Beijing (XNA) Aug 03, 2020 China declared the official commissioning of the BeiDou Navigation Satellite System (BDS) on Friday, marking the formal opening of the newly completed BDS-3 system for global users. The BDS system involves efforts of more than 400 agencies and 300,000 research personnel and technicians. The China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), developer of the satellites, has gathered leading expertshttp://dlvr.it/RdQyrt Continue reading China’s self-developed BDS officially opens for global users with upgraded services

Rome (AFP) Aug 9, 2020 An Italian Alpine resort on Sunday lifted a state of alert declared last week over fears that a chunk of glacier on the Mont Blanc mountain range might crash down on them. Around 15 people who were evacuated can now return to their homes in Courmayeur and traffic in the Cap Ferret valley is permitted again, said a statement from … Continue reading Italy resort lifts alert on melting glacier threat

London (AFP) Aug 8, 2020 Sun-seekers flocked to beaches Saturday as parts of western Europe baked in a heatwave, but authorities urged people to avoid crowded areas and keep wearing their masks over concerns at rising numbers of coronavirus cases. The day after Britain recorded its hottest August day in 17 years, at 36.4 degrees Celsius (97.5 Fahrenheit), much of its southern coastline was packed … Continue reading Europeans warned not to forget virus as temperatures soar

Berlin (AFP) Aug 5, 2020 Clinical trials on humans have begun in China for a potential coronavirus vaccine developed by German pharmaceutical group BioNTech with Chinese company Fosun Pharma, the companies said Wednesday. Seventy-two participants have already received their first dose following approval for the phase 1 trial from Chinese regulatory authorities, BioNTech and Fosun Pharma said in a statement. Thehttp://dlvr.it/RdMGJ4 Continue reading German-Chinese coronavirus vaccine trial begins in China

Hong Kong (AFP) Aug 7, 2020 Hong Kong’s leader on Friday said China would help authorities offer free coronavirus tests to residents as infections continue to rise in a finance hub where a deep distrust of Beijing has become embedded. Initially a poster child for the battle against the coronavirus, Hong Kong has seen a third wave brought in by certain business and logistic arrivals … Continue reading Hong Kong offers universal virus testing, with Beijing’s help

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 04, 2020 By tracking the grooming behaviors of dairy cows, researchers have gained new insights into the formation and evolution of social networks among cows, according to a study published Tuesday in the journal Frontiers in Veterinary Science . Social grooming among animals is called allogrooming. Among bovine, allogrooming typically involves one cow licking the head and neck of another.http://dlvr.it/RdG3KB Continue reading Grooming behavior reveals complex social networks among dairy cows

Dubai (AFP) Aug 4, 2020 Seventeen people, including eight children, have been killed in flash floods and by lightning in Yemen’s northern Marib region, health authorities said Tuesday. The fierce storms have added to the woes of the war-torn country, which the UN has described as the world’s worst humanitarian crisis. Five years of conflict has left swathes of the country in ruins. “Sixteen people … Continue reading 17 killed in Yemen floods: health official

Washington DC (UPI) Aug 04, 2020 National Guard troops serving coronavirus relief missions throughout the country will have their deployments extended through the end of the year, the White House announced this week. But the extension doesn’t come with the funding 42 U.S. governors asked for Monday. Per a White House memo issued Monday night, the federal government will only fully fund deployments to Florida … Continue reading National Guard to continue COVID-19 deployments with federal pay cut

Paris (ESA) Aug 07, 2020 Millions of people around the world face hunger every day, and unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is expected to make the issue of food security even worse. Satellites are helping to alleviate the situation by providing crucial information to monitor crop growth and harvesting from space. A recent report from the World Food Programme forecasts that the COVID-19 pandemic could push … Continue reading Satellites provide crucial data on crops during COVID-19

Paris (ESA) Aug 07, 2020 Satellite images have revealed that there are nearly 20% more emperor penguin colonies in Antarctica than previously thought. Scientists, at the British Antarctic Survey, have used satellite data from the Copernicus Sentinel-2 mission to track penguin guano, or penguin poo, to monitor the presence of thousands of penguins. The findings, published in Remote Sensing in Ecology and Conservatihttp://dlvr.it/RdC5NG Continue reading Discovering new penguin colonies from space