Satellite Shows High Productivity from US Corn Belt
Greenbelt MD (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
Data from satellite sensors show that during the Northern Hemisphere's growing season, the Midwest region of the United States boasts more photosynthetic activity than any other spot on Earth, according to NASA and university scientists.
Healthy plants convert light to energy via photosynthesis, but chlorophyll also emits a fraction of absorbed light as fluorescent glow that is invisible t ...
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Evacuations as Peru volcano rumbles to life
Lima (AFP) April 01, 2014 -
A volcano in Peru that has not blown its top in four decades spewed more ash skyward on Tuesday, after authorities evacuated villagers to avoid Ubinas's wrath.
The volcano in southwestern Peru blasted back to life causing about 60 villagers from Querapi, near its base, to be relocated Saturday, Ubinas town mayor Pascual Coaquira said.
"We are readying a shelter for refugees from the bla ...
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Powerful quake hits Chile, sparking tsunami warnings
Santiago (AFP) April 02, 2014 -
A powerful 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit near Chile's Pacific coast on Tuesday, sparking tsunami warnings for Chile, Peru and Ecuador, officials said.
The quake struck at 8:46 pm local time (2346 GMT) at a depth of 10 kilometers (six miles), 83 kilometers from Iquique on Chile's northern coast, the United States Geological Survey (USGS) said. The Hawaii-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Center is ...
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Norway keeps whaling quota unchanged for 2014
Oslo (AFP) April 01, 2014 -
Norway maintained on Tuesday its quota of previous years to hunt up to 1,286 whales in its waters in 2014, despite whalers repeatedly catching less than the limit.
"This year too, we have decided on a quota which guarantees continuity and a good framework for the whaling sector," Fisheries Minister Elisabeth Aspaker said in a statement.
Norway formally objected to the 1986 commercial wha ...
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Dwarf Planet Discovery Could Help Show Life's Spread Through Solar System
Moffett Field CA (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
On March 26, researchers announced the discovery of 2012 VP133, an estimated 280-mile wide (450-kilometer) object that lies just beyond the Kuiper Belt of icy objects that swarm outside of Neptune's orbit. The new object is nicknamed "Biden" after the vice-president of the United States, because both Joe Biden and 2012 VP133 are "VPs." It is one of only two dwarf planets discovered beyond the Ku ...
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Ancient whodunit may be solved: The microbes did it!
Boston MA (SPX) Apr 01, 2014 -
Evidence left at the crime scene is abundant and global: Fossil remains show that sometime around 252 million years ago, about 90 percent of all species on Earth were suddenly wiped out - by far the largest of this planet's five known mass extinctions. But pinpointing the culprit has been difficult, and controversial.
Now, a team of MIT researchers may have found enough evidence to convict ...
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Invasive waterways species spread due to climate change
Belfast, UK (SPX) Mar 31, 2014 -
One of the most serious threats to global biodiversity and the leisure and tourism industries is set to increase with climate change according to new research by Queen's University Belfast.
Researchers at Queen's have found that certain invasive weeds, which have previously been killed off by low winter temperatures, are set to thrive as global temperatures increase.
The team based a ...
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