Biologist gains insight into genetic evolution of birds
Lincoln NE (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
A University of Nebraska-Lincoln researcher has contributed to discoveries about bird evolution as part of a new study that sequenced the complete genomes of 45 avian species.
Published Dec. 11 in the journal Science, the study found that avian genomes - the complete archive of genetic material present in cells - have exhibited surprisingly slow rates of evolution when compared with their ...
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How birds get by without external ears
Munich, Germany (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
Unlike mammals, birds have no external ears. The outer ears of mammals play an important function in that they help the animal identify sounds coming from different elevations. But birds are also able to perceive whether the source of a sound is above them, below them, or at the same level.
Now a research team from Technische Universitat Munchen (TUM) has discovered how birds are able to l ...
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Genes tell story of birdsong and human speech
Durham NC (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
His office is filled with all sorts of bird books, but Duke neuroscientist Erich Jarvis didn't become an expert on the avian family tree because of any particular interest in our feathered friends. Rather, it was his fascination with how the human brain understands and reproduces speech that brought him to the birds.
"We've known for many years that the singing behavior of birds is similar ...
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Thousands without power as storm batters California
San Francisco (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
About 150,000 people were left without power Thursday as a powerful storm slammed into drought-stricken California, bringing snow, heavy rain and ferocious winds to the western US state.
Winds gusting up to 230 kilometers (140 miles) per hour and the biggest snowfalls for six years were reported, although it was expected to do little to compensate for a drought now in its third year.
The ...
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In Lebanon, a garden blooms on former 'trash mountain'
Sidon, Lebanon (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Lebanon's southern city of Sidon is best known for its Crusader castle and ancient market, but a more modern landmark has marred its Mediterranean shoreline for decades - a towering "mountain" of trash.
In the summer, reeking fumes hung over the city, and fires broke out at the dump. Rubbish washed out to sea reaching Cyprus, 260 kilometres (160 miles) away in the Mediterranean, and was pus ...
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NASA's CATS: A Launch of Exceptional Teamwork
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 09, 2014 -
There aren't enough people on NASA's Cloud-Aerosol Transport System (CATS) team to field both sides of a football scrimmage, but there are enough to build and test the Earth-observing instrument, bound for the International Space Station on Dec. 16.
Consisting of 19 people, including three high school students, the CATS team designed and built a new cloud and aerosol measurement instrument ...
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Superbugs could kill 'more than cancer' by 2050
London (UPI) Dec 11, 2014 -
A new report commissioned by U.K. Prime Minister David Cameron says antimicrobial resistant bacteria, or superbugs, will kill more people than cancer by 2050.
Deaths due to AMR currently number about 700,000 a year. By 2050, that number could rise to 10 million - more than the number of people killed by cancer each year.
The presence of AMRs could also deny doctors the possibili ...
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ADS to build Falcon Eye Earth-observation system for UAE
Paris, France (SPX) Dec 10, 2014 -
Airbus Defence and Space has signed as the leader of the industrial team (including Thales Alenia Space as co-prime contractor), a contract with the Armed Forces of the United Arab Emirates (UAEAF) for the development, manufacture and launch of Falcon Eye, a high-performance optical Earth-observation satellite system. The contract was officially signed by the United Arab Emirates in August 2014 ...
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International team maps 'big bang' of bird evolution
Beijing (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
The genomes of modern birds tell a story of how they emerged and evolved after the mass extinction that wiped out dinosaurs and almost everything else 66 million years ago. That story is now coming to light, thanks to an ambitious international collaboration that has been underway for four years.
The first findings of the Avian Phylogenomics Consortium are being reported nearly simultaneou ...
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Don't wreck deal, US warns, as climate talks jam
Lima (AFP) Dec 12, 2014 -
The United States urged developing countries Thursday to ease objections to a world deal on climate change as deadlines loomed at a 12-day UN meeting in Lima.
The talks, meant to pave the way to a landmark pact in Paris next year, are scheduled to conclude on Friday, but delegates reported deadlock and a souring mood as the final day neared.
In a speech touching on one of the thorniest i ...
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'Catastrophic' Bangladesh oil spill threatens rare dolphins
Dhaka (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
An oil spill from a crashed tanker in Bangladesh is threatening endangered dolphins in the vast Sundarbans delta, officials warned Thursday, calling it an ecological "catastrophe".
The tanker was carrying an estimated 357,000 litres (77,000 gallons) of oil when it sank in the Sundarbans' Shela river, home to rare Irrawaddy and Ganges dolphins, after colliding with another vessel on Tuesday. ...
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Mexico readies for offshore licensing round
Mexico City (UPI) Dec 11, 2014 -
The first package of licenses for work in the shallow waters off the coast of Mexico is coming as the government weighs the market for crude, an official said.
Mexico is holding a licensing round for shallow water acreage in its territorial waters in the Gulf of Mexico. An official in the oil sector told Argus energy news media the round was timed with slumping oil prices in mind.
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Russia sees promise in energy ties with India
New Delhi (UPI) Dec 11, 2014 -
Bilateral efforts to expand cooperation in the oil and gas sector between Russia and India hold "great promise," the Kremlin said Thursday.
