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EXPERTS have revealed new findings at two of Egypt’s famed pyramids,
boosting efforts to unravel whether the ancient world’s iconic monuments
contain secret chambers.For the past three months a team of researchers from Egypt, France, Canada and Japan have been scanning four pyramids with thermal cameras to see if they contain unknown structures or cavities.......Particles could reveal Pyramid’s secrets
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WHO Convenes Zika Virus Emergency Meeting...
ReplyDeletehe World Health Organization has convened a meeting of researchers and health officials to determine whether the Zika virus should be declared a global health emergency. The WHO predicts the virus, which may be linked to neurological disorders in babies, could infect as many as 4 million people in the Americas this year.
No firm link has been established between the Zika virus and microcephaly, a neurological disorder in which babies are born with abnormally small heads. But it is hard to ignore a possible connection between the virus and this brain disorder, given recent events in Brazil.....http://www.voanews.com/content/who-convenes-zika-virus-emergency-meeting/3171482.html
1/2/16
Canada protects ancient Pacific coast forest from logging, hunting...
ReplyDeleteDecades of protests and then negotiations that brought together loggers, natives and environmental activists resulted Monday in a landmark deal to protect a huge swath of forest on Canada's Pacific coast.
The agreement to ban logging in 85 percent of the Great Bear Rainforest and put an end to a commercial trophy hunt in the region for a rare white Kermode bear was announced by the government of British Columbia.
The Great Bear Rainforest covers 6.4 million hectares from Quadra Island to Alaska.
The remaining 15 percent of the ancient forest will be subject to the most stringent standards in North America for commercial logging.
The deal was also ratified by 26 aboriginal tribes that live along the Canadian province's coast, several environmental groups, and five forestry companies.
It applies a novel approach to conservation that recognizes the full array of interactions within an ecosystem, including humans...AFP....http://www.i24news.tv/en/news/international/americas/101406-160202-canada-protects-ancient-pacific-coast-forest-from-logging-hunting
2/2/16
Peru Indians to file complaint against state oil company over pipeline spill...
ReplyDeleteAn organization comprising Peruvian Amazon communities plans to file a complaint against state-owned oil company Petroperu over a crude spill caused by a pipeline leak, the group's president told EFE Thursday.
The Regional Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Northern Amazon of Peru, or ORPIAN -P, will file the complaint with the Agency for Environmental Assessment and Enforcement, or OEFA, alleging a lack of maintenance work on the North Peruvian Pipeline and failure to respond in a timely manner to the leak.
EFE
4/2/16
A Japanese volcano about 50 km (30 miles) from a nuclear plant erupted on Friday, shooting ash nearly 2 km into the night sky along with fountains of lava, but there were no immediate report of damage and operations at the power station were not affected...
ReplyDeleteFollowing what they termed an "explosive eruption," Japan's Meteorological Agency raised the warning level on the peak, which experiences hundreds of small eruptions a year, to 3, meaning that people should not approach the mountain.
"It appears that stones have been thrown about 2 km from the crater, but this area is quite far from any communities," Kazuhiro Ishihara, an emeritus professor at Kyoto University, told NHK national television...REUTERS...http://jakartaglobe.beritasatu.com/international/japanese-volcano-erupts-nearby-nuclear-plant-unaffected/
5/2/16
Japan’s Sakurajima Volcano Erupts...
DeleteSouthwestern Japan’s Mount Sakurajima volcano spewed lava, ash and gases. Volcanologists called the explosion an explosive eruption.
NHK television showed images of lightning flashing around the fountains of lava, which poured down the mountain’s flanks only a few miles east of the major port of Kagoshima.
http://www.ubalert.com/Kagc
13/2/16
1 Dead, 2 Seriously Injured as Crane Collapses in Lower Manhattan...
ReplyDeleteA Fire Department spokeswoman said one person was killed and two others were injured on Friday morning when a crane collapsed at 40 Worth Street in Lower Manhattan.
The emergency call was received by the fire department at 8:24 a.m. (local time), drawing a response from 140 fire department members. The two injured victims were rushed to the Bellevue Hospital in serious condition.
Heavy wet snow was falling across Manhattan and a winter weather advisory was in effect when the crane collapsed. However, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service could not comment if the weather was a factor in the incident.
http://www.ubalert.com/tMfc
5/2/16
Sea turtles with tumours fill Florida hospital..
ReplyDeleteAs the population of green sea turtles rebounds in and around the Florida Keys, cases of fibropapillomatosis have exploded too.
