Month: July 2021

The Chinese provinces of Henan and Yunnan have failed to meet public expectations when it comes to tackling pollution and cleaning up their air, rivers and soil, the environment ministry said after the completion of inspections. The central government launched its fifth round of environmental audits in late May to see how Henan, Yunnan and six other provinces and regions had managed to comply with laws and regulations. The inspection teams set up hotlines for local whistleblowers and are given powers to make spot checks at firms and summon any…

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This summer alone has seen scorching heat domes smother parts of the US and Canada with record temperatures, and blistering heatwaves sweep across Pakistan. Torrential rain has caused devastating floods in China, as well as India, Germany, Belgium and Austria. And while fires are raging in Siberia, Madagascar is experiencing the world’s first famine caused solely by the climate crisis. Even here in the UK, the first extreme heat warnings were issued earlier this week. New extreme-weather events linked to the climate crisis have become rolling news. Their destruction and…

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In the eighteenth century, English-led East India Company gradually managed to control most of India. Its rule was a disaster for India, but made many directors and stockholders of the company exceedingly rich. The wealth enabled many of them to play important roles in English political, intellectual and business life. As Adam Smith, an uncompromising critic of the Company, wrote: “The government of an exclusive company of merchants is, perhaps, the worst of all governments for any country whatever.” Faced with so many depredations, the British government finally took away…

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The energy generation of ferroelectric crystals in solar cells can be increased by a factor of a thousand, thanks to a new innovation involving the arrangement of thin layers of the materials, according to a statement from Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg (MLU). Researchers from MLU found that with alternately placed crystalline layers of barium titanate, strontium titanate, and calcium titanate, they could greatly increase the efficiency of solar panels. Their findings are published in the journal Science Advances. Most solar cells are made out of silicon due to its low…

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