US, Chinese navies train together despite tensions
Shanghai (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
A US warship began a week-long port call in China Monday, a moment of cooperation as the two Asia-Pacific powerhouses jockey for position in the disputed South China Sea.
The USS Stethem, a guided missile destroyer, arrived in Shanghai ahead of planned drills with the People's Liberation Army Navy that include communications exercises and a surface rescue simulation.
The ship's commandin ...
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Beauty queen in Miss World standoff with China over rights
Ottawa (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
Canada's Chinese-born Miss World contender said Monday she is being denied entry by Beijing to compete in the international pageant because of her human rights activism.
Anastasia Lin, a 25-year-old actress crowned Miss World Canada in May, says China is blocking her from travelling to the resort of Sanya for the contest finals on December 19.
"They haven't sent me an invitation letter t ...
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Precarious future: The battle to save Taiwan's Queen's Head
Yehliu, Taiwan (AFP) Nov 13, 2015 -
Scientists are battling to save Taiwan's ancient "Queen's Head" rock from erosion - but the island is split over whether technology should be used to preserve the precarious natural masterpiece.
More than three million people visit the coastal landmark in northern Yehliu each year, named for its supposed likeness to England's Queen Elizabeth I.
The tilting "head" is an imposing sweep of ...
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World leaders back drive for Paris climate deal
Antalya, Turkey (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
Leaders of the world's top economies on Monday backed a drive to curb catastrophic climate change at an upcoming UN conference in Paris, according to a statement drawn up in tough, all-night talks.
Negotiators at a Group of 20 summit in Turkey haggled into the early hours as Saudi Arabia and India initially refused to include specific goals such as limiting global warming to less than two de ...
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China landslide deaths rise to 25
Beijing (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
The death toll from a landslide triggered by flooding in China has risen to 25, with 12 more people missing, state-run media reported Monday.
The avalanche of mud and rock caused by torrential rains engulfed 27 homes last Friday night in Lishui in the eastern province of Zhejiang, the China News Service said. Only one person among the 38 people inside the houses when the landslide struck esc ...
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'Regional disaster' warning as S.Africa suffers drought
Johannesburg (AFP) Nov 13, 2015 -
Five of South Africa's nine provinces have been declared drought disaster areas for agriculture following one of the driest rainy seasons in decades, the government said Friday, warning of a potential "regional disaster."
Agriculture Minister Senzeni Zokwana said the drought had affected all provinces in South Africa and that exports would be restricted as a result, hitting neighbouring coun ...
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Fear and beauty at foot of Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano
Cotopaxi, Ecuador (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
Since it awoke in August from a 138-year slumber, Ecuador's Cotopaxi volcano has become one of the most-watched in the world, holding wary locals and fascinated scientists in thrall.
Cotopaxi, whose snowy peak rises majestically from the patchwork quilt of central Ecuador's high plains, rumbled to life on August 14, belching a column of ash in its first major eruption since 1877.
Preside ...
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Britain ends military support for Ebola fight in West Africa
London (UPI) Nov 13, 2015 -
British military involvement in the fight against the lethal Ebola outbreak in West Africa came to an end as the final eight military personnel returned home.
Britain committed more than 1,500 military personnel to Sierra Leone to help oversee the construction of six treatment centers funded by the British government. Military personnel also helped train more than 4,000 medical personne ...
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Honduran army goes to war against invading bugs
Tegucigalpa (AFP) Nov 17, 2015 -
For Honduran soldiers fanning out in the pine forest, their chainsaws roaring, the enemy is like no other: numbering in the thousands, invading a sizeable chunk of their country and causing incalculable environmental damage.
Their tenacious adversary? A tree-munching bug called Dentroctomus frontalis, more commonly known in North and Central America as the southern pine beetle.
It has al ...
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In Kenya, a digital classroom in a box
Nairobi (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
At the Lighthouse Grace Academy in Nairobi's downmarket Kwangware suburb, yellow school t-shirts carry the slogan 'To Fear God is Wisdom', but in their hands pupils clutch a more worldly path to knowledge: tablet computers.
The hand-sized tablets are part of the 'Kio Kit', a digital classroom in a suitcase designed by local technology company BRCK, which two years ago launched the hard-wear ...
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Cattle dying in South Africa as drought deepens
Molatedi, South Africa (AFP) Nov 16, 2015 -
In the middle of a desiccated lake bed in South Africa's North West province, a seven-month-old calf is too weak to get up. It is doomed to die from thirst and hunger.
A devastating drought is claiming thousands of livestock in Africa's most developed economy and prompting many to fear famine.
A few kilometres (miles) away in the district of Madikwe, 30 villagers join Josephine Motsoasel ...
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Southern right whale calf wounding by kelp gulls increased to nearly all over 4 decades
London, UK (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Wounding of southern right whale calves and mothers by Kelp Gulls has increased from 2% to 99% over four decades, according to a study published in the open-access journal PLOS ONE by Carina Maron from the University of Utah and colleagues.
