Turkey has started constructing what will be the world’s longest undersea water pipeline. The 107 kilometer pipe will draw water from the Dragon River and unite the Turkish mainland with northern Cyprus in the Mediterranean Sea. Proponents are hoping it will unify the island, divided for the past 39 years. The suspended pipeline, moored to…

Connecticut’s new GMO-labeling law is a first – in more than one way. With ceremonious flourish last week, Governor Dannel Malloy signed into law a bill that would require labeling on all products meant for human consumption that contain genetically modified ingredients (GMO). The legislation was passed by voters in June and actually received the…

Last month was the warmest November on record, according to new analysis from the NOAA. Temperatures were 0.78 degrees Celsius (1.40 degrees Fahrenheit) above the average November in the 20th Century. Global temperatures are on the rise due to climate change caused primarily by burning fossil fuels, but also by deforestation and land-use change.

Medical researchers have found a cause of ageing in animals that can be reversed, possibly paving the way for new treatments for age-related diseases including cancer, type 2 diabetes, muscle wasting and inflammatory diseases. The researchers hope to start human trials late next year. The study, which is published today in the journal Cell, relates…

Good news for corn farmers: a major corn crop pest, the European corn borer (ECB) has seen a significant population decline in the eastern United States. This information comes from Penn State researchers on the heels of reports of similar population declines in the Midwest. As a result, farmers will save millions of dollars in…

Scotland’s renewable electricity output has reached record-high levels, according to official statistics released today. The figures, published by the Department of Energy and Climate Change, show that renewables met a record-breaking 40.3 per cent of gross electricity consumption in 2012, confirming that Scotland is on track to meet its interim target of 50% by 2015.

Pikas are small mammals closely related to rabbits and hares that are native to cold, alpine climates in North America, Asia and Eastern Europe. Pikas are very sensitive to heat, dying if they spend more than two hours above 78 degrees Fahrenheit, so cold climate is important to their survival. And sadly, as increasing temperatures…

For the first time scientists have learnt how the largest four-legged dinosaurs got from A to B. The new research, published in Plos ONE, wanted to understand how one of the biggest animals to have lived on Earth, the Argentinosaurus, walked. The Argentinosaurs, at 80 tonnes and 40m long was the equivalent of fifteen elephants,…

The changing climate is more complicated to model than we assumed. There are interrelated variables that work together to amplify the effects. For example, as summer sea-ice and snow shrink back in the Arctic, the number of summertime “extreme” weather events in the middle latitudes of the Northern Hemisphere is increasing, according to research published…

More than 780 million people lack access to safe drinking water, two and a half times the population of the United States. More than half of all Americans drink bottled water, yet almost every U.S. household has access to safe drinking water.