Greenbelt MD (SPX) Mar 09, 2023 Since the launch of the first Landsat satellite in 1972, NASA and its partners have mapped agriculture worldwide and provided key input into global supply outlooks that bolster the economy and food security. Now NASA is increasing its decades-long investment in U.S. agriculture through the launch of NASA Acres, a new consortium that will unite physical, social, and economic … Continue reading NASA engages US farmers to bring satellite data Down to Earth

Nairobi (AFP) March 8, 2023 Two portraits of Albert Einstein hang on the walls of a makeshift laboratory on Nairobi’s outskirts, inspiring a pair of self-taught Kenyan innovators who have built a bio-robotic prosthetic arm out of electronic scrap. Cousins Moses Kiuna, 29, and David Gathu, 30, created their first prosthetic arm in 2012, after their neighbour lost a limb in an industrial accident. But … Continue reading Kenyan innovators turn e-waste to bio-robotic prosthetic

Dushanbe, Tajikistan (AFP) Feb 23, 2023 A 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit in the east of mountainous ex-Soviet Tajikistan on Thursday without producing victims or damage, officials said. The quake struck around 5:37 am local time (0037 GMT) at a depth of about 20.5 kilometres (12.7 miles), the US Geological Survey said. The USGS estimated that “little or no population” would be exposed to landslides from the … Continue reading 6.8-magnitude quake hits eastern Tajikistan: USGS

Antananarivo (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 A powerful cyclone was barrelling towards Mozambique on Wednesday after battering Madagascar where it killed five people but left less devastation in its wake than feared, emergency officials said. Authorities gave a provisional toll of five dead after Cyclone Freddy made landfall on the Indian Ocean island late Tuesday, packing winds of around 130 kilometres (80 miles) per hour. More … Continue reading Cyclone Freddy heads to Mozambique after killing 5 in Madagascar

Sao Sebastiao, Brazil (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 Watching an emergency crew recover his parents’ bodies from the landslide-obliterated spot in southeastern Brazil where their house used to be, Marcio managed to get just a few words out before breaking down in sobs. “They were always together. And that’s how they found them,” he said, as workers dug through the mud, tree trunks and rocks that … Continue reading ‘Always together’: Brazil community mourns dead after landslides

Geneva (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 The World Health Organization said Wednesday it was taking advantage of a post-earthquake pause in sanctions to move badly needed health supplies and equipment into war-torn Syria. The WHO said it was capitalising on the chance brought about by the suspending of sanctions to carry out some rapid procurement and revitalise Syria’s shattered health services. The UN health agency called … Continue reading WHO using Syria sanctions pause to ship in health supplies

Diyarbakir, Turkey (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 Animal lovers in a Turkish city ravaged by a deadly earthquake protested Wednesday after officials sought to demolish a damaged building thought to contain several animals, AFP correspondents saw. Following the quake, which has claimed more than 45,000 lives in Turkey and Syria, Turkish authorities have moved to clear damaged structures to allow reconstruction to begin. “They said the … Continue reading Pet-lovers protest demolition of Turkey quake building

Antananarivo (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 Powerful tropical Cyclone Freddy tore through parts of Madagascar on Wednesday, killing four people on the Indian Ocean island, disaster management authorities said. A 27-year-old man drowned in rising sea waters on Tuesday just before the storm, which packed winds of around 130 kilometres per hour (80 miles per hour), made landfall. But on Wednesday authorities put the toll at … Continue reading Cyclone Freddy hits Madagascar, four killed

Almaty, Kazakhstan (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 When a devastating earthquake and aftershocks struck Turkey and Syria this month, Klara Imangalieva – who lives in the Central Asian country of Kazakhstan – realised she had to move. “We are also in danger,” said Imangalieva, a resident of Almaty, Kazakhstan’s largest city dominated by the snow-capped Tian Shan mountains. “I’m looking to move into a single-storey house … Continue reading Turkey tragedy jolts quake-prone Central Asia

Sao Sebastao, Brazil (AFP) Feb 22, 2023 Rescuers in southeastern Brazil scrambled Tuesday to find survivors among dozens of people still missing after record rainfalls caused flooding and mudslides that killed at least 46 people over the weekend. Some 680 millimeters (26 inches) of rain – more than double the expected monthly amount – fell in 24 hours around the popular beach city of Sao … Continue reading Frantic search for dozens missing in Brazil floods