Post of the Day
How Australia can avoid its own Day Zero
From Sao Paulo to Bangalore, researchers have watched Cape Town deal with a crisis that could unfold in their own drought-prone cities. Australian cities need to pay attention.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-11/drought-put-cape-town-on-a-countdown-to-day-zero/10477538
Today’s Celebration
Concordia Day – Sint Maarten / St. Martin
Cutting of the goose in Sursee (LU) – Switzerland
Feast of St Martin – Sint Maarten / St. Martin
Gansabhauet, St Martin’s Day – Switzerland
Guru Nanak’s Birthday – India
Independence Day – Angola, Poland
Lacplesa Day – Latvia
Mortens Day – Denmark
Prince of Wales Birthday – Tuvalu
Independence of Cartagena (official) – Colombia
Veterans Day – United States of America
Matinmas – Celticism
National
Freshwater turtles are disappearing and here’s why
As Australia’s freshwater turtle populations decrease, researchers and authorities are calling for more awareness and education about their behaviour in a bid to stem the tide of decline.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-10/turtle-roadkill-awareness-needed-to-save-species/10483840
Platypus vulnerable to extinction, expert warns
Experts warn the platypus could become extinct, with no official population figures collated more than 200 years on from European settlement.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-10/platypus-vulnerable-to-extinction-researchers-say/10477902
How Australia can avoid its own Day Zero
From Sao Paulo to Bangalore, researchers have watched Cape Town deal with a crisis that could unfold in their own drought-prone cities. Australian cities need to pay attention.
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-11-11/drought-put-cape-town-on-a-countdown-to-day-zero/10477538
Victoria
The deep connection to a sunburnt land: The mud brick home of landscaper Sam Cox
Sam and his wife, Lisa, bought their Wattle Glen property 20 years ago, with a vision to build a home that combined their shared appreciation for the Australian environment.
https://www.domain.com.au/living/the-design-files-sam-cox-and-lisa-hatfield-779807/
New South Wales
Vet Steph Stubbe tackles plastics pollution with recycled pet products
After a year of extensive research, veterinarian Steph Stubbe has launched her first collection of dog collars and leads made from recycled plastic.
ACT
Light rail concrete pours re-done due to problems with rail gauge
Canberra Metro was forced to rip up and repour concrete on several stretches of the light rail route, after problems with the rail gauge.
Juvenile quolls at Booderee spotted outside the pouch for the first time
The first eastern quolls to be born in the wild on mainland Australia in 50 years have emerged from the pouch and are roaming in Booderee National Park.
Queensland
$7.5b Moreton Bay ‘in peril’ amid public apathy towards Brisbane River
South-east Queensland’s rivers have been panned in a new report card, raising concerns about the ‘jewel of SEQ’.
Koala carnage a sorry part of our history [$]
Grantlee Kieza
The Australian National University estimates the current population of koalas to be less than 1 per cent of the population that existed before the fur trade almost wiped them out.
South Australia
Want to join in SA’s great frog census? Toadally!
The croaks, ribbits and grunts uttered by tiny reptiles across the state will be thrust into the spotlight over the next week, as part of Australia’s biggest frog count.
New fears as Bight oil tests a step closer [$]
Controversial plans to undertake seismic testing in the Great Australian Bight could receive final approval within weeks – but opponents say the resources company’s third bid should also fail.
Northern Territory
Ways to keep your air con on and shockproof your power bills
It can be hard to get comfortable without an air conditioner in the tropics, but there are ways of using it without blowing out your electricity bill.
Sustainability
Making wind farms more efficient
With energy demands rising, researchers at Penn State Behrend and the University of Tabriz, Iran, have completed an algorithm — or approach — to design more efficient wind farms, helping to generate more revenue for builders and more renewable energy for their customers.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/ps-mwf110918.php
Researchers generate plants with enhanced drought resistance without penalizing growth
Extreme drought is one of the effects of climate change that is already being perceived. A team led by the researcher at the Centre for Research in Agricultural Genomics (CRAG) Ana Caño-Delgado has obtained plants with increased drought resistance by modifying the signaling of the plant steroid hormones, known as brassinosteroids. The study, published in Nature Communications, is the first to find a strategy to increase plant hydric stress resistance without affecting overall plant growth.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/cfri-rgp110618.php
Extending the life of low-cost, compact, lightweight batteries
A new method developed at MIT can greatly extend the life of inexpensive, compact, lightweight metal-air batteries.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/miot-etl110218.php
See-through film rejects 70 percent of incoming solar heat
MIT engineers have developed a heat-rejecting film that could be applied to a building’s windows to reflect up to 70 percent of the sun’s incoming heat. The film is able to remain highly transparent below 32 degrees Celsius, or 89 degrees Fahrenheit. They estimate that if every exterior-facing window in a building were covered in this film, the building’s air conditioning and energy costs could drop by 10 percent.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/miot-sfr110518.php
Nature Conservation
Pollution in cities damaging insects and ecosystems
High levels of pollution found in many of the world’s major cities are having negative effects on plants and insects, according to new research from the University of Sheffield.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/uos-pic110918.php
NUS study: Mangroves can help countries mitigate their carbon emissions
Geographers from the National University of Singapore have found that coastal vegetation such as mangroves, seagrasses, and salt marshes may be the most effective habitats to mitigate carbon emissions.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/nuos-nsm110918.php
Amazon forests failing to keep up with climate change
New research has assessed the impact of global warming on thousands of tree species across the Amazon to discover the winners and losers from 30 years of climate change. The analysis found the effects of climate change are altering the rainforest’s composition of tree species but not quickly enough to keep up with the changing environment.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/uol-aff110618.php
Decline in shorebirds linked to climate change, experts warn
Researchers have discovered that daily nest predation of shorebirds has increased threefold over the last 70 years. The data suggest the larger increase in the Arctic relative to the tropics indicates a link to climate change.
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/uob-dis110218.php
New UMBC research suggests global reforestation efforts need to take the long view
Study finds secondary forest patches are quickly re-cleared at alarming rates — but a forest’s greatest benefits don’t kick in until it’s decades old
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/uomb-nur110818.php
Rainforest destruction from gold mining hits all-time high in Peru
Small-scale gold mining has destroyed more than 170,000 acres of primary rainforest in the Peruvian Amazon in the past five years, according to a new analysis by scientists at Wake Forest University’s Center for Amazonian Scientific Innovation (CINCIA).
https://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2018-11/wfu-rdf110818.php
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