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  Paris (ESA) Feb 18, 2019 When astronauts take photographs of our planet while orbiting 400 km above our heads, they are doing much more than just taking pretty pictures. They are looking after the health of our planet and, ultimately, us too. Techniques used by astrophotographers looking at the stars and space exploration come together to measure the environmental impact of artificial lights at night. The only night images of Earth in colour that are freely available to the public are pictures taken by the astronaut ... read more |
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exactEarth's real-time maritime tracking system now fully-deployedCambridge UK (SPX) Feb 15, 2019 exactEarth Ltd. reports that the final six payloads for its second-generation constellation, exactView RT, are now operational, which completes the roll-out of world's first global, real-time Satell ... more  
Newly discovered marsupial lived among Arctic dinosaursFairbanks AK (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 A research team has discovered a previously unknown species of marsupial that lived in Alaska's Arctic during the era of dinosaurs, adding a vivid new detail to a complex ancient landscape. Th ... more  
Diversity on land is not higher today than in the pastBirmingham UK (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 The rich levels of biodiversity on land seen across the globe today are not a recent phenomenon: diversity on land has been similar for at least the last 60 million years, since soon after the extin ... more  
Quarrying of Stonehenge 'bluestones' dated to 3000 BCLondon, UK (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 Excavations at two quarries in Wales, known to be the source of the Stonehenge 'bluestones', provide new evidence of megalith quarrying 5,000 years ago, according to a new UCL-led study. Geolo ... more |
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| Previous Issues | Feb 20 | Feb 19 | Feb 18 | Feb 15 | Feb 14 |
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Oil spilling from ship stuck on Pacific reef: localsWellington (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 Oil has started leaking from a bulk carrier stranded on a coral reef near World Heritage-listed waters in the Solomon Islands, local villagers said Wednesday. ... more  
Germany launches push to halve food waste by 2030Berlin (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 Germany launched a drive Wednesday to halve food waste by 2030 as research shows every consumer on average throws away 55 kilogrammes (120 pounds) of edibles a year. ... more 
Cuban cigars hit record sales thanks to increasing Chinese demandHavana (AFP) Feb 18, 2019 Boosted by growing demand from China, sales of Cuban cigars reached a record $537 million in 2018, a seven percent increase over the previous year despite global laws against tobacco, the partially state-owned Habanos said Monday. ... more  
One dead after Swiss avalanche, rescue search pausedGeneva (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 One person engulfed in an avalanche in the Swiss Alps has died, police said Wednesday, as rescue operations to find other possible victims were paused after an all-night search. ... more  
Iceland sets whaling quotas despite falling profitsReykjavik (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 Iceland has set new quotas for its controversial minke and fin whale hunt for the next five years despite declining profits recently, a decision bound to anger environmentalists. ... more |
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 Forest fires as an opportunity for ecosystem recovery  
The race to save Myanmar's Inle LakeNyaung Shwe, Myanmar (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 Myanmar's famed Inle Lake has enchanted tourists for decades with its floating gardens and the graceful leg-rowing style of its fisherman, but experts warn the lake is drying up and urgent action is needed to avoid disaster. ... more  |
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'Invasion' of polar bears in Russian Arctic overMoscow (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 An "invasion" of aggressive polar bears in inhabited areas of Arctic Russia has come to an end, officials said Tuesday, ten days after the animals came to the area looking for food. ... more 
Germany moots tougher insect protectionsFrankfurt Am Main (AFP) Feb 17, 2019 Germany plans an insect protection law to slash use of pesticides and pump tens of millions of euros (dollars) into research, a minister said Sunday, as global concern grows over mankind's impact on the crucial invertebrates. ... more 
Tanzania jails Chinese 'Ivory Queen' trafficker for 15 yearsNairobi (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 A Tanzanian court on Tuesday sentenced a Chinese woman dubbed the "Ivory Queen" to 15 years in jail for her role in trafficking tusks from more than 400 elephants. ... more  
China province defends ban on Tibetan lessonsBeijing (AFP) Feb 18, 2019 Chinese authorities on Monday defended a ban on schoolchildren attending informal Tibetan language classes taught by Buddhist monks in western China, as religious and cultural freedoms in the country come under increasing pressure. ... more  
Nine countries at UN seek to override China to raise MyanmarUnited Nations, United States (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 The United States, France, Britain and six other countries on the UN Security Council have called for a meeting on Myanmar that is expected to face opposition from China, diplomats said Wednesday. ... more |
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 Mexico City (AFP) Feb 18, 2019 
Mexico President Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador announced on Monday that an island penal colony housing 600 inmates will be converted into a cultural and scientific center.
The four Islas Marias islands lie 120-kilometers (75 miles) off the northwest coast of Mexican state Nayarit.
The largest of those, Isla Maria Madre, has housed a prison since 1905 in which inmates, some of whom live wit ... more |
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 Greenbelt MD (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 
A new experimental type of deep space communications technology is scheduled to be demonstrated on the International Space Station this spring.
Currently, NASA relies on radio waves to send information between spacecraft and Earth. Emerging laser communications technology offers higher data rates that let spacecraft transmit more data at a time. This demonstration involves X-ray communicat ... more |
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 Washington DC (SPX) Feb 18, 2019 
Goliath grouper, black sea bass, and snapping shrimp, along with bioluminescent plankton and other microorganisms, are set to be the unlikely heroes of DARPA's Persistent Aquatic Living Sensors (PALS) program.
