Science & Tech

As countries meet in the Rwandan capital of Kigali this week, Christian Aid has warned that if they don’t agree on an ambitious date for ending the use of hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs), their climate pledges contained in the Paris Agreement will be broken. HFCs, the manmade chemicals used in fridges and air conditioners, created to replace ozone-depleting chemicals in 1990, are ...

The Nigerian Meteorological Agency (NiMet) has predicted cloudy weather conditions over the central states with slim chances of isolated thunderstorms over Jalingo, Mambilla, Markurdi and environs on Monday morning. The predictions are contained in the Weather Outlook issued by NiMet’s Central Forecast Office on Sunday in Abuja. It stated that localised thunderstorms were expected over the high grounds of Abuja, ...

Although Nigeria is not located within the major seismic zones of the world; over the years, several minor earthquakes have been experienced in some parts of the country. Seismic events had been recorded instrumentally and also historically from 1933 to 2011 in Nigeria. The first widely reported occurrence of an Earth tremor in Nigeria was in 1933. Other events were ...

International group of scientists, conservationists and leading environmental advocates have rejected potentially dangerous genetic engineering tool As thousands of government representatives and conservationists convene in Oahu, Hawai’i this week for the 2016 World Conservation Congress, international conservation and environmental leaders are sounding the alarm about the use of gene drives – a controversial new synthetic biology technology intended to intentionally ...

A “strong signal” detected by a radio telescope in Russia that is scanning the heavens for signs of extraterrestrial life has stirred interest among the scientific community. “No one is claiming that this is the work of an extraterrestrial civilisation, but it is certainly worth further study,” said Paul Gilster, author of the Centauri Dreams website which covers peer-reviewed research ...

The Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria (ERA/FoEN) has criticised the Nigerian government’s agreement with Russia’s ROSATOM to build four nuclear power plants in the country. The group is concerned with inherent dangers of the project, adding that it is uncalled for at a time most civilised nations are exploring safe renewables. A statement from the Communications Department of ...

In an article published by Nature World News on Wednesday, researchers announced the discovery of a new “Earth-like” planet orbiting a star not far from our sun. The planet has not been named yet, but was found circling the star Proxima Centauri – a “cool, tiny red dwarf” scientists have long suspected might be capable of having a planet in ...

Shell Nigeria Exploration and Production Company (SNEPCo) has said it achieved significant savings in the cost of subsea equipment through an initiative which has seen the refurbishment of five Subsea Trees in-country led by Nigerian engineers. A Subsea Tree is an arrangement of valves and other components installed at the wellhead to control and monitor production/injection flow. SNEPCo embarked on ...

Nigeria has initiated moves to produce a national mercury inventory aimed at identifying, quantifying and addressing its mercury releases. Environment Expert, United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) Regional Office in Abuja, Mr Oluyomi Banjo, who made the disclosure on Monday (01 August 2016), stated that a country team with members selected from relevant ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) and the ...

The NASA spacecraft Juno successfully entered Jupiter’s orbit on Monday, marking what seems like a huge achievement in a five-year and $1.8 billion journey to investigate the largest planet in our solar system Braving intense radiation, a NASA spacecraft reached Jupiter on Monday after a five-year voyage to begin exploring the king of the planets. Ground controllers at the NASA ...