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Weather
Smart sprinkling with Cyber-rain
By Paul Ridden
04:29 June 26, 2009 PDT
With the return of Summer comes the now familiar imposition of water restrictions and the unwelcome return of headaches for gardeners and nursery managers alike. Fortunately, pain relief for lovers of all things horticultural is available in the form of clever green tech known as smart irrigation, which plugs in to online weather information to optimize garden watering and minimize waste. Timing being everything in business (as well as comedy), smart sprinkler manufacturer Cyber-Rain has recently upgraded its range to add more independent zone control, better wireless communication, a simple and clear interface and an enhanced software solution. Read More
Ice Cloud research breakthrough to aid climate modeling
By David Greig
22:26 May 18, 2009 PDT
The climate change debate has focused our collective attention on the importance of understanding the complex workings of our planet's weather system, but there is still much we don't know. In this latest breakthrough, a UC San Diego-led team of atmospheric chemistry researchers has made the first-ever direct detection of biological particles within ice clouds. By providing insights into, for example, how particles from Asia effect rainfall in North America, the research aims to shed light on one of the most uncertain factors of climate modeling and enhance our understanding of atmospheric cooling and regional precipitation. Read More
The Quike: have four wheels, ready to pedal … and pedal
By Jude Garvey
01:33 April 15, 2009 PDT
An Australian pair plan to travel more than 7,450 miles in 12 months, through extreme weather conditions and terrains on a four-wheeled recumbent bicycle called a "quike" (on account of the four wheels). They plan to leave later this month on what promises to be an incredible journey, starting from Astana, Kazakhstan. All medical supplies, food and camping equipment will be carried on the back of the quike which could weigh as much as 960 pounds. Read More
Indian Ocean temperature link to bushfires
By Mike Hanlon
02:33 March 24, 2009 PDT
March 24, 2009 The weather conditions that lead to Southern Australia’s past two devastating bushfires may be linked to lower than normal sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean, according to CSIRO research presented at the Greenhouse 2009 Conference today. The Ash Wednesday bushfires in February 1983 and the Black Saturday bushfires in February were preceded by months of very dry conditions. Those dry conditions were partly caused by cooler ocean sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean, which contributed to a substantial reduction in spring-time rainfall over the south-east of Australia. Read More
Nanotechnology and rainmaking
By Darren Quick
23:41 March 10, 2009 PDT
Rainmaking has advanced since the days when a ritual dance was believed to invoke the wet stuff, but while modern day cloud seeding has been shown to change the structure and size of clouds, it’s still debatable whether the practice actually has any effect on rainfall. After all, even if precipitation does occur after cloud seeding there’s no way of knowing whether it would have rained anyway. This uncertainty hasn’t stopped widespread use of cloud seeding in countries around the world including the US, Russia, Australia and China, which boasts the largest cloud seeding system in the world. Now a breakthrough by an international team of scientists could help in the development of new materials which could be used to enhance the process. Read More
Teddy Bears in space
By Kyle Sherer
03:05 December 8, 2008 PST
For half a century, the friendliest face of space travel was Laika the space-dog, launched into Earth orbit aboard Sputnik II. Now Britain has challenged Laika’s supremacy by launching two teddy bears into the stratosphere. The toys, named MAT and KMS, wore space suits designed by children at the Parkside and Coleridge community colleges. Read More
30 petabyte storage facility for climate and weather records
By Darren Quick
21:48 November 16, 2008 PST
Analysis of the Earth’s climate relies on and generates a huge amount of data. No one knows this better than the folks at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR), who have announced the arrival of AMSTAR, a new digital storage library that will preserve and protect 30 petabytes of valuable scientific data for the next 15 to 20 years. The new system, designed by Sun Microsystems, Inc. and based on the Sun StorageTek SL8500 Modular Library, will give NCAR five times its current storage capacity, enabling it to generate increasingly sophisticated computer studies of Earth’s climate. Read More
Universal remote control with built-in WiFi, color screen
By Emily Clark
01:17 October 16, 2008 PDT
There’s no point hauling yourself off the couch to go outside only to find that the weather’s terrible, right? The Universal Smart Remote Control from Acoustic Research eliminates the guess work displaying up to date weather information, plus news, sports and TV listings using a built-in WiFi connection. Read More
WoodStation: weather with a difference
By Emily Clark
18:37 October 12, 2008 PDT
The function is familiar, the form definitely isn't. WoodStation uses LEDs embedded just under its surface to transform what appears to be a solid block of timber into a digital weather station and clock. Read More
Get world wide weather via the world wide web
By Emily Clark
19:05 October 6, 2008 PDT
The Hama WDS-300 takes a conventional digital weather station format and links it to the Internet to enable easy access to weather forecast information from around the globe. The device offers one touch access to the weather details of your five favorite saved locations chosen from over 20,000 cities and data is synchronized every time you go online. Read More
Celeste H Calabro
- July 5, 2009 @ 22:20 UTC
