Researchers have developed an online tool to help water managers find effective ways of tackling eutrophication, an excess growth of weeds and algae that suffocates life in rivers, lakes and seas. They describe the tool as quick and easy to use and understand. Users can compare the likely effects of different strategies for cutting nutrient pollution in surface waters via an interactive map-based system; this is currently available for Sweden and Europe as a whole.

The criminal minds too have evolved during this pandemic. While there has been a significant drop in number of heinous crimes in city, cybercrime cases have spiked since lockdown.

Big Tech firms have already sent in their suggestions to govt on creating awareness

Jobs are also expected to nosedive in the remaining quarters of the year unless demand picks up by the festive season later this year, experts tracking the sector said. Travel, hospitality, tourism, aviation, retail, outdoor entertainment, food and beverages and real estate sectors have been hit the most, staffing agency TeamLease said.

“We have attracted interest from companies such global giant Samsung and Chinese OEMs in the mobile phone segment coupled with the right set of incentives for them,” said Faisal Kawoosa, founder and chief analyst, TechArc. “The mass domestic market, which was underpenetrated for long, has provided an opportunity to these players to address local demand as well as set-up base here,” he added.

TGBL has transitioned its complete infrastructure landscape on public cloud to enable digital transformation across our business. It translated into benefits like infrastructure flexibility and elasticity and what’s more helped TGBL realize 15% reduction in infrastructure hosting and managed services cost.

Thanks to the intervention of Cloud-based tech tools, professionals no longer need to visit their offices to engage in business transactions.

Going forward, cloud will play a major role in transformation at every firm.

The cloud giants have seen a drop-off in new contracts from big clients for server storage and to overhaul tech.

These proposed regulations overlap and in some cases even contradict, and these issues have been flagged by global companies such as Google and IBM.

To help IT leaders find the right balance between IT infrastructure and right workload, ETCIO.com, in association with Dell Technologies and AMD, organised two-city panel discussions for top CIOs.

RBL Bank’s focus on machine learning is helping it create new revenue streams that has already led to the creation of its first tech-based product--API Banking.

Old mining sites, such as quarries or pits, could provide refuges for endangered species, according to new research from the Czech Republic. Benefits are greater if the sites are allowed to recover naturally rather than being artificially restored with the use of topsoil, ground-levelling and seed planting.

Tradable permits have been proposed as a flexible instrument to integrate biodiversity conservation and economic development. New research indicates that permits are not a universal solution, but do have potential in certain economic and ecological situations.

The success of policy to maintain urban green areas depends on an adequate level of public participation, according to new research. The study compared two twinned European cities with different styles of green space management and found that public involvement may help maintain urban biodiversity.

Pesticides that kill mosquitoes could have indirect effects on other species, according to researchers. The study indicated that a well-known mosquito insecticide led to reduced numbers of eggs and chick survival for house martin birds.

Tradable permits can be used to conserve biodiversity by allowing habitat destruction only when a permit has been acquired through the restoration of another habitat. New research has indicated that the costs of conservation, amount of habitat turnover and time lags in restoration all influence the efficiency of the permit market.

Conservation efforts should focus on species that have recently declined in number, are harmless or are perceived as high value, according to a European public survey. Participants also felt that disappearing habitats should be targeted for protection. The results suggest that, by choosing different criteria that more closely match the public's values and criteria, conservationists could improve public support for their work.

Urban planning policy has had a powerful influence on the amount of green space in cities, according to a recent UK study. It found that a change in planning policy in 2000 led to a decline in urban green space in nine cities between 2001 and 2006, although the amount of green space in all but one of the cities studied has increased overall since 1991.

Researchers argue that of the five mechanisms available for ensuring the provision of ecosystem services ??? prescription, penalties, persuasion, property rights and payments ??? only payments are likely to be effective at the global level. However, while a number of international Payments for Ecosystem Services (IPES) schemes exist, their impact on ecosystem services remains negligible.

Changing environmental conditions could put diverse ecosystems, such as rainforests and coral reefs, at greater risk of multiple extinctions. A new study suggests that, rather than protecting ecosystems from collapse, high levels of biodiversity may actually prove risky in a situation such as climate change ??? where an unpredictable environment can suddenly extinguish a population needed to support an ecosystem, leading to knock-on effects further up the food chain.

New research suggests that Natura 2000 sites are highly effective in minimising the number of endangered species of concern to European conservation. The findings may reduce concerns that poor coordination between Member States in setting up the European network of protected areas has led to inadequate protection of vulnerable species.

