Page 339 - Environment
NASA's Insight spacecraft successfully lands on Mars
NASA's robotic InSight lander -- designed to dig into the rocky Martian surface to reveal its secrets -- successfully touched down on the Red Planet Monday after a supersonic plunge through its rose-hued atmosphere. The lander sent signals indicating that its solar panels are open and collecting sunlight on the Martian surface. NASA's Mars Odyssey orbiter relayed the signals, which were received on Earth at about 5:30 pm PST (7 am IST, Tuesday). Solar array deployment ensures the spacecraft can recharge its batteries each day. Odyssey also relayed a pair of images showing InSight's landing site. The Insight lander touched down near Mars' equator on the western side of a flat, smooth expanse of lava called Elysium Planitia, with a signal affirming a completed landing sequence at approximately 3 pm EST (1:30 am IST, Tuesday). The probe was launched from the Vandenberg Air Force Base in California, US on May 5. "Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history,"
India's October natural rubber imports jump 63 percent - Rubber Board
MUMBAI (Reuters) - India's natural rubber imports in October jumped 63 percent from a year ago to 62,047 tonnes, the state-run Rubber Board said on Tuesday, as local consumption surged amid drop in overseas prices.
Extreme weather turning Arctic brown, may impact climate change: Study
The increasing number of extreme events is causing dieback of Arctic plants or 'browning' across Arctic regions, a study has found. Scientists from the University of Sheffield in the UK studying the Arctic -- which is warming twice as fast as the global average -- found that plant dieback following these events could significantly reduce the ability of Arctic ecosystems to help combat climate change. Previously, scientists had found that increasing summer warmth in the Arctic was encouraging vegetation to grow, turning areas green. "Despite the scale of Arctic browning, until now we knew very little about its impacts on ecosystem carbon balance; the balance between carbon uptake by vegetation and its release from vegetation and soils," said Rachael Treharne, a PhD student at the University of Sheffield. "This information is critical to understanding the role of Arctic ecosystems in regulating global climate, both now and in the future," Treharne said. The study, published in the ...
Very poor Delhi air on misty Tuesday morning
It was a misty morning here on Tuesday with the air quality dipping to very poor levels with haze, as the Met recorded the minimum temperature at 10.7 degree Celsius, a notch above average.
Migratory birds throng Gharana wetland in Jammu
Hundreds of migratory birds have arrived in Gharana Wetland Conservation Reserve in Jammu and Kashmir, after keeping away last year in large numbers due to heavy firing and shelling along the International Border (IB) here, officials said. Every year with the onset of winter, over 370 bird species, including 310 water species, from Central Asian highlands start congregating at various wetlands in India. Last year, shelling and firing by Pakistani troops scared the winged visitors so they had kept away in large numbers, the officials said. Regional Wildlife Warden (Jammu) Tahir Shawl said the birds had started arriving at Gharana in RS Pura and his department was taking all measures to make the habitat suitable for them. Shawl said some of the steps were scientific management interventions like selective removal of weed and monitoring of birds and 'watch and ward' for averting hunting or poaching attempts. A wildlife department official said the birds start arriving in the marshy land .
Delhiites gasp for breath as air quality remains unhealthy
People residing in Delhi and National Capital Region are reeling under the impact of breathing polluted air from the past couple of months due to vehicular pollution, crop residue burning and climate change.As per the Centre-run System of Air Quality and Weather Forecasting and Research (SAFAR), the air quality index (AQI) of Delhi was recorded 349 on Tuesday, falling under the 'very poor' quality category.The fog will lift in the morning with maximum and minimum temperatures hovering around 31 degrees Celsius and 13-degree Celsius, respectively. Humidity in the region has plummeted to 60 per cent with a wind speed of 8 kilometres per hour.AQI between the range of 0-50 is considered good while the range beyond 500 is contemplated as hazardous. The air quality index between the range 51 to 100 is marked as satisfactory while 101-200 range is touted as moderate. The range of 201-300 comes under the category of poor whereas 401-500 range is considered as severe.At Dhirpur, the AQI was ...
51 Star tortoises rescued in Singapore, sent to their natural habitat in India
Singapore has sent back 51 Indian star tortoises on a Singapore Airlines flight as they were illegally trafficked here as prized exotic pets. This is the largest number of Indian star tortoises - coveted for their star-patterned shells - to be repatriated from Singapore, The Straits Times reported on Tuesday. Their striking, intricate appearances make them an easy target for poachers, who are often part of organised crime rings that profit from animal trafficking. The lucky few saved by the Animal Concerns Research and Education Society (Acres) are just a fraction of the estimated 10,000 to 20,000 taken from the wild to meet the international demand for exotic pets, according to the Singapore daily. Acres has cared for the tortoises for more than eight years at its premises at Jalan Lekar in western Singapore. The organisation has spared no expense to provide varied and tailored diets for the tortoises, along with intensive veterinary care and healthy environmental conditions to keep .
NASA's InSight lander lands on Mars
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) InSight mission has finally touched down on the red planet on Monday (local time; around 1 p.m. of November 27 IST) after seven months of traveling through space.CNN reported that a few minutes after landing, the InSight lander sent an official "beep" to NASA signaling its clear landing, including a photo of the Martian surface where it landed. The Mission Control at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory celebrated the touchdown of the lander through a great applause after the landing was confirmed."Today, we successfully landed on Mars for the eighth time in human history," NASA Administrator Jim Bridenstine said in his statement."InSight will study the interior of Mars and will teach us valuable science as we prepare to send astronauts to the Moon and later to Mars. This accomplishment represents the ingenuity of America and our international partners, and it serves as a testament to the dedication and perseverance of our team. The ...
