Around The Web

How better tests and legal deterrence could clean up the sticky mess left behind by fake honey row

The Conversation - Mon, 2018-09-17 06:10
The bee product industry is booming and in unregulated markets, there is a strong economic incentive to cheat. Self regulation combined with legal deterrence could help clean up the sticky mess. Samuel Becher, Associate Professor of Business Law, Victoria University of Wellington Hongzhi Gao, Senior Lecturer, International Business; PhD, Victoria University of Wellington Jessica C Lai, Senior Lecturer in Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Electric cars: who to bless and who to blame on the road ahead | Letters

The Guardian - Mon, 2018-09-17 01:29
Mike Hawes on industry action, Zofia Dymitr on charge points for electric cars, and Robin Morris on claims of ‘no toxic filth’ being emitted

Your editorial (13 September) accuses motor manufacturers of inaction on electric cars. This is based neither on evidence nor on understanding of the decades it takes to develop such technologies.

Industry is committed to a zero-emission future and is investing heavily in electrified and other technologies. But while it can deliver the technology, it can’t determine the pace of uptake. Increasing consumer confidence, addressing infrastructure accessibility and overcoming range anxiety are vital. As with any new technology, this is expensive, so long-term government support will be essential.

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Labour is divided over its proposed fracking ban – Cuadrilla chief

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 23:12

Accusation comes only weeks before the UK’s first fracking in seven years

The shale gas explorer Cuadrilla has accused the Labour party of being divided on its proposed fracking ban and of unnecessarily politicising the search for shale gas.

Francis Egan, the chief executive of Cuadrilla, which is only weeks away from beginning the UK’s first fracking in seven years, said the prospect of a Labour government coming to power was a risk that he would be “silly to ignore”.

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Air pollution particles found in mothers' placentas

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 18:30

New research shows direct evidence that toxic air – already strongly linked to harm in unborn babies – travels through mothers’ bodies

Scientists have found the first evidence that particles of air pollution travel through pregnant women’s lungs and lodge in their placentas.

Toxic air is already strongly linked to harm in foetuses but how the damage is done is unknown. The new study, involving mothers living in London, UK, revealed sooty particles in the placentas of each of their babies and researchers say it is quite possible the particles entered the foetuses too.

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About Seascape: the state of our oceans – a Guardian series

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 17:52

