24/7 News Coverage
October 17, 2023
TIME AND SPACE
Unifying matter, energy and consciousness



Sydney, Australia (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
With the rise of brain-interface technology and artificial intelligence that can imitate brain functions, understanding the nature of consciousness and how it interacts with reality is not just an age-old philosophical question but also a salient challenge for humanity. Can AI become conscious, and how would we know? Should we incorporate human or animal cells, such as neurons, into machines and robots? Would they be conscious and have subjective experiences? Does consciousness reduce to physicali ... read more

FLORA AND FAUNA
Leading scientists, philosophers identify nature's missing evolutionary law
Washington DC (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
A paper in the prestigious Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences describes "a missing law of nature," recognizing for the first time an important norm within the natural world's workings. ... more
TIME AND SPACE
Could a new law of physics support the idea we're living in a computer simulation?
Portsmouth UK (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
A University of Portsmouth physicist has explored whether a new law of physics could support the much-debated theory that we are simply characters in an advanced virtual world. The simulated u ... more
FLORA AND FAUNA
Kazakhstan authorises hunting of Saiga antelopes
Astana, Kazakhstan (AFP) Oct 16, 2023
Kazakhstan on Monday said it would legalise hunting of the once-threatened Saiga antelopes to manage their population - a sensitive subject in a country where the animals are widely revered. ... more
WATER WORLD
After China, Russia suspends Japanese seafood imports
Moscow (AFP) Oct 16, 2023
Russia on Monday followed its ally China in suspending all Japanese seafood imports over Tokyo's release of wastewater from the crippled Fukushima nuclear plant. ... more
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WATER WORLD


UN agency warns Gaza water shortage could spread disease

CLIMATE SCIENCE
Around the globe, climate adaptation lacks coordination
Hamburg, Germany (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Viewed globally, it is above all individuals and households that are pursuing adaptation to the impacts of climate change; systematic networking of the various groups affected is lacking. This is th ... more
FROTH AND BUBBLE
EU unveils plan to halt microplastics pollution via pellets
Luxembourg (AFP) Oct 16, 2023
The EU on Monday presented plans to curb pollution caused by microplastic leaks from pellets used extensively by industry, by introducing tougher rules for companies that use the tiny material. ... more
SHAKE AND BLOW
Five killed in Thai floods with more heavy rain expected
Bangkok (AFP) Oct 17, 2023
Five people were killed in floods in Thailand's north this week, with authorities warning on Tuesday that more heavy rain was on the way. ... more
DISASTER MANAGEMENT
Egypt-Gaza border crossing to reopen as aid waits to enter enclave
Washington DC (UPI) Oct 15, 2023
The Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza will be reopened, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Sunday amid anticipation of an Israeli ground invasion of the Palestinian enclave where fears of a catastrophic humanitarian crisis grow. ... more
AFRICA NEWS
DR Congo: foreign armies, militias, private military contractors
Goma, Dr Congo (AFP) Oct 16, 2023
Foreign armies, militias and private military contractors are active in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo, where clashes with M23 rebels have recently erupted after a months-long lull. ... more

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DEMOCRACY


Immigration, climate, cost of living swing Swiss elections

WATER WORLD
How an ancient society in the Sahara Desert rose and fell with groundwater
Pittsburgh PA (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
With its low quantities of rain and soaring high temperatures, the Sahara Desert is often regarded as one of the most extreme and least habitable environments on Earth. While the Sahara was periodic ... more
FROTH AND BUBBLE
'Licence to hide': Western plastic waste dumped in Myanmar
Yangon, Myanmar (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
In a working-class neighbourhood of Myanmar's Yangon, plastic waste is piled a metre high, the toxic product of what a recent investigation said is rampant dumping of Western trash. ... more
WEATHER REPORT
Virtually certain 2023 will be warmest year on record: US agency
Washington (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
Following another month of record-breaking temperatures throughout the globe in September, the year 2023 is all but certain to be the warmest on record, a US agency said Friday. ... more
WHALES AHOY
Gray whales experience major population swings as a result of Arctic conditions, research shows
Newport OR (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Dynamic and changing Arctic Ocean conditions likely caused three major mortality events in the eastern North Pacific gray whale population since the 1980s, a new study has found. During each o ... more
FLORA AND FAUNA
Climate catastrophe produced instantaneous evolutionary change
Houston TX (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
With species the world over on the move due to climate change, a unique experiment in the wake of 2017's Hurricane Harvey has revealed a way that species can instantly evolve when they move in respo ... more
WATER WORLD


