Study demonstrates potential support for ban on microbeads in cosmetics

Study demonstrates potential support for ban on microbeads in cosmetics Plymouth UK (SPX) Nov 14, 2016 - Public awareness regarding the presence of microbeads within personal care products is lacking in some areas but there are strong indications that a ban on their inclusion would be widely supported, according to new research. A study led by the University of Plymouth explored attitudes regarding the presence of microplastic particles within readily available cosmetics. It found while certa ... more

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Spaceflight Industries Reveals First Images from BlackSky Pathfinder-1

Spaceflight Industries Reveals First Images from BlackSky Pathfinder-1 Seattle WA (SPX) Nov 16, 2016 - Spaceflight Industries, a next-generation space company enabling access to space and redefining global intelligence, has revealed some of the first photos captured by its BlackSky Pathfinder-1 satellite after a successful launch on September 26 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Additional images from Pathfinder-1 can be found on the BlackSky blog. "The preliminary resu ... more

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Spaceflight Industries Reveals First Images from BlackSky Pathfinder-1

Spaceflight Industries Reveals First Images from BlackSky Pathfinder-1 Seattle WA (SPX) Nov 16, 2016 - Spaceflight Industries, a next-generation space company enabling access to space and redefining global intelligence, has revealed some of the first photos captured by its BlackSky Pathfinder-1 satellite after a successful launch on September 26 from Satish Dhawan Space Center in Sriharikota, India. Additional images from Pathfinder-1 can be found on the BlackSky blog. "The preliminary resu ... more

Study demonstrates potential support for ban on microbeads in cosmetics Plymouth UK (SPX) Nov 14, 2016 - Public awareness regarding the presence of microbeads within personal care products is lacking in some areas but there are strong indications that a ban on their inclusion would be widely supported, according to new research. A study led by the University of Plymouth explored attitudes regarding the presence of microplastic particles within readily available cosmetics. It found while certa ... more

+ Foreign medics treat wounded children in Iraq's Mosul
+ African leaders in Morocco to unify stance on global warming
+ Relieved tourists escape New Zealand quake town
+ Scientists fear the worst under a Trump presidency
+ Thai court scraps mine defamation case in rare media win
+ CEOs, leaders urge Trump to stand by climate pact
+ Two tigers killed or trafficked every week: report
+ Voting in an election 'with Chinese characteristics'
+ More than a shield: New snail species uses shell as a weapon
+ China's most-wanted corruption fugitive returns from US
+ Researchers discover new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome
+ New model reveals adaptations of world's most abundant ocean microbe
+ Bacteria discovery offers possible new means of controlling crop pest
+ How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts
+ Study finds less gloomy outlook for subtropical rainfall
+ Mississippi River could leave farmland stranded
+ Underwater video reveals culprits behind disappearance of NSW kelp forests
+ Farewell to Sentinel-2B
+ Liquid Screen Protector to the Rescue
+ The Carpenter's Dream Tool

Quantifying the hidden environmental cost of hydroelectric dams

Quantifying the hidden environmental cost of hydroelectric dams Washington DC (SPX) Nov 14, 2016 - Hydroelectricity is a renewable energy, and the facilities that produce it give off less greenhouse gases than other power plants. But damming bodies of water can lead to the production and release of methylmercury from the soil. This toxic compound can move up the food chain and potentially harm human health. In the ACS journal Environmental Science and Technology, researchers quantify th ... more

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Dakota Access pipeline delayed

Dakota Access pipeline delayed Washington (UPI) Nov 15, 2016 - A federal decision on the Dakota Access pipeline shows Washington is listening, though parties to the debate differed on the wisdom of that attention. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers said further review was needed in order to assess tribal interests associated with the construction of the last few hundred feet of the Dakota Access pipeline. The decision means pipeline consortium Energy ... more

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NASA finds unusual origins of high-energy electrons

NASA finds unusual origins of high-energy electrons Greenbelt MD (SPX) Nov 16, 2016 - High above the surface, Earth's magnetic field constantly deflects incoming supersonic particles from the sun. These particles are disturbed in regions just outside of Earth's magnetic field - and some are reflected into a turbulent region called the foreshock. New observations from NASA's THEMIS mission show that this turbulent region can accelerate electrons up to speeds approaching the speed ... more

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Scientists probe underground depths of Earth's carbon cycle

