On the white plains of Chile's lithium-rich Atacama desert, bright pink flamingos enliven the sprawling salt flats where sporadic blue pools provide much needed hydration. But flamingo numbers are falling, with a new study linking this to the water extracted by mining firms to pump up brine filled with lithium, the metal used to make batteries for mobile phones, laptop computers and electric vehicles. Miners contend their operations do not affect flamingo herds and say the studies are based on unreliable data. The stand-off underscores growing tensions in the Andean nation over water use and mining's impact on local communities and the environment. Tougher regulation is a risk for firms in the world's No. 2 lithium producer and No. 1 for copper. FILE PHOTOS: Flamingos fly over...
Read MoreTag: Chile
Chilean scientists successfully recovered one of the world's most complete ichthyosaur fossils with intact embryos from the Tyndall Glacier in Chile's Patagonia region. The preserved and pregnant ancient marine reptile was dubbed "Fiona" by scientists. The 4-meter-long fossil will help scientists study embryonic development in ichtyosaurs, which roamed the seas between 90 and 250 million years ago. Paleontologists of the GAIA Antarctic Research Center of the University of Magallanes recover the first fossil of a four-meter Ichthyosaur at Tyndall Glacier area in the Chilean Patagonia, Magallanes, Chile April 16, 2022. GAIA Antarctic Research Center University of Magallanes/Handout via REUTERS The fossil "is the only pregnant ichthyosaur that's been found on the planet from the era...
Read MoreChile's Nobel Prize-winning poet Pablo Neruda's museum houses are at risk of shutting down for good after forced closures and a sharp drop in tourism caused by the coronavirus pandemic dried up funds, the foundation in charge of managing them said. "The pandemic devastated all visitors. We are in a critical situation," said Fernando Saez, executive director of the Neruda Foundation, in a meeting with foreign correspondents at the poet's house in Santiago. A woman visits La Sebastiana, the museum house of Chilean poet and Nobel laureate Pablo Neruda, in Valparaiso, Chile, April 6, 2022 REUTERS/Rodrigo Garrido The three museum houses, located in central Chile, were closed for 17 months due to the pandemic and reopened last September after health measures loosened around the Andean ...
Read More“Closest black hole” system found to contain no black hole Astronomers have gotten a good look at what happens when a "vampire" star sucks the outer layers of material from a companion star, stripping this "bitten" victim down to a mere stellar core. In 2020 a team led by European Southern Observatory (ESO) astronomers reported the closest black hole to Earth, located just 1000 light-years away in the HR 6819 system. But the results of their study were contested by other researchers, including by an international team based at KU Leuven, Belgium. In a paper published on Wednesday, these two teams have united to report that there is in fact no black hole in HR 6819, which is instead a “vampire” two-star system in a rare and short-lived stage of its evolution. The original study on...
Read MoreA huge "Moai" statue, one of the iconic stone monuments from Easter Island, began its journey back home on Monday following a years-long campaign to get it returned to its original setting since it was housed in a museum in Santiago in the 19th century. The 715 kilogram (0.72 tonne) sculpture will be transported by truck to the Chilean port city of Valparaíso, from where it will set sail on a naval ship on a journey of about five days to reach remote Easter Island, known locally as Rapa Nui. Rapa Nui natives play music to a Moai statue from Easter Island while it is displayed at the Natural History Museum before returning to the island, in Santiago, Chile, February 21, 2022. REUTERS/Ivan Alvarado The initiative is part of a repatriation program seeking to return to the Pacific Oc...
Read MoreSpaniard Aniol Serrasolses tackles 25km descent before performing a world-first waterfall double kickflip Human adventure has no limits, and it keeps finding new challenges and crossing new limits. Many of these are feats, on which we ourselves as humans can’t feel any less amazed about. Many of them are ones, we didn’t know, even existed as a challenge to be overcome. But here they are… Adventurer Aniol Serrasolses recently travelled at nearly 100km/h down a high-speed snowy descent, scythed across the forest floor and ended with a world-first flip off a waterfall. The Spanish kayaker pulled off the feat over a 25-kilometre descent on Chile’s Villarrica volcano. Aniol Serrasolses is used to testing his supreme whitewater kayaking skills in stunning and dangerous locations. This ...
Read Moreक्या बात है जब होटल का कमरा केवल रुकने का ठिकाना भर न रहे बल्कि रात भर तारों को निहारते रहने का भी अड्डा बन जाए। चिली में एल्की डोमोस ऐसी ही जगह है आंखों-आंखों में रातें गुजारने की बातें आपने फिल्मी गीतों में बहुत सुनी होंगी लेकिन इस बार जिस जगह हम आपको ले चल रहे हैं, वहां वाकई आपकी रातें केवल तारों को निहारते हुए ही गुजरेंगी। आखिरकार समूची दुनिया में तारों से लकदक आसमान को निहारने के लिए इससे बढ़िया जगह कोई नहीं। यहां रात वाकई तारों की सेज पर गुजरती है। हम बात कर रहे हैं दक्षिण अमेरिका में चिली के कोकिंबा क्षेत्र में स्थित एल्की घाटी की। यहीं पर है एल्की डोमोस जो दुनिया के कुल सात खगोलीय होटलों में से एक है और दक्षिणी गोलार्ध में अपनी किस्म का अकेला। इस होटल के कमरे आम कमरों जैसे नहीं बल्कि सात भूगणितीय गुंबद हैं। ये ऐसे इसलिए हैं ताकि आपको तारों भरी रात का सबसे शानदार नजारा मि...
Read MoreAll-female scientific coalition calls for protection of Antarctic Peninsula
Climate change and human activity are harming Antarctica and threatening wildlife from humpback whales to microscopic algae, more than 280 scientists and conservation experts say in urging protections for the icy region. The coalition - all women - called for creating a new marine protection area around Antarctica, as governments on Monday began a two-week meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources. FILE PHOTO: An iceberg floats near Lemaire Channel, Antarctica, February 5, 2020. Picture taken February 5, 2020. REUTERS/Ueslei Marcelino Two Antarctica areas are already protected: The South Orkney Islands and the Ross Sea. The new protection area, proposed in 2018 by commission members Chile and Argentina, would cover the western Antarctic P...
Read MoreOn the open expanses of Chile’s high-altitude Atacama desert, bright stars pierce an ink-black firmament, a lure for stargazers looking for wonder and astronomers seeking signs of life on distant planets. Chile’s arid northern deserts have attracted massive investment in telescopes in recent years and the country is home to nearly half the world’s astronomical observatories. Parabolic antennas of the ALMA (Atacama Large Millimetre/Submillimeter Array) project are seen at the El Llano de Chajnantor in the Atacama desert, Antofagasta, Chile in a File Photo. ESO/Babak Tafreshi (twanight.org)/Handout via REUTERS Now, under threat from light pollution coming from urban sprawl and development, Chile’s environmental defenders are starting a fight to keep the skies dark, with legal muscl...
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