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SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — A species of spider that usually travels no further than a few feet from where it was hatched, likely made an epic sea journey on a “land raft” from South Africa to call Australia home, a study said Thursday. The Australian trapdoor spider, known scientifically as Moggridgea rainbow, is only found on Kangaroo Island off the south Australian coast and lives a sedentary land-based lifestyle, rarely moving far. Research in the […]
MIAMI, United States (AFP) — South Asia, home to one-fifth of the world’s population, could see humid heat rise to unsurvivable levels by century’s end if nothing is done to halt global warming, researchers said Wednesday. The study in the journal Science Advances warned of “summer heat waves with levels of heat and humidity that exceed what humans can survive without protection.” The research is based on two climate models. One is a “business-as-usual” scenario […]
by Kerry Sheridan Agence France Presse MIAMI, United States (AFP) — Rising carbon dioxide levels from global warming will drastically reduce the amount of protein in staple crops like rice and wheat, leaving vulnerable populations at risk of growth stunting and early death, experts warned Wednesday. Researchers say they still don’t understand how or why carbon dioxide emissions sap protein and other nutrients from plants, but the mystery is one that could have […]
CAYENNE, France (AFP) — Two satellites including one dedicated to monitoring the effects of climate change on vegetation were successfully launched into orbit late Tuesday, launch company Arianespace said. They were launched from Korou, in French Guiana, at 10:56 pm (0136 GMT). The Vegetation and Environment monitoring on a New Micro Satellite — or Venus — is a joint effort between France’s National Center for Space Studies (CNES) and Israel’s space agency. Venus will […]
TORONTO, Canada (Reuters) — The largest heart ever seen has gone on display at Toronto’s Royal Ontario Museum (ROM). The organ belonged to one of two blue whales whose carcasses washed up on the shores of Trout River in Newfoundland and Labrador province three years ago. “Blue whale carcasses are very rare because most of the time they sink, as they don’t have as much fat or blubber as other whale species,” Burton Lim, Assistant […]
GOLD COAST, Australia (Reuters) — Sea World Australia’s three-month-old polar bear cub started a new stage in her development last week with her keepers introducing her to ‘Cub Kindy.’ The ‘Cub Kindy’ enclosure was especially designed for the cub at Sea World on the Gold Coast which “allows for the cub to develop her life-skills and explore new substrates such as shaved ice all under the watchful eye of doting mum, Liya,” said Sea World […]
LOS ANGELES, United States (AFP) — Known for its bouts of heavy smog, the city of Los Angeles on Thursday announced plans to have a fleet of fully electric, zero-emissions buses by 2030. Authorities in the United States metropolis said the project, which involves the purchase of 2,200 vehicles, would cost some $1 billion over the next ten years. “Today’s vote represents an enormous investment in the future of a healthy and prosperous Los Angeles,” […]
SYDNEY, Australia (AFP) — Scientists are attempting to unlock the secrets of the “lost continent” of Zealandia, setting sail Friday to investigate the huge underwater landmass east of Australia that has never been properly studied. Zealandia, which is mostly submerged beneath the South Pacific, was once part of the Gondwana super-continent but broke away some 75 million years ago. In a paper published in the Geological Society of America’s Journal GSA Today in February, researchers […]
by Dominique Schroeder and Mariëtte Le Roux Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — Out-of-control wildfires like the ones that brought destruction to southern Europe, North America and parts of South Africa in recent weeks will likely become more frequent as global temperatures soar under climate change, experts say. More than 10,000 people had to flee raging fires in southern France this week, and several villages were evacuated in Portugal just weeks after another blaze […]
LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — Britain said Wednesday it will outlaw the sale of new diesel and petrol cars and vans from 2040 in a bid to cut air pollution but environmental groups said the proposals did not go far enough. Environment minister Michael Gove announced the move as part of the government’s keenly-awaited £3 billion ($3.9 billion, 3.4 billion euro) air pollution plan, which will demand that councils propose measures by March next year […]
SANTIAGO, Chile (Reuters) — Scientists in Chile have discovered molecules in two species of Antarctic flowers that protect the plants from solar radiation and could potentially be used in products such as sunscreen for humans and protection for vulnerable crops. Researchers at the University of Santiago investigating the properties of Antarctic plants grown under controlled conditions found that Colobanthus quitensis (pearlwort) and Deschampsia antarctica (hair grass) could tolerate high levels of ultraviolet radiation. According to […]
DUJIANGYAN CITY, China (CCTV) — Human children are not the only kids in town who love swing sets. A pair of panda sisters named Panyue and Yanhui who live at the China Conservation and Research Center for the Giant Panda (CCRCGP) in Sichuan Province can be found sliding, swinging, wrestling and climbing on their new playset at all hours of the day, when they are not reclining and munching on bamboo shoots that is. The sisters […]