Tens of thousands of endangered sharks and rays caught off Congo

FARM NEWS
Measuring nutrition in crops from space
Paris (ESA) Oct 11, 2023
With many people around the world suffering from various forms of malnutrition it's important that the absolute basics such as rice, soya and wheat are as nourishing as possible. ESA-funded research ... more
EARLY EARTH
Large swings in past ocean oxygen revealed
Manoa HI (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
As the climate warms, there is major concern that Earth's ocean will lose oxygen. A study published recently by oceanographers at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa revealed that locked in ancient d ... more
EARTH OBSERVATION
Monitoring African copper and cobalt mining emissions from space
Boulder CO (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Emissions associated with mining operations in Africa's Copperbelt can be quantified from space, according to new research led by the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR). Mining for copp ... more
FLORA AND FAUNA
Thousands of programmable DNA-cutters found in algae, snails, and other organisms
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
A diverse set of species, from snails to algae to amoebas, make programmable DNA-cutting enzymes called Fanzors - and a new study from scientists at MIT's McGovern Institute for Brain Research has i ... more
WATER WORLD
Rising seas will tighten vise on Miami even for people who are not flooded
New York NY (SPX) Oct 17, 2023
A new study that examines both the physical and socioeconomic effects of sea-level rise on Florida's Miami-Dade County area finds that in coming decades, four out of five residents may face disrupti ... more
WATER WORLD
SwRI's modular dam design could accelerate the adoption of renewable energy
San Antonio TX (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Southwest Research Institute has developed a new modular steel buttress dam system designed to resolve energy storage issues hindering the integration of renewable resources into the energy mix. The ... more
WATER WORLD
Unmanned and unbothered: autonomous intelligent oceanic exploration is upon us
Zhuhai, China (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
The ocean has always been a force to be reckoned with when it comes to understanding and traversing its seemingly limitless blue waters. Past innovations such as deep-sea submersibles and ocean-obse ... more
WHITE OUT
Cleaner snow boosts future snowpack predictions
Richland WA (SPX) Oct 16, 2023
Less pollution settling into snow should help cut the decline of snowpack in the Northern Hemisphere later this century. Though the snowpack will still diminish due to rising temperatures, the outlo ... more
WATER WORLD
Hong Kong adds two shark families on controlled trade list
Hong Kong, China (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
Hong Kong on Friday added two major shark families to a list of endangered animals whose trade in the city will be tightly controlled under CITES regulations. ... more
WOOD PILE
How Belize became a poster child for 'debt-for-nature' swaps
New York (AFP) Oct 16, 2023
When Covid hit Belize, its economy nosedived: closed borders meant fisheries and farmers had no export markets, and tourism centered on the tiny Central American nation's warm waters and wonders of biodiversity came to a halt. ... more
WATER WORLD
'If we bathe, we won't drink': Gazans struggle as water supplies dwindle
Rafah, Palestinian Territories (AFP) Oct 15, 2023
In the southern Gaza Strip, scores of people line up at bathrooms, many of them not having showered for days after Israel cut off water, electricity and food following Hamas's deadly assault. ... more
CLIMATE SCIENCE
At IMF-World Bank talks, small steps in climate finance
Marrakesh, Morocco (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
The IMF and World Bank have been holding their first annual meetings in Africa in 50 years under pressure to reform a system too outdated to properly help poor nations battered by the effects of climate change. ... more
FARM NEWS
Disasters cause $3.8 trillion in crop losses over 30 years: FAO
Paris (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
Natural and man-made disasters have caused $3.8 trillion in crop and livestock losses over 30 years, the UN's Food and Agricultural Organization said on Friday. ... more
FARM NEWS
EU fails to decide on glyphosate use extension
Brussels (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
The EU failed Friday to agree extending the use of glyphosate - a weedkiller the WHO fears could be carcinogenic - because of division among the bloc's 27 member countries, a European Commission spokesman said. ... more
SHAKE AND BLOW
Afghans flee western region after fresh earthquake kills two
Herat, Afghanistan (AFP) Oct 15, 2023
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake killed two people in western Afghanistan Sunday, with damaged prisons evacuated and residents fleeing a region where tremors have claimed at least 1,000 lives this past week. ... more
AFRICA NEWS
Chad agrees transit for France's Niger troop withdrawal
N'Djamena (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
Chad says its army will escort French troops ordered out of neighbouring Niger by the post-coup regime as they travel through the country back to France. ... more
FIRE STORM
Smoke from Brazil Amazon rainforest fires suffocates Manaus
Manaus, Brazil (AFP) Oct 14, 2023
Manaus, the largest city in Brazil's Amazonas state, has for days been engulfed by a toxic cloud of smoke from forest fires lit by what the government labeled "criminals". ... more
DEMOCRACY
Thousands protest across Middle East in support of Palestinians
Baghdad (AFP) Oct 13, 2023
Thousands of protesters poured onto the streets of several Middle East capitals Friday in support of Palestinians amid Israeli air strikes on Gaza in reprisal for a surprise Hamas attack. ... more
TECTONICS
Boom, crackle, pop: Sounds of Earth's crust
Boston MA (SPX) Oct 10, 2023
If you could sink through the Earth's crust, you might hear, with a carefully tuned ear, a cacophany of booms and crackles along the way. The fissures, pores, and defects running through rocks are l ... more
ICE WORLD
Over 40 percent of Antarctica's ice shelves reduced in volume over 25 years
Leeds UK (SPX) Oct 13, 2023
71 of the 162 ice shelves that surround Antarctica have reduced in volume over 25 years from 1997 to 2021, with a net release of 7.5 trillion tonnes of meltwater into the oceans, say scientists. ... more
WATER WORLD
Island nations sign climate solidarity declaration in Indonesia
Nusa Dua, Indonesia (AFP) Oct 11, 2023
Dozens of island nations signed a declaration in Indonesia on Wednesday to boost solidarity and cooperation on fighting climate threats, including rising sea levels. ... more
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