ROACH DRY LAKE, Nev. -- Not a light bulb's worth of solar electricity has been produced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it. Not one project to build glimmering solar farms has even broken ground.Instead, five years after federal land managers opened up stretches of the Southwest to developers, vast tracts still sit idle.An Associated Press examination of U.S. Bureau of Land Management records and interviews with agency officials shows that the BLM operated a first-come, first-served leasing system that quickly overwhelmed its small staff and enabled companies, regardless of solar industry experience, to squat on land without any real plans to develop it.
ROACH DRY LAKE, Nev. -- Not a light bulb's worth of solar electricity has been produced on the millions of acres of public desert set aside for it. Not one project to build glimmering solar farms has even broken ground.
Instead, five years after federal land managers opened up stretches of the Southwest to developers, vast tracts still sit idle.
An Associated Press examination of U.S. Bureau of Land Management records and interviews with agency officials shows that the BLM operated a first-come, first-served leasing system that quickly overwhelmed its small staff and enabled companies, regardless of solar industry experience, to squat on land without any real plans to develop it.
ScienceDaily (Sep. 1, 2010) -- Researchers describe how to carry out the first experimental test of string theory in a paper published September 2 in Physical Review Letters.
An ancient reef found in the Pacific may provide clues to what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise. A team of researchers from Australia and New Zealand have discovered a huge 9,000-year-old reef surprisingly far south. Lord Howe Island is 600km east of the Australian mainland and has a small modern coral reef - the furthest south in the world.
An ancient reef found in the Pacific may provide clues to what will happen to coral when sea temperatures rise.
A team of researchers from Australia and New Zealand have discovered a huge 9,000-year-old reef surprisingly far south.
Lord Howe Island is 600km east of the Australian mainland and has a small modern coral reef - the furthest south in the world.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says that world food prices have risen to their highest level in two years. It says the increase is due partly to a drought in Russia and to government export restrictions which have brought about a surge in the price of wheat. The Rome-based agency says that its food price index shot up 5% between July and August.
The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) says that world food prices have risen to their highest level in two years.
It says the increase is due partly to a drought in Russia and to government export restrictions which have brought about a surge in the price of wheat.
The Rome-based agency says that its food price index shot up 5% between July and August.
A new labelling deal with Australia may make Europe's winemakers feel more than a little light-headed as imitations will no longer be sold with names like champagne and sherry. Australian producers will not be able to use 11 prestigious European drink labels. Australia also gets protection for 112 of its "geographical indicators" (GIs), including Barossa and Coonawarra. Australia exported wine worth 643m euros (£530m) to the EU last year. Europe is the biggest market for Australian wine exporters.
A new labelling deal with Australia may make Europe's winemakers feel more than a little light-headed as imitations will no longer be sold with names like champagne and sherry.
Australian producers will not be able to use 11 prestigious European drink labels.
Australia also gets protection for 112 of its "geographical indicators" (GIs), including Barossa and Coonawarra.
Australia exported wine worth 643m euros (£530m) to the EU last year.
Europe is the biggest market for Australian wine exporters.
LAHORE, 1 September 2010 (IRIN) - For hundreds of thousands of Pakistanis forced by the floods to abandon their homes, food is a primary concern: some families have gone days without a meal. Frances Kennedy, a World Food Programme (WFP) spokesperson, told IRIN: "We are very concerned about the nutritional situation. About 2.8 million people have been reached, but there are others in need. Camps are crowded and people are sleeping on sides of the roads." WFP has been supplying "dry rations" (family rations for a month), made up of wheat flour fortified with vitamins and minerals, cooking oil and high-energy biscuits.
A lonely island in the middle of the South Atlantic conceals Charles Darwin's best-kept secret. Two hundred years ago, Ascension Island was a barren volcanic edifice. Today, its peaks are covered by lush tropical "cloud forest". What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.
A lonely island in the middle of the South Atlantic conceals Charles Darwin's best-kept secret.
Two hundred years ago, Ascension Island was a barren volcanic edifice.
Today, its peaks are covered by lush tropical "cloud forest".
What happened in the interim is the amazing story of how the architect of evolution, Kew Gardens and the Royal Navy conspired to build a fully functioning, but totally artificial ecosystem.