The economic benefits of restoring natural ecosystems outweigh the costs, according to new research. The study examined the financial costs and benefits of restoring a range of ecosystems, including those found in marine, inland and coastal habitats, and concludes that in most cases the large value of ecosystem services provides a net economic benefit.

A framework to combine economically viable agriculture with effective biodiversity conservation has been described in a recent study. According to the researchers, their approach provides a simple guide designed to help planners and farmers achieve sustainable agriculture.

Offshore renewable energy sites may provide new 'stepping stone' habitats for marine species, a recent study suggests. They could allow some species to spread beyond their present range and help vulnerable creatures survive in the face of climate change. However, they may also allow harmful invasive species to spread, the researchers warn, and the effects of such projects must be assessed by examining their impacts on the ecosystem as a whole.

Planting early-flowering crops, such as oilseed rape, boosts the numbers of bumblebees available to pollinate late-flowering crops, such as sunflowers, according to recent research. Carefully managing the timing and coverage of flowering crops in the landscape could therefore ensure pollination services and increase yields, say the researchers.

Bumblebees are negatively affected by the insecticide azadirachtin even at concentrations 50 times lower than the recommended levels used by farmers, recent laboratory experiments have revealed. No males hatched in laboratory colonies that were fed on recommended levels of the pesticide and, even at concentrations 50 times lower, the males that did hatch were deformed, and there were significantly fewer compared to an untreated colony.

Better monitoring is needed to safeguard the Antarctic against threats posed by invasive alien species, according to a new study. The authors developed ‘the Antarctic Biological Invasions Indicator’ (ABII) to help generate data for tracking trends in alien invasions and the measures taken to prevent them.

Farmland birds like skylarks are attracted to nest in agricultural grassland, but repeated harvesting for silage causes most nests to fail. This study showed that skylark breeding success in silage was too low to sustain local populations. The researchers say that grass silage is a hostile environment for breeding skylarks and conservation efforts should focus on making other parts of the landscape more attractive and productive for nesting birds.

The extent of marine litter in the Mediterranean Basin has been revealed by a new study. Researchers reviewed previous studies to show that the northwest Mediterranean Sea is a hotspot for plastic debris. They found that marine litter harmed 134 species in the Mediterranean Sea and call for more to be done to manage the growing problem of debris, especially plastics, littering the Sea.

Monitoring of at-risk sites is important for preventing the arrival and spread of invasive species. However, resources are often insufficient to achieve the level of risk reduction desired by authorities. This study presents a novel framework, based on the ‘acceptable level of risk’ construct, to align needs to reduce risk with available resources.

The preferred habitats of wetland bird species - including 12 that are endangered - have been identified by a new study. From conducting counts at 137 sites across Sweden, it was found that total species richness was highest in sites that had a tendency to flood; wet grassland areas that were grazed as opposed to mowed; and sites that were far from areas of woodland. The authors suggest this research could help determine the most suitable locations for future wetland conservation projects.

‘Favourable conservation status’ (FCS) is a critical but often misinterpreted legal concept in the EU’s Habitats Directive. Now, law and ecology researchers have teamed up to help clarify some of the most disputed aspects of this term for species. Correctly applied, the concept will help environmental managers, policymakers and scientists effectively protect biodiversity.

As global temperatures continue to warm, sea-levels are expected to rise, increasing the risk of saltwater inundating wetlands in low-lying coastal areas. A study in Wales, UK, describes how rising sea levels will result in a shift from a wetland rich in plant diversity to one dominated by saltwater and mud in 200 years’ time.

A recent study has found that bumblebees in Saxony-Anhalt, Germany are more successful at pollinating urban areas than agricultural land. Urban areas also had higher flower diversity and more potential nesting areas for bees compared to agricultural areas. However, the abundance of bee parasites was also higher in urban areas, although this was not found to negatively impact on pollination. This demonstrates the value of urban green spaces as habitat for pollinators.

Sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) could be made better for biodiversity and local people with the help of two new evaluation methods presented by a recent study. The methods, which assess the value of SuDS sites for wildlife habitat, carbon sequestration, recreation and education, are described by the study’s authors as cost-effective, quick and reliable, and could help designers plan and retrofit SuDS that are wildlife-friendly and socially inclusive.

The black locust tree can be economically valuable and offer certain environmental benefits, but its dominant and invasive nature in Europe can have an adverse impact on biodiversity. A recent study, which presents an overview of this species’ ecological and socio-economic impacts in Central Europe, recommends tolerating the tree in some areas and eradicating it in others, in order to balance its co-existence with people and nature.

