Rome (AFP) May 21, 2024 Factories and schools near Naples were closed for inspections Tuesday after 150 tremors, including the biggest for 40 years, hit the volcanic region in southern Italy. There were no injuries or major structural damage reported but the “seismic swarm” – which included a 4.4-magnitude quake on Monday evening – sparked widespread fear among residents. “I’m scared. I opened this morning … Continue reading Schools, factories closed after quake ‘swarm’ near Naples

Seoul (AFP) May 20, 2024 South Korea and Britain kick off a major international summit on artificial intelligence in Seoul this week, where governments plan to press tech firms on AI safety. The meeting is a follow-up to the inaugural global AI safety summit at Bletchley Park in Britain last year, where dozens of countries voiced their fears to leading AI firms about the risks … Continue reading South Korea, Britain host AI summit with safety top of agenda

Boston MA (SPX) May 22, 2024 “I’ll have you eating out of the palm of my hand” is an unlikely utterance you’ll hear from a robot. Why? Most of them don’t have palms. If you have kept up with the protean field, gripping and grasping more like humans has been an ongoing Herculean effort. Now, a new robotic hand design developed in MIT’s Computer Science … Continue reading Robotic palm mimics human touch

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 21, 2024 NASA, in collaboration with industry partners, is set to design a new jet engine core for ultra-efficient airliners, moving into the project’s next phase. In its pursuit of sustainable aviation, NASA is developing a small core for a hybrid-electric turbofan jet engine aimed at reducing fuel burn by 10% compared to current engines. A jet engine’s core mixes … Continue reading NASA to design sustainable jet engine core

New Delhi (AFP) May 21, 2024 Indian authorities in the capital have ordered schools shut early for the summer holiday, after temperatures hit 47.4 degrees Celsius (117 degrees Fahrenheit) with Delhi gripped by a “severe heatwave”. Delhi city officials asked schools to shut with “immediate effect” due to the blistering heat, according to a government order quoted by the Hindustan Times Tuesday, cutting short the … Continue reading India shuts schools as temperatures soar

Puerto Ayora, Ecuador (AFP) May 21, 2024 Like Charles Darwin did in 1831, a group of scientists and environmentalists last year set sail from the English port of Plymouth, headed for the Galapagos islands off the coast of Ecuador. But what they found on their arrival last month differed vastly from what naturalist Darwin saw while visiting the archipelago in 1835, in a trip key … Continue reading In Darwin’s footsteps: scientists recreate historic 1830s expedition

Mexico City (AFP) May 20, 2024 Howler monkeys are dropping dead in Mexico and authorities said Monday that they were investigating whether extreme heat was killing the endangered species. According to the environment ministry, causes under consideration include “heat stroke, dehydration, malnutrition or fumigation of crops with pesticides.” It said studies would be carried out to rule out a virus or disease. Tempehttp://dlvr.it/T7CkpG Continue reading Howler monkeys drop dead during Mexico heat wave

Porto Alegre, Brazil (AFP) May 20, 2024 With his Brazilian city deep in brown floodwaters for the past three weeks, the mayor of Porto Alegre faces a herculean challenge: rebuild from the disaster while racing against the clock to prevent new ones. Weeks of torrential rain in the southern state of Rio Grande do Sul have devastated Porto Alegre, its capital, submerging more than 1,000 … Continue reading Brazil mayor’s mammoth task: rebuild from floods, prevent more

London (AFP) May 20, 2024 Early springs, droughts and floods are influencing this year’s Chelsea Flower Show, which is keener than ever to reflect the changing climate and cut its own carbon footprint. The annual exhibition of horticultural excellence and innovation opens to the public in west London on Tuesday, with more than 150,000 visitors expected. King Charles III, a lifelong environmentalist who once admihttp://dlvr.it/T7CknM Continue reading Changing climate influences London’s Chelsea Flower Show

Los Angeles CA (SPX) May 16, 2024 Even optimistic projections for the rapid build-out of solar, wind, and other low-carbon resources acknowledge that coal, natural gas, and other fossil fuels will dominate the world’s energy mix for decades to come. If the vast greenhouse gas emissions from burning these fossil fuels continue to enter the planet’s atmosphere, global warming will not be limited to sustainable … Continue reading The case for managing carbon storage risk