A new study suggests that abandoned farmland is widespread in Europe and that not all land that has been abandoned is unsuitable for farming. Understanding how abandoned farmland is distributed may be important for making land management decisions – for instance, recultivation versus reversion to forest.

Scientists have reviewed the potential for worldwide development of geothermal energy systems in old, unused mines. The technology is proven in many sites and could therefore help increase the share of renewable energy sources in the energy mix, offering sustainability and job creation, which may make mining operations more appealing to investors, communities and policymakers.

A Crisil note said due to the aggressive play by the telcos, the number of subscribers has stagnated at 19 million since 2016. Till now, the lower speed 4G served the purpose for people due to affordable smartphones, it noted. "But now, subscriptions to fixed broadband, especially in the urban areas, have surged because millions are working from home...," it said.

Leaving land to return to its wild state could be beneficial for abandoned farmland, according to a new study. The researchers argue that 'rewilding' provides valuable ecosystem benefits and in certain cases could be a more achievable goal than maintaining traditional agriculture in areas of Europe where rural populations are declining.

Wet grasslands abandoned less than 40 years ago can be successfully restored within a decade, a recent analysis suggests. By examining the findings of a range of studies, it identified the causes and consequences of abandonment and the key factors in successful restoration.

Rewilding, a process of passive management focused on restoring natural ecological processes and reducing human influence on landscapes, could be used to restore the increasing amounts of abandoned agricultural land in Europe to more biodiverse wilderness. A new study has designed a framework to measure potential for rewilding in areas across Europe, highlighting in particular the potential of Natura 2000 sites and suggesting specific aspects of wilderness that future policies could address.

Traditional, high-nature-value (HNV) grasslands are at risk of being abandoned by farmers in the future — in turn, risking the wildlife they support, warns a new UK study. Farmers interviewed by the researchers had weak motivations to protect grasslands, as they felt that financial incentives for conservation are low and that traditional management practices are inconvenient. More dialogue between farmers and conservationists could be part of the solution, the study suggests.

But rolling in the hay resumes as doctors treat her allergy to semen.

Researchers at Princeton recently studied the question of whether abandoned gas & oil well are leaking methane into the atmosphere.

A nonbinding resolution calls for meatless options to be offered.

Chilean mine accident survivor, Mario Sepulveda, is said to be thrilled with the casting decision.

Gone but not forgotten, these once-bustling mining outposts offer visitors a look at Old West ghost towns, from kitschy to untouched.

Columnist Matt Hickman offers advice on how to get a crunchy-granola, green husband to wear underwear.

Researchers in the U.K. hope that prettying up fields with strips of wildflowers will attract pest-munching bugs.

The bandage uses a thickening agent known as kappa-carrageenan, obtained from seaweed, to create injectable hydrogels.

Reebook partners with architecture firm Gensler for 'Get Pumped,' a conceptual scheme in which health-conscious drivers rule the roads.

Shafts that haven't been closed could be transformed into geothermal boilers to produce heat and hot water for nearby communities.

Few hybrids or electric vehicles brought celebs to this year's Academy Awards.

As more doctors use food as a medical tool, health care providers are making nutritious options more readily available — even farmers markets.

People donated about $50 each to help save and restore the historic La Mothe-Chandeniers castle in France.

The coronavirus outbreak is affecting China's dogs and cats, which are increasingly being left to fend for themselves.

Newborn coyotes whose mother disappeared are saved by a wildlife rehabilitator and are singing like angels.

Officials in New South Wales are confident that transforming the ghost tunnels could have 'global potential.'

You've probably already heard that VoIP could cut a substantial chunk off your company's monthly telecoms bill, and that there is more than one provider that offers the service. Both these facts are true. It so easy for you to implement VoIP that you'll barely realise it's happened until your vastly reduced phone bill arrives.

The Infinityfit Sports Armband is fully compatible with Iphone 5/5S/5C. It is light and comfortable, made of high quality neoprene material and also comes with a key pocket, reflective strip and a plastic transparent screen protector.

