercial whaling activity next year. Such a move would spark international criticism against Japan over whale conservation and deepen the divide between anti- and pro-whaling countries. "We are considering all options" including the possibility of withdrawal from the 89-member IWC, Fisheries Agency official Yuki Morita told AFP. Another offi ... read more |
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New management strategies may help Los Angeles avoid future water crisesWashington (UPI) Dec 19, 2018 Los Angeles' population continues to grow, putting added pressure on the city's water supply. ... more  
NGOs launch legal action against France over climateParis (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 A group of NGOs including Greenpeace and Oxfam have launched a lawsuit against the French state accusing it of taking insufficient action to tackle climate change. ... more  
EU to cut new car emissions by 37.5 percent by 2030Brussels (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 The European Union forged ahead Tuesday with plans to slash carbon dioxide emissions from new cars and vans by 2030 despite industry concerns the targets are for now "totally unrealistic." ... more  
Sphinx molecule to rescue African farmers from witchweedNagoya, Australia (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 An interdisciplinary team led by researchers at Nagoya University has discovered a highly potent and selective molecule, SPL7, that can lead seeds of the noxious parasitic weed Striga to suicide ger ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Dec 19 | Dec 18 | Dec 17 | Dec 16 | Dec 15 |
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China's state grain buyer resumes US soybean purchasesBeijing (AFP) Dec 20, 2018 China's major state-owned grain stockpiler said it has resumed buying US soybeans, as Beijing upholds a trade war truce with Washington reached earlier this month. ... more  
Study finds pedestrians need 30 inches of space to avoid collisionsWashington (UPI) Dec 17, 2018 Pedestrians require a 30-inch buffer to avoid collisions, according to a new survey of foot traffic inside a Dutch train station. ... more  
Thousands flee cyclone on India's east coastNew Delhi (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 A powerful cyclone left one person dead and forced thousands to flee their homes on India's east coast, officials said Tuesday. ... more 
Paradigm shift needed for designing tsunami-resistant bridgesCorvallis OR (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 Researchers, including two Oregon State University scientists, argue in a new study that a paradigm shift is needed for assessing bridges' tsunami risk. The study, motivated in part by hundred ... more 
UK puts 3,500 troops on standby for no-deal BrexitLondon (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 Britain is putting 3,500 soldiers on standby to deal with "any contingencies" in case of a no-deal Brexit, Defence Secretary Gavin Williamson told parliament on Tuesday. ... more |
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 Smiling at danger, China's finless porpoise fights to survive  
Gunmen kill Nigeria's ex-defence chief: officialLagos (AFP) Dec 19, 2018 Gunmen have shot dead a former defence chief on a main road outside Nigeria's capital Abuja, the air force said, in an attack that underscores worsening security in the vast west African nation. ... more  |
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Six killed by landmine in central Mali: local officialsBamako (AFP) Dec 19, 2018 Six civilians, including four women, were killed in central Mali on Wednesday when the vehicle they were in drove over a landmine, local officials said. ... more  
Academic stalked in Hong Kong hits out at ChinaSydney (AFP) Dec 20, 2018 An Australian academic who was followed for a week by a state-owned newspaper in Hong Kong has suggested Beijing could be behind the intimidation and has vowed not to be bullied. ... more  
Hatred stirred by leaders blamed for rise in journalist murders: watchdogParis (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 Hatred whipped up by "unscrupulous politicians" has contributed to the shocking rise in the number of journalists murdered in 2018, a media watchdog said Tuesday. ... more 
In southern Madagascar, voters struggle for food before ballotAmboasary, Madagascar (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 One after another, the mothers sat their babies in the shade, on a mat placed on the dusty ground. This morning at least, their children will have enough to eat. ... more 
Second Chinese underground bishop steps aside: reportBeijing (AFP) Dec 19, 2018 A second bishop from China's underground Catholic church is stepping aside and is being replaced by a government-backed clergyman, state-run media reported, amid a thaw in relations between Beijing and the Holy See. ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Dec 17, 2018 
Pedestrians require a 30-inch buffer to avoid collisions, according to a new survey of foot traffic inside a Dutch train station.
Using overheard sensors installed in a train station in Eindhoven, Netherlands, researchers analyzed more than 5 million pedestrian movements. Their analysis revealed 9,000 pedestrian pairs on collision courses.
"About 40 pairs of these actually bumped ... more |
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 Chicago IL (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
Different eras of civilization are defined by the discovery of new materials, as new materials drive new capabilities. And yet, identifying the best material for a given application - catalysts, light-harvesting structures, biodiagnostic labels, pharmaceuticals and electronic devices - is traditionally a slow and daunting task.
The options are nearly infinite, particularly at the nanoscale ... more |
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 Washington DC (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
Slow-motion collisions of tectonic plates under the ocean drag about three times more water down into the deep Earth than previously estimated, according to a first-of-its-kind seismic study that spans the Mariana Trench, a crescent-shaped trench in the Western Pacific that measures 1,500 miles long and is the deepest ocean trench in the world.
