projectpowerplant.com

AP A kite-sized, unmanned airplane is joining the effort to protect endangered Hawaiian monk seals and coral reefs in the Northwestern Hawaiian Islands. Managers of the Papahanaumokuakea Marine National Monument plan to use the 10-pound plane as early as October to help them spot nets and other marine debris. The electric-powered craft will transmit digital [...]

AP On the world’s list of weird foods, ortolan – a bite-size songbird roasted and gulped down whole – can claim a place of distinction. It’s an illegal place, though, since the ortolan is a protected species and hunting it is banned in France. Now the government is out to get poachers of the coveted [...]

reuters China will this year launch a fund with 7 billion yuan ($925 million) to spend on energy-saving projects such as efficient lightbulbs as it seeks to curb soaring demand for power, Chinese media reported. The cash is part of a scheme unveiled by the country’s top economic planner to tackle pollution and energy problems, [...]

News @ Nature Even for a society jaded by the continual breaking of climate records, the retreat of Arctic ice this year is stunning. Sea-ice extent — the total number of 25 x 25 kilometer square sections of ocean covered by at least 15% ice — in the Arctic Ocean melts from about 16 million [...]

A follow up article on the Arctic Vault that we posted about sometime back. ====== reuters : : The project is at the heart of an effort by Fowler’s foundation, the Global Crop Diversity Trust, to safeguard strains of 21 essential crops, such as wheat, barley and rice. Rice alone exists in about 120,000 different [...]