Thousands moved out for a new GM factory; now it's closing
WASHINGTON/DETROIT (Reuters) - General Motors Co on Monday pulled the plug on the Chevrolet Volt hybrid and the Detroit-Hamtramck Assembly plant that builds it, both examples of a costly gamble that is not paying off.
Mars touchdown: Safe landing for NASA's InSight spacecraft
NASAs InSight spacecraft touched down safely on Mars on Monday, kicking off a two-year mission to explore the deep interior of the Red Planet.
NASA's InSight spacecraft touches down on Mars
NASA's InSight spacecraft touched down safely on Mars on Monday, kicking off a two-year mission to explore the deep interior of the Red Planet.
Trump says GM 'better' add new facility in Ohio after cuts
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump demanded General Motors Co add a new product to replace a plant in Ohio that the company said it planned to close next year due to lagging small-car demand.
NASA spacecraft lands on red planet after six-month journey
A NASA spacecraft designed to burrow beneath the surface of Mars landed on the red planet Monday after a six-month, 300 million-mile (482 million-kilometer) journey and a perilous, six-minute descent through the rose-hued atmosphere. Flight controllers at NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, leaped out of their seats and erupted in screams, applause and laughter as the news came in. "Touchdown confirmed!" a flight controller announced. The three-legged InSight spacecraft reached the surface after being slowed by a parachute and braking engines, the space agency said. Updates were coming in via radio signals that take more than eight minutes to cross the nearly 100 million miles (160 million kilometers) between Mars and Earth. It was NASA's ninth attempt to land at Mars since the 1976 Viking probes. All but one of the previous U.S. touchdowns were successful. NASA last landed on Mars in 2012 with the Curiosity rover. Viewings were held coast to coast at museums, .
Nagaland guv hails PM's developmental programmes for Northeast
Nagaland Governor Padmanabha Acharya Monday said Prime Minister Narendra Modi's developmental programmes for the Northeast have created awareness among people of the country to do something for the region. He also hailed the contribution of the Northeastern people in the freedom struggle of the country and in various sectors like the education. Addressing a function here, he said the development programmes initiated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the region have created awareness among people from various states to do something for the Northeast. Acharya was speaking at an award ceremony 'One India award' organised by "My Home India". "Nagaland has a population of 20 lakh, 98 per cent of whom are Christians. Our failure and deficiency, and not the people of the Northeast, are responsible for the situation there," he said. The governor said the developmental programmes initiated by the prime minister have created awareness among Indians to do something for the ...
Two lions shifted to Gandhinagar park for public viewing
A pair of Asiatic lions has been shifted to an enclosure at the Indroda Nature Park in Gujarat's capital Gandhinagar for public viewing from Tuesday, officials said Monday. A 10-year-old lion, Sutra, and an eight-year-old lioness, Greeva, have been made available for viewing by visitors at the park managed by the Gujarat Ecological Education and Research (GEER) Foundation, an autonomous body under the government's forest and environment department. The GEER Foundation has also set up a souvenir shop at the park where visitors can purchase items like wildlife magazines, books, maps, information booklet, T-shirts, caps, jackets and key chains, among others. Both the lion enclosure and souvenir shop will be inaugurated by Minister of State for Forest and Tourism Ganpat Vasava Tuesday. "The two lions have been brought to Indroda Park from Shakkarbaug Zoo in Junagadh. The male lion was rescued from Sutrapada when it was seven-month-old. They will be kept in a 10,000 sq feet .
Anti-hijack mock drill at Kolkata airport
A mock anti-hijacking drill was conducted on Monday at Netaji Subhas Chandra Bose International Airport here wherein the response time of various agencies involved in the exercise was checked, airport sources said.
Delhi AQI very poor, likely to drop
The air quality fell again in the national capital and regions around it, even as the effect from stubble burning had 'almost seized' with Delhi choking on its locally generated pollution.
Global wealth rising at cost of environment: UN report
A report by the United Nations and its partners on Monday showed overall global wealth was rising but at the cost of environmental assets, such as water, clean air, forests and biodiversity.
Anxiety at NASA as Mars InSight spacecraft nears Red Planet
Seven years of work and a journey of nearly seven months were about to be capped by almost seven minutes of terror as NASA ticked off the final hours to the high-drama landing of its USD 993 million Mars InSight spacecraft on Monday. Mars InSight's goal is to listen for quakes and tremors as a way to unveil the Red Planet's inner mysteries, how it formed billions of years ago and, by extension, how other rocky planets like Earth took shape. The unmanned spacecraft is NASA's first to attempt to touch down on Earth's neighboring planet since the Curiosity rover arrived in 2012. More than half of 43 attempts to reach Mars with rovers, orbiters and probes by space agencies from around the world have failed. NASA is the only space agency to have made it, and is invested in these robotic missions as a way to prepare for the first Mars-bound human explorers in the 2030s. "We never take Mars for granted. Mars is hard," said Thomas Zurbuchen, NASA associate administrator for the science ...
Social justice remains touchstone of nation building, says President
President Ram Nath Kovind said on Monday that social justice remains a "touchstone" of nation building and if a child suffers from asthma due to air pollution, he would consider that a "gap" in providing social justice. In India, he said, the idea of social justice has expanded to "encompass modern civic parameters" such as clean air; less polluted cities, towns, rivers, water bodies; hygienic living conditions and green and eco-friendly growth and development. "These are all implications of environmental and climate justice, within the framework of social justice. If a child suffers from asthma due to air pollution I would consider that a gap in providing social justice," he said, while addressing the inaugural function of 'Constitution Day Celebrations' held here. "Given the diverse history of our people, and given imbalances and hierarchies that have sometimes marked our past, social justice remains a touchstone of our nation building," he said. "At the simplest level, it implies ..
