Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai

Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai

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Reality Matters. #Environment #Climate #Ecology #Rainforests #Water #Ocean #Rewild #Science #Indigenous #Peace #AI | Big Earth Data https://bigearthdata.ai - EcoSearch, EcoChat, RSS & APIs | Existential Gaia Essays - https://existentialgaia.bigearthdata.ai

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Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai
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Launch of "Caribbean Biological Corridor's 30x30 Plus Marine Action Plan" Marks Major Milestone in Multi-Country Ocean Conservation ->Wildlife Conservation Society Newsroom | More on "Caribbean marine biodiversity protection plan" at BigEarthData.ai | #OceanConservation

newsroom.wcs.orgLaunch of "Caribbean Biological Corridor's 30x30 Plus Marine Action Plan" Marks Major Milestone in Multi-Country Ocean ConservationYEREVAN, ARMENIA (October 27, 2026) — In a decisive move to address the critical ecological connectivity gap in global ocean conservation, the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) and the Caribbean Biological Corridor (CBC) today launched the "CBC 30x30 Plus Marine Action Plan," an ambitious multi-country framework to protect marine biodiversity and critical ecosystems across the Greater Antilles region of the Caribbean. The plan was launched at the UN Biodiversity Conference (CBD ,COP17) in Yerevan, Armenia, during a high-level side event at the Ocean Pavilion, "Connected Seas, Collective Action: Making 30x30 Count," with government representatives from the Greater Antilles. The plan leverages the CBC as a vital subregional governance and cooperation platform to transform isolated marine protected areas into a cohesive, ecologically connected regional seascape. The initiative, supported by partnerships with the Wildlife Conservation Society, UN Environment Programme (UNEP), Caribbean Biodiversity Fund (CBF), and REV Ocean, seeks to demonstrate how South-South cooperation, shared science, and innovative conservation finance can deliver durable ocean ecological integrity and ensure the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) Target 3 (“30x30”) is effectively met. “The ocean knows no borders, and neither should our conservation efforts,” said Pamela Castillo, 30x30 Marine Director at WCS. “Progress toward global marine 30x30...
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Saved $1,000 In A Year, No More Hauling Wood: Rural BC's Retrofit Stories (Video Series) ->EcoTrust Canada | More on "Rural home energy retrofit programs" at BigEarthData.ai

ecotrust.caSaved $1,000 In A Year, No More Hauling Wood: Rural BC's Retrofit Stories (Video Series)None of it would have happened without BC’s rebate programs. Through our Community Energy Program’s work on the ground, we see the positive impacts of home energy retrofits every day. The impacts on people’s lives include energy and cost savings, improved health, safety, well-being, aging in place, and resilience in extreme weather. The benefits are far-reaching, diverse, and unique to each household, and numbers in a report don’t fully capture them. To offer a glimpse into the experiences of homeowners who, with guidance from our Home Energy Savings Program, accessed financial support through government-supported retrofit programs, we are sharing the stories of seniors, families, and community organizers in a series of short videos. We hope hearing directly from people will show decision-makers the value of these retrofits and encourage renewed funding so BC residents most in need can access these impactful renovations. “Without the funding from ECAP [Energy Conservation Assistance Program], I wouldn’t have gotten a heat pump because I couldn’t afford it.” — Carol Woolsey, Quadra Island Tom saved $1,000 in a year on heating Tom McCarthy lives in Port Alice, BC, where many of the homes are heated by propane furnaces. Through the CleanBC Energy Savings Program and...
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Jetson unveils heat pump water heater with efficiency factor of up to 4.0 ->PV Magazine | More on "Heat pump water heater efficiency" at BigEarthData.ai | #HeatPump #Water

pv-magazine-usa.comJetson unveils heat pump water heater with efficiency factor of up to 4.0U.S.-based home electrification company Jetson Home has unveiled a new residential heat pump water heater that reportedly uses around 75% less electricity than conventional electric storage water heaters. The Jetson Water system is available in three storage capacities of 50 gallons (189 liters), 65 gallons (246 liters) , and 80 gallos (303 liters), with a uniform energy factor (UEF) ranging from 3.75 to 4.00, depending on the model. According to the manufacturer, conventional electric tank water heaters typically have a UEF of slightly below 1.0. UEF is a measure of the energy efficiency of water heaters. It indicates how efficiently a water heater converts energy into usable hot water under standardized testing conditions. “Jetson Water costs $4,495 for the 50-gallon model, $4,995 for the 65-gallon and $5,495 for the 80-gallon, including permits and electrical work,” the company’s CEO, Stephen Lake, told pv magazine. “All prices are before rebates, which can lower the final cost depending on location and eligibility. Jetson automatically applies eligible rebates and handles the paperwork on customers’ behalf, helping eligible homeowners save hundreds to thousands of dollars depending on their location.” “The 50-gallon model has a UEF of 3.75, while the 65-gallon and 80-gallon versions achieve UEF...
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China's Chronic Kidney Disease Burden and Risk Factors: GBD 2023 Trends ->Mirage News | More on "China's chronic kidney disease burden" at BigEarthData.ai | #Disease #Health

miragenews.comChina's Chronic Kidney Disease Burden and Risk Factors: GBD 2023 TrendsChronic kidney disease (CKD) represents a growing global public‑health threat, formally listed as a priority non‑communicable disease by the WHO in 2025. Characterized by kidney damage or sustained reduced glomerular filtration, CKD often progresses silently in early‑to‑middle stages. Low public awareness delays diagnosis and treatment, raising risks of cardiovascular complications, end‑stage renal disease, dialysis or kidney transplantation. While previous national surveys reported China's CKD prevalence, nationwide evidence on incidence, mortality, disability‑adjusted life‑years (DALYs), temporal trends and risk‑factor contributions remained limited. Drawing on the Global Burden of Disease (GBD) 2023 dataset, researchers from Peking University systematically analysed national CKD‑related incidence, mortality and DALYs. The team is led by Professor Luxia Zhang from Peking University First Hospital, with Dr. Jinwei Wang as the first author. Their findings were made available online on June 26, 2026, and published in Chinese Medical Journal in Volume 139, Issue 15 on August 05, 2026. In 2023, roughly 156 million Chinese people were estimated to suffer from CKD. Type‑2 diabetes and hypertension stood out as leading etiological contributors. From 1990 to 2023, crude CKD incidence increased at an annual rate of 1.67%, whereas crude DALYs and mortality stayed relatively stable. Once adjusted for age, incidence, DALYs and...
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Localized Ceasefire Brokered by Melania Trump Starts as Nordic Leaders Speak to Putin and Zelenskyy ->Military.com | More on "Ukraine ceasefire and peace negotiations" at BigEarthData.ai | #PutinWarCriminal #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine #Zelenskyy

military.comLocalized Ceasefire Brokered by Melania Trump Starts as Nordic Leaders Speak to Putin and ZelenskyyMYKOLAIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia and Ukraine began observing a localized ceasefire in a devastated southern Ukrainian city on Tuesday, ahead of a planned humanitarian mission brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump. But Moscow kept up its deadly missile attacks on other cities in the meantime. Meanwhile, Finland’s president and Norway’s prime minister spoke on the phone with Russian President Vladimir Putin, officials said, in their first known direct contact since shortly after Russia's all-out invasion of Ukraine began on Feb. 24, 2022. The war launched by Russia set most of Europe against Moscow, with Western officials accusing Putin of masterminding a campaign of disruption across the continent. After their conversation with Putin, Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre and Finnish President Alexander Stubb spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, according to Zelenskyy's office. A ceasefire takes hold in a southern Ukraine city, officials say A local pause in fighting started at 3 a.m. to allow an aid mission into the Russian-occupied city of Oleshky later this week. The situation in Oleshky is desperate, with food and medical supplies running perilously low for the up to 2,000 people still there, as drones and land mines restrict movement. Deep mistrust...
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Twin hurricanes stare out to space as they barrel toward Hawaii ->Live Science | More on "Twin hurricanes threaten Hawaii" at BigEarthData.ai | #Hurricane

