News tagged with desert

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Warming climate chills Sonoran Desert's spring flowers

Warming climate chills Sonoran Desert's spring flowers

Biology / Ecology

created Dec 16, 2009 | popularity 3.2 / 5 (9) | comments 3

Global warming is giving a boost to Sonoran Desert plants that have an edge during cold weather, according to new research.


VISTA: Pioneering new survey telescope starts work

VISTA: Pioneering new survey telescope starts work

Space & Earth / Astronomy

created Dec 11, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (11) | comments 1

VISTA is the latest telescope to be added to ESO's Paranal Observatory in the Atacama Desert of northern Chile. It is housed on the peak adjacent to the one hosting the ESO Very Large Telescope (VLT) and shares ...


Bacterial 'ropes' tie down shifting Southwest

Bacterial 'ropes' tie down shifting Southwest

Biology / Cell & Microbiology

created Nov 17, 2009 | popularity 4.4 / 5 (5) | comments 0

Researchers from Arizona State University have discovered that several species of microbes (cyanobacteria), at least one found prominently in the deserts of the Southwest, have evolved the trait of rope-building ...


Sponges recycle carbon to give life to coral reefs

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Nov 13, 2009 | popularity 4.3 / 5 (4) | comments 1

Coral reefs support some of the most diverse ecosystems on the planet, yet they thrive in a marine desert. So how do reefs sustain their thriving populations?


W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback (AP)

W. Africa's last giraffes make surprising comeback

Biology / Ecology

created Nov 08, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

(AP) -- A crisp African dawn is breaking overhead, and Zibo Mounkaila is on the back of a pickup truck bounding across a sparse landscape of rocky orange soil.


Climate Change, Nitrogen Loss Threaten Plant Life in Arid Desert Soils

Climate Change, Nitrogen Loss Threaten Plant Life in Arid Desert Soils

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 05, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (9) | comments 0

(PhysOrg.com) -- In the Mojave Desert winds howl across this hottest place in North America, blowing sands across Death Valley and through empty ghost towns, swirling across treeless land for hundreds of miles. ...


Yellow dust blowing over Seoul

SKorea to plant trees in China to reduce 'yellow dust'

Space & Earth / Environment

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity not rated yet | comments 0

The Seoul city government will help fund a tree-planting project in a Chinese desert to reduce the amount of harmful "yellow dust" blowing over South Korea, officials said Wednesday.


Sahara

Will Europe Be Powered by the Sahara

Technology / Energy

created Nov 04, 2009 | popularity 4.1 / 5 (23) | comments 27 weblog

(PhysOrg.com) -- Europe has long been interested in developing alternative energy sources. And, one of the more interesting places that some Europeans are looking for solar power is the Sahara. With the vast ...


African desert rift confirmed as new ocean in the making

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Nov 02, 2009 | popularity 4.9 / 5 (37) | comments 8

(PhysOrg.com) -- In 2005, a gigantic, 35-mile-long rift broke open the desert ground in Ethiopia. At the time, some geologists believed the rift was the beginning of a new ocean as two parts of the African continent pulled ...


Japanese car wins World Solar Challenge in Australia

Japanese car wins World Solar Challenge in Australia (w/ Video)

Technology / Energy

created Oct 28, 2009 | popularity 3.8 / 5 (6) | comments 2

A Japanese sun-powered car won the World Solar Challenge on Wednesday after averaging speeds of more than 100 kilometres (62 miles) per hour in a four-day race through Australia's desert Outback.


Japanese solar car leads race Down Under

Technology / Energy

created Oct 26, 2009 | popularity 3 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Japan's Tokai Challenger was on Monday leading a solar car race across the harsh Australian Outback, having covered about half of the 3,000 kilometre (1,860 mile) desert course, officials said.


A desert locust

Mauritana locust infestation spreading to Morocco: UN

Biology / Ecology

created Oct 16, 2009 | popularity 4 / 5 (1) | comments 0

An invasion of crickets in Mauritania has spread to Morocco and the western Sahara, and could worsen if there is strong rainfall in coming weeks, the United Nations warned Friday.


Migratory route of Eleonora's falcon revealed for first time

Migratory route of Eleonora's falcon revealed for first time

Biology / Plants & Animals

created Oct 16, 2009 | popularity 5 / 5 (3) | comments 0

Satellite tracking has allowed a research team to uncover the mysteries of the migration of Eleanora's falcon for the first time. In total, the bird flies more than 9,500 kilometres across the African continent ...


Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon

Sand dunes reveal unexpected dryness during heavy monsoon

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 4.8 / 5 (6) | comments 2

(PhysOrg.com) -- The windswept deserts of northern China might seem an odd destination for studying the heavy monsoon rains that routinely drench the more tropical regions of Southeast Asia.


Do dust particles curb climate change?

Do dust particles curb climate change?

Space & Earth / Earth Sciences

created Oct 06, 2009 | popularity 4.6 / 5 (5) | comments 4

(PhysOrg.com) -- A knowledge gap exists in the area of climate research: for decades, scientists have been asking themselves whether, and to what extent man-made aerosols, that is, dust particles suspended ...