Sydney, Australia (SPX) Sep 12, 2022 Coral reef islands and their reefs – found across in the Indo-Pacific – naturally grow and shrink due to complex biological and physical processes that have yet to be fully understood. Now, climate change is disrupting them further, leading to new uncertainties for legal maritime zones and small island states. But it may not be time to panic yet. … Continue reading Is climate change disrupting maritime boundaries

Tokyo, Japan (SPX) Sep 09, 2022 Tenchijin COMPASS enables people who have never used satellite data before to analyze, visualize data, and experience the power of satellite data. The use of satellite data has been attracting attention, but it has tended to have an image of being expensive and difficult to handle. Therefore, Tenchijin, Inc., a Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency (JAXA) -recognized startup, has been … Continue reading JAXA startup Tenchijin releases free land evaluation app using EO data

Miami FL (SPX) Sep 12, 2022 A new study found that even if we did have the infinite power to artificially cool enough of the oceans to weaken a hurricane, the benefits would be minimal. The study led by scientists at the University of Miami (UM) Rosenstiel School of Marine, Atmospheric and Earth Science showed that the energy alone that is needed to use intervention … Continue reading Artificial ocean cooling to weaken hurricanes is futile, study finds

Islamabad (AFP) Sept 9, 2022 United Nations chief Antonio Guterres began a two-day visit to flood-hit Pakistan on Friday that officials hope will boost global support for a humanitarian crisis affecting millions. A third of the country is under water – an area the size of the United Kingdom – following record rains brought by what Guterres has described as “a monsoon on steroids”. Pakistan … Continue reading UN chief in Pakistan to boost flood aid for devastated millions

Kampala (AFP) Sept 7, 2022 At least 15 people, mainly women and children, died in a landslide in a western Ugandan town Wednesday after the area was battered by heavy rains, the Red Cross said. The disaster in the town of Kasese on the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo has left an unknown number of people missing and wiped out homes. “15 bodies … Continue reading Children among 15 dead in Uganda landslide

Hong Kong (AFP) Sept 8, 2022 Hong Kong will extend a digital vaccination pass that controls which premises residents can enter to children as young as five years old, authorities announced Thursday. The new rules mean any child above the age of five will need to produce a proof of vaccination QR code to enter restaurants, swimming pools, libraries, and other venues. Hong Kong adheres … Continue reading Hong Kong extends digital vaccine pass to kids as young as five

Basti Ahmad Din, Pakistan (AFP) Sept 8, 2022 The 400 residents of Basti Ahmad Din, a tiny Pakistani village left surrounded by floodwater after torrential monsoon rains, are facing starvation and disease. But they have refused pleas to evacuate. Leaving for a relief camp would mean the women of the village mingling with men outside their families, residents told AFP, and that would violate their … Continue reading ‘A matter of honour’: Women forced to stay in flooded Pakistan village

Mexico City (AFP) Sept 9, 2022 Hurricane Kay made landfall Thursday in northwestern Mexico before losing strength as it moved inland, bringing heavy rain to parts of the Baja California Peninsula, forecasters said. Kay came ashore in a fairly sparsely populated area as a Category One hurricane – the lowest on a scale of five – and was later downgraded to a tropical storm. At … Continue reading Hurricane Kay hits northwest Mexico before weakening

Boston MA (SPX) Aug 25, 2022 LEGO blocks can be manually attached to each other in certain prescribed ways to create complex structures. What if we could engineer living LEGO-like structures that can self-replicate and move around, and can be programmed to grow and self-assemble into any desired target shape? An interdisciplinary research team, led by MIT professor Jorn Dunkel and Ingmar Riedel-Kruse of the … Continue reading Living LEGOs

London (AFP) Aug 24, 2022 Searing summer temperatures in the UK have not just parched the earth and dried up rivers, lakes and reservoirs but are also seeing trees shed their leaves early. Instead of green, many gardens, parks and woods are now a sea of orange, yellow, red and brown, with thick carpets of leaves on the ground. The early leaf fall – dubbed … Continue reading Heatwave triggers ‘false autumn’ in UK