livescience.comTwin hurricanes stare out to space as they barrel toward HawaiiThis eye-catching satellite snap from a decade ago shows a pair of hurricanes barreling toward Hawaii. The clouds swirling around the twin cyclones make them look eerily like the eyes of a pale face smiling up at space. The sight appears even spookier when viewed on a weather map (see below). The surprisingly symmetrical storms — Hurricane Madeline (left) and Hurricane Lester (right) — were the 14th and 13th named storms, respectively, during 2016's Pacific hurricane season, which is tied for the sixth-most-active year on record, with 22 total named storms. Madeline peaked as a Category 4 storm on Aug. 30, reaching maximum wind speeds of around 130 mph (210 km/h). Lester also briefly became a Category 4 storm on Sept. 1, reaching a maximum speed just below Madeline's, but it quickly weakened to Category 3. On Aug. 30, the day after the image was taken, Madeline was just under 400 miles (650 kilometers) from Hawaii's Big Island, while Lester was around 900 miles (1,450 km) behind on the same trajectory, according to NASA's Earth Observatory. At the time, meteorologists were uncertain whether the pair would hit the island. The Central Pacific Hurricane Center later issued a hurricane warning for...
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Direct imaging elucidates ionic memory in two-dimensional nanochannels ->Nature | More on "Two-dimensional nanochannel ionic memory" at BigEarthData.ai

nature.comDirect imaging elucidates ionic memory in two-dimensional nanochannelsFor the fabrication of 2D nanochannel devices, a modified version of the fabrication process (Supplementary Fig. 1) previously reported was followed25,26, wherein a bottom hexagonal boron nitride (hBN) flake is transferred onto a silicon nitride (SiNx) free-standing membrane with a ~3-μm × 25-μm microhole. A few-layer graphene flake patterned using electron-beam lithography and dry etching serves as a spacer layer. Supplementary Fig. 1c shows an atomic force microscopy image of the spacer. A top hBN flake completes the trilayer stack, into which a rectangular aperture is dry etched to define the channel length, L ≈ 5 μm. Importantly, the top and bottom thicknesses ttop and tbot change not only the mechanical but also the optical properties of the devices and had to be chosen carefully. The full details of the N = 14 devices measured in this study are provided in Supplementary Table 1. Our measurement set-up consists of a custom fluidic cell with a top reservoir large enough to fit a water-dipping objective (Fig. 1b). The device is observed via wide-field reflection imaging with quasimonochromatic normal-incidence illumination enabling the quantification of the device topography by using thin-film interferometry21,27. Ion transport is induced by applying a sinusoidal potential drop ΔV(t)...
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Scientists Film Zika and Chikungunya RNA in Living Cells ->Technology Networks | More on "Viral RNA imaging in living cells" at BigEarthData.ai | #Science #Chikungunya

technologynetworks.comScientists Film Zika and Chikungunya RNA in Living CellsViruses are sneaky intruders, hijacking the internal machinery of host cells and replicating out of sight. Understanding these dynamics is the first step to developing effective antiviral strategies that could stop infections, but scientists have largely been left in the dark because there are limited tools to study how viruses move in space and time inside live infected cells, according to Joyce Jose, associate professor of biochemistry and molecular biology at Penn State. Now, a team of researchers from Penn State led by Jose have filmed the genetic material of Zika and chikungunya viruses - two types of RNA viruses that can cause severe disease and even death in humans - moving inside live infected cells in the laboratory. The research team developed a fluorescent molecular tag that’s built into the virus’s own genetic material, allowing them to watch in high resolution and in real time how the viral RNA genetic material interacts with its host and replicates. They then used the same tool to identify host proteins that are crucial to life cycles of the viruses. The novelty of the technique, called a dual-action aptamer tag and described in the study published in the journal Nature Communications, is the...
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The 10-year wait is over - have your say on how inshore Marine Protected Areas are really protected ->Scottish Wildlife Trust | More on "Scottish marine protected areas management" at BigEarthData.ai | #MarineProtectedArea #Ocean

scottishwildlifetrust.org.ukThe 10-year wait is over - have your say on how inshore Marine Protected Areas are really protectedIn the first of three blogs marking the Scottish Government’s recently announced consultation on long-awaited management measures for Scotland’s inshore Marine Protected Areas, we explore why meaningful protection throughout this network is so vital – and how best to make your voice heard on the restriction of certain types of fishing around Scotland’s coast. The wait is finally over! Fisheries management measures for Scotland’s network of Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) were meant to be completed in 2016. Several delays later – and following a decade of further damage – we have reached a monumental milestone. Here in Scotland and around the world, MPAs represent the cornerstone of efforts to conserve marine biodiversity. All contain a wealth of sensitive habitats that support much of the life found in our seas. The Scottish Government has a stated vision of ensuring clean, healthy, safe, productive and diverse seas. Meeting the nature conservation objectives of MPAs through effective protection and management represents a key step in delivering that vision. It may seem a little strange that we are even having this conversation. After all, it would be reasonable to expect that Scotland’s MPAs are – as their name suggests – already fully protected. Unfortunately,...
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Say NO to the Permitting Reform Bill! ->Waterkeeper Alliance | More on "Environmental protections and permitting reform" at BigEarthData.ai

waterkeeper.orgSay NO to the Permitting Reform Bill!The U.S. Senate recently introduced the Bipartisan American Affordability and Jobs Act. The measure would severely weaken longstanding protections under the Clean Water Act, Endangered Species Act, and National Environmental Policy Act. If passed, this harmful bill would allow dangerous projects – such as pipelines, powerplants, and data centers – to move forward with less environmental scrutiny and fewer opportunities for public input. Tell your members of Congress to vote NO on permitting reform! Section 401 of the Clean Water Act provides states and Tribes with an important tool to help protect the water quality of federally regulated waters within their borders. This bill, however, would dramatically weaken states and Tribes rights to protect their own local waters. The bill makes it easier to fast track dangerous projects like extracting coal and oil, harvesting deep sea beds, and constructing new pipelines without adequate environmental protections. It also undermines the Endangered Species Act by exempting some projects from review entirely. If passed, these reforms could also prohibit future administrations from implementing new rules to combat climate change, severely limiting future presidents from addressing the climate crisis and controlling pollutants. This bill becomes even more concerning when seen through the lens of...
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Russia, Ukraine pause fighting in Oleshky after truce announced by Melania Trump ->Australian Broadcasting Corporation | More on "Russia Ukraine ceasefire humanitarian corridor" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine

abc.net.auRussia, Ukraine pause fighting in Oleshky after truce announced by Melania TrumpA ceasefire brokered with the assistance of Melania Trump has come into effect in the Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky. Both sides said they would observe the truce, which began on Tuesday at 3am, local time, to allow for the establishment of a humanitarian corridor. In a Telegram post, the Russian defence ministry said it had halted shelling in the direction of the city of Kherson, which faces Oleshky across the Dnipro River. Ukrainian negotiator and parliamentary human rights commissioner Dmytro Lubinets said on social media that his country was "honouring its commitments". He said the deal was reached with the help of the US first lady and the cooperation of Russian human rights commissioner Yana Lantratova. The city, on the southern bank of the Dnipro River, was seized by Russian troops in 2022. The population of Oleshky has dropped from about 24,000 before the Russian invasion in 2022 to about 2,000 today, including as many as 50 children, according to Ukrainian and US estimates. Earlier this year former residents told AFP that those still in the city were hunting pigeons or subsisting on whatever they had in their garden. The city was heavily damaged by the 2023 destruction of...
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Trump's Iran war could escalate. Is anyone paying attention? ->Salon | More on "Trump administration Iran escalation risks" at BigEarthData.ai | #IranWar

