Environment

Authored by Tsvetana Paraskova via OilPrice.com,

Every now and then, an oil supermajor comes up with what they tout as a breakthrough in scientific research of renewable energy sources.

This month, it was ExxonMobil’s turn to report a breakthrough in advanced biofuels. Exxon said that it had found a way to make algae ‘fatter’, and those algae could become part of the (distant) future energy mix, could cut carbon dioxide emissions, and would not compete with food crops like other biofuel sources.

Authored by Gail Tverberg via Our Finite World blog,

Recently, a Spanish group called “Ecologist in Action” asked me to give them a presentation on what kind of financial crisis we should expect. They wanted to know when it would be and how it would take place.

Trump's "up and down" relationship with China may be on the precipice of taking a sharp dive into the proverbial abyss.  After frequently threatening to label China a "currency manipulator" on the campaign trail last year, Trump's relationship with China's President Xi Jinping took a decided turn for the better after a meeting at Mar-a-Lago in which China vowed to help address the "menace of North Korea" .

Via StockBoardAsset.com,

A new report and video out from NASA about the upcoming ‘solar minimum’ has been published. The report titled ‘Solar Minimum is Coming’ outlines every 11-years, the sun oscillates from a solar minimum to a maximum. Today, the sun is called “solar minimum,” says Dean Pesnell of NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center in Greenbelt, MD. “And it’s a regular part of the sunspot cycle”. The sun is heading towards a solar minimum where the sunspot count will be relatively low.

Authored by Mac Slavo via SHTFplan.com,

(ABOVE: An artist’s rendition of the Russian Mayak satellite.)

Mayak, a Russian satellite that will become one of the brightest stars in the night sky, is just two weeks away from launching into space.  Their goal is to make the unique satellite bright with the use of a giant reflective sheet of material, but some scientists are warning that there may be negative consequences.