Bushfires

It’s well established that any air pollution is hazardous, with it claiming some 6.5 million lives around the world each year. But one type of emission is being increasingly linked to age-related dementia, and it’s also surging due to wildfires.

With wildfires currently blazing through Greece, Italy and North America, the race is on to develop better responses to potential outbreaks. And as fires increase in size and frequency, AI is shaping up as our best hope in preventing catastrophes.

Although a great number of wild animals were killed by Australia's recent bushfires, many more now have nowhere to hide from predators. New biodegradable "habitat pods," however, could give smaller creatures such hiding places.

Dr Graham Doig from the University of New South Wales' School of Mechanical and Manufacturing Engineering is examining whether explosives could be used to fight out-of-control forest and bushfires by blasting the flames out of treetops, slowing the fire and making it easier to fight on the ground.

As Australia recovers from its worst wildfire season on record (more than 1800 homes lost in the ‘Black Saturday’ fires in the state of Victoria), the country’s major telco, Telstra, has launched a AUD$200,000 Mobile Exchange on Wheels (MEOW).

The Bushbunker is a purpose-built fire shelter designed to maximize the likelihood of survival regardless of the intensity or type of fire

March 24, 2009 The weather conditions that lead to Southern Australia’s past two devastating bushfires may be linked to lower than normal sea-surface temperatures in the eastern Indian Ocean, according to CSIRO research presented at the Greenh