Agri-environment schemes (AES) have been implemented throughout Europe to mitigate against the negative effects of agricultural intensification. Although these schemes have shown positive effects on the abundance and richness of certain species and taxa, the impact of AES on reproduction of target species at the local and landscape scale is poorly understood. This large-scale study looked for the effect of selected AE measures on bumblebee reproduction. Results indicate that bumblebee reproduction is significantly higher on sown flower patches when compared to conventional management. Although the increase is most pronounced at the plot scale, higher reproduction was found in landscapes surrounding larger sown plots (at least one hectare) compared to smaller sown plots.

This study assessed the implementation of the ‘Flowering Meadows’ agri-environment scheme in France, a results-based scheme which encourages farmers to conserve meadows in the Bauges, Haut Jura and Vercors natural parks. While there was limited change in agricultural practices, the scheme did help to maintain meadow habitats. Farmers also welcomed the results-based payments approach, which gave them greater responsibility for and flexibility in managing their farms.

Researchers have compared the findings of a citizen-science project and a long-running butterfly monitoring scheme in the UK to gain insights into the reliability of data gathering by the public. They found that — contrary to the scepticism with which such projects are sometimes viewed — much of the citizen-recorded data agreed with the findings of more formal monitoring, particularly for species often found in gardens. This indicates that mass-participation sampling not only provides a valuable tool for public engagement, but, in this case, could also provide valid data to inform butterfly conservation.

Reconciling human development with conservation requires a comprehensive understanding of the current ecological condition and spatial distribution of land. Using recent and spatially explicit global datasets, this study quantifies the degree of human modification across all terrestrial lands, ecoregions, and biomes1. The results suggest that fewer unmodified lands remain than previously reported and that the majority of the world is in a state of intermediate modification, with 52% of ecoregions classified as ‘moderately modified’. The researchers state that these regions are highly fragmented due to human activities and fall within critical land-use thresholds2 — they require urgent attention. These regions, therefore, require proactive spatial planning to maintain biodiversity and ecosystem function before vital environmental resources are lost.

Many here in Massachusetts started social distancing about a month ago and we have no end in sight yet. If you live alone, maybe you are ready to match up with someone after you get through this hardship. Today's guest blogger, Toshi Takeuchi, has a perfect algorithm for you. I love that this was inspired by a problem that, at first glance, doesn't seem very technical or relevant. But it is!... read more >>

Today I'd like to introduce a guest blogger, Stephen Doe, who works for the MATLAB Documentation team here at MathWorks. In today's post, Stephen discusses how to take advantage of recent performance improvements when indexing into tables. The same approach applies to many different data types. While the release notes describe the performance improvements, in today's post Stephen also offers further advice based on a simple code example.... read more >>

A new study has developed risk assessment criteria for engineered nanomaterials (ENMs) to help inform innovation and policy decisions. It illustrates that product design can influence the unintended release of ENMs and that combining knowledge about the product life cycle with a systematic assessment of the potential hazards may enable responsible choices for future product developments to be made.

A new study has developed a set of indicators to evaluate how well companies voluntarily manage dangerous chemicals. These indicators can be used to check progress towards the World Summit on Sustainable Development goal of effectively managing chemicals.

Many agricultural pesticides used in Europe could disrupt male hormones and lead to infertility problems, according to laboratory tests. ‘Biomonitoring’ studies to investigate the actual behaviour of pesticides in the human body are now urgently needed to clarify the link between pesticide exposure and male reproductive health.

Comparative toxic assessments across regions and countries are needed to minimise human exposure to harmful chemicals associated with consumer products. A new study has developed a US version of the EU Toxic Potential Indicator (TPI) and compared the two models for over 500 chemicals. Differences in results exist, indicating a need for more harmonisation between regulatory thresholds and guidelines.

The public places a high value on the use of scientific information, especially regarding climate change, in the management of groundwater resources, a case study in Finland indicates. This suggests that incorporating scientific research into management policies is likely to have the support of stakeholders in the region.

A technique that can detect the array of pesticides bees might be exposed to has been developed in Poland. The simplicity, speed and small sample sizes required for screening makes this technique an improvement over other methods, say the researchers behind its development.

The Deepwater Horizon oil spill is likely to have damaged large numbers of tuna and amberjack fish embryos, new research suggests. Fish embryos exposed to oil samples taken during the spill developed abnormalities in their hearts and, consequently, their spines, fins and eyes. This is likely to have caused population declines in these commercially important species, the researchers conclude.