The young patient writhes on the operating table, kicking its flippers. A team of medical attendants turns it over, revealing an underbelly cluttered with tumours, some as big as golf balls.
This endangered green sea turtle, about two years old and too young for the staff to know yet whether it is male or female, is infected with fibropapillomatosis, a potentially deadly disease caused by a type of herpes virus.
Experts still don’t understand quite how the virus spreads, or what causes it, though some research has pointed to agricultural runoff, pollution and global warming.
As the population of green sea turtles rebounds in and around the Florida Keys, cases of fibropapillomatosis have exploded too, filling the corridors of the United States’ oldest rescue and rehab facility, known simply as the Turtle Hospital.
“When I first started here 20 years ago, I would do six to eight of these a month,” says veterinarian Doug Mader, as he injects a local anaesthetic, then cuts off the cauliflower-like growths with a carbon dioxide laser.
AFP
gulfnews.com
8/1/16
Asteroid to Flyby Earth On March 5 at a close distance...
ReplyDeleteHard hats at the ready – because an asteroid is going to fly past Earth on March 5, 2016, and while there’s essentially no chance of it hitting us, it will come remarkably close to our planet. Asteroid 2013 TX68 will swing by at a distance of between 14 million kilometers (9 million miles) and 17,000 kilometers (11,000 miles) – which is lower than the orbit of geostationary satellites. It’s pretty unlikely it’ll hit anything in orbit as it sails by, though. The asteroid has only been tracked for a few years, which is why there is such a large range of uncertainty in the distance from Earth it will fly past, as its exact orbital parameters aren’t known. Nonetheless, astronomers have been able to essentially rule out the chance of an impact, either now or on future flybys. When the asteroid swings back around on September 28, 2017, it will have a one in 250 million chance of hitting us, while further flybys in 2046 and 2097 have even lower chances of an impact. "The possibilities of collision on any of the three future flyby dates are far too small to be of any real concern," said Paul Chodas, manager of NASA’s Center for NEO Studies (CNEOS) in California, in a statement. "I fully expect any future observations to reduce the probability even more."
http://www.ubalert.com/uTfc
9/2/16
The Supreme Court has agreed to halt enforcement of President Barack Obama's sweeping plan to address climate change until after legal challenges are resolved...
ReplyDeleteThe surprising move on Tuesday is a blow to the administration and a victory for the coalition of 27 mostly Republican-led states and industry opponents that call the regulations "an unprecedented power grab."
By temporarily freezing the rule the high court's order signals that opponents have made a strong argument against the plan. A federal appeals court last month refused to put it on hold.
The plan aims to stave off the worst predicted impacts of climate change by reducing carbon dioxide emissions at existing power plants by about one-third by 2030.
Appellate arguments are set to begin June 2.
http://www.china.org.cn/environment/2016-02/10/content_37766911.htm
10/2/16
The Zimbabwean government on Tuesday issued an urgent appeal for donation of more than 1.5 billion US dollars to finance the import of emergency grains and rehabilitation of irrigation infrastructure...
ReplyDeleteZimbabwe, with farming as a prime source of revenue, has been suffering a prolonged drought triggered by the El Nino effects. The drought is believed to be the worst drought in the country in 60 years.
As rainfall diminished, crops wilted and cattle starved, and farmers, who make up the 70 percent of Zimbabwe's population, faced serious challenges of survival.
The country's Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa told a fund-raising event in Harare, the national capital of Zimbabwe, that the government intended to import 1.4 million tonnes of grains throughout the year to feed the at least 3 million Zimbabweans affected by the drought. Part of the money raised will be used to fix the dilapidated irrigation systems.
The Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe last week declared a "state of disaster" in drought-hit agricultural regions, a move aimed at boosting the inflow of aid and reaching the targeted population efficiently.
http://www.globaltimes.cn/content/967946.shtml
10/2/16
Un sismo de magnitud 6,6 sacudió hoy la región centro-norte de Chile, sin que se registraran víctimas, informó el Centro Sismológico Nacional (CSN)...
ReplyDeleteEl fenómeno, que se prolongó por unos 20 segundos, tuvo su epicentro 42 kilómetros al oeste de la ciudad de Ovalle y a 17 kilómetros de profundidad, informó DPA.
La Oficina Nacional de Emergencia (Onemi), en tanto, informó esta noche que el sismo provocó cortes parciales del fluido eléctrico en Ovalle, ubicada a poco más de 400 kilómetros al norte de Santiago de Chile.
