Scientific discoveries during search for missing plane
Washington DC (UPI) Sep 14, 2014 -
Using sonar, radar and satellite data, investigator still haven't been able to find missing Malaysia Airlines Flight 370. What they have found are "seamounts and volcanoes" previously not known to exist. The investigators will continue the search on September 22, and they'll be inspecting 23,000 square miles of ocean to the west of Australia. They plan to use oil sensors to try and detect leak ...
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Seismic gap may be filled by an earthquake near Istanbul
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 15, 2014 -
When a segment of a major fault line goes quiet, it can mean one of two things: The "seismic gap" may simply be inactive - the result of two tectonic plates placidly gliding past each other - or the segment may be a source of potential earthquakes, quietly building tension over decades until an inevitable seismic release.
Researchers from MIT and Turkey have found evidence for both types o ...
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Brazil builds giant tower in Amazon to monitor climate
Brasilia (AFP) Sept 14, 2014 -
Brazil is building a giant observation tower in the heart of the Amazon to monitor climate change and its impact on the region's sensitive ecosystem, a newspaper reported Sunday.
The Amazon Tall Tower Observatory (ATTO) is a project of Brazil's National Institute of Amazonian Research and Germany's Max Planck Institute, O Estado de Sao Paulo said.
The tower, which will rise 325 meters ( ...
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Typhoon Kalmaegi sweeps out of Philippines
Manila (AFP) Sept 15, 2014 -
Typhoon Kalmaegi swept out of the Philippines on Monday after causing chest-deep floods in some rural areas but largely leaving the storm-prone country unscathed, authorities said.
The storm, with winds of 160 kilometres (100 miles) an hour, struck the northeast of the main Philippine island of Luzon on Sunday evening, then moved west across land before heading into the South China Sea on Mo ...
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'Dangerous' hurricane eyes Mexico Pacific resorts
Cabo San Lucas, Mexico (AFP) Sept 15, 2014 -
Hurricane Odile swirled menacingly toward Mexico's Los Cabos resorts on Sunday, forcing authorities to evacuate high-risk areas and open shelters as the powerful storm threatened to thrash the Pacific coast.
The "dangerous" category three storm in the five-level Saffir-Simpson scale packed 205 kilometer (125 mile) per hour winds as it approached the Baja California peninsula, according to th ...
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Diversified farming practices might preserve evolutionary diversity of wildlife
Stanford CA (SPX) Sep 15, 2014 -
As humans transform the planet to meet our needs, all sorts of wildlife continue to be pushed aside, including many species that play key roles in Earth's life-support systems. In particular, the transformation of forests into agricultural lands has dramatically reduced biodiversity around the world.
A new study by scientists at Stanford and the University of California, Berkeley, in this ...
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Plastic pollution choking Australian waters: study
Sydney (AFP) Sept 15, 2014 -
Three-quarters of the trash found off Australian beaches is plastic, a study released Monday said as it warned that the rubbish is entangling and being swallowed by wildlife.
Researchers surveyed the vast Australian coastline at intervals of about 100 kilometres (62 miles), compiling the world's largest collection of marine debris data, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Org ...
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