fredrik ausinsch imagines collector drone for algae abundance in the baltic sea nov 09, 2015 fredrik ausinsch imagines collector drone for algae abundance in the baltic sea fredrik ausinsch imagines collector drone for algae abundance in the baltic sea all images courtesy of fredrik ausinsch transportation design masters student fredrik ausinsch at umea institute of design, proposed a drone to tackle the eruption of algae in the baltic sea. the algae sea collector would systematically remove the surface blooms which would result in a drastic reduction of toxins in the water, as well as prevent the spread anoxic sediments that would improve reproduction of local fish. schematic of the collector drone the drone collector’s route unmanned, the concept would use hydrogen fuel cell technology the drone would travel one to four knots collecting the algae the wings would adjust to accommodate the depth of the algae sketches of the concept the scale of the drone piotr boruslawski I designboom
Warming set to breach 1C threshold Image copyright Noaa Global temperatures are set to rise more than one degree above pre-industrial levels according to the UK's Met Office. Figures from January to September this year are already 1.02C above the average between 1850 and 1900. If temperatures remain as predicted, 2015 will be the first year to breach this key threshold. The world would then be half way towards 2C, the gateway to dangerous warming. The new data is certain to add urgency to political negotiations in Paris later this month aimed at securing a new global climate treaty. Difficult to measure For researchers, confusion about the true level of temperatures in the 1750s, when the industrial revolution began and fossil fuels became widely used, means that an accurate assessment of the amount the world has warmed since then is very difficult. To get over this problem, the Met Office use an average of the temperatures recorded between 1850 and 1900, which they argue makes their analysis more accurate. New normal
Why the Philippines is Being Battered By Yet Another Fearsome Typhoon Updated Monday at 11 a.m. ET For storms like hurricanes and typhoons, as in real estate, it's all about location, location, location. Koppu made landfall early Sunday morning local time as a strong category 3 with winds nearing 124 miles (200 kilometers) per hour. Evaporation of warm water fuels these disastrous storms, which are alternately known as hurricanes, typhoons, and cyclones. The Philippines sits in what scientists call the "warm pool" in the Western Pacific, with nothing between the country and open water. Those warm sea surface temperatures mean more water evaporating into the atmosphere, loading a hurricane with more energy, said Kerry Emanuel, an atmospheric scientist at MIT in an earlier interview. Forecasters predict the storm will stick around until Wednesday of this week before turning north towards Taiwan. What Makes Koppu Special The fact that Koppu is such a slow storm means it has more time to power up. That's why Koppu didn't strengthen until recently.
From suicidal shrimp to spiked tap water: where unused medications end up — Hopes&Fears — flow "Wellness" For many years, the widely accepted approach for disposing of pharmaceuticals was to "just flush ‘em." That advice changed with studies like the 1999 and 2000 U.S. Geological Surveys, which identified traces of pharmaceuticals in 80% of the streams and rivers sampled. Although recent legislation such as the EPA’s proposed rule to ban healthcare facilities from flushing pharmaceutical waste down the toilet or drain is a step in the right direction, people are still flushing unused pharmaceuticals purposefully or inadvertently through waste. Although wastewater is treated before being released into the environment, most treatment plants and septic systems are neither equipped nor required to filter out pharmaceuticals. Nowadays, the most popular method of disposing pharmaceuticals, according to a 2015 survey by Western University of Health Sciences, is to put them in the trash. Source
UK weather: Storm Abigail to bring a month's worth of rain in two days | Home News | News | The Independent Storm Abigail is set to hit Britain earlier than expected, sparking warnings of lightning, 90mph winds and likely disruption to transport and power networks. And in a new set of warnings, the Met Office said a month’s rain could fall in less than 48 hours over the weekend, bringing flooding to some areas. Abigail represents a landmark for UK forecasting, being the first time a severe weather system has been given a name under the Met Office’s “Name Our Storms” project. The Met Office’s severe weather warning for Abigail was updated on Thursday morning, bringing forward the expected start of the storm to early evening and including the Shetlands in an “amber” warning for wind. Widespread gusts of 70 to 80mph were forecast, increasing to 90mph in exposed locations. Chief meteorologist Paul Gunderson said: "In terms of impact, the Western Isles, north of Scotland and Orkney could see winds of 90mph with potential impacts upon transport and maybe power supplies too. The most British storm names
Shutting the flood gates Shutting the flood gates 19 October 2015 In 1953, more than 300 people died in the UK alone when heavy storms swept a high spring tide over sea defences and across coastal towns in north-east England and Scotland. One in six properties in England is at risk of flooding - maybe yours is one of them. Extreme weather and flood events are becoming ever-more frequent and severe. But even though winter 2013 saw the UK's highest storm surge since the 1953 disaster, only around 6,000 properties were flooded – a tragedy for those affected, but only a fraction of the homes and businesses wrecked in far less severe flooding a few years before. The big pictureFinding a way to live with floods in the long term means understanding all the factors that combine to cause them. Then there's the effect of our changing weather and climate. One of the news items you'll read in this edition of Planet Earth describes how river flow data were being sought for NERC's new Flood Studies programme. Interesting?
