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New EU ‘urban mining’ tools map valuable resources in e-waste, scrap vehicles, mine waste

Project ProSUM, Brussels Standardized, consolidated data helps to identify recovery potential of secondary raw materials worth € billions wasted annually Expert European organizations have united to create the world’s first database of valuable materials available for “urban mining” from scrap vehicles, spent batteries, waste electronic and electrical equipment, and mining wastes. The Urban Mine Platform […]

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World e-waste rises 8 percent by weight in 2 years as incomes rise, prices fall: UN

UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY, Bonn / INTERNATIONAL TELECOMMUNICATION UNION, Geneva / INTERNATIONAL SOLID WASTE ASSOCIATION, Vienna E-waste per capita rises 5 percent from 2014 to 2016; just 20 percent is recycled; contained $55 billion worth of gold, silver, copper, other high value materials; biggest e-waste categories: Small and large appliances, heating/cooling equipment A new report on […]

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Big data points humanity to new minerals, new deposits

Carnegie Science / Deep Carbon Observatory, Washington DC The private lives of minerals: Understanding how and where minerals hook up helps predict discovery; At least 1,500 minerals yet to be found Applying big data analysis to mineralogy offers a way to predict minerals missing from those known to science, where to find them, and where […]

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The Peace Builders of Northern Kenya; Model Expands to Other African Nations

Shalom Center for Conflict Resolution and Reconciliation, Nairobi Founded by Ireland’s Fr. Patrick Devine in aftermath of national post-election violence, Kenya’s Shalom Centre pioneers successful formula for preventing conflict between rival groups An innovative research-led model for building peace has been pioneered by an Irish Catholic priest and his Shalom Centre colleagues working in areas of […]

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Ontario town’s 10-year, $2.7 million effort to save endangered turtles offers global lessons, template

Long Point Causeway Improvement Project, Long Point, Canada 89 percent fewer turtles venture onto Lake Erie’s Long Point Causeway A newly completed project in a remote corner of southwestern Ontario is being hailed as a landmark achievement in the protection of at-risk species and a model for other communities around the world seeking to reduce the […]

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Scientists track fish migration using DNA in water samples

Rockefeller University, Program for the Human Environment, NY Naked DNA in water tells if fish have arrived Scientists demonstrate harmless, economical new way to log fish migration; Environmental DNA researchers foresee a revolution in how we assess the movement, diversity, distribution and abundance of fish For the first time, scientists have recorded a spring fish […]

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UN-backed report: Record new renewable power capacity added worldwide at lower cost

UN Environment, Paris / Nairobi Global investment of $241.6 billion (excluding large hydro), 23 percent less than 2015, brought 138.5GW of new renewable power capacity in 2016, up 8 percent from 2015; proportion of global electricity from renewables rose to 11.3 percent in 2016 As the cost of clean technology continues to fall, the world […]

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Catalog of 208 human-caused minerals bolsters argument to declare ‘Anthropocene Epoch’

Carnegie Science – Deep Carbon Observatory, Washington DC Humans: The greatest contributor to diversity of minerals since oxygen; Officially recognized minerals, formed by nature: More than 5,000; Formed due to human activity: 208 Human industry and ingenuity has done more to diversify and distribute minerals on Earth than any development since the rise of oxygen over 2.2 […]

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Gene tests may help maximize early child development: Study

Grand Challenges Canada / Saving Brains Program, Toronto In study, children with a particular genetic variation were 4 times more likely to develop strong attachment to mother after intervention A child’s genetic make-up can play a large, hidden role in the success of efforts to maximize his or her development, South African research suggests. The study, published […]

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Micronutrient supplements during pregnancy linked to smarter kids

Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto Maternal Micronutrients, Nurturing Environment Boost Child Development Mothers who take multi-micronutrient supplements during pregnancy can add the equivalent of up to one full year of schooling to a child’s cognitive abilities at age 9-12, says a new study published today. Other essential ingredients in the recipe for smarter kids include early […]

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E-waste in East and Southeast Asia jumps 63 percent in 5 years

UN University, Sustainable Cycles Programme — Bonn, Germany Per capita consumption of gadgets, appliances, other products with a cord or battery, rising quickly with incomes; Report urges clampdown on improper recycling, disposal to conserve resources, avoid serious health and environment threats The volume of discarded electronics in East and Southeast Asia jumped almost two-thirds between 2010 […]

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‘Friendship Bench’: A Blueprint for Tackling Developing World’s Mental Health Crisis

Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto In Zimbabwe, Friendship Bench therapy reduces prevalence of depression to less than 14 percent, compared to 50 percent in control group; First at-scale model of community mental health care in Africa has diagnosed and treated over 27,500 people for common mental health disorders Toronto / Harare — Their offices are simple wooden seats, […]

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Kangaroo mother care helps premature babies thrive 20 years later — study

Grand Challenges Canada, Toronto Study funded by Saving Brains shows Kangaroo Mother Care kids 20 years later are better behaved, have larger brains, higher paycheques, more protective and nurturing families Two decades after a group of Colombian parents were shown how to keep their perilously tiny babies warm and nourished through breastfeeding and continuous skin-to-skin […]

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Torture: Rehabilitation experts from 80 nations meet in Mexico City

International Rehabilitation Council For Torture Victims, Copenhagen 100+ presentations on cases worldwide, from Syria, Central America, Africa, Guantanamo Bay; Sexual violence as torture; Treatment and recovery from atrocities; Enforcing nations’ legal obligation to provide rehabilitation Over 300 participants — 70% of them clinical professionals — from 80 nations will exchange expertise, experience and research on […]

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Exploring vast ‘submerged America,’ marine scientists discover 500 bubbling methane vents

Nat’l Ocean Exploration Forum – New York 19 Oct 2016 Five hundred vents newly discovered off the US West Coast, each bubbling methane from Earth’s belly, top a long list of revelations about “submerged America” being celebrated by leading marine explorers meeting in New York. “It appears that the entire coast off Washington, Oregon and California […]

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Experts warn booming seaweed industry

United Nations University – Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada Beyond sushi wrap: Expanding number of valuable uses drives astonishing growth of seaweed farming; Experts urge burgeoning industry to learn lessons from agriculture, fisheries A rising number of valuable uses being found for seaweed — from food and fertilizer to pharmaceuticals and industrial […]

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Heatwaves, typhoons, floods, landslides: Researchers detail rising health risks of disasters

UNU Int’l Institute Global Health, Kuala Lumpur 18 July 2016 Assembled by UNU-IIGH, six papers underline the value of applying science, technology to reduce disaster-related health risks; productivity in many jobs seen falling by up to 40 percent by 2050 due to heat stress; experts convene at UN forum in Malaysia The rising price — in both […]

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Innovation and Its Enemies: How the history of margarine and tractors can inform policy making

Harvard Kennedy School / Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs, Cambridge MA 6 July 2016 Why important innovations stall; Understanding obstacles to change key to timely adoption of technologies needed to address global problems Cambridge, MA – Disruptive, transformative technologies are being introduced at an accelerating pace, fuelling opposition that impedes forms of innovation […]

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Galapagos: Wind turbines replace millions of liters of diesel since 2007, meet 30% of energy needs

Global Sustainable Electricity Partnership, Montreal World’s top utilities hand over project keys, chart path for Ecuador’s famously biodiverse archipelago to meet 70 percent of fast-rising energy needs with renewables 29 May 2016 A global renewable energy project on the Galapagos Islands — one of Earth’s most fragile and important ecological treasures — has helped avoid […]

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Leonardo da Vinci’s DNA: Experts unite to shine modern light on a Renaissance master

Human Evolution, Italy 5-MAY-2016 The Leonardo Project: Illuminating the art, life, characteristics, talents, and brilliance of one of humanity’s most extraordinary figures A team of eminent specialists from a variety of academic disciplines has coalesced around a goal of creating new insight into the life and genius of Leonardo da Vinci by means of authoritative new […]

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Canadian innovation for killing mosquito eggs could help Zika fight

Grand Challenges Canada (#1 most viewed release (415,000+ page views) of 29,500 news releases hosted by the American Association for the Advancement of Science at its EurekAlert news service in 2016.  Click here for the AAAS news release) Video: bit.ly/1S3YFjH Canadian Government-supported researchers use mosquitoes’ own perfume to lure them to lay eggs in trap; Sudbury-based scientist leads project […]

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Renewable energy investments: Major milestones reached, new world record set

UN Environment Programme, Paris / Nairobi 24 Mar 2016 For first time, developing world investments in renewables (up 19 percent in 2015) topped developed nations’ (down 8%); World record total of $286 billion invested in renewables last year, makes $2.3 trillion over 12 years Frankfurt / Nairobi — Coal and gas-fired electricity generation last year […]

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