salon.comTrump's Iran war could escalate. Is anyone paying attention?Barely noticed among all the talk in the election campaign about great asses, shithouse countries and commie jihadists running for the Senate was a report from The New York Times warning of “heightened levels of tension and risk” surrounding Israel’s parliamentary elections, slated for today, and America’s Nov. 3 midterms due to the countries’ war with Iran, which has “entered a new phase.” They also offered this bracing observation: “This is how countries can escalate into full-scale war, several diplomats and outside experts noted.” How’s that for a wake-up call? In fairness, Donald Trump has mentioned in passing that he plans to “finish the job” after the midterm elections, with CNN reporting that the president “appears to be leaning toward major action.” On Oct. 15, the outlet revealed that the U.S. is considering using the “mother of all bombs” on Iranian energy infrastructure and nuclear facilities. (They admit that such a strike would be “performative,” since it would not actually accomplish anything, but would supposedly allow Trump to declare victory.) If anyone had the idea that a midterm election campaign would be the place where serious people of goodwill debate the major issues of the day, they were mistaken. For...
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Demons, Alchemists, and Algorithms - Is There Something Esoteric About Artificial Intelligence? ->IFLScience | More on "AI ethics and cultural mythology" at BigEarthData.ai | #Algorithm #ArtificialIntelligence

iflscience.comDemons, Alchemists, and Algorithms - Is There Something Esoteric About Artificial Intelligence?After her first appearance, Swanson tried to use Loab as a base for more images, which, she claimed, become increasingly disturbing. Now referred to as the world’s first AI cryptid or “AI-generated demon”, Loab has secured a place within modern folklore and urban legend, existing alongside other creepypasta figures like Slender Man or Momo. But as scary as her visage is and as uncanny as her creation seems, Loab has not experienced a life independent to her short-lived viral moment in the spotlight. No one has claimed to have encountered the digital ghoul or had any other weird experiences with it. However, the reaction to Loab’s manifestation highlights a curious phenomenon regarding emerging AI technologies: the idea that this black box-like technology houses something sinister. After all, there are people on the internet who believe AI is not only conscious, or at least capable of consciousness, but that it is already haunted. Examining the place of AI in relation to what can be seen as a new form of folklore is a disorienting journey, as it takes us to both the fringes of internet culture and the heart of the Silicon Valley boardroom. It blurs the boundaries between technology, mythology,...
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A short guide to the linguicide of the Ukrainian language | Infographics (updated) ->Euromaidan Press | More on "Ukrainian language suppression and history" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine

euromaidanpress.comA short guide to the linguicide of the Ukrainian language | Infographics (updated)From the 17th to the 20th century, Ukrainian lands were split between empires and states. Their rulers tried to assimilate Ukrainians and block their self-determination by going after what set them apart: their language and culture. Nobody has an exact count of the bans. Historian Pavlo Hai-Nyzhnyk says there were more than 100 and that the real number is likely higher, because governors issued local bans too. These measures differed in purpose and reach. Some restricted publishing, schooling, or official use; others suppressed cultural institutions or pushed assimilation. Most served the forced Russification of Ukrainians in the Russian Empire and the USSR. The timeline below is a selection of documented events, not a count of bans. Russia has not stopped. Since 2014, schooling in Ukrainian has collapsed in the territories it occupies, and in 2025 it removed Ukrainian from the federal school programs it imposes there. Here are some of the most important restrictions on Ukrainian language and cultural life imposed by the regimes ruling over Ukraine. 17th century 1627: Muscovy. Moscow church authorities condemn Kyrylo Trankvilion-Stavrovetskyi’s Didactic Gospel, a collection of sermons printed in Ukraine in 1619, and order copies burned in Moscow. 1697: Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth. An act requires...
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Local ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump starts in Ukraine ->ABC News | More on "Ukraine ceasefire and humanitarian aid" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine

abcnews.comLocal ceasefire brokered by Melania Trump starts in UkraineMYKOLAIV, Ukraine -- A localized ceasefire between Ukraine and Russia took effect early Tuesday ahead of a humanitarian mission brokered by U.S. first lady Melania Trump, as missile attacks resumed in Kyiv. The local pause in fighting started at 3 a.m. to allow an aid mission into the Russian-occupied town of Oleshky in southern Ukraine later this week. According to her office, Melania Trump led talks with civilian negotiators from Russia and Ukraine after meeting with U.N. officials who briefed her on the situation in the town. The aid mission is planned ahead of a new round of U.S.-brokered talks between Russia and Ukraine expected next month aimed at ending the war after more than 4½ years of fighting. Up to 2,000 people are stranded in Oleshky with dwindling food and medicine. They are unable to leave because of explosive mines and drone attacks in the area, according to the U.N. Russian and Ukrainian negotiators as well as the militaries of the two countries confirmed in separate statements that the ceasefire had begun. The local ceasefire is due to last through Saturday, or longer, though deep mistrust between Russia and Ukraine has thwarted previous attempts at ceasefires. Minutes after 3...
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An ICJ Case and Genocidal Intent in Russia's War on Ukraine ->Just Security | More on "Genocide charges against Russia Ukraine" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #Genocide #StandWithUkraine

justsecurity.orgAn ICJ Case and Genocidal Intent in Russia's War on UkraineSince Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, its forces have committed all five acts listed in the Genocide Convention: killing Ukrainian civilians; causing them serious bodily or mental harm; deliberately inflicting conditions of life calculated to bring about their physical destruction; imposing measures intended to prevent births; and forcibly transferring Ukrainian children to Russian families or Russian-controlled institutions. The harder question — for the purposes of establishing State responsibility — is whether Russia committed those acts “with intent to destroy, in whole or in part, a national, ethnical, racial or religious group, as such.” In other words, did it act with genocidal intent, the dolus specialis? Over the past 16 months, the International Human Rights Clinic at Harvard Law School (led by Susan and with significant contributions from George) and the legal team at International Partnership for Human Rights (led by Anastasiya) have conducted extensive analysis of Russia’s rhetoric and conduct in Ukraine. We conclude that, under existing international law, (i) the rhetoric of Russian representatives provides a strong basis for establishing Russia’s intent to destroy the Ukrainian national group, and (ii) Russia’s conduct provides a credible basis for inferring genocidal intent. Our findings have been shared with...
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Cracks in EU's drinking water system demand political action ->Water News Europe | More on "EU drinking water governance challenges" at BigEarthData.ai | #DrinkingWater

waternewseurope.comCracks in EU's drinking water system demand political actionDespite EU water laws, the drinking water supply system shows serious cracks in several regions in the European Union. Good water governance and its enforcement are essential to safeguard the access to clean drinking water on our continent. The European Commission is stepping up its efforts to protect access to clean and healthy drinking water in the near future, but the road ahead will be winding. How can persistent drinking water problems remain while new ones are popping up everywhere in Europe, when appropriate European water laws are in place? After investigating real-life situations in several European Member States, the answers are obvious. There are shortcomings in governance and in the implementation and enforcement of existing legislation, alongside a significant investment challenge. There are also challenges in controlling pollution at source and applying the Polluter Pays Principle consistently. All these things can be addressed, but this needs to be done quickly, because reversing these kind of developments will be hard. Writing about the European water sector is like looking into a kaleidoscope with dazzling, different colours. Each Member State has its own landscape, from snowy mountains and green meadows to extensive deltas and near-deserts. Every country has its own water...
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Russian attacks across Ukraine kill four, injure 57 over past day, as Kyiv comes under ballistic missile assault ->The Kyiv Independent | More on "Russia's ongoing attacks on Ukraine" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine #Kyiv