"We are paving the way for long-term, true and mutually beneficial cooperation," Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a state visit to New Delhi.
Russia is examining its energy options as Western sanctions take their toll on its econo ...
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U.S. House weighs oil export ban
Washington (UPI) Dec 11, 2014 -
House leaders hear testimony Thursday on policies restricting crude oil exports, arguing America's updated energy outlook mean it's time to redraft the rules.
Advances in hydraulic fracturing and horizontal drilling, techniques usually described under the banner of fracking, have resulted in exponential increases in U.S. oil production. The U.S. Energy Information Administration estima ...
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U.S. oil group applauds pro-export bill
Washington (UPI) Dec 10, 2014 -
A consortium of oil producers in the United States said it welcomed the introduction of a bill that would ease restrictions on U.S. crude oil exports.
Rep. Joe Barton, R-Texas, introduced a bill Tuesday that would remove all restrictions on the export of crude oil from the United States. Output from U.S. shale, he said, has placed the country as the top oil producer in the world and law ...
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Clock ticks as climate talks grapple with carbon cuts
Lima (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Environment ministers faced mounting time pressure on Thursday to shape a blueprint for a global pact on climate change with ground-breaking carbon curbs at its core.
On the penultimate day of talks in Lima, concern grew over an unwieldy draft text intended to guide negotiations which, by December 2015, must forge the most ambitious environmental accord in history.
There was also a flare ...
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Internet trend puts users center stage
San Francisco (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Sensors that track steps, pulse, diet and more marked a wearable computing fashion trend this year as they evolve from measuring what we've done to telling us what to do.
Smart bracelets, watches, and pendants increasingly adorned the techno-chic, and for some even their dogs sported medallions tracking whether they nap too much and run too little.
Data gathered by sensors is fed to smar ...
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China boosts bank liquidity with $65 billion fund injection
Shanghai (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
China's central bank has stepped up its efforts to pump more cash into its banking system with a $65 billion fund injection, Dow Jones Newswires reported Thursday.
The People's Bank of China (PBoC) on Wednesday injected around 400 billion yuan into the interbank market where banks borrow from each other, Dow said, citing people familiar with the matter.
It came after an earlier 500 billi ...
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Poland faces EU fines over renewable energy failures
Luxembourg (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Poland faces heavy fines for breaking EU laws on renewable energy use, officials said Wednesday, dealing a blow to an eastern European member almost entirely reliant on coal.
The senior legal advisor to the European Union's top court, advocate general Melchior Wathelet, said Poland should be fined 61,380 euros ($76,081) a day.
Warsaw had failed to fulfil its obligations under an EU energ ...
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Sanctions-hit Putin seals nuclear energy deals in India
New Delhi (AFP) Dec 11, 2014 -
Russia will build 10 more nuclear reactors in energy-starved India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said Thursday, after talks with President Vladimir Putin aimed at shoring up ties between the long-time allies.
Putin is in New Delhi seeking to strengthen energy, defence and strategic ties in Asia in an attempt to revive Russia's economy, badly hit by US and EU sanctions over its backing of an ...
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Russia, India Agree on Construction of New Nuclear Energy Blocks
New Delhi, India (Sputnik) Dec 12, 2014 -
Russia and India have agreed on the construction of at least 12 new nuclear energy blocks within the next 20 years to include two new blocks for the existing Kudankulam Nuclear Power Plant in India's southern tip in 2016, Russia's Rosatom head Sergei Kiriyenko said Thursday.
"This morning a general framework agreement was signed on the construction and equipment delivery for the third and ...
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Russia-Turkey NPP Cooperation Goes as Planned
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Dec 11, 2014 -
The cooperation between Russia and Turkey over the construction of the Akkuyu nuclear power plant is going as scheduled, Turkish Minister of Energy and Natural Resources Taner Yildiz said Wednesday.
"We had a very positive meeting with [the head of the Russian nuclear corporation Rosatom Sergei] Kirienko, and of course we, both sides, are closely following the implementation of this projec ...
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Japanese Nation Forgetting Fukushima Plant Cleanup Workers
Moscow, Russia (Sputnik) Dec 11, 2014 -
As elections are nearing in Japan, many of the people working toward the decommissioning of the crippled Fukushima No. 1 nuclear plant say they want voters to know about their harsh working conditions, insufficient pay and worries of radiation exposure, reports The Japan Times.
There are around 6,000 people a day working in the decommissioning process at the plant and it is expected to tak ...
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New 'electronic skin' for prosthetics, robotics detects pressure from different directions
Washington DC (SPX) Dec 12, 2014 -
Touch can be a subtle sense, but it communicates quickly whether something in our hands is slipping, for example, so we can tighten our grip.
For the first time, scientists report the development of a stretchable "electronic skin" closely modeled after our own that can detect not just pressure, but also what direction it's coming from. The study on the advance, which could have application ...
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China November industrial output at three-month low
Beijing (AFP) Dec 12, 2014 -
China's industrial output expanded at its slowest pace in three months in November, official data showed Friday, with other key indicators also pointing to weakness in the world's second-largest economy.
Industrial production, which measures output at factories, workshops and mines, rose 7.2 percent year-on-year last month, the weakest since August's 6.9 percent, data from the National Burea ...
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