Por su parte, el Servicio Hidrográfico y Oceanográfico de la Armada (SHOA) desestimó la posibilidad de un tsunami en las costas chilenas.
http://www.eluniversal.com/internacional/160209/sismo-de-magnitud-66-sacudio-centro-norte-de-chile
A powerful 6.5-magnitude earthquake struck eastern Indonesia late Friday (Feb 12), but no tsunami warning was immediately issued, US seismologists said...
ReplyDeleteThe earthquake hit at 5:02 pm local time (1002 GMT Friday), the US Geological Survey said, and was centred three kilometres (two miles) east-southeast of Andekanter in the Sumba region at a depth of 30 kilometres.
The Indonesian disaster mitigation agency said there were no immediate reports of damage or casualties.
- AFP
12/2/16
Japan temperatures reach record high for February...
ReplyDeleteRecord high temperatures for February were set in parts of central and western Japan on Sunday as warm air from the south moved in over the Japanese archipelago, pushing up temperatures and stoking strong winds across the country.
The temperature reached 24.8 C in Tokyo, 23.5 C in Nagoya and 23.3 in Minami, Tokushima Prefecture, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. In the northeastern prefecture of Iwate, the mercury climbed to 22 C in Kuji and 21.3 C in Iwaizumi, levels more typical of July.....Kyodo
14/2/16
A young girl has died in Australia after being bitten by a feared brown snake, officials said Monday, a rare fatality even though the country is home to some of the planet's deadliest species...
ReplyDeleteThe death of the six-year-old prompted emergency services to warn people to be on their guard against brown snakes, whose bite is often painless. They are known as nervous reptiles that strike with little hesitation.
Police in New South Wales state said the girl was bitten on Friday on a rural property near Walgett, some 660 kilometres (409 miles) northwest of Sydney.
She was taken to a local hospital and given anti-venom before being flown to Sydney Children's Hospital on life support. But her condition worsened and she died on Saturday.
According to official estimates there are about 3,000 snakebite cases in Australia every year, with 300-500 needing anti-venom treatment. Only an average of two a year prove fatal.
Australia is home to 20 of the world's 25 most venomous snakes. The Eastern Brown Snake causes more deaths than any other species, according to the Australian Museum.
Reuters
15/2/16
Australia town consumed by 'hairy panic'...
ReplyDeleteA fast-growing tumbleweed called "hairy panic" is clogging up homes in a small Australian town.
Extremely dry conditions mean the weeds pile up each day outside a row of homes at Wangaratta, in Victoria's northeast.
Frustrated residents are forced to clear out the weeds for several hours every day, with piles of hairy panic at times reaching roof height.
A nearby farmer is being blamed for failing to tend to his paddock.....http://www.bbc.com/news/world-australia-35600546
18/2/16
More than 10 million people in India's capital, Delhi, are without water after protesters sabotaged a key canal which supplies much of the city...
ReplyDeleteThe army has took control of the Munak canal after Jat community protesters, angry at caste job quotas, seized it.
Keshav Chandra, head of Delhi's water board, told the BBC it would take "three to four days" before normal supplies resumed to affected areas.
All Delhi's schools have been closed because of the water crisis.
Sixteen people have been killed and hundreds hurt in three days of riots...BBC
22/2/16
Peru oil spill pollutes waters used by indigenous groups...
ReplyDeleteA series of leaks from Peru's main oil pipeline has led to at least 3,000 barrels of crude oil being spilled in an Amazonian region, the state oil company said, according to the BBC.
Government officials and indigenous leaders have warned that the oil has polluted two rivers that at least eight indigenous communities rely on for water, the BBC reported.
The pipeline spills in Peru's part of the Amazon hit areas rich in wildlife and it will take them a year to recover, the government said last week.
The countries energy and mining minister Rosa Maria Ortiz said that originally it was thought that the spills released a total of 2,000 barrels of petroleum.
She and other government officials flew over one of the areas blackened by a spill from a pipeline run by state-owned PetroPeru.
The oil has been contained and is not spreading further, and tainted soil is being removed, Ortiz said........i24news.tv
23/2/16
A methane gas leak at a coal mine in Russia's far north triggered three explosions that ignited a raging fire and partially collapsed the mine, killing 36 people, officials said Sunday...
ReplyDeleteThe dead included five rescue workers and a mine worker who were killed early Sunday when the third explosion rocked the Severnaya mine in Vorkuta, a town north of the Arctic Circle in the Komi region, the emergency services said.
The first two explosions struck late Thursday, killing four miners and trapping 26 others..AP...http://www.voanews.com/content/russian-coal-mine-accident-kills-36-including-5-rescuers
/3211679.html
28/2/16