Environment

Friday, November 27th 2009 - 11:16 UTC
Norway opens world’s first osmotic power plant prototype

Norwegian renewable energy giant Statkraft has switched on the world's first osmotic power plant prototype - using a technology which produces electricity from a process which mixes fresh water and salty sea water.
Friday, November 27th 2009 - 11:12 UTC
El Niño Cranks Up The Heat This Summer

Summer is coming to Chile in less than a month and climatologists predict thermometers will be rising more than usual due to El Niño, the warm ocean current that wreaks havoc on the climates of countries along the Pacific Ocean.
Thursday, November 26th 2009 - 07:51 UTC
Argentina contracts icebreaker for Antarctic 2009/2010 campaign

Argentina’s Ministry of Defence announced the contract of an icebreaker and a helicopter for the coming 2009/2010 Antarctic campaign. The news was published in the government’s official bulletin and involves almost 8 million US dollars.
Thursday, November 26th 2009 - 05:28 UTC
Future algae bio-fuel production confirmed in southern Chile

United States corporation Bio Architecture Lab (BAL) has founded a subsidiary, BAL Chile, through which the company has already begun cultivating 100 hectares of seaweed on the island of Chiloé, with the aim of producing bio-fuel.
Wednesday, November 25th 2009 - 06:00 UTC
On the 150th anniversary of “On the origin of species”, Darwin’s missing notebook

Charles Darwin's encounter with the first of the two creatures that would provide him with the early clues for his theory of evolution was not a dramatic one. “Met an immense Turpin; took little notice of me,” the 26-year-old jotted in his notebook in 1835.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 12:57 UTC
Boeing 747 flies an engine with 50% bio-kerosene mix

A Boeing 747, one of four engines powered by a 50% bio-kerosene mix, circled the Netherlands for an hour on Monday for what airline KLM called the world's first passenger flight using bio-fuel.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 12:45 UTC
Deep sea abyss swamped with diversity of life and new species

From a translucent giant octopus to a fish bearing barbed fangs, a team of international scientists say they have discovered hundreds of new species living in total darkness at least 5km beneath the surface of the world's oceans.
Tuesday, November 24th 2009 - 03:02 UTC
“Flush” of icebergs heading for New Zealand

Over one hundred Antarctic icebergs are moving towards New Zealand in an extraordinary happening that has raised a shipping warning, officials announced Monday. An Australian Antarctic Division glaciologist stated that the bergs, pinpointed by satellites, have floated past the Auckland Islands, and are 280 miles northeast of the Island.
Saturday, November 21st 2009 - 11:31 UTC
World largest solar powered trimaran prepares to circumnavigate the world

The world's largest solar-powered trimaran, PlanetSolar, will not have sails. Instead of wind it will rely on the power of the sun to circumnavigate the world in 140 days. That's according to plans sketched out by the financial backers and designers of the triple-hull, 30-metre-long, 15-metre-wide boat under construction at Knierim shipyard in Kiel, Germany.
Saturday, November 21st 2009 - 10:53 UTC
Cruise vessels on alert as four icebergs are spotted drifting towards New Zealand

At least four icebergs are bearing down on New Zealand, drifting only a few hundred kilometres off the South Island coast and moving closer by the day.