Former Rise Broadband Director Joins Everywhere Wireless in Chicago's Fulton Market Office

Patients can order individualized wristbands directly from physicians' websites

Bracelets include favorites such as Lebron James, Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, Klay Thompson, and Kemba Walker.

Bandicam is reborn as all-in-one, screen-recording software with a more intuitive user interface.

Bogun Realty and Luxury Homes is pleased to announce the record sale of a rare and scenic Westchester home, which sold at $1,050,000 after being listed for $980,000. The remarkable sale was $70,000 over the asking price.

Bogun Realty and Luxury Homes is pleased to announce the record sale of a Windsor Hills Unique home, which sold at $855,000 after being listed for $759,000. The remarkable sale was $96,000 over the asking price.

Bogun Realty and Luxury Homes is pleased to announce the record sale of a Windsor Hills luxury estate home, which sold at $936,000 after being listed for $805,000. The remarkable sale was $131,000 over the asking price!

Over the past few years, the company has had meditation sessions, K-pop dance routines, and puppy tricks punctuate its weekly, Wednesday-afternoon meeting.

Bandipora: Fake currency racket busted by J&K Police, 4 arrested

The owner and Chief Executive Officer of a Republic of Korea–based company, DK Marine, that provided ship husbanding services to the U.S. Navy pleaded guilty today for his role in a bribery conspiracy.

Good afternoon and thank you for coming here today. My name is Eric Dreiband and I serve as the Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights here at the U.S. Department of Justice.

Sabre Corporation and Farelogix, Inc. announced today the termination of their merger agreement.

Abondoned Mine Closure Plan Public Scoping https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/abandoned-mine-lands-closure-plan-project-scoping.htm

The National Park Service has released an Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Closure Plan and Environmental Assessment for projects to correct health and safety hazards associated with abandoned mines in four national park system sites in Arizona. https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/2010-02-12_mines_ea.htm

Abandoned Mine Lands Project https://www.nps.gov/grca/learn/news/abandoned-mine-lands-safety-projects-begin-in-grand-canyon-national-park.htm

Piers Morgan has given an update on GMB host Kate's husband Derek Draper who is battling coronavirus

Industry veteran JOHN ALEXANDER has resigned from his role as CEO of the crowdfunding and artist development platform BANDTWANGO MUSIC, effective immediately. Concurrently, he has signed a … more

How a group of street children formed a brass band in Kinshasa, the capital of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

A collection of images that follows my journey into the past and asks questions of the future, while using pictures to create an awareness of exactly what the people of Camden, N.J., must face each day.

CEDAR RAPIDS — Like other members of the United States House, the “new normal” for Rep. Dave Loebsack involves a lot of time on the phone and in video conferences.

Although the Senate returned to Washington this past week, the House may not return to the Capitol until mid-May. As representatives work from their districts, many face the same challenges as their constituents who are working from home via various phone and video meeting platforms.

“They’re clunky, difficult, frustrating at times,” the 2nd District Democrat said after a 90-minute Energy and Commerce Committee teleconference meeting, “but we can get a lot of things done that way without necessarily going into Washington. It’s not the same by any means ... but I think we can get a lot of our work done that we have to get done even though were not there.”

If there’s an upside to the telecommuting downside, it’s that the poor connections, dropped calls and sometimes spotty internet signals highlight an issue Loebsack has been working on — Congress and the country need better broadband connectivity. A member of the Communications and Technology subcommittee of the Energy and Commerce Committee, which has jurisdiction over telecommunications issues, Loebsack also serves as a co-chair of the Rural Broadband Caucus.

In one meeting, Loebsack said, a fellow committee member was unable to ask questions because the Wi-Fi signal at his home outside of a southwestern city was so poor.

“So I think we’re going to make some progress” convincing congressional colleagues of the need to connect all Americans to reliable and affordable broadband internet, Loebsack said.

