Ancient fish teeth are yielding clues about when Antarctica became the icy continent it is today, highlighting how ocean currents affect climate change.

University of Florida geologists have used a rare element found in tiny fish teeth gathered from miles below the ocean surface to date the opening of a passage at the bottom of the globe between the Atlantic and Pacific. The opening, which occurred millions of years ago in a much warmer era, allowed the formation of an ocean c

Expedition achieves milestone in analyzing atmospheric chemistry

A research consortium funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and led by the Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has successfully sent a fleet of aerial drones through the pollution-filled skies over the Indian Ocean, thereby achieving an important milestone in the tracking of pollutants responsible for dimming Earth’s atmosphere.

The instrument-bearing

Plans to drill deep beneath the frozen wastes of the Antarctic, to investigate subglacial lakes where ancient life is thought to exist, may have to be reviewed following a discovery by a British team led by UCL (University College London) scientists at the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC)Centre for Polar Observation and Modelling (CPOM).

In a Letter to Nature they report that rivers the size of the Thames have been discovered which are moving water hundreds of mile

Chernobyl, the most significant accident in nuclear history, took place on 26 April 1986. Even 20 years later, the accident has left the world with many unanswered questions about its impact on human health, the environment, and the socio-economic sector.

To provide some answers, GreenFacts has released a Three-Level Summary of Chernobyl’s Legacy, a report published in March 2006 by the Chernobyl Forum. This forum included hundreds of experts from, e.g., the International Atomic Energy A

In order to develop sustainable agricultural production, what is required is a study of nitrogenated sources as alternatives to the nitrates that predominate in agricultural soils and that have a greater contaminant capacity. The current use of nitrates as a nitrogenated fertiliser in intensive farming has given rise to environmental problems such as the contamination of water or the degradation of the ozone layer. There are also health problems such as deficiencies in the oxygenation of blood

Three years ago, Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali and Chad submitted a negotiating proposal to the World Trade organization (WTO). In particular, the proposal, entilted “Poverty Reduction: Sectorial Initiative in Favour of Cotton”, called for a ban on the massive subsidies the United States, Europe and China grant their cotton producers. To gain a clearer understanding of the issues surrounding subsidies, a team from CIRAD decided to analyse the strengths and weaknesses of the American, Brazilian and

The EUREKA E! 2692 MOLECULAR TESTS project has developed a simple, fast and easy-to-apply test to assess the robustness of the immune system in poultry. The test can be performed in two days on blood samples from poultry houses, using equipment already available in poultry diagnostic laboratories. Current immune system tests are imprecise, expensive and take weeks – providing information too late to be useful. Combining this test with new immune-system boosting drugs would improve poultry welfar

Scripps-led Project Achieves Milestone in Analyzing Pollutants Dimming the Atmosphere

Technology behind unmanned aerial vehicles proves successful for flying beneath, above and through clouds to trace pollution particles

A scientific research consortium led by Scripps Institution of Oceanography at the University of California, San Diego, has reached an important milestone in the tracking of pollutants responsible for dimming Earth’s atmosphere.

Scripps O

Cider making, as with any similar process, involves the production of leftover “waste” such as the apple pulp, discarded apples and liquid residue, for example.

AZTI-Tecnalia Technological Centre, given its intention to improve and innovate the production process of natural cider, is undertaking a number of studies of the management, the reduction and the re-evaluation of waste residue from cider making. The aim is twin-fold: the gains from eliminating the waste generated in this

According to Dutch researchers, if you want to know what the average citizen thinks about new energy options then make sure you inform them properly first. Respondents who are not well informed, only give ’pseudo opinions’ which are too fickle to base policy on. This emerges from psychological research into what the Dutch think about various forms of energy generation from fossil fuels in combination with CO2 storage.

When energy is generated from fossil fuels, the greenhous

Dutch researcher Phil Ham has developed mathematical models to calculate the natural degradation capacity of polluted groundwater. As a result of this, it can now be predicted whether a polluted area will become larger or smaller. In the latter case, expensive remediation methods can be avoided.

Groundwater under contaminated sites, such as waste disposal sites and industrial areas, is often polluted. Such a polluted groundwater plume can grow, shrink or remain stable due to an interpla

Dutch researcher Yvonne van Breugel analysed rocks from seabeds millions of years old. Carbon occurs naturally in two stable forms; atomic mass 12 (99 percent) and atomic mass 13 (1 percent). Episodes in the Jurassic and Cretaceous periods were characterised by a relatively strong increase in 12C. The analyses have shown that this was caused by a sudden large-scale release of carbon from stocks stored in the ocean floor or peats and bogs.

The atmospheric carbon dioxide concentratio

The first MetOp meteorological satellite arrived yesterday at its launch site, the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan, following shipment from the industrial prime contractor, EADS Astrium in Toulouse, on board an Antonov-124 transport plane.

MetOp-A is the first in a series of three EUMETSAT Polar System (EPS) satellites developed by the European Space Agency (ESA) for EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites.

After undergoing a mecha

Toxic beans normally used in cattle feed could form the basis of the perfect scoop for curry, the nation’s favourite food. Scientists have discovered the best way to treat these beans for use in food stuffs.

Scientists in Pakistan used vetch flour, made using treated beans, to create a protein-enriched chapatti with the perfect characteristics for scooping up curry. By supplementing chapatti dough with vetch flour they produced a bread that is tearable and pliable enough to fo

What’s up with the mist?

When the Niagara Parks Commission posed that question back in 2004, the concern was that high-rise hotels on the Canadian side of Niagara Falls were contributing to the creation of more mist, obscuring the very view that millions of tourists flock there every year to see.

The suspicion was that new high-rise buildings were altering airflow patterns, contributing to a higher, thicker mist plume.

Consultants conducted wind tunnel ex

Millions of Britons may be reeling from hosepipe bans this summer, but one UK university has come up with a novel way to help plug the water crisis – by recycling plastic milk cartons.

Energy savers at Sheffield Hallam University have won a national award for their innovative and low-cost method of conserving water, in the same week it was revealed insufficient amounts of water were being collected and used in Britain.

The University took first spot in the energy and wat