In order for Hermine or any other tropical depression, to intensify there must be a pathway for heat energy from the ocean surface to enter the atmosphere. For Hermine, the conduit may have been one of the two "hot towers" that the Global Precipitation Measurement mission or GPM core satellite observed on Aug. 31 at 4:09 p.m. EDT (2009 UTC).

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Operation IceBridge, NASA's airborne survey of polar ice, is flying in Greenland for the second time this year, to observe the impact of the summer melt season on the ice sheet. The IceBridge flights, which began on August 27 and will continue until September 16, are mostly repeats of lines that the team flew in early May, so that scientists can observe changes in ice elevation between the spring and late summer.

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NASA's Terra and Aqua satellites caught Hurricane Newton's two landfalls in Mexico.

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Quasars are supermassive black holes that sit at the center of enormous galaxies, accreting matter. They shine so brightly that they are often referred to as beacons and are among the most-distant objects in the universe that we can currently study. New work from a team led by Carnegie's Eduardo Bañados has discovered 63 new quasars from when the universe was only a billion years old. (It's about 14 billion years old today.)

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After Tropical Depression 19W moved ashore in central Vietnam NASA-NOAA's Suomi NPP satellite passed over the system and found some powerful thunderstorms over Thailand, Vietnam and Laos capable of dropping heavy rainfall.

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The majestic auroras have captivated humans for thousands of years, but their nature -- the fact that the lights are electromagnetic and respond to solar activity -- was only realized in the last 150 years. Thanks to coordinated multi-satellite observations and a worldwide network of magnetic sensors and cameras, close study of auroras has become possible over recent decades. Yet, auroras continue to mystify, dancing far above the ground to some, thus far, undetected rhythm.

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NASA's Aqua satellite provided a visible image of Super Typhoon Meranti as it continued to move toward Taiwan and the northern Philippines.

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Transaction costs can be incurred during various phases of environmental policy making, from planning through to enforcement. A recent study has examined what influences these costs and concluded that policy selection and evaluation could benefit from a better understanding of the causes of these transaction costs.

When natural disasters, such as earthquakes, storms and hurricanes, are reported in the media, they are often accompanied by an assessment of the cost of the disaster. While such information can be useful to help governments and international organisations target aid and recovery efforts, the details of what is included in the assessment, and the methods used, are often unclear.

Climate change will lead to an increased risk of flooding and huge economic losses if countries do not invest in appropriate adaptation measures, according to a new study. The research estimates the risks posed by flooding to cities around the world and the associated economic losses in 2005 and 2050, and suggests that flood protection must be increased to maintain the same level of risk to coastal cities.

To increase energy efficiency, many countries are encouraging their citizens to make individual energy-saving changes, such as changing the type of light bulbs they use. This study investigated the relationship between understanding of environmental issues and effective energy-saving behaviour and shows that informed citizens are key to successful policy.

A new analysis of waste recycling systems in Portugal highlights where kerbside (edge of pavement) collection systems could be optimised, to decrease their environmental impact. In this case, researchers found that the kerbside system was less favourable economically and environmentally due to more packaging and more fuel consumption per tonne of waste, compared to a system where recyclable materials are deposited by residents in large containers. But the researchers suggest that measures such as re-usable boxes and efficient collection routes could help to mitigate the impact of kerbside collection. While there is an environmental impact from waste collection, processing and disposal, this study only focused on the collection phase.

If you want to mix drinks for a living, don't expect to have a typical family life.

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Death and mourning were largely considered private matters in the 20th century, with the public remembrances common in previous eras replaced by intimate gatherings behind closed doors in funeral parlors and family homes.

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The first study to investigate how dog brains process speech shows that our best friends in the animal kingdom care about both what we say and how we say it. Dogs, like people, use the left hemisphere to process words, a right hemisphere brain region to process intonation, and praising activates dog's reward center only when both words and intonation match, according to a study in Science.

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53 percent of Indian enterprises were least mature in the adoption of mobility solutions whereas 17 percent of enterprises are adequately mature in their strive to adopt mobility solutions

Canon India’s sales-force application (iCAN) now has mobility features that enable the sales team to attend to sales leads and generate price approval requests on the mobile which are passed onto the managers through a push notification feature.

Both VMware and Citrix have partnered with Samsung around new Galaxy S8 smartphone through the integration of their enterprise mobility solutions with Samsung DeX platform

Onymos has transformed the art of mobile apps development, where open standards HTML, JavaScript and CSS technologies are made use of, which in turn, cuts down the development time from months to days.

The mobility solution has enabled the enrolment and agreement process online, followed with the customer’s digital signature and the receipt along with a confirmation SMS.

New research on a major UK airport (Heathrow) has estimated that a night-time ban on flights could produce up to £860 million (1 billion euros) in financial savings over a 20 year period. Economic costs caused by the ban could be outweighed by savings from reduced health costs of sleep disturbance and stress caused by the noise of night flights.

Motivation to practise fuel-efficient driving may be more influenced by environmental concerns than by financial benefits, research suggests. In promoting fuel efficiency, this survey of Dutch motorists highlights the power of providing feedback to drivers – both environmental and economic – on their behaviour.

Putting a price on carbon emissions from deforestation is unlikely to prevent tropical forests being cleared for palm oil production, according to a recent study. Additional measures should be included in climate policies to protect forests from increasing global demands, such as biofuels.