Scientists probe underground depths of Earth's carbon cycle Chicago IL (SPX) Nov 14, 2016 - Understanding how carbon dissolves in water at the molecular level under extreme conditions is critical to understanding the Earth's deep carbon cycle--a process that ultimately influences global climate change. Contrary to current geochemical models, the carbon dissolved in water-rich fluid at the bottom of the Earth's upper mantle is not in the form of carbon dioxide but rather in carbonate an ... more

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Early evidence of dairying discovered

Early evidence of dairying discovered York, UK (SPX) Nov 16, 2016 - A team of scientists and archaeologists have discovered widespread evidence of prehistoric milk production in southern Europe. The study, a collaboration between the University of York, the University of Bristol, and the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, uncovered evidence that humans have been utilising milk and dairy products across the northern Mediterranean region from the onset ... more

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UN seeks more climate finance from rich nations

UN seeks more climate finance from rich nations Marrakesh, Morocco (AFP) Nov 15, 2016 - The UN urged rich nations Tuesday to ramp up financial aid to help poor countries shore up their defences against climate change. Finance is a hot-button topic at the annual round of UN climate talks underway in Marrakesh, Morocco - the first since the world's nations adopted a hard-fought agreement last year to rein in global warming from fossil fuels. Rich nations pledged back in 2009 ... more

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Ban 'optimistic' as leaders tackle climate change in Trump shadow

Ban 'optimistic' as leaders tackle climate change in Trump shadow Marrakesh, Morocco (AFP) Nov 15, 2016 - Donald Trump's election loomed large over climate talks on Tuesday where UN chief Ban Ki-moon urged nations to redouble their planet-rescue efforts and voiced hope the US would not pull out of its commitments. Elected to the White House a week ago, Trump has called global warming a "hoax" perpetrated by China and threatened to "cancel" the hard-fought Paris Agreement concluded a year ago. ... more

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Battery cars a better choice for reducing emissions than fuel cells

Battery cars a better choice for reducing emissions than fuel cells Stanford CA (SPX) Nov 16, 2016 - Many communities would be better off investing in electric vehicles that run on batteries instead of hydrogen fuel cells, in part because the hydrogen infrastructure provides few additional energy benefits for the community besides clean transportation. That's according to a study in the November issue of the journal Energy by scientists at Stanford University and the Technical University of Mun ... more

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Tech would use drones and insect biobots to map disaster areas

Tech would use drones and insect biobots to map disaster areas Raleigh, NC (SPX) Nov 18, 2016 - Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a combination of software and hardware that will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar areas - such as collapsed buildings after a disaster. "The idea would be to release a swarm of sensor-equipped biobots - such as remotely controlled cockroaches - into a coll ... more

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Another species of Varroa mite threatens European honeybees

Another species of Varroa mite threatens European honeybees West Lafayette IN (SPX) Nov 18, 2016 - A sister species of the Varroa destructor mite is developing the ability to parasitize European honeybees, threatening pollinators already hard pressed by pesticides, nutritional deficiencies and disease, a Purdue University study says. Researchers found that some populations of Varroa jacobsoni mites are shifting from feeding and reproducing on Asian honeybees, their preferred host, to Eu ... more

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Another species of Varroa mite threatens European honeybees

Another species of Varroa mite threatens European honeybees West Lafayette IN (SPX) Nov 18, 2016 - A sister species of the Varroa destructor mite is developing the ability to parasitize European honeybees, threatening pollinators already hard pressed by pesticides, nutritional deficiencies and disease, a Purdue University study says. Researchers found that some populations of Varroa jacobsoni mites are shifting from feeding and reproducing on Asian honeybees, their preferred host, to Eu ... more

Tech would use drones and insect biobots to map disaster areas Raleigh, NC (SPX) Nov 18, 2016 - Researchers at North Carolina State University have developed a combination of software and hardware that will allow them to use unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and insect cyborgs, or biobots, to map large, unfamiliar areas - such as collapsed buildings after a disaster. "The idea would be to release a swarm of sensor-equipped biobots - such as remotely controlled cockroaches - into a coll ... more