“In times like these, when families are at home, millions of K-12 students do not have access to the high-speed internet needed to take classes and complete their assignments online,” he said in an announcement with House Majority Whip James Clyburn and others of a House Democratic plan to connect all Americans to high-speed internet.

When the transmission of COVID-19 slows, the need for high-speed internet connectivity will remain as well as the need for Congress to provide incentives for internet service providers to close the “broadband gap” by extending service to the las mile in rural areas and eliminate what he called “internet deserts” that exist in cities.

The plan calls for an investment of $80 billion over five years for internet infrastructure and another $5 billion over five years for low-interest financing of projects.

With more reliable connectivity, Congress could consider remote voting at times like this when members don’t want to gather in Washington. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has been cool to the idea, but Loebsack thinks members are “more open” to voting remotely.

“But we have to make sure that it’s completely secure, that the system can’t get hacked, and that votes are recorded properly,” he said.

Remote voting may be a may be a generational issue, “but I think this is doable.”

“I’m not making that prediction, but I would not be shocked if we move in that direction, especially the longer this (isolation) goes on,” Loebsack said.

Comments: (319) 398-8375; james.lynch@thegazette.com

Introduction of spectrum-sharing in 5G and subsequent generation networks demand base-station(s) with the capability to characterize the wideband spectrum spanned over licensed, shared and unlicensed non-contiguous frequency bands. Spectrum characterization involves the identification of vacant bands along with center frequency and parameters (energy, modulation, etc.) of occupied bands. Such characterization at Nyquist sampling is area and power-hungry due to the need for high-speed digitization. Though sub-Nyquist sampling (SNS) offers an excellent alternative when the spectrum is sparse, it suffers from poor performance at low signal to noise ratio (SNR) and demands careful design and integration of digital reconstruction, tunable channelizer and characterization algorithms. In this paper, we propose a novel deep-learning framework via a single unified pipeline to accomplish two tasks: 1)~Reconstruct the signal directly from sub-Nyquist samples, and 2)~Wideband spectrum characterization. The proposed approach eliminates the need for complex signal conditioning between reconstruction and characterization and does not need complex tunable channelizers. We extensively compare the performance of our framework for a wide range of modulation schemes, SNR and channel conditions. We show that the proposed framework outperforms existing SNS based approaches and characterization performance approaches to Nyquist sampling-based framework with an increase in SNR. Easy to design and integrate along with a single unified deep learning framework make the proposed architecture a good candidate for reconfigurable platforms.

Restless multi-armed bandits are a class of discrete-time stochastic control problems which involve sequential decision making with a finite set of actions (set of arms). This paper studies a class of constrained restless multi-armed bandits (CRMAB). The constraints are in the form of time varying set of actions (set of available arms). This variation can be either stochastic or semi-deterministic. Given a set of arms, a fixed number of them can be chosen to be played in each decision interval. The play of each arm yields a state dependent reward. The current states of arms are partially observable through binary feedback signals from arms that are played. The current availability of arms is fully observable. The objective is to maximize long term cumulative reward. The uncertainty about future availability of arms along with partial state information makes this objective challenging. Applications for CRMAB abound in the domain of cyber-physical systems. This optimization problem is analyzed using Whittle's index policy. To this end, a constrained restless single-armed bandit is studied. It is shown to admit a threshold-type optimal policy, and is also indexable. An algorithm to compute Whittle's index is presented. Further, upper bounds on the value function are derived in order to estimate the degree of sub-optimality of various solutions. The simulation study compares the performance of Whittle's index, modified Whittle's index and myopic policies.

[IMAGE-1] It isn't often that you see a local band selling out most of their gigs, but Indian Goat does. The duo of Garrett Zanol and Travis Tveit formed a few years ago and almost immediately struck a chord with Spokane audiences: Their live shows are usually raucous, sweaty, beer-soaked affairs, with rooms crammed full of people rocking out in unison.…