Around 50% of gold in used mobile phones is not recovered for future use, a new study finds. The researchers suggest that a global circular economy in mobile phones could be created by improving recycling of precious metals in phones in developing countries, as well as increasing the lifespan of phones and improving collection after use. These changes will reduce pressures on non-renewable resources and close ‘metal flow loops’.

IT advisory IDC estimates that domestic IT spending will decline 4.5% to $55.5 billion this fiscal

Constructed wetlands can effectively remove veterinary drugs from wastewater, preventing contamination of the environment, research suggests. A recent study has demonstrated that laboratory-scale constructed wetlands were able to remove between 94 and 98% of two commonly used antibiotics from pig farm wastewater.

Cool pavements, which can be used to reduce the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, where towns and cities are warmer than surrounding rural areas, have been reviewed in new research. The review found that reflective pavements can reduce temperatures by up to 20°C and are more durable than evaporative pavements, which are less effective at temperature reduction but may have other benefits, such as reducing runoff.

The Canary Islands have the potential to become carbon neutral by 2050, a new study indicates. This could be achieved by shifting to a 100% renewable energy supply, improving energy efficiency and building new grid connections between islands. Energy solutions for small island regions, such as the Canaries, could act as role models for larger systems, as well as similar islands, the researchers suggest.

Digital initiatives that began pre lockdown are giving the carmarker confidence that it will emerge stronger when the dust settles.

Astronomers using the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) surveyed dozens of young stars -- some Sun-like and others approximately double that size -- and discovered that the larger variety have surprisingly rich reservoirs of carbon monoxide gas in their debris disks. In contrast, the lower-mass, Sun-like stars have debris disks that are virtually gas-free.

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A team of Carnegie scientists has discovered three giant planets in a binary star system composed of stellar ''twins'' that are also effectively siblings of our Sun. One star hosts two planets and the other hosts the third. The system represents the smallest-separation binary in which both stars host planets that has ever been observed. The findings, which may help explain the influence that giant planets like Jupiter have over a solar system's architecture, have been accepted for publication in The Astronomical Journal.

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According to a recent viewpoint article, future agri-environmental schemes (AES) can more effectively pay for the provision of ecosystem services at a landscape level if they are prepared, designed and implemented in a collaborative and coordinated manner.

For older adults, having more or closer family members in one's social network decreases his or her likelihood of death, but having a larger or closer group of friends does not, finds a new study that will be presented at the 111th Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association (ASA).

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Rippon, Gina, author

Over 20% more carbon could be being released by tropical peatlands than previously estimated, a new study suggests. The research highlights the large quantities of carbon lost to rivers from deforested and degraded peatlands in Indonesia, in addition to carbon released as CO2 gas.

A reforestation project has revitalised its surroundings just 80 years after its inception. In the late 1920s, the Saldaña badlands in northern Spain were a barren region, with a thin layer of intensely weathered soil, and only 5% vegetation cover. Now that cover has increased dramatically to 87%, the soil quality is improving, and the water flow in the area has stabilised, bringing greater environmental security to the local community.

A recent study recommends a new approach to classifying Europe’s rural landscapes that accounts for their diversity and provides better consistency across EU rural policies. This framework can be used to analyse past and present trends in landscapes, and to make future projections.

A new study from Belgium has gathered community views of brownfield regeneration. Results indicate that the often overlooked aspect of landscape quality, such as green spaces, visually-attractive areas and cultural heritage, is important in people’s opinions of brownfield regeneration schemes.

Environmental changes in the future, such as an increase in floods, land degradation and drought could result in changes in migration patterns in Europe, researchers write in a recent analysis. It is difficult to predict these exact migration patterns, however, as they are determined by a complex interplay of economic, political and social factors with environmental change, as well as adaptive capacity.

Only wetland environments with high sediment input from rivers can keep pace with rising sea levels, according to a new study. However, human activity is destroying wetlands’ natural defences, making their survival increasingly unlikely. The researchers call for sustainable management approaches to protect wetlands under future climate change projections.

Food security is being threatened by loss of soil nutrients that are essential for the high yield of crops. A recent study outlines strategies to ensure the sustainable production of food through a holistic approach to soil nutrient management.

Small, artificial wetlands can reduce river pollution by trapping soil and nutrients swept off agricultural land by rainfall, a recent study finds. The researchers recommend that they are used as a back-up option to soil management measures also designed to reduce runoff into rivers.

Small field wetlands are a simple and effective way to reduce soil erosion and nutrient pollution, recent research suggests. The authors adapted Norwegian designs for the UK environment and created a series of small rectangular lakes on the edges of agricultural fields. After three years, the wetlands had prevented tonnes of soil from leaving the land, and helped alleviate some of the nutrient run-off that would have affected neighbouring waterways.

Constructed wetlands can remove disease-causing bacteria from wastewater, but their performance is highly dependent on the systems they use, a new study shows. Researchers reviewed results from a wide range of studies on constructed wetlands and found that combining different approaches increased removal of bacteria. However, further research and improvement of wetland systems is required to produce water that is safe for reuse.

New technology that makes energy capture from waste water and re-use of grey water possible can contribute to energy- and resource efficiency — but the widespread application of such technology requires a new, collaborative approach, shows a new study. Taking radical innovation in urban water systems beyond the pilot stage will require cooperation between a variety of stakeholders, suggest the findings of expert interviews and workshops.