+ Crop yield gets big boost with modified genes in photosynthesis
+ Farewell to Sentinel-2B
+ Corals survived Caribbean climate change
+ Slovenia amends constitution to ensure right to water
+ Rift Valley Fever epidemic kills at least 32 in Niger
+ UN meeting urges 'highest political commitment' on climate change
+ Earth sees hottest year-to-date in modern era: US
+ New Zealand navy ships 'shellshocked' quake tourists to safety
+ Trump looms large over French presidential race
+ The Carpenter's Dream Tool
+ The Insomniac's Best Friend
+ Mutation that triggered multicellular life altered protein flexibility
+ Instant Shade for the Sedan
+ Sticky Cell Phones: End of the Line for the Selfie Stick
+ DNA study unravels the history of the world's most produced cereal
+ Large forest die-offs can have effects that ricochet to distant ecosystems
+ Probing Greenland's ice sheet for future satellites
+ Unraveling the mysterious source of methane gas in the ocean
+ How NASA and John Deere Helped Tractors Drive Themselves
+ Oregon team says life in Earth's soils may be older than believed

When in Trouble, Smart Whistle

When in Trouble, Smart Whistle Tokyo, Japan (JPN) Nov 17, 2016 - Thanks to internet-of-things (IoT) technology, the venerable safety whistle has just gotten an upgrade. And this version barely needs a breath to sound the alarm. Engineers at Taipei (Taiwan) headquartered theWISO.com have developed the eponymous WISO smart whistle, touted as the world's first Bluetooth-connected device of its kind. Scarcely larger than a conventional air-driven whistle, t ... more

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Researchers discover new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome

Researchers discover new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome New York NY (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - Most antibiotics in use today are based on natural molecules produced by bacteria - and given the rise of antibiotic resistance, there's an urgent need to find more of them. Yet coaxing bacteria to produce new antibiotics is a tricky proposition. Most bacteria won't grow in the lab. And even when they do, most of the genes that cause them to churn out molecules with antibiotic properties never g ... more

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Study finds less gloomy outlook for subtropical rainfall

Study finds less gloomy outlook for subtropical rainfall Miami FL (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - A new study found that rainfall over land in the subtropics - including in the southeastern U.S. - will not decline as much as it does over oceans in response to increased greenhouse gases. The study challenges our previous understanding of the drying that will occur in subtropical regions and suggests its impact on people living in these regions could be less severe than initially thought. ... more

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How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts

How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts Seattle WA (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - Humans have always been frightened and fascinated by lightning. This month, NASA is scheduled to launch a new satellite that will provide the first nonstop, high-tech eye on lightning over the North American section of the planet. University of Washington researchers have been tracking global lightning from the ground for more than a decade. Lightning is not only about public safety - ligh ... more

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Mississippi River could leave farmland stranded

Mississippi River could leave farmland stranded Urbana IL (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - If the Mississippi River continues to go unchecked, the farmland on Dogtooth Bend peninsula may be only accessible by boat. According to a University of Illinois study, each successive flood carves a deeper channel across the narrow neck of the peninsula. This floodwater shortcut threatens to permanently reroute the Mississippi River, leaving Dogtooth Bend an island rather than a peninsula. ... more

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New model reveals adaptations of world's most abundant ocean microbe

New model reveals adaptations of world's most abundant ocean microbe Honolulu HI (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - Researchers from David Karl's laboratory at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) and from Professor Jens Nielsen's laboratory at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden, developed a computer model which takes into account hundreds of genes, chemical reactions, and compounds required for the survival of Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic microbe on the planet. ... more

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Bacteria discovery offers possible new means of controlling crop pest

Bacteria discovery offers possible new means of controlling crop pest Corvallis OR (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - A bacterium common in insects has been discovered in a plant-parasitic roundworm, opening up the possibility of a new, environmentally friendly way of controlling the crop-damaging pest. The worm, Pratylenchus penetrans, is one of the "lesion nematodes" - microscopic animals that deploy their mouths like syringes to extract nutrients from the roots of plants, damaging them in the process. This p ... more

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Underwater video reveals culprits behind disappearance of NSW kelp forests

Underwater video reveals culprits behind disappearance of NSW kelp forests Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 - Seaweed-eating fish are becoming increasingly voracious as the ocean warms due to climate change and are responsible for the recent destruction of kelp forests off the NSW north coast near Coffs Harbour, research shows. The study includes an analysis of underwater video covering a 10 year period between 2002 and 2012 during which the water warmed by 0.6 degrees. "Kelp forests provide vital ... more

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