A recent study has proposed changes to the way REDD+ strategies are categorised, from an implementation perspective. This will simplify the monitoring, reporting and verification of the schemes. In addition, to encourage countries to make an early start on the REDD+ programmes, the study suggests that monitoring should initially focus on forests where it is easiest to implement REDD+ actions.

Annual maps of forest cover in Indonesia reveal that, between 2000 and 2008, almost 10 per cent of forest cover on the islands was lost. Around one fifth of this loss occurred in regions where logging is restricted or prohibited. The new maps will help Indonesia meet the objectives of the UN REDD+ programme, which aims to reduce deforestation and forest degradation.

Research has investigated whether the strictness of environmental legislation in different countries influences where industries choose to be located in Europe. Some evidence of the 'pollution haven' effect was found, but other factors determining industry location were often more influential.

Including civil society organisations (CSOs) when negotiating climate policy can mobilise public support for international agreements, a new study suggests. Using online surveys researchers found that the popular legitimacy of global climate governance decreases when CSOs are excluded.

‘Network bridging organisations’, such as farmer unions, Regional Nature Parks and Local Action Groups, promote cooperation between farmers, non-state collective actors and state actors under the Common Agricultural Policy. This study finds that farmers who have regular contact with these organisations show a higher commitment to long-term practice change. This could represent an opportunity to improve the effectiveness of payments for environmental services in Europe.

Greenbelt policies in Germany, used to curb urban sprawl, are effective in protecting open spaces and the valuable natural resources they cover, a new study has found. Nevertheless, urban development can ‘leapfrog’ greenbelts, hopping over them into areas with less restrictive planning policies. Researchers recommend that such areas are also included in urban development control plans.

Satellite images could be used as evidence in environmental crime cases in the future, a Belgian judge and researcher predicts. However, there are several obstacles to their use at present. Notably, they do not provide sufficiently detailed evidence for the courtroom.

Enforcement of environmental law needs an integrated administrative and criminal sanction system, according to a UK lawyer and researcher. Writing in a recent paper, he argues that an integrated system allows the most appropriate response to each individual case of the law being broken

Administrative sanctions against environmental crime, such as fines, are generally easier and cheaper to implement than criminal punishment methods, such as prison sentences. This study explored enforcement methods for environmental crime in four Western European areas: Flanders (Belgium), Germany, the Netherlands and the UK. Based on their findings, the authors say it is most cost-effective — and may increase deterrence — to use both forms of enforcement.

Flood prevention actions can redirect flooding to another location. A new French survey indicates that current local compensation policies to deal with this situation may be financially unviable. It suggests more practical solutions would involve insurance schemes and state intervention, as well as local water management institutions.

'Greywater' that is recycled from household washing can be used to irrigate home gardens, according to a new study by Jordanian researchers. The researchers found that treatment units supplied by the Jordanian government produced small quantities of recycled water that could be used to irrigate gardens, whilst meeting national standards for irrigation of trees and many home-grown crops.

A new solar-powered desalination technology could help solve water shortage problems without any damage to the environment, according to researchers. They evaluated a prototype model and demonstrated that it could produce up to 12 litres of freshwater a day per m2 of equipment.

A new study identifies ways to reduce the risks to water quality associated with underground CO2 storage. The study, based on laboratory tests, shows that CO2 leakage could pose a risk to overlying fresh groundwater. Careful storage site selection, coupled with regular site monitoring, is a pre-condition to reducing risks associated with CO2 leakage.

Phosphate is added to domestic drinking water to reduce lead levels in the UK, to help meet EU Drinking Water Directive standards. New research has now found that phosphate can also reduce the amount of copper in domestic sewage by more than a third. This method could help Member States meet forthcoming “safe” levels for water discharged to the environment, under forthcoming EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) proposals.

New research reveals how scientists can monitor water quality in European lakes using sensors mounted on satellites. The technique is a promising and cost-effective new tool to classify and monitor the ecological status of lakes more reliably under the Water Framework Directive (WFD).

Desalination plants, powered by wind energy, offer the potential to produce freshwater using a renewable source of energy. A recent study has explored some of the challenges of integrating wind energy with desalination units, and suggests combining wind with other forms of renewable energy, or constructing a system that operates with variable energy input would help overcome problems with wind powered desalination.

Individuals’ willingness to pay (WTP) for environmental improvements is influenced by political affiliation. However, the picture is more complex than previous studies suggest according to new research, which concludes that how an environmental programme is delivered, i.e. by private companies or by the government, is more important for right-wing voters than for left-leaning voters.

The health risks to humans of using recycled water to irrigate crops needs to be carefully managed. New research has demonstrated that ‘managed aquifer recharge’ can be just as effective as conventional water treatments in improving the quality of recycled water for use in irrigation.

A recent study has found that satellite images can be used to map phytoplankton blooms to aid assessment of the quality of coastal and sea waters. This method can help EU Member States monitor water under the requirements of the Water Framework Directive and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive.

Desalination technologies could help alleviate water shortages, but they need to have low environmental impact. A new life-cycle analysis of desalination options for water supply in off-grid areas indicates that a photovoltaic-powered reverse osmosis system has the least environmental impact of the three technologies considered by the study.

A target level of 20 micrograms of phosphorus per litre of lake water could help keep many lakes safe for recreation by restricting the growth of harmful algal blooms, European research suggests. The scientists analysed the relationship between phosphorus levels in medium- and high-alkalinity lakes, the growth of cyanobacteria blooms and the concentrations of cyanobacteria that trigger World Health Organization (WHO) warnings.