kyivindependent.comRussian attacks across Ukraine kill four, injure 57 over past day, as Kyiv comes under ballistic missile assaultRussian attacks across Ukraine have killed at least four and wounded at least 55 others over the past day, Ukrainian authorities said on Oct. 27, as Russia launched an overnight missile and drone blitz against the capital, Kyiv. Russian attacks hit Kyiv's Southern Bridge, disrupting metro services, as well as a university campus, an administrative building, and medical centers. At least one person was killed, and 15 people were injured in the latest Russian attack on the capital, Ukraine's State Emergency Service (DSNS) said. Those injured in the attack include a paramedic, a medical technician, and a 20-year-old university student. According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia attacked Kyiv with an unspecified number of S-400 and Iskander ballistic missiles, launched from Bryansk Oblast, and with 280 strike drones of various types, 69 of which were jet-powered. Two ballistic missiles and 255 Russian strike drones, including 56 jet-powered drones, were shot down by Ukrainian air defense or suppressed by electronic warfare. There were 25 locations reported struck by Russian munitions in the capital, as well as 16 locations that were struck by falling debris from downed missiles and drones. In Chernihiv Oblast, six people, including a 12-year-old child, were injured in...
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Ukraine Still Downed 74% of Jet Shaheds During Starlink Slowdown: ISW ->Business Insider | More on "Ukraine's air defense against Shaheds" at BigEarthData.ai | #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine

businessinsider.comUkraine Still Downed 74% of Jet Shaheds During Starlink Slowdown: ISWUkrainian data shows its air defenses largely held up against one of Russia's most prominent new threats despite a 10-day Starshield slowdown. Though high-speed interceptor drones were hindered by the reported throttling, Kyiv's forces managed to intercept 74% of Russian jet-powered Shaheds from October 14 to 24, compared with a typical rate of 77%, according to analysts at the Washington-based think tank Institute for the Study of War. The organization bases its analyses on interception data released by Ukraine's air force, which said Russia had launched hundreds of the turbojet attack drones over the 10-day period. The drop of three percentage points, or roughly 3.8%, translates to a "still relatively high interception rate" but doesn't mean Ukraine can rest easy, the ISW analysts wrote. Many interceptons were owed to Ukrainian fighter jets countering Russian jet Shaheds with air-to-air missiles or guns. For months, fighter aircraft have been Ukraine's primary and most successful air defense so far against jet Shaheds — an assessment that Ukrainian air force spokesperson Col. Yuriy Ihnat repeated to local media on Monday after Starshield services returned to normal. "We are counting on the aviation component," he told RBC Ukraine, referring to helicopters and fighter jets. One...
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Persistent and compartmentalized T cell immunity in ALS ->Nature | More on "T cell immunity in neurological disease" at BigEarthData.ai

nature.comPersistent and compartmentalized T cell immunity in ALSTo characterize T cell responses in the peripheral and intrathecal compartments of ALS, we generated a paired blood and CSF immune atlas by profiling 20 patients with sporadic ALS sampled around the time of clinical diagnosis. All individuals fulfilled the El Escorial criteria and exhibited at least two upper and two lower motor neuron signs11,15. Sampling was performed during diagnostic evaluation and before initiation of riluzole treatment. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated immediately after collection, and all samples were processed for library preparation within 2 h using the 10x Genomics scRNA-seq and scTCR-seq platforms. Libraries were frozen at −20 °C after preparation and subsequently sequenced in batches of four to six paired samples. For comparative analyses, we incorporated publicly available CSF scRNA-seq and scTCR-seq datasets from 20 age- and sex-matched healthy controls11,16. ALS-derived and control datasets were subjected to joint quality control and preprocessing using identical filtering criteria. After quality control, approximately 54,000 CSF-derived and 105,000 blood-derived immune cells from patients with ALS, together with 38,000 CSF-derived control cells, were retained for downstream analyses. Batch correction and dataset integration were performed using Harmony on the combined dataset (hereafter referred to as cohort A, n = 20). We focused...
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Climate change is a vote winner, researchers find ->Yale Climate Connections | More on "Climate change as electoral strategy" at BigEarthData.ai | #Democracy #ClimateChange #Vote

yaleclimateconnections.orgClimate change is a vote winner, researchers find📣 Spread the word about climate change. Share this newsletter with friends! Climate change is a vote winner for Democratic candidates in the U.S., according to researchers at the University of California, Santa Barbara. The UC Santa Barbara findings from earlier this year contradict claims by Democratic strategists that candidates should keep quiet about climate change – an approach known as “climate hushing.” During the 2026 midterm election cycle, climate hushing has taken hold across much of the Democratic Party. Inside Climate News reported that mentions of “climate change” and “renewable energy” by House and Senate members have dropped precipitously since 2025. And as I wrote last week, most U.S. Senate candidates in battleground states aren’t talking about it. But many climate communication experts are skeptical that climate change is a vote loser for Democratic candidates. For one thing, the percentage of voters who say that climate change is “very important” to their vote has remained relatively stable since 2015, according to George Mason University’s Center for Climate Change Communication. In other words, there’s no shift in voter preferences that would suggest Democratic candidates suddenly need to go silent. In their recent research, UC Santa Barbara scholars Gabriel De Roche,...
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Oregon looking at new rules for 3-mile-wide ribbon of ocean along the coast ->Oregon Public Broadcasting | More on "Oregon's territorial sea plan update" at BigEarthData.ai | #Ocean

opb.orgOregon looking at new rules for 3-mile-wide ribbon of ocean along the coastOregon is taking a look at the three-nautical-mile-wide ribbon of ocean that runs along the length of the coast. This offshore ribbon is managed under Oregon’s Territorial Sea Plan and covers issues as varied as undersea cables, fishing and renewable energies. But the plan is more than 30 years old and doesn’t consider emerging issues like climate change and ocean acidification. “It’s high time to take a look at the foundational chapters of the Territorial Sea Plan and update them,” said Joe Liebezeit, the chair of the Ocean Policy Advisory Council. So the Oregon Department of State Lands has asked the Ocean Policy Advisory Council to review the sea plan in an effort to strengthen protections for Oregon’s marine ecosystem and ensure Oregonians get fair compensation for the use of the seafloor. From the ‘Beach Bill’ to a bigger plan Oregon’s coastal management system is relatively recent. The first protections stretch back to 1967 and the “Beach Bill,” when lawmakers decided the public owns the shore between low and high tide. It was only in 1994 that concern about offshore drilling and foreign fishing prompted the state to develop the Territorial Sea Plan. Duncan Berry, the vice chair of the...
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From losing 70% of its market to a global comeback: How OneSoil turned crisis into opportunity ->Tech.eu | More on "Ukrainian startups adapting to war" at BigEarthData.ai

tech.euFrom losing 70% of its market to a global comeback: How OneSoil turned crisis into opportunityAt Tech.eu, we regularly speak to Ukrainian startups and founders deeply affected by Russia's unprovoked full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. But what happens when you're a European startup that has built much of its business in both Russia and Ukraine? In early 2022, Swiss agtech startup OneSoil found itself in exactly that position. I spoke to Katya Kheistver, OneSoil's CPO and COO, about how the company survived the loss of its core markets, rebuilt its business, and is now betting on AI to make agricultural expertise more accessible. When 70 per cent of your market is suddenly at risk OneSoil was founded in 2017, following the launch of the Sentinel-2 satellite programme. Its core technology relies on satellite imagery, and it initially developed a platform that let farmers monitor their fields remotely. Farmers could track vegetation indices, identify potential problems, plan field inspections, and share observations with colleagues. This was particularly valuable in countries such as Ukraine, where farms can cover thousands of hectares. A farmer managing 2,000 hectares cannot physically inspect every field every day. Satellite monitoring helps identify where attention is needed and where action could protect yields. Agriculture remains a cornerstone of Ukraine's economy, accounting for...
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Why we'll never have another Black Death ->Scientific American | More on "Modern medicine prevents plague pandemics" at BigEarthData.ai

