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The United States, as a whole, is roughly two weeks away from reaching the peak of the coronavirus pandemic, but the peaks for individual states will vary, with most occurring over the next four weeks, according to projections from the University of Washington’s Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME). When it comes to the arrival of the coronavirus, not all states are facing the same timeline. Some states, like New York and Louisiana, have quickly become epicenters of the virus in the United States and, as a result, will reach a resource peak weeks sooner than states like Kentucky...

World oil prices hit fresh six-month peaks on Thursday as the dollar slumped on the back of the US Federal Reserve's new huge stimulus package aimed at boosting the American economy. Brent North Sea crude for delivery in December delivery rallied as high as 87.59 dollars, reaching a level last seen on May 4. It later stood at 87.46, up 1.08 dollars from Wednesday's close. New York's main contract, light sweet crude for December, surged to a similar high point at 86.05 dollars, before pulling back to 85.88, up 1.19 dollars. The dollar tumbled on Thursday after the Fed announced...

LICAPA, Peru (AFP) – In a remote corner of the Peruvian Andes, men in paint-daubed boilersuits diligently coat a mountain summit with whitewash in an experimental bid to recuperate the country's melting glaciers. It's a bizarre sight at 4,756 metres (15,600 feet) above sea level. The man behind the idea is not a glaciologist but an inventor, Eduardo Gold. His non-governmental organisation Glaciares de Peru was one of 26 winners of the World Bank's "100 Ideas to Save the Planet" competition in November 2009. Gold has already begun work while he waits for the 200,000-dollar prize money to fund his...

OK, getting back into the swing of things, here's a picture of a peak with geographical significance. So where is it, and why is it significant? (Click for full size)

OSLO (Reuters) – Jagged mountains the size of the Alps have been found entombed in Antarctica's ice, giving new clues about the vast ice sheet that will raise world sea levels if even a fraction of it melts, scientists said on Tuesday. Using radar and gravity sensors, the experts made the first detailed maps of the Gamburtsev subglacial mountains, originally detected by Russian scientists 50 years ago at the heart of the East Antarctic ice sheet. "The surprising thing was that not only is this mountain range the size of the Alps, but it looks quite similar to the (European)...

LOS ANGELES – Summer's annual meteor shower promises to put on a dazzling show when it peaks this weekend – provided you're far from city lights. With no moon in sight to interfere with the Perseid meteor shower, skygazers can expect to spot streaking fireballs late Sunday into dawn Monday regardless of time zone. Astronomers estimate as many as 60 meteors per hour could flit across the sky at the shower's peak. This year's sky show comes with an added bonus: Mars will be visible as a bright red dot in the northeastern sky. “We have front-row seats this year,”...