Kyrgyzstan-Germany Project Studies Lake Issyk-Kul Ecosystem
Kyrgyzstan-Germany Project Studies Lake Issyk-Kul Ecosystem
🌍 🛰️ New five-year agreement signed between GÉANT and #EUMETSAT
We are proud to announce the signature of a five-year agreement between GÉANT and EUMETSAT, advancing our long-standing collaboration on #network and #connectivity services to support the global distribution of meteorological #satellite #data for weather forecasting, #climate monitoring, and environmental #research.
#EUMETcast #satelliteData #Meteorology #EnvironmentalResearch #ClimateMonitoring

GÉANT and EUMETSAT, the European Organisation for the Exploitation of Meteorological Satellites, are proud to announce the signature of a five-year agreement, advancing their long-standing collaboration on network and connectivity services to support the global distribution of meteorological satellite data that is essential for weather forecasting, climate monitoring, and environmental research. The new framework will
Estuaries are vital ecosystems bridging terrestrial and marine environments, supporting nutrient cycling, biodiversity, and services like flood protection. Yet, they face threats from pollution, habitat fragmentation, overfishing, and climate change, demanding robust bioindicators for effective monitoring. This synthesis highlights otters—semi-aquatic mustelids such as the Neotropical otter (Lontra longicaudis), North American river otter (Lontra canadensis), and sea otter (Enhydra lutris)—as integrative sentinels, leveraging their reliance on clean water, diverse prey, and connected habitats, plus their meso-predator roles in food webs. Based on 40 years of Projeto Lontra fieldwork in Brazil’s Peri Lagoon and global studies, we detail otters’ bioindicator value: habitat specificity (e.g., 30% sighting drops in fragmented areas), contaminant sensitivity (bioaccumulation of POPs, metals, microplastics; 66% Toxoplasma positivity), behavioral proxies (spraints showing diet shifts: 70–80% fish), and top-down effects (e.g., suppressing invasive crabs to stabilize marshes, as in 2025 California research). A Scopus bibliometric analysis (1986–2025) exposes biases: 6,300 publications dominated by temperate species (>70% on sea/Eurasian otters), with tropical/estuarine gaps (Neotropical otter: 211 documents, Brazil at 49%). Persistent challenges include sublethal contaminant effects, dispersal, density regulation, and socioeconomic integration. We propose a seven-pillar framework: population scaling, density studies, impact quantification, monitoring harmonization, reintroductions, socioeconomic balancing, and pathogen considerations. This promotes interdisciplinary, equitable collaborations to advance otter-based estuarine management.
Tiến sĩ Nguyễn Thị Phương Thảo cam kết mở rộng hợp tác với ĐH Oxford trong nghiên cứu Nhiên liệu Cân bằng Địa chất cùng dự án của GS Myles Allen (Giám đốc Trung tâm Oxford Net Zero). Hợp tác giữa Vietjet và Oxford hướng tới phát triển nhiên liệu hàng không bền vững.
#Vietjet #OxfordUniversity #NghiênCứuKhoaHọc #NhiênLiệuBềnVững #PhươngThảo #VietjetAir #Oxford #OxfordNetZero #GeologicalBalancedFuel #SustainableAviation #GreenAviation #EnvironmentalResearch #VietnameseAviation
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Space-bound robot dog (LASSIE) stretches its legs at White Sands National Park – SFGate.com
A researcher on the LASSIE team gives the robot a kiss. Justin DurnerScientist’s best friend: Space-bound robot dog stretches its legs at White Sands National Park
LASSIE could one day support astronauts on the moon and Mars
By Adrianna Nine, Southwest Contributing Parks Editor,Sep 7, 2025
Before a “robot dog” can fetch data on the moon or Mars, it must learn to do so on Earth. And right now, that’s exactly what’s happening in New Mexico’s White Sands National Park with a contraption called LASSIE.
LASSIE (short for Legged Autonomous Surface Science in Analogue Environments) is a quadrupedal robot built by engineers at Temple University, Georgia Tech, Texas A&M, the University of Pennsylvania, and Oregon State University, where roboticist Cristina Wilson is an assistant professor.
With funding from USC and NASA’s Johnson Space Center, Wilson and her colleagues designed LASSIE to test just how useful so-called robot dogs — which are already used in certain law enforcement, military, and search and rescue situations — could be in scientific contexts, like environmental research or space exploration. After all, legs have distinct advantages over the wheels used by lunar and Mars rovers.
“Legs can step over things. Wheels have to roll over them,” Wilson told SFGATE.
Before a robot like LASSIE can make it to space, however, it has to prove itself here on Earth. And when it came time for Wilson’s team to find a proper Mars analog on their home planet, they knew just the place: White Sands National Park.
Researchers work with LASSIE at White Sands National Park in New Mexico. Justin DurnerWith its sparkling sand dunes composed primarily of ultra-fine gypsum, White Sands offers a fairly accessible testing ground for a robot that might someday roam the powdery surface of Mars. The sand there also varies in depth, giving LASSIE the opportunity to test both its locomotive capabilities and its scientific instruments, which help LASSIE learn about its environment by testing the ground beneath its feet.
“Imagine you’re at the beach, and you’re pushing your finger into the sand or stepping onto it,” Wilson said. “What would that feel like, and how would it feel if the sand is wet and stiff versus dry and loose? A robot can make the same assessments.”
Since beginning work on LASSIE in 2023, Wilson and her colleagues have brought the robot to White Sands on two occasions, with the latest visit taking place in August 2025. Summer isn’t an easy time to work outside in the Southwest, and the team had to begin its work at sunrise, concluding by late morning to avoid triple-digit temperatures that could have meant trouble for LASSIE’s power supply and the robot dog’s human companions.
Continue/Read Original Article Here: Space-bound robot dog stretches its legs at White Sands National Park
#2025 #Dogs #Education #EnvironmentalResearch #Lassie #Libraries #NASA #RobotDog #Science #SFGateCom #Space #SpaceExploration #Technology #TVShow #UnitedStates #WhiteSandsNationalPark
Over half of Earth’s land surface has transgressed critical ecological thresholds, signaling a breach of the planetary boundary for functional biosphere integrity. By combining indicators of human pressure and ecosystem disruption, this study reveals locations and points in time that indicate ecological degradation. The findings stress the urgent need to safeguard ecosystems as a foundation for a stable and resilient planet.