scientificamerican.comWhy we'll never have another Black DeathScientists disagree over how scared we should be by the mysterious death of a worker at a Russian plague lab. A young laboratory technician died earlier this month of an undisclosed illness after working on research at the Irkutsk Antiplague Research Institute of Siberia and Far East. Although officials have not released details about the cause of death, scientists agree that if it was caused by ordinary plague, the wider world has little to worry about. This bacterial illness is infamous for the explosive killing spree known as the Black Death, which wiped out between a third and half of the population of Europe between 1347 and 1353. Today, however, plague is curable and extremely unlikely to blow up into a new pandemic, experts say. That’s thanks to a combination of antibiotic development, scientific understanding and luck. Experts who study plague are reluctant to say it’s been completely conquered. The World Health Organization (WHO) recently reported approximately 3,800 infections and 423 deaths from plague between 2019 and 2025. And scientists haven’t cracked all the mysteries behind the plague bacterium, known as Yersinia pestis—one of the biggest being how it hides for years in cryptic reservoirs only to spring out in...
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Ebola cases in DR Congo surpass 10,000 in fastest-growing outbreak ->Al Jazeera | More on "Ebola outbreak in DR Congo" at BigEarthData.ai | #Ebola

aljazeera.comEbola cases in DR Congo surpass 10,000 in fastest-growing outbreakConfirmed Ebola cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) have surpassed 10,000 as the outbreak continues to spread across the country and beyond its borders. Government data released on Tuesday put confirmed cases at 10,060 and deaths at 4,887. Recommended Stories list of 3 items list 1 of 3WHO announces start of Ebola vaccine clinical trial in DR Congo list 2 of 3Uganda orders 21-day Ebola quarantine for citizens returning from DR Congo list 3 of 3Attackers kill nurse, injure health worker responding to DRC Ebola case end of list It is the fastest-growing Ebola outbreak in the country’s history and nearly half of the 10,060 confirmed to have the virus have died, according to data from the DRC’s Ministry of Public Health. That also makes it the deadliest outbreak of the disease in the country’s history. With cases also mounting outside the DRC, the wider outbreak is also the second-largest and second-deadliest on record, trailing only the 2014-2016 West African epidemic, which saw 28,600 infected and more than 11,000 dead within two years. About 80 percent of new cases are coming from outside the chains of transmission that health authorities are monitoring. The Africa Centres for Disease...
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California is still without a functioning community solar program ->Solar Power World | More on "California's stalled community solar program" at BigEarthData.ai

solarpowerworldonline.comCalifornia is still without a functioning community solar programCalifornia, the state with the most installed solar capacity in the country, has spent years trying, but still doesn’t have a community solar program. That means residential solar and storage systems are often still only accessible by the affluent, and low-income residents and renters continue to experience the country’s second-highest electricity rates without any self-generated relief. Community solar, where locally-sited solar projects are shared by multiple community subscribers who receive credits on their electricity bills for their share of power produced, offers an option for utility users to access the benefits of solar when they can’t support an installation on their own home or business. Community solar programs expand access to the renewable energy source, with special support often made for low-to-moderate income customers, while building a more distributed and resilient electric grid. Despite the California Legislature mandating that the state create a community solar program in 2022, nothing yet has been established. Solar and community advocates have been battling with the California Public Utilities Commission (CPUC) and investor-owned utilities to establish a working community solar market, but talks have reached a stalemate. Outgoing Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the latest community solar legislation in September, and the state continues to...
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As Election Day Nears, a Key House Race Remains in Flux ->Inside Climate News | More on "New York's contested House race" at BigEarthData.ai | #Election #Democracy

insideclimatenews.orgAs Election Day Nears, a Key House Race Remains in FluxNY-17: Fourth in a series on the environmental stakes behind one of the nation’s most fiercely contested congressional races. After the Democratic primary election in New York’s hotly contested 17th Congressional District this June, William Knox, a veteran and self-described “anti-MAGA Republican,” said he was impressed by the winning candidate, a combat veteran who deployed six times in Iraq and Afghanistan and later served on the National Security Council in the Biden administration. “I am willing to cross party lines and vote for Cait Conley,” Knox, a resident of Dutchess County, said at the time. Now, nine days away from the midterm elections, Knox is less convinced Conley is as qualified as he had initially hoped. “I’m on the fence again,” he said. For many voters, the election has become a referendum on President Donald Trump, whose approval rating stands at around 33 percent. A recent NBC News poll found that more voters than at any point in three decades viewed their vote as a way to signal opposition to the president. Though still committed to curbing Donald Trump’s power, Knox is no longer convinced that voting for Mike Lawler, the Republican incumbent, necessarily amounts to voting for Trump. “Mike...
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Stories of success, from Gyros Island to the Colombian Amazon ->WWF | More on "Conservation success and species recovery" at BigEarthData.ai | #Island

wwf.panda.orgStories of success, from Gyros Island to the Colombian AmazonScientists reclassified green turtles as no longer threatened – an extraordinary recovery for a species that crosses oceans and nests in 80 countries. © Tom Vierus / WWF-Pacific While climate change and nature loss crises still threaten life on Earth, WWF dares to hope that we can build a better future together. From protecting biodiversity in Greece’s Gyaros island to providing solar energy for women-led businesses in the Colombian Amazon, here's some good news on the progress we are making. Hope remains amid nature loss Every two years, WWF’s globally recognized Living Planet Report shows how nature is faring in our changing world, with the latest edition revealing a 73% decline in monitored wildlife populations over a 52-year period. Importantly, however, it also concludes that there is still a clear path toward recovery if we trigger positive tipping points in our energy, food and finance systems – the main drivers of nature loss. The report also looks at recent encouraging recoveries in green turtles, bluefin tuna, tigers and southern African elephants that show conservation can be effective. Dr Kirsten Schuijt, Director General of WWF International, said: “Biodiversity continues to be degraded at an alarming pace. Yet amid these steep declines,...
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Putin hopes hardship will force Ukrainians to sue for peace - polling suggests it won't work ->The Conversation | More on "Putin's strategy to break Ukrainian resolve" at BigEarthData.ai | #Peace #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine #PutinWarCriminal

theconversation.comPutin hopes hardship will force Ukrainians to sue for peace - polling suggests it won't workVladimir Putin has a theory of victory in Ukraine. It’s not the Russian president’s first theory – that was a quick, dayslong campaign – nor his second or third, which involved different land offensives in the east that quickly petered out. Instead, Putin’s latest hypothesis is that the relentless bombing of Ukrainian cities will impose so much hardship on civilians that they will concede to Russia’s war aims. Yet, as experts on conflict and public opinion, we believe there is a significant problem with this idea. Chiefly, extensive academic research shows that airpower alone rarely achieves decisive political goals. Bombs terrorize civilians, but our survey findings in Ukraine suggest they don’t change war outcome preferences. Indeed, recent data shows that suffering from power outages and wartime stress in Ukraine has no relationship to support for territorial concessions to Putin. Putin’s plan for destruction The targeting of Ukraine infrastructure has been part of Russia’s way of war since the invasion of February 2022. But since August 2026, Russia has significantly stepped up its attacks against Ukrainian power plants and grid systems, especially in Kyiv. And due to Ukrainian air defense shortages, more of Moscow’s missiles and jet-powered drones are finding their...
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A mid-Cretaceous island as a cradle of Southeast Asian plant biodiversity ->Nature | More on "Cretaceous plant evolution and biodiversity" at BigEarthData.ai | #Island #Biodiversity

