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S.Africa, France scientists launch new marine lab Cape Town (AFP) Jan 11, 2011 South African and French scientists on Tuesday launched a joint international laboratory that will develop models to assess how marine ecosystems respond to issues like climate change. The International Center for Education, Marine and Atmospheric Science over Africa (ICEMASA) is a four-year project focusing on climate variability, ocean circulation and impacts of global change on ecosystems and fisheries. "One of the keys is to be able to forecast -- to set up scenarios for the rest of the current century," said Francis Marsac, co-director of the project which has been running since 2009. The centre will form a common data base, also using information from other projects and from big industry such as French oil giant Total, which is providing marine and atmospheric data from its rigs in the region. The French IRD institute (Institut de recherche pour le d�veloppement) provided an annual cash budget of 50,000 euros (64,800 dollars) -- of which 30,000 is for post-graduate students -- and 1.2 million euros for equipment and salaries. Partners include the University of Cape Town, South Africa's departments of environment and agriculture, forestry and fisheries, and France's University de Bretagne Occidentale.
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Japan deep-sea robots to seek minerals: report Tokyo, Japan (AFP) Jan 7, 2011 Resource-poor Japan plans to use deep-sea mining robots to exploit rare earths and precious metals on the ocean floors around the island nation within a decade, a media report said Friday. The state-backed Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corp (JOGMEC) plans to deploy the remote-controlled robots at depths of up to 2,000 metres (6,600 feet), the Yomiuri Shimbun said without naming sources. ... read more |
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