Environment

Excitement builds as Biden to release first image from Webb telescope

US President Joe Biden will Monday release one of the first images taken by the James Webb Space Telescope, the most powerful observatory ever sent into orbit and a leap forward in uncovering the secrets of the distant universe.. The very first image, released by the US president, will be of the "deep field" -- an image taken with very long exposure time, to detect the faintest of objects in the distance -- according to a person familiar with the matter.

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Spain, Portugal swelter under new heat wave

Temperatures were set to soar above 40 degrees Celsius across large parts of Spain and Portugal on Monday as the Iberian Peninsula faces a second heat wave in less than a month.. While temperatures eased somewhat in Portugal on Monday they were expected to soar again in the coming days with 44C forecast for the southeastern city of Evora.

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Big CAT scan: London Zoo treats lion with earache

How do you treat an endangered 12-year-old lion with persistent earache?. "Bhanu is an important member of the European-wide breeding programme for endangered Asiatic lions and deserves the very best care, so we arranged the full VIP treatment; bringing a CAT scanner to a big cat for the first time, so we could see deeper into his ear without him needing to travel."

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Tough nut to crack: UK mulls contraceptives for grey squirrels

They have been the scourge of trees and the native red squirrel in Britain since their introduction from the United States in the 1870s.. There are now 2.7 million grey squirrels in Britain and numbers are increasing compared to just 140,000 of the smaller red squirrels.

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 1 mins read

Environment

Austria and Hungary fight nature to stop lake vanishing

Kitesurfers and windsurfers dot picturesque Lake Neusiedl on the Austrian-Hungarian border –- but the water is so low some get stuck in the mud.. More than 100 salt marshes once dotted the region, but as groundwater levels have dropped dramatically, about 60 are now "irreversibly lost", said Johannes Ehrenfeldner, head of the Lake Neusiedl-Seewinkel National Park.

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Pakistan's prized mango harvest hit by water scarcity

Mango farmers in Pakistan say production of the prized fruit has fallen by up to 40 percent in some areas because of high temperatures and water shortages in a country identified as one of the most vulnerable to climate change.. It also ranks as the country eighth most-vulnerable to extreme weather due to climate change, according to the Global Climate Risk Index compiled by environmental NGO Germanwatch.

Mon, Jul 11, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

The James Webb Space Telescope, by the numbers

The most powerful space telescope ever built, James Webb is set to deliver its first full-color scientific images to the world Tuesday. . Initially set for 2007, it finally took place on December 25, 2021, aboard an Ariane 5 rocket, from French Guiana. - $10 billion - Webb is an international collaboration between US space agency NASA, the European Space Agency (ESA), and the Canadian Space Agency (CSA), involving more than 10,000 people.

Sun, Jul 10, 2022 2 mins read

Environment

James Webb Space Telescope opens its eyes on the Universe

Space enthusiasts are holding their breath.. Carina Nebula is famous for its towering pillars that include "Mystic Mountain," a three-light-year-tall cosmic pinnacle captured in an iconic image by the Hubble Space Telescope, until now humanity's premier space observatory.

Sun, Jul 10, 2022 3 mins read

Environment

Musk's hyperloop still captivates despite decade of setbacks

A decade ago, Elon Musk proposed a new form of transport that would shoot passengers through vacuum tunnels in levitating pods at almost the speed of sound -- he called it "hyperloop". . His university at Delft in the Netherlands excelled in competitions run by Musk's SpaceX firm, which invited students to develop pods to fire through vacuum tunnels.

Sun, Jul 10, 2022 4 mins read

Environment

Hot water wells in Hungary fuel switch from Russian gas

At plants painted with birds and hedgehogs, hot water from deep underground is being channelled to produce energy and heat for thousands of households in Hungary's third largest city Szeged.. If similar small-to-medium-sized cities switched their district heating to geothermal it would be "a major step towards a carbon neutral, sustainable Europe," he said. - 2,000 metres below ground - Surrounded by the Carpathian and Alps mountain ranges, Hungary and especially the area around Szeged forms a basin where 92-93 degree Celsius (198-199 degree Fahrenheit) hot water collects as deep as 2,000 metres (6,600 feet) below ground. 

Sat, Jul 9, 2022 3 mins read