Over 600 southern right whale calves died at the Peninsula Valdes calving ground, Argentina, between 2003 and 2014. This is a vastly larger number than ...
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Growing Antarctic ice sheet caused ancient Mediterranean to dry up
Dunedin, New Zealand (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
An international research team led by a scientist at New Zealand's University of Otago has resolved the mystery of the processes involved in the Mediterranean Sea drying up around 5.6 million years ago.
The event, known as the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC), saw the Mediterranean become a 1.5km deep basin for around 270,000 years. It also left a kilometers-deep layer of salt due to seawat ...
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No more brown apples
Vienna, Austria (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Everybody knows this phenomenon: After slicing an apple, it loses its appetising white colour very quickly, which does not only scare off children. Although browned fruit is not harmful, we unwillingly eat "old-looking" fruit and throw away huge quantities of fresh products each year.
The reason for this ugly colouring is a chemical reaction, which is due to the catalysis caused by the enz ...
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Climate change adaptation in high income countries
Montreal, Canada (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
We all know that the climate is changing, but how can we best prepare for some of the changes that lie ahead? Should coastal cities change their building codes to accommodate rising sea levels? Should we allocate more resources to tree-planting to reduce urban heat islands? These are examples of local initiatives that can make a difference to climate change adaptation.
Indeed, climate adap ...
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Scientists date the origin of the cacao tree to 10 million years ago
Washington DC (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Chocolate, produced from seeds of the cacao tree Theobroma cacao, is one of the most popular flavors in the world, with sales around 100$ billion dollars per year. Yet, as worldwide demand increases, there are fears the industry will fail to cope with growing public hunger for the product.
The main problem, common to many crops, is the lack of genetic variation in cultivated cacao, which m ...
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Thermal sensitivity of marine communities reveals the most vulnerable to global warming
Southampton, UK (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
The sensitivity of marine communities to ocean warming rather than rising ocean temperatures will have strong short-term impacts on biodiversity changes associated with global warming, according to new research.
The study, involving scientists from the Universities of Southampton (UK), Stockholm (Sweden) and Tasmania (Australia), found that while some communities - a set of interacting spe ...
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NMSU researchers find some surprising results testing mosquito repellents
Las Cruces NM (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
If you want to keep away blood-sucking insects, DEET products are your best bet according to a recent study from New Mexico State University. Researchers also discovered a certain perfume performed better at protecting against mosquitoes than some commercial insect repellents.
"Not all repellents are created equal - unfortunately they're advertised as such," said Stacy Rodriguez, research ...
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Early farmers exploited beehive products at least 8,500 years ago
Bristol, UK (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Humans have been exploiting bees as far back as the Stone Age, according to new research from the University of Bristol published in Nature.
Previous evidence from prehistoric rock art is inferred to show honey hunters and Pharaonic Egyptian murals show early scenes of beekeeping. However, the close association between early farmers and the honeybee remained ...
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Largest ensemble simulation of global weather using real-world data
Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
When performing numerical weather predictions, it is important that the simulation itself be accurate, but it is also key for real-world data, based on observations, to be accurately entered into the model.
Typically, weather simulations work by having the computer conduct a number of simulations based on the current state, and then entering observational data into the simulation to nudge ...
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Geophysics could slow Antarctic ice retreat
Montreal, Canada (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
The anticipated melting of the massive West Antarctic Ice Sheet could be slowed by two big factors that are largely overlooked in current computer models, according to a new study.
The findings, published online in Nature Communications, suggest that the impact on global sea levels from the retreating ice sheet could be less drastic - or at least more gradual - than recent computer simulat ...
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Conducting gels - from waste to wealth
York UK (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Research by scientists at the University of York has demonstrated an innovative way of using a gel to extract precious metals such as silver and gold from waste and convert them into conducting nanoparticles to form a hybrid nanomaterial potentially suitable for a range of high-tech applications.
Discarded electronic devices are an ever-increasing waste stream containing high-value preciou ...
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ORNL device combines power of mass spectrometry, microscopy
Oak Ridge TN (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
A tool that provides world-class microscopy and spatially resolved chemical analysis shows considerable promise for advancing a number of areas of study, including chemical science, pharmaceutical development and disease progression.
The hybrid optical microscope/mass spectrometry-based imaging system developed at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory operates under ambi ...
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Computers tackle one of chemistry's greatest challenges
Bradford, UK (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
Researchers from the University of Bradford have joined forces with German high-tech company, Avant-garde Materials Simulation, to successfully predict the crystal structures of small organic molecules by computational methods without experimental input.
These findings were revealed in the 6th blind test of crystal structure prediction, an exercise conducted by twenty five international re ...
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Discovery of classic pi formula a 'cunning piece of magic'
Rochester NY (SPX) Nov 17, 2015 -
While most people associate the mathematical constant p (pi) with arcs and circles, mathematicians are accustomed to seeing it in a variety of fields. But two University of Rochester scientists were still surprised to find it lurking in a quantum mechanics formula for the energy states of the hydrogen atom.
"We didn't just find pi," said Tamar Friedmann, a visiting assistant professor of m ...
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