The observations from the trench have importa ... more |
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 Moscow (AFP) Dec 18, 2018 
Russia will build up its military presence in the Arctic over the next year, the defence minister said Tuesday, as Moscow seeks to assert its influence in the strategic region.
The announcement comes after years of increased activity in the Arctic, which Moscow has declared a top priority due to its mineral riches and military importance.
"We'll finish building infrastructure in 2019 to ... more |
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 Beijing (AFP) Dec 20, 2018 
China's major state-owned grain stockpiler said it has resumed buying US soybeans, as Beijing upholds a trade war truce with Washington reached earlier this month.
It is the latest signal from China that it is pressing ahead with a December 1 agreement between US President Donald Trump and Chinese leader Xi Jinping aimed at resolving the trade dispute.
"To implement the consensus reached ... more |
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 Corvallis OR (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
Researchers, including two Oregon State University scientists, argue in a new study that a paradigm shift is needed for assessing bridges' tsunami risk.
The study, motivated in part by hundreds of bridges being destroyed during recent tsunamis off the coast of Japan and in the Indian Ocean, advances the understanding of the physics at work when a tsunami slams into a bridge - opening the d ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Dec 14, 2018 
National Security Advisor John Bolton said during a speech at the Heritage Foundation that the U.S. has to readjust it's strategy for Africa regarding military and civilian aid with Chinese and Russian encroachment on the continent.
"ISIS, al-Qaida, and their affiliates all operate and recruit on the African continent, plotting attacks against American citizens and targets. Any sound U. ... more |
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 Johannesburg, South Africa (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
First ever endocast reconstruction of the nearly complete brain of the hominin known as Little Foot reveals a small brain combining ape-like and human-like features.
MicroCT scans of the Australopithecus fossil known as Little Foot shows that the brain of this ancient human relative was small and shows features that are similar to our own brain and others that are closer to our ancestor sh ... more |
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 Potsdam, Germany (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
The reality of ongoing climate warming might seem plainly obvious today, after the four warmest years on record and a summer of weather extremes in the whole northern hemisphere. A few years back however, some media and some experts were entangled in debates about an alleged pause in global warming - even though there never has been statistical evidence of any "hiatus", as new research now confi ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Dec 17, 2018 
Measurements by NASA's Ice, Cloud and land Elevation Satellite-2 are helping scientists map ice thickness across the Southern Ocean's Weddell Sea.
By mapping and tracking changes in the thickness of sea ice surrounding Antarctica, scientists hope to pinpoint when and where seasonal sea ice first grows.
"We know a lot less about the sea ice in the Antarctic than the Arctic," Ron K ... more |
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 Hong Kong (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
In a new study published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution, an international team led by Professor Baoyu Jiang of Nanjing University and including Dr Michael Pittman of the Department of Earth Sciences, the University of Hong Kong, shows that pterosaurs had at least four types of feathers in common with their close relatives the dinosaurs, pushing back the origin of feathers by some 70 ... more |
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 Behror, India (AFP) Dec 4, 2018 
Ratan Kumar once battled India's brutal summers with damp bedsheets and midnight baths. Now he is among millions upon millions of Indians using air conditioning - helping make the world hotter still.
With India's AC market expected to explode from 30 million to a billion units by 2050, the world's second-most populous country could become the planet's top user of electricity for cooling. ... more |
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 Osaka, Japan (SPX) Dec 19, 2018 
A team of researchers led by Osaka University developed an inexpensive large-scale flexible thermoelectric generator (FlexTEG) module with high mechanical reliability for highly efficient power generation.
Through a change in direction of the top electrodes at the two sides of the module and the use of high density packaging of semiconductor chips, the FlexTEG module has more flexibility i ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Dec 17, 2018 
A new restoration plan for Brazil's Atlantic Forest could save three times as many species for significantly less money than previous conservation plans.
In coordination with the Brazilian Ministry of the Environment, researchers in Brazil and Britain designed a new computer model to identify the most effective and cost efficient forest restoration strategies.
If adopted, simulat ... more |
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 Sydney (AFP) Dec 20, 2018 
An Australian academic who was followed for a week by a state-owned newspaper in Hong Kong has suggested Beijing could be behind the intimidation and has vowed not to be bullied.
Kevin Carrico - a lecturer in Chinese Studies at Sydney's Macquarie University - was tailed by the Wen Wei Po tabloid during a visit earlier this month and was the subject of a front-page "expose".
The paper a ... more |
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 Washington DC (SPX) Dec 14, 2018 
Find related stories on NSF's Critical Zone Observatories Sites. Find related stories on NSF's Long-Term Ecological Research Sites.
With fierce winds and flooding rains, hurricanes can be disasters for people - and for ecosystems. These devastating storms have major effects on tropical forests, demolishing tree canopies and leaving behind debris that piles up in watershed streams and on fo ... more |
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