Wednesday, June 25th, 2014
Researchers from the U of A’s faculties of science and education have teamed up to create the Alberta Worm Invasion Tracker, an online resource and mobile app that allows the public to record worm locations as they’re discovered and wrangle up some of those worms. The citizen science project is part of a larger collaboration
Wednesday, June 25th, 2014
The world’s most widely used insecticides have contaminated the environment across the planet so pervasively that global food production is at risk, according to a comprehensive scientific assessment of the chemicals’ impacts. The researchers compare their impact with that reported in Silent Spring, the landmark 1962 book by Rachel Carson that revealed the decimation of
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014
It is hard to disagree when the international business community, through the World Economic Forum, argues that there are important linkages between water, food, energy and climate change. Or when the German government argues that policy makers need to pay more careful consideration to the trade-offs between these different resources. These systems are inextricably linked.
Tuesday, June 24th, 2014
The National Reconnaissance Office (NRO), the secretive agency that launches and runs the nation’s spy satellite system, is looking at technology developed by the video game industry to help it improve how it gathers and analyzes intelligence data, according to a research proposal released Monday. The NRO wants to tap into the video game industry’s
Monday, June 23rd, 2014
A Canadian space company is seeking millions of dollars in compensation after the federal government scuttled the launch of a satellite because it was scheduled to be sent into orbit on a Russian rocket. Satellite manufacturer Com Dev, which has facilities in Ottawa and Cambridge, Ont., along with its subsidiary ExactEarth, are trying to obtain
Monday, June 23rd, 2014
DigitalGlobe, which gained international fame with technology allowing users around the world to help search for a missing airliner, has been able to do what is increasingly difficult for defense contractors these days: increase business and, as a result, staff. The Tampa office dates to 2006, when it was a company called SPADAC. That was
Sunday, June 22nd, 2014
When planning a road trip or buying a new house, it has become routine to scope out the area on Google Maps. But what if the images you found weren’t blurry, dated snapshots – but live and crystal clear? You could search for traffic jams 50 miles ahead while driving down the motorway – or
Sunday, June 22nd, 2014
Kenya has scaled up investments to climate proof critical ecosystems like forests, watersheds and rangelands to halt the spread of deserts, government officials said on Tuesday. Environment Cabinet Secretary Judi Wakhungu said during celebrations to mark the World Day to combat desertification in Nairobi that Kenya has experienced rapid spread of deserts due to climate
Sunday, June 22nd, 2014
Engraver Abel Buell came out of nowhere, at least in terms of cartography, when he printed a United States map in 1784. “He’d never done a map before,” says Edward Redmond of the Library of Congress’ Geography and Map Division. Nonetheless, Buell set records. He was the first U.S. citizen to print a map of
Saturday, June 21st, 2014
More than 400 large U.S. military drones have crashed in major accidents around the world since 2001, a record of calamity that exposes the potential dangers of throwing open American skies to drone traffic, according to a year-long Washington Post investigation. Commercial drone flights are set to become a widespread reality in the United States,