A recent study helps city planners find the greenest and most effective way of producing renewable energy, crops and water on rooftops. The researchers developed a method for analysing the performance and environmental impacts of different combinations of rooftop rainwater-harvesting-, energy- and food systems. It could aid efforts to promote urban self-sufficiency and a sustainable circular economy, they suggest.

Samsung has created an ecommerce platform in partnership with Benow.in along with mobile phone retailers across the country that will allow them to sell and deliver smartphones. Offline stores are also being used to fulfil orders placed on Samsung’s e-store for television and appliances.

The proposed alliance — to be named the Information Trust Alliance (ITA) — will be a grouping of digital platforms and publishers, fact checkers, civil society and academia that will aim to control the spread of harmful content, including fake news and hate speech. So far, discussions have taken place among Facebook, Google, Twitter, Byte-Dance, ShareChat and YY Inc.

Facebook has announced to expand its Community Help feature as part of COVID-19 efforts which will help people offer help to those affected by the new coronavirus pandemic, as well as donate to nonprofit organisations.

For the recent IPL season, Roanuz partnered with various brands and offered their product to run IPL campaigns, key ones being Zomato, RCB, and Book My Show.

There are more than 30,000 microwave ovens, AC and washing machines which needs repair at a time when Indians are locked indoors and doing household chores themselves due to the lockdown.

With the expiry of additional ad-hoc incentive for January-March, the benefit for mobile phone makers under the Merchandise Export Incentives Scheme (MEIS) has fallen back to 2% from 4% even though the scheme has been extended to December 31.

“We request for your kind direction to the MHA on this very important recommendation from the industry which is duly considered and approved by the crisis management structure set up you – the Empowered Group of Technology and Data Management,” India Cellular and Electronics Association (ICEA) Chairman Pankaj Mohindroo wrote in the letter.

Reliance and Facebook know a friction-less payments service is key to successful online commerce — but so are mom and pop shops. JioMart and WhatsApp’s embryonic Mumbai service is intended to first get Indians accustomed to messaged transactions with local businesses known as kirana: the tiny neighborhood stores where most Indians buy daily essentials.

IT advisory IDC estimates that domestic IT spending will decline 4.5% to $55.5 billion this fiscal

We have already crossed the AI Rubicon, and the future lies in the symbiosis of machine and human intelligence.

Inderpal Singh Kalra, ED-IT and Digital Banking & Emerging Payments at IDBI Bank throws light on three crucial solutions that leverage ML to manage risk.

India has tried its hands out in 4.0 technologies to pace up with the rapidly changing retail landscape. The use of AI, ML and data analytics has increased which are being used in functions like BOPIS, Click & Collect and Self-Kiosk.

The future challenge is to develop analytic strengths that span the organisation and not just areas of expertise.

New EU-funded research has provided useful guidelines for re-introducing threatened species, using a waterfowl case study. The Spanish researchers developed a method for deciding the best time of year to release the species into their original habitat.

Intensive irrigation of agricultural land in a Mediterranean water basin is altering the habitats of associated wetlands and changing the balance of the bird population living there, according to a recent study.

Using commercial seed mixtures to replant European grasslands tends to produce a smaller range of species than originally grew on the land. New research has identified several methods that successfully reproduce the original range of species, such as transferring of fresh hay or soil that contains seeds.

Ponds are considered to be ideal early warning systems that can be used to assess the effects of climate change at the local level. A recent study suggests warmer temperatures are likely to significantly increase the number of species found in ponds in temperate areas, especially at high altitudes. However, despite an overall increase, some species would also become extinct.

A recent study has examined the effects of different farming practices on bird numbers and species found on farmland during the winter in six European countries. Overall, the greatest number of birds and species were on organic farms, especially when the farms were in landscapes where 80-99 per cent of the land was used for agriculture.

High quality landscape assessments of areas protected under the Natura 2000 network are critical for effective long-term management plans. In a recent study, scientists have presented a integrated assessment of a Natura 2000 site in Sicily, Italy, which not only considers preservation of environmental features, as required by Natura 2000, but also human features, such as places of historical interest or industrial activity.

Transport infrastructure and urban sprawl are increasingly dividing up landscapes in Europe, threatening wildlife. A new report has quantified landscape fragmentation across 28 European countries. To prevent further negative environmental impacts, it recommends protecting unfragmented areas, monitoring fragmentation and applying fragmentation analysis in planning.

A new study exploring the sensitivity of grassland and forest plants to decreasing habitat size and isolation in north-central Europe concludes that an irreversible shift in the most dominant plant species may already be underway in forests and grassland, where forests are more vulnerable than grasslands.

Gardens are good for biodiversity, according to a study of intensively managed farmland in Sweden. The study has found that abundance and species richness of pollinating bees is higher near domestic gardens, with the pollination of a native plant also greater at these sites. Domestic gardens play a role in complementing 'natural' habitats for pollinators in impoverished environments.

Plant biodiversity is crucial to the functioning of natural ecosystems in drylands across the world, according to recent research. Preserving plant diversity will be particularly important for maintaining the quantity and quality of services provided by ecosystems found in drylands that are vulnerable to the adverse effects of climate change and desertification.

New research has outlined a four-step approach to multipurpose wetland creation or restoration: clarifying the objectives, defining the scale and analysing possible conflicts, before finally defining a strategy.

Constructed wetlands can regulate stormwater flows and improve water quality, helping humans to adapt to a changing climate. New research has now shown that, if carefully designed, they can also be used for climate change mitigation by storing carbon, while also providing biodiversity and cultural ecosystem services.

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.