Chilling Photos Show Coral Bleaching Across the Globe Corals are dying across the planet. The culprit? Ever-increasing temperatures are stressing out corals' colorful partners called zooxanthellae. The result? Before and after This before-and-after image shows the corals in American Samoa, in the South Pacific Ocean, before (image taken in December 2014) and after the bleaching event (image taken in February 2015). Seeing white Alice Lawrence, a marine biologist, assesses the bleaching at Airport Reef in American Samoa in February 2015. Coral graveyard A researcher with the XL Catlin Seaview Survey photographs a severely bleached coral in Kaneohe Bay, Hawaii, in October 2014. Hawaii event During the first mass-bleaching event in the main islands of Hawaii, a researcher with the XL Catlin Seaview Survey assesses the level of bleaching in October 2014. Stark staghorn Bleached staghorn coral seen in this close-up image taken in February 2015 in American Samoa. Fire's out A scientist records a bleached fire coral in Bermuda. Orange and white
Nasa Mars announcement: Red Planet’s atmosphere was blown away by bursts of gas from the Sun, scientists suggest | Science | News | The Independent Mars’s once hospitable atmosphere could have become so dry and cold because bursts from the sun that battered it during its early history, according to new studies released by Nasa. Measurements from Nasa’s Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution (Maven) mission show that the atmosphere was ripped away by a huge burst of gas and magnetism from the Sun. The results of the mission bring far more detail to scientists’ understanding of how the Martian atmosphere changed during its early life. When it was younger, Mars was much warmer and wetter — and so potentially far more hospitable to life. But at some point since, it has dried out and become far colder, making it harder to live there and leaving life very rare if it exists at all. Instruments on board the Maven craft found that ions were escaping from the planet at a much quicker rate during solar bursts, or coronal mass ejections. Another study looked at an aurora that could be seen on Mars’s northern hemisphere.
Beijing Issues First-Ever 'Red Alert' Over Air Pollution At site of world's worst nuclear disaster, the animals have returned In 1986, after a fire and explosion at the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant released radioactive particles into the air, thousands of people left the area, never to return. Now, researchers reporting in the Cell Press journal Current Biology on October 5 have found that the Chernobyl site looks less like a disaster zone and more like a nature preserve, teeming with elk, roe deer, red deer, wild boar, and wolves. The findings are a reminder of the resilience of wildlife. They may also hold important lessons for understanding the potential long-term impact of the more recent Fukushima disaster in Japan. "It's very likely that wildlife numbers at Chernobyl are much higher than they were before the accident," says Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth in the UK. Earlier studies in the 4,200 km2 Chernobyl Exclusion Zone showed major radiation effects and pronounced reductions in wildlife populations. The inputs of J.T. Disclaimer: AAAS and EurekAlert!
Clothes dissolve on the catwalk at Chalayan SS16 show Designer Hussein Chalayan's Paris Fashion Week show featured a catwalk shower that dissolved a pair of soluble outfits, revealing delicate garments underneath (+ slideshow). The presentation of melting clothes was part of the Chalayan Spring Summer 2016 show, which took place in the Salle Melpomène at Paris' Palais des Beaux-Arts earlier today. Two models wearing white thigh-length jackets stood on small podiums within a large tray-like area in the centre of the catwalk. A low portion of ceiling was punctured by holes positioned above the models. As water poured down through the gaps, the clothes began to disintegrate and fall away as if made from tissue. Video showing Hussein Chalayan's Spring Summer 2016 show The dresses revealed underneath were patterned with lines of thick black stitching and appliqué white petal shapes, each of which had clear jewels attached below. Chalayan is renowned for his experimental fashion designs.