Earth Blog

Space agencies, Google seek ways to save forests

2009-10-20T23:07:00.000-07:00

Space agencies and Google Inc are helping an international project to monitor forests by satellite to fight global warming, the head of an international earth observation group said.
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Toyota launches new hybrid

2009-10-20T06:47:00.000-07:00

Toyota Motor Corp is ramping up its push on gasoline-electric hybrids, launching a new model in Japan and taking on up-and-coming rival Hyundai Motor Co in its Korean home market with its flagship Prius.

Looking a step beyond hybrids, the head of Honda Motor Co said he was considering launching electric vehicles in the United States, Europe and Japan, indicating a shift in the strategy of Japan's No.2 car maker for zero-emission cars.

US Pressured to Help Fight Tropical Deforestation

2009-10-20T00:20:00.001-07:00

Maldives cabinet flags climate crisis at undersea meet

2009-10-17T09:35:00.000-07:00

The Maldives' government held an underwater cabinet meeting on Saturday in a bid to focus global attention on rising sea levels that threaten to submerge the low-lying atoll nation.

President Mohamed Nasheed plunged first into the Indian Ocean followed by his ministers, all clad in scuba gear, for the nationally televised meeting in this archipelago known as an idyllic holiday getaway for the rich.

New Type Of Flying Reptile: Darwin's Pterodactyl Preyed On Flying Dinosaurs

2009-10-15T10:19:00.001-07:00

An international group of researchers from the University of Leicester (UK), and the Geological Institute, Beijing (China) has identified a new type of flying reptile, providing the first clear evidence of an unusual and controversial type of evolution.

World needs big drive for carbon capture: IEA

2009-10-13T19:50:00.000-07:00

The world needs to build 100 major projects for capturing and burying greenhouse gases by 2020 and thousands more by 2050 to help combat climate change, according to International Energy Agency chief Nobuo Tanaka .
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Solar homes go for high-tech and practicality

2009-10-12T04:18:00.001-07:00

Time to Upgrade Windows

2009-10-11T23:31:00.000-07:00

Source : http://www.china.org.cn

China completes 3D map of moon

2009-10-08T07:02:00.000-07:00

China has completed a high-resolution, three-dimensional map of the entire surface of the moon, state media reported. After putting its first man into space in 2003 -- only the third nation to do so -- China is aiming to launch an unmanned rover on the moon's surface by 2012 and a manned mission to the moon by around 2020.The map was made using image data obtained by a camera on China's first lunar probe -- the Chang'e 1 -- launched in October 2007.China is one of only a few countries including the United States, Russia, Japan and India to have undertaken a mapping of the moon, according to Chen.

J&K in Pak, Arunachal in China on Allianz website

2009-10-05T05:51:00.000-07:00

A city court asked Delhi police to file a report on a complaint against industrialist and Rajya Sabha MP Rahul Bajaj over his group's partner company Allianz portraying Jammu and Kashmir and Arunachal Pradesh as part of Pakistan and China respectively on its website.The court then posted the matter for further hearing. Sanjay Sachdeva, a member of Delhi Pradesh National Panthers Party, and others have sought prosecution of Bajaj under charges of sedition on the ground that disfigurement of Indian map was an "anti-national" act.Responding to the allegations, Bajaj had earlier told that it was the portal of Bajaj's insurance venture partner, Allianz, that had carried the alleged map with the discrepancy."I have nothing to do with the case as it was Allianz which had put the map on its website. They have, in fact, corrected the discrepancy as soon as it was pointed out about a month back," Bajaj had said.

Source : http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com

Poor Nations' Climate Adaptation Could Cost $100 Billion a Year

2009-10-03T05:18:00.000-07:00

Helping developing countries adapt to climate change will cost the world between US$75 and $100 billion per year for the period 2010 to 2050, according World Bank . The figures are detailed in the most in-depth analysis of the economics of climate change adaptation published to date.

Mercury Probe Shuts Down During Key Flyby

2009-09-30T23:16:00.000-07:00

A spacecraft en route to map the innermost planet in our solar system shut down during a key pass by Mercury on Tuesday, missing about half of its planned investigations, officials said Wednesday.
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Alaska Coast Eroding Fast

2009-09-29T08:32:00.000-07:00

Burning Leaves is Bad News:Mulching not burning is the new Fall ritual

2009-09-27T22:30:00.000-07:00

Vietnam’s RS satellite model completed

2009-09-26T05:27:00.000-07:00

Vietnamese engineers have completed the technical model of the country’s first remote sensing satellite, a local newswire reported. The Pico-Dragon satellite is expected to be launched between 2010 and 2011 along with other countries, Pham Anh Tuan – deputy head of Space Technology Institute (STI) told Vietnamnet.The launching of the satellite, whose functions include taking high-resolution photographs of natural resources, aiding weather forecasts and monitoring phenomenon like storms, will be a test of Vietnam’s ability to make its own satellites, Tuan said.Made by STI in cooperation with Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, Pico-Dragon weighs less than two kilograms with 10x10x10 centimeter dimensions and will have a life expectancy of around six months.

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Water Found on the Moon

2009-09-24T11:46:00.000-07:00

Floodgates Might Not Save Venice

2009-09-21T20:33:00.000-07:00

The construction of mobile floodgates aims to safeguard the 1,300-year-old island city of Venice. It's an ambitious engineering project, but some scientists say it may not be sufficient to protect Venice from rising sea levels due to climate change.

Venice rose from mudflats in the middle of a lagoon which forms the largest wetland in the Mediterranean. One of the world's most endangered cities, it has been subject to increasing flooding due to sinking land — but also to rising sea levels.

It's known as "aqua alta" — high water — and it brings city life to a standstill for several hours. Big boats can't go under low-hanging bridges, and water seeps into buildings through the sewage system. Venetians have not lived on the ground floor for decades.

Toy Trains in India

2009-09-19T12:06:00.000-07:00

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Arctic Ice Third-smallest on Record

2009-09-19T07:30:00.000-07:00

The range of ocean remaining frozen over the northern polar region reached its minimum extent for 2009 on September 12, when it covered 1.97 million square miles (5.1 million square km), and now appears to be growing again as the Arctic starts its annual cool-down, the National Snow and Ice Data Center reported. ..

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Using waste to recover waste uranium

2009-09-17T22:02:00.000-07:00

Using bacteria and inositol phosphate, a chemical analogue of a cheap waste material from plants, researchers at Birmingham University have recovered uranium from the polluted waters from uranium mines. The same technology can also be used to clean up nuclear waste. Professor Lynne Macaskie, , presented the group's work to the Society for General Microbiology's meeting at Heriot-Watt University, Edinburgh.