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Cwmystradllyn, Gwynedd: By 1871 the village was deserted, its consumptive and dispirited inhabitants dispersed. But much architectural beauty remains

The wave-like wall at Gorseddau slate quarry was running through my mind. I needed to go back and see if it was as I remembered. On a bitter March afternoon I set off along the old tramway that curves in from Cwm Pennant to the north.

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Lifeguards on one NSW south coast beach are being assisted by a blimp on which is mounted a camera, and learning software, allowing sharks to be spotted without the use of human eyes.

It's been shrinking fast, but could a plan to divert water to one of Africa's largest lakes stop it disappearing?

The industry could contribute almost a fifth of the global total of CO2 by 2050 but some nations resist targets.

The private service for the visionary scientist will be held at the university church in Cambridge.

A dog helps save an endangered turtle; farmers get the keep fit message; a calf and a camel make friends on the Nullabor; and bullocky Craig Lockwood yokes up his team.

Parma ham industry accuses animal welfare groups of a smear campaign following the release of ‘grim’ images of pigs kept in filthy and barren conditions

Images of pigs in filthy pens and barren conditions have sparked a row between animal welfare activists and the makers of Italy’s Parma ham.

The campaigners have released footage that they claim exposes barren living conditions with no stimulation, and injured animals with abscesses and hernias being left without adequate treatment. Their expose of the farms that produce meat for Parma and a small proportion of other hams follows a series of investigations over the last few years that have repeatedly appeared to reveal concerning conditions, such as pigs being treated roughly, and sick pigs being left to die in the corridors between their pens.

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A family of brown bears, a whale shark and a new species of frog are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Brands including Patagonia and the North Face have presented a unified front in fighting for America’s public lands

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The head of America's leading particle physics lab says a "factory" to make the Higgs boson will speed up discoveries.

Allendale, Northumberland: Our neighbouring farmer has a mixture of stock. What’s good for keeping cows away from our property, won’t deter the sheep

As the noise begins, a curlew flies off, calling in alarm. Deep thuds resonate through the earth and I can feel them through my feet as I stand on the gravel path. A fencing machine with a hydraulic hammer is ramming a heavy-duty post into the field just outside my garden. These “strainers” will have wire strung between them and need to be strong enough to carry its tension.

The old posts, being rotten, needed replacing to prevent the cows from pushing down the drystone walls. Curious youngsters, full of joie-de-vivre and energy, they like to rub and nudge the rough stones. Last year, two black bullocks enjoyed leaning over to tug at a climbing rose which I pruned back hard to take away the temptation.

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Experts say the defunct orbiting Tiangong-1 module should fall out of the sky this weekend.

Eggs are tiny wonders, but even wonders can go wonky sometimes. We look at everything from double-yolkers to eggs with no shell at all. Maggie J. Watson, Lecturer in Ornithology, Ecology, Conservation and Parasitology, Charles Sturt University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

A decline in the number of diesel cars would not jeopardise CO2 targets – in fact it would make them cheaper to achieve

The UK Society of Motor Manufacturers blamed February’s rise in the average new-car CO2 emissions on an “anti-diesel agenda [that] has set back progress on climate change”. Petrol v diesel cars is often presented as a trade-off between health-harming air pollution and climate-harmful CO2. Diesel cars do more miles to the litre than petrol, but this exaggerates the difference in CO2 emissions since one litre of diesel contains more energy and more carbon than one litre of petrol. If fuel were taxed on energy and carbon, rather than volume, then the tax on diesel would be 10 to 14% greater than that on petrol.

The International Council on Clean Transportation points out that petrol engines and petrol-hybrids have improved faster than diesel and will continue to do so. They conclude that a decline in diesel cars from around 56% to 15% would not jeopardise EU CO2 targets. Instead, it would make the targets cheaper to achieve since petrol engines cost less to make and have simpler exhaust clean-up. The future might be electric cars (or better yet for public health: cycling, walking and public transport), but in the short term new petrol cars, instead of diesel, might help both climate change and air pollution.

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Women in the Church, Indigenous Christianity, The Stations of the Cross, and working for peace and against nuclear war.

One-third of species are vulnerable to extinction, a crisis ravaging swaths of creatures, conservationists say in call to fund recovery plans

An extinction crisis is rippling though America’s wildlife, with scores of species at risk of being wiped out unless recovery plans start to receive sufficient funding, conservationists have warned.

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What's behind the snapping sound when we crack our knuckles? Scientists have the answer.

He blames green campaigners for delays, but believes industry will eventually take off in UK

David Cameron has told US oil executives of his frustration that the UK has failed to embrace fracking despite his best efforts, and hit out at green groups for being “absolutely obsessed” with blocking new fossil fuel extraction.

His bullish pro-fracking comments at a US oil industry event this week came almost 12 years since Britain’s former prime minister hugged a husky to burnish his green credentials.

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Every spring, ponds around the UK start stirring and frogs come out of their winter slumber to mate. Here’s a unique perspective on an event that’s been happening since the age of the dinosaurs

Click here to view the 360° video.

If you’re viewing on mobile you’ll need to download the YouTube app for the full 360° experience.

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From potential issues of capacity to accessibility, readers share their concerns on the reality of recycling using deposit return schemes

Cash in exchange for returning a used drinks container sounds like a good idea, but how much of an impact will it have in our fight against reducing waste?

On Tuesday the government unveiled a bottle and can deposit scheme covering glass, metal and plastic drinks containers in England. By returning bottles and cans consumers will receive a small cash sum, however retailers are responsible for recycling the items.

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