Blogs

Rensselear Polytechnic Institute has developed a new method to increase the rate of heat transfer across different materials.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204145659.htm

Scientists work to create a green catalyst to help power the green economy.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/12/121204145908.htm

Thirty-one bodies have been collected from streets in and around the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) city of Goma since rebels took it over on 20 November. Ten were government troops (FARDC), the rest, civilians, according to an NGO worker read more:  http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96858/DRC-No-power-little-safe-water-in-Goma

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) estimates that 140,000 people have been forced to flee battles taking place in and around the eastern city of Goma since November 15 read more: http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96945/DRC-Humanitarian-Barbara-Shenstone-...

Researchers from the University of Melbourne and partners at the University of California, San Diego are working together to design and build resilient streaming sensor networks for emergency response such as bushfires. As part of Fire Action Week, an international seminar was held at the University of Melbourne looking at how researchers are responding directly to the needs of fire-fighters to enable them to work more effectively.

The importance of reducing exposure to disasters took on a personal hue for the Secretary-General’s Special Representative for Disaster Risk Reduction, Margareta Wahlström. The envoy had been due to present the Secretary-General's Report on the Implementation of the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction to the UN General Assembly in the first week of November – but the destruction caused by Hurricane Sandy in the New York area, where UN Headquarters is located, put paid to that. Amidst the re-scheduling of her briefing to the Assembly, Ms.

Thanks to social networks, grassroots relief efforts scaled quickly and efficiently in Sandy's aftermath, giving them a bigger presence in many places than even the established aid agencies: http://tech.fortune.cnn.com/2012/11/23/social-media-sandy/?iid=HP_River

Refugee crises appear to come and go. In 2011, all eyes were on the Dadaab refugee complex in northern Kenya as it received hundreds of thousands of Somalis fleeing famine and conflict. This year, attention has shifted to the refugee exodus from Syria, even though the majority of Somalis who arrived at Dadaab last year are still there read more:  http://www.irinnews.org/Report/96797/In-Depth-Top-10-neglected-refugee-c...

in many kinds of disasters, it can be hard to sift through the dozens, or hundreds, of images and messages to determine where help is most needed — and who needs what. In addition, many of the neediest people are often left without cellular reception and access to a reliable Internet connection.

There are ways to tap solar energy when the grid goes down, whether by adding batteries to a home system or using the kinds of independent solar generators that have been cropping up in areas hard-hit by the storm.