nature.comA mid-Cretaceous island as a cradle of Southeast Asian plant biodiversityGaston, K. J. Global patterns in biodiversity. Nature 405, 220–227 (2000). Jablonski, D. The tropics as a source of evolutionary novelty through geological time. Nature 364, 142–144 (1993). Mannion, P. D., Upchurch, P., Benson, R. B. & Goswami, A. The latitudinal biodiversity gradient through deep time. Trends Ecol. Evol. 29, 42–50 (2014). Crane, P. R. & Lidgard, S. Angiosperm diversification and paleolatitudinal gradients in Cretaceous floristic diversity. Science 246, 675–678 (1989). Blomenkemper, P., Kerp, H., Abu Hamad, A., DiMichele, W. A. & Bomfleur, B. A hidden cradle of plant evolution in Permian tropical lowlands. Science 362, 1414–1416 (2018). Weir, J. T. & Schluter, D. The latitudinal gradient in recent speciation and extinction rates of birds and mammals. Science 315, 1574–1576 (2007). Jablonski, D., Roy, K. & Valentine, J. W. Out of the tropics: evolutionary dynamics of the latitudinal diversity gradient. Science 314, 102–106 (2006). Jablonski, D. et al. Out of the tropics, but how? Fossils, bridge species, and thermal ranges in the dynamics of the marine latitudinal diversity gradient. Proc. Natl Acad. Sci. USA 110, 10487–10494 (2013). Friis, E. M., Crane, P. R. & Pedersen, K. R. Early Flowers and Angiosperm Evolution (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2011). Spicer, R. A. The...
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New Species Of Funky Fruit-Eating "Hell Chicken" May Be the First Known Dinosaur Frugivore ->IFLScience | More on "Dinosaur frugivore fossil discovery" at BigEarthData.ai | #Species #Biodiversity

iflscience.comNew Species Of Funky Fruit-Eating "Hell Chicken" May Be the First Known Dinosaur FrugivoreThe fossil is incredibly well preserved and shows almost every part of the dinosaur's skeleton apart from the tail. This helped researchers work out that it was roughly the size of a turkey, weighing around 12 kilograms (26 pounds) and that it would have belonged to a clade of slim dinosaurs with toothless beaks known as the Caenagnathidae. If it were alive today, we might struggle to distinguish it from a big flightless bird. Dr Greg Funston Scientists have long been trying to work out what this clade would have eaten, with multiple options such as eggs, insects, carnivorous or even strict herbivorous diets proposed for different species. Interestingly, they lack rocks in their stomachs, which can help provide clues as to their diets. Because Infernogallus is such a complete fossil and possesses the only intact cranium for the group, researchers could use the bones to help work out what the species may have eaten. However, there was a problem: the lower jaw bones were crushed. <span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span class="fr-mk" style="display: none;">&nbsp;</span><span...
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Putin's Ukraine Deal: Peace in Exchange for NATO Rollback? ->The National Interest | More on "Russia demands NATO eastward expansion rollback" at BigEarthData.ai | #Peace #NATO #PutinWarCriminal #StandWithUkraine #RussiaUkraineWar #RussiaUkraineWar

nationalinterest.orgPutin's Ukraine Deal: Peace in Exchange for NATO Rollback?Russia is reportedly planning to ask NATO to withdraw troops and equipment from countries that joined the alliance after 1997 as a condition for peace in Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin has frequently criticized NATO’s “eastward expansion” into the former Eastern Bloc states, citing it as a major security threat to Russia. Putin has long argued that the expansion of NATO broke an informal assurance made to Soviet leaders during the discussions over German reunification at the end of the Cold War. That has led to online claims that the alliance had promised at the time to move “not one inch to the east.” Now, there is growing speculation that Putin will demand NATO withdraw to its pre-1997 borders, before several former Warsaw Pact countries joined the international military alliance. In the upcoming round of Ukraine peace talks, Russia is expected to request that NATO withdraw its troops, weapons, and military infrastructure from the nations that joined the alliance after 1997. That could include Poland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, and Finland—and further impact 16 of the 32 current NATO member states. Will NATO Really Consider Russia’s Demands? NATO is not expected to even entertain the Russian demands, which the alliance views...
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Finnish, Norwegian Leaders Call Putin Ahead of Ukraine Peace Talks ->The Moscow Times | More on "Ukraine peace diplomacy efforts" at BigEarthData.ai | #Peace #RussiaUkraineWar #StandWithUkraine #PutinWarCriminal

themoscowtimes.comFinnish, Norwegian Leaders Call Putin Ahead of Ukraine Peace TalksFinnish President Alexander Stubb and Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre held a phone call with Russian President Vladimir Putin on Tuesday, during which the three leaders discussed ongoing efforts to end the war in Ukraine. Moscow confirmed the call shortly after officials in Helsinki and Oslo released statements about the conversation, which marks the first time a leader from one of Ukraine’s European allies spoke to Putin since French President Emmanuel Macron’s phone call with the Kremlin chief in July 2025. Stubb’s office said he and Støre initiated the call in order to “discuss Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine and the diplomatic efforts to end the war and promote peace and stability in Europe.” It said the aim of the outreach, made in consultation with Ukraine, was “to convey messages directly regarding future negotiations to help to end the war to President Putin,” adding that it was also “related to the upcoming meetings to be held in Abu Dhabi.” Both Finland and Norway said their leaders were speaking as representatives of their respective countries and did not speak on behalf of Europe as a whole. “In the call we stressed the importance of de-escalation,” Støre’s office said in...
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EcoVadis, Vertice Partner to Integrate ESG Ratings into the Procurement Process ->ESG Today | More on "ESG ratings in procurement integration" at BigEarthData.ai | #ESG

esgtoday.comEcoVadis, Vertice Partner to Integrate ESG Ratings into the Procurement ProcessSustainability ratings and solutions provider EcoVadis and AI procurement platform Vertice announced the launch of a new partnership aimed at integrating ESG ratings and scores directly into the procurement workflow. Founded in 2021, London-based Vertice offers an intelligent procurement platform, enabling enterprises to review, analyze and negotiate purchases, covering more than 250,000 negotiated contracts across over 32,000 vendors. EcoVadis’ network of rated companies includes more than 175,000 businesses across more than 180 countries, covering aspects including environment, labor and human rights, ethics, and sustainable procurement. The announcement marks the selection of Vertice as EcoVadis’ first AI procurement orchestration partner. Under the new partnership, EcoVadis ESG ratings and scores will be available throughout Vertice procurement workflows, alongside Vertice’s own data on pricing, peer benchmarks, contract terms and risk. According to Vertice the collaboration will allow companies to consider EcoVadis supplier ratings into the purchase request, rather than having ESG data sitting on a separate platform and risk being overlooked. Roy Tuvey, CEO and Founder of Vertice, said: “Our agentic AI orchestration platform can now deliver robust and extensive ESG data alongside our own data on price, commercial terms and wider risk factors to hit both ESG objectives and cost savings goals...
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How to Get Your Website Cited by ChatGPT and Other AI Search Engines ->Startup Fortune | More on "AI search engine content optimization" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI #Chatgpt

startupfortune.comHow to Get Your Website Cited by ChatGPT and Other AI Search EnginesWe tested real buyer questions in ChatGPT, logged every source it cited, and read our own server logs to find out what it takes for a website to be quoted by AI search. To get your website cited by ChatGPT, let OpenAI's search crawler read your pages, then publish content that answers one specific question each, puts the answer first, and rests on first-hand data. The same approach applies to Perplexity, Claude and other AI search tools. None of the AI companies has published a ranking formula, so nobody can promise a citation. What you control is whether your page can be reached and whether it is worth quoting. Instead of repeating what the SEO vendors say, we measured this on our own site. Some of the results are encouraging and some are not, including the fact that we were not cited once. What is AI search optimisation, and what are AEO and GEO? AI search optimisation is the work of making your pages easy for AI tools to find, read and quote when someone asks them a question. You will see it called answer engine optimisation (AEO) or generative engine optimisation (GEO). The names differ, but the job is...
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NSA official turned founder: AI multiplies attackers' expertise while defenders are still short on talent ->Fortune | More on "AI tools amplifying cyber attacks" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI

fortune.comNSA official turned founder: AI multiplies attackers' expertise while defenders are still short on talentLook closely at that hacker. CrowdStrike found no sign of an elite team or a state program, only an actor who paired agentic tools with established techniques. The human contribution looks thin: choosing Korean lenders as targets, aiming the agents at them, and asking Claude where the stolen data might be sold. The software supplied most of the technical legwork. The operator supplied the intent. This is not the first example of state-backed groups leaning heavily on AI. In November 2025, Anthropic disclosed that a group it assessed with high confidence to be Chinese state-sponsored used Claude Code to run an espionage campaign against roughly 30 organizations, with the AI doing an estimated 80–90 percent of the tactical work. People still selected the targets and signed off before reconnaissance moved to exploitation, and the AI “frequently overstated findings and occasionally fabricated data.” When attackers have AI at their disposal, their expertise multiplies. One individual with agentic tools can now reach multiple institutions in a matter of weeks, which historically required a skilled team. Meanwhile, defenders meet that threat with a talent gap that has persisted for years. The people who can judge which of a thousand machine-generated findings is a...
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Militaries and conflict: critical gaps in climate action ->The Conflict and Environment Observatory | More on "Military emissions and climate action" at BigEarthData.ai | #ClimateAction

ceobs.orgMilitaries and conflict: critical gaps in climate actionNationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) are the official national climate plans of countries under the Paris Agreement. A country’s NDC outlines how it will cut greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and adapt to climate change. Countries must review and update their NDCs every five years, with each government deciding its needs and targets based on its local circumstances and capabilities. The submission includes emission targets with specific goals to lower GHG emissions. The aim of NDCs is to keep global warming under the 1.5C target and track climate action by showing what each country commits to in the short and medium term. The most recent NDC submissions were in 2025, which is the third cycle of NDC submissions. Recent research has highlighted the contribution of militaries to global emissions, with estimates suggesting that the everyday activity of the world’s militaries could be responsible for around 5.5% of global emissions, excluding the additional impact of conflicts. In comparison, another emissions intensive sector, global shipping, which has faced growing pressure to reduce emissions, is estimated to account for 3% of global emissions. In order to tackle climate change it’s important to account for emissions, however military emissions are frequently absent from global emissions reporting...
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Agora Labs raises €4.3M to expand clinical data infrastructure for medical research ->Tech.eu | More on "Clinical data infrastructure for research" at BigEarthData.ai | #Data

tech.euAgora Labs raises €4.3M to expand clinical data infrastructure for medical researchItalian deeptech company Agora Labs has raised €4.3 million in a funding round led by venture capital firm P101 SGR, with participation from the Mussetto family, owners of Infinite Five, a holding company focused on marketing technology, data analysis and robotics. Founded in Rome by Davide Zaccagnini (CEO), a vascular surgeon and biomedical informatician, and Fabio Giulietto, an engineer, Agora Labs develops technology that enables hospitals to make clinical data available for medical and scientific research while protecting patient privacy. Hospitals generate large amounts of clinical data that could support medical research and the development of new diagnostic and therapeutic solutions. However, much of this information remains difficult to access and analyse because it is fragmented across different IT systems and often stored in unstructured formats. Agora Labs aims to address this challenge through an infrastructure that allows hospitals to process and standardise clinical data without transferring it outside their own systems. The company installs dedicated computing nodes at participating healthcare facilities, using GPUs supplied by technology partner NVIDIA. Specialised large language models (LLMs) structure and standardise the data, while anonymisation processes protect patient information. Through federated AI technology, the infrastructure connects participating hospitals, allowing research centres and pharmaceutical companies...
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What today's reproductive and gender rights ballot measures could draw from a pioneering sex researcher ->The Philadelphia Inquirer | More on "Reproductive rights and gender ballot measures" at BigEarthData.ai

inquirer.comWhat today's reproductive and gender rights ballot measures could draw from a pioneering sex researcherThis November, bodies are on the ballot. Ballot measures in several states deal with everything from restricting sports participation based on biological sex to limiting youths’ access to gender-affirming treatments to affirming civil rights regardless of sex or gender. Reproductive rights also face a reckoning, with ballot measures in four states pertaining to the legality of both contraception and abortion. These measures reflect how much of a battleground reproductive rights and gender diversity have become. Without significant changes in public opinion, ballot initiatives intended to restrict bodily autonomy have escalated. The choices facing voters also signify something else: the subordination of information to ideology in these debates. Anti-abortion activists, for example, often ignore the fact that abortion rates have declined sharply since the 1973 Supreme Court decision in Roe v. Wade protected reproductive rights nationwide. In fact, abortion rates actually increased after the Supreme Court overturned Roe in 2022 in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which empowered many states to impose severe restrictions on legal abortion. Similarly, while anti-transgender legislation capitalizes on concerns about trans women athletes having an unfair advantage in sports, in fact, transgender people compose a tiny percentage of all athletes. And yet, polarized views have...
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Emvolon Raises $22 Million to Turn Landfill Gas Into Fuel ->Heatmap News | More on "Landfill gas conversion to renewable fuel" at BigEarthData.ai

heatmap.newsEmvolon Raises $22 Million to Turn Landfill Gas Into FuelThat is an abysmal finding for technology companies and would-be developers of the computing facilities. But it actually represents an improvement from previous polling, and it suggests one of the fastest shifts in public opinion in recent memory may be tapering off. That shift has been swift. As recently as September of last year, about 43% of Americans said they would support a data center being built near where they live, and Americans broadly appeared to be evenly split on the infrastructure, according to Heatmap Pro polling. Eleven months later, 75% of Americans told the same poll that they would oppose a nearby data center — a 32 point shift. That monumental turnaround helped make data centers a defining issue in this election cycle. That backlash has transformed the economics of the data center boom, the largest infrastructure buildout in recent U.S. history. The overwhelming majority of data center projects now face some degree of community opposition, Heatmap Pro reporting suggests. More than $260 billion in proposed data centers have been canceled this year after meeting local opposition. The artificial intelligence company Anthropic even flagged the infrastructure slowdown on Monday when it filed for its initial public offering, which is...
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Embrace lazy autumn gardening to protect wildlife ->The Conversation | More on "Lazy gardening protects wildlife habitats" at BigEarthData.ai | #Wildlife

theconversation.comEmbrace lazy autumn gardening to protect wildlifeAs winter approaches, many of us start clearing leaves and tidying up our gardens. But these jobs can remove vital winter habitats for wildlife, particularly with increasingly volatile weather conditions. Residential gardens cover 4.6% of Great Britain’s land area – over three times the size of the UK’s National Nature Reserves – so they are important refuges for our biodiversity, particularly in urban areas. There are many things you can do to make your garden wildlife-friendly, from installing a pond to establishing a compost heap or planting native, flowering plants and trees. However, research has shown that there are obstacles to householders engaging in wildlife-friendly gardening practices, such as costs and the level of effort or knowledge involved. The effort needed to maintain a garden appears to discourage people to such an extent that almost half (42%) of residential gardens in the UK are now paved over. It even appears a growing number would prefer to cover their gardens in plastic artificial grass rather than (heaven forbid) have an unkempt lawn. Whether you’re motivated by the thought of encouraging more butterflies into your garden next year or just more time curled up on the sofa, wildlife-friendly gardening can involve less...
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New report: AI being embedded across immigration system in 'near total secrecy' ->Open Rights Group | More on "AI secrecy in immigration systems" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI

openrightsgroup.orgNew report: AI being embedded across immigration system in 'near total secrecy'Labour MP Bell Ribeiro-Addy says report is an opportunity “to break with the Home Office’s toxic record of failure”. New report exposes ‘near total secrecy’ of how AI being used across the immigration system Cross party MPs criticises lack of transparency and accountability over use of AI. A new report by Open Rights Group (ORG) outlines how artificial intelligence (AI) has been embedded across the UK’s immigration system and at the nation’s borders. Automated discrimination: Unpacking the Digital Hostile Environment exposes the ‘near total secrecy’ of how AI is being used with government officials routinely invoke ‘national security’ to stonewall FOI requests and redact disclosures so that they are meaningless. The report highlights how AI is shaped by and will shape the hostile environment, reinforcing bias and discrimination. The report also criticises successive governments for pushing a techno-solutionist ideology that reduces the complex human phenomenon of migration to a technical problem that can be fixed. Under the current administration, the solution appears to be total cybernetic control of any migrant deemed to be a threat. This has resulted in a shift from reactive to proactive immigration enforcement, underpinned by predictive analytics and data-driven algorithmic risk assessments, as in the major...
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The Gujarat Tribal Genome Project (2kTGP) ->Nature | More on "Indigenous genomic diversity and heritage" at BigEarthData.ai

nature.comThe Gujarat Tribal Genome Project (2kTGP)Globally, an estimated 476 million Indigenous people, belonging to more than 5,000 distinct groups across more than 90 countries, represent approximately 6.2% of the world’s population (https://www.un.org). Over the past decade, several genomic studies have provided important insights into the genetic architecture of Indigenous populations, including Indigenous Americans1, Indigenous Australians2, Indigenous populations of South Asia3,4,5 and Southeast Asia6. Many Indigenous communities preserve rich cultural traditions, including oral histories, storytelling, music, poetry and visual arts, while maintaining distinct demographic and evolutionary histories7. Despite their cultural and genetic diversity, many tribal populations are relatively small, geographically isolated, and remain substantially underrepresented in global genomic resources, which limits efforts to characterize human genetic variation and its implications for health and disease5. According to the 2011 Census of India and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs Annual Report (2023–2024), India is home to more than 104.5 million Scheduled Tribe individuals, representing 8.6% of the country’s population. The Scheduled Tribe population is distributed across 705 constitutionally recognized tribal communities, reflecting remarkable genetic, linguistic and cultural diversity8. Recognizing the persistent health disparities among tribal populations, the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare and the Ministry of Tribal Affairs, Government of India, jointly constituted an Expert Committee on...
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One million vehicles moved using automated driving technology: BM ->The National Law Review | More on "Automated driving in manufacturing production" at BigEarthData.ai | #Technology

natlawreview.comOne million vehicles moved using automated driving technology: BM...the deployment of this technology at four sites to date demonstrates the innovative strength and scaling capabilities of our production network.” — Raymond Wittmann, Board of Management of BMW AG ZURICH, SWITZERLAND, October 27, 2026 /EINPresswire.com/ -- ● BMW Group and technology partner Embotech have moved one million vehicles by automated driving technology, demonstrating production-scale deployment of the Automated Driving In-Plant solution. ● 3,500 vehicles are moved automatically every day across four BMW Group sites in the UK and Germany, with BMW’s Automated Driving In-Plant operating 24/7 ● Embotech provides AI-based technology solution and an independently safety-certified architecture for production-scale deployment Embotech and BMW group have moved one million vehicles using automated driving technology across four BMW Group production sites in the UK and Germany, marking a major milestone in the use of Automated Driving In-Plant in industrial production. Automotive OEMs are increasingly turning to digitalization and automation to make produc-tion processes more efficient and flexible. Industrial automation is an important part of that shift, but much of the market remains at the pilot stage, operating only a limited number of vehicles. The one million vehicle milestone demonstrates the scale that BMW Group has achieved with Automated Driving In-Plant, spanning...
Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai
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Technology Dialogue 2026 ->Observer Research Foundation | More on "Technological convergence and global innovation" at BigEarthData.ai | #Technology

orfonline.orgTechnology Dialogue 2026Technological advancements are increasingly defined by convergence across disciplines. Artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming scientific discovery, quantum technologies are creating new possibilities for computing and security, and developments in semiconductors, biotechnology, space, and autonomous systems are reshaping the global innovation landscape. These intersections present new opportunities for economic growth and strategic cooperation, while raising critical questions about technological sovereignty, security, governance, and access. Against this backdrop, the third edition of the Technology Dialogue, themed "Charting Technological Convergence," will bring together policymakers, scientists, industry leaders, investors, and innovators from India and across the world. Building on previous editions, the Dialogue will examine the strategic implications of technological convergence and the partnerships required to advance research, innovation, and deployment across critical and emerging technologies. The 2026 edition will move beyond conventional conference formats to offer an immersive engagement with India's research and innovation ecosystem. Alongside plenary sessions, expert discussions, and closed-door roundtables, participants will engage directly with technological innovation through curated walkthroughs of Indian space and drone startups, specialised laboratories of deep-tech startups, and a leading translational hub and incubator in Bengaluru. These engagements will provide an opportunity to connect policy and strategic discussions with developments in research, technological capabilities, and their...
Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai
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Lula victory brings relief for Amazon, Brazilian farmer says at COP17 ->The Climate Watch | More on "Lula's Amazon protection policy shift" at BigEarthData.ai

theclimatewatch.comLula victory brings relief for Amazon, Brazilian farmer says at COP17Lula’s return to office offers renewed hope for Amazon protection and Indigenous rights, but tensions over oil exploration, mining and environmental safeguards remain. Brazilian organic farmer and agroecology consultant Thales Bevilacqua Mendonça welcomed Brazil’s presidential election result on Monday, describing it as a victory for democracy and a relief for the Amazon rainforest and the country’s people. Speaking to The Climate Watch at the COP17 biodiversity conference venue in Yerevan, Mendonça said the news that morning had come as a surprise. He expressed relief at the outcome, saying democracy had prevailed. His reaction followed President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva’s victory over Senator Flávio Bolsonaro in Sunday’s presidential runoff. Brazil’s Senate reported that the electoral authority had proclaimed Lula elected for a fourth term, running from 2027 to 2030. Why the result matters at COP17 The election carries implications for the biodiversity agenda under discussion in Yerevan. Brazil contains the largest share of the Amazon rainforest, making its decisions on forests, agriculture and Indigenous territories consequential far beyond its borders. Lula’s next term overlaps with the 2030 deadline for the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, the international agreement to halt and reverse biodiversity loss. Its commitments include ecosystem restoration, conservation and...
Climate, Ecology, War & More: Dr. Glen Barry BigEarthData.ai
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How Founders Should Negotiate a Liability Cap for Autonomous AI Agent Actions ->Startup Fortune | More on "AI agent liability and contracts" at BigEarthData.ai | #AI

startupfortune.comHow Founders Should Negotiate a Liability Cap for Autonomous AI Agent ActionsAn AI agent books the wrong shipment or wires the wrong amount. Who pays is a contract question, and most contracts stay silent on it. Picture the call after an agent wires the wrong amount. Everyone agrees something broke, and nobody can point to the clause that says whose money it is. Ask a founder selling agentic AI who's liable and you'll usually get a pause. Not because they haven't thought about it. Because the market hasn't settled on an answer, and every contract they sign is quietly setting a precedent they'll have to live with later. That pause is the whole problem. A chatbot that gives a wrong answer costs you an apology. An agent that books the wrong freight container, cancels the wrong subscription, or wires $40,000 to the wrong vendor costs you the $40,000, plus whatever the customer's lawyer decides to add on top. The software didn't used to act. Now it does, and the liability clauses most SaaS contracts were built on were never written for that. Start with the legal default, because it's not what most founders assume. There is no special "AI agent" doctrine in US contract law. Liability runs through ordinary channels: breach...