Five teams of researchers are developing new types of sensor systems that detect and record the behaviors of these marine organisms and interpret them to identify, characterize, and ... more |
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 Moscow (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 
Diving into a long hole cut in the ice, Viktoria Tsuranova swims a few strokes and flashes a smile at the photographer capturing the moment for her Instagram account.
She is one of a new generation of Russian "Walruses" - hardy swimmers who plunge into frozen rivers and lakes all through the winter.
They swear it wards off not just colds but also cellulite, as well as giving them a rus ... more |
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 Washington (UPI) Feb 18, 2019 
Australia is bleeding mammal species. The island continent's mammal extinction rate is the largest on Earth. But in Australia's desert, the return of indigenous hunters has helped restore ecological balance and slowed the loss of mammals.
According new research by Rebecca Bliege Bird, a professor of anthropology at Penn State University, the removal of humans from the landscape precipit ... more |
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 Sydney (AFP) Feb 15, 2019 
Runoff from recent floods in northern Australia is flowing onto parts of the Barrier Reef, scientists said Friday, starving coral of light and providing fodder for the predatory crown-of-thorns starfish.
Parts of northern Queensland are still reeling after nearly two weeks of unprecedented rainfall that turned roads into rivers and inundated hundreds of homes with floodwater.
Scientists ... more |
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 N'Djamena (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 
A probe has been opened in Chad after a video was distributed on social media of a woman being whipped by two men who appear to be soldiers, the country's justice minister said Wednesday.
"The perpetrators of these acts have been apprehended and will be brought before justice without delay to answer for their actions," minister Djimet Arabi told AFP.
The video, shot in the vicinity of La ... more |
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 Leipzig, Germany (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 
Neandertals' diets are highly debated: they are traditionally considered carnivores and hunters of large mammals, but this hypothesis has recently been challenged by numerous pieces of evidence of plant consumption. Ancient diets are often reconstructed using nitrogen isotope ratios, a tracer of the trophic level, the position an organism occupies in a food chain.
Neandertals are apparentl ... more |
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 Paris (AFP) Feb 19, 2019 
The Extinction Rebellion, a network of climate activists who use civil disobedience to spotlight inaction on global warming, is rooted in the conviction that humanity has dug its own grave and has one foot dangling over the edge.
The fledging movement's growing ranks, already spread across several dozen countries, believe that homo sapiens - perhaps not so "wise" after all - is doomed to t ... more |
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 Paris (ESA) Feb 21, 2019 
The outermost part of our planet's atmosphere extends well beyond the lunar orbit - almost twice the distance to the Moon.
A recent discovery based on observations by the ESA/NASA Solar and Heliospheric Observatory, SOHO, shows that the gaseous layer that wraps around Earth reaches up to 630 000 km away, or 50 times the diameter of our planet.
"The Moon flies through Earth's atmosphe ... more |
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 Fairbanks AK (SPX) Feb 20, 2019 
A research team has discovered a previously unknown species of marsupial that lived in Alaska's Arctic during the era of dinosaurs, adding a vivid new detail to a complex ancient landscape.
The thumb-sized animal, named Unnuakomys hutchisoni, lived in the Arctic about 69 million years ago during the late Cretaceous Period. Its discovery, led by scientists from the University of Colorado an ... more |
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 Johannesburg (AFP) Feb 11, 2019 
South Africa on Monday introduced its most severe electricity rationing in nearly five years, presenting President Cyril Ramaphosa with a major political challenge just months ahead of a May general election.
The debt-laden state power utility Eskom is at the centre of the country's economic troubles and has been hit by allegations of government graft.
Ramaphosa who last week admitted th ... more |
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 Sao Paulo, Brazil (SPX) Feb 18, 2019 
Current lithium ion battery technology will probably not be able to handle the coming decades' huge demand for energy. It is estimated that by 2050, electricity will make up 50% of the world's energy mix. Today that rate is 18%. But installed capacity for renewable energy production is expected to increase fourfold. This will require batteries that are more efficient, cheaper and environmentally ... more |
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 Frankfurt Am Main (AFP) Feb 17, 2019 
Germany plans an insect protection law to slash use of pesticides and pump tens of millions of euros (dollars) into research, a minister said Sunday, as global concern grows over mankind's impact on the crucial invertebrates.
"We human beings need insects, they deserve to be protected with their own law," Environment Minister Svenja Schulze told weekly Bild am Sonntag.
Her "action plan f ... more |
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 Beijing (AFP) Feb 20, 2019 
A former chief of staff of China's military was sentenced to life in prison, state media said Wednesday, after he was swept up in President Xi Jinping's ongoing anti-graft crackdown.
Appointed to the People's Liberation Army's top post in 2012, Fang Fenghui was convicted of accepting and offering bribes, and having an unclear source of a huge amount of assets, official news agency Xinhua rep ... more |
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 Jakarta (AFP) Feb 15, 2019 
Indonesian firms owe at least $1.3 billion in unpaid fines for environmental damage caused by widespread forest clearing and deadly fires linked to tens of thousands of premature deaths, a Greenpeace study said Friday.
Citing government data, the environmental group said it examined 11 civil court cases between 2012 and 2018 where palm oil and pulp-and-paper companies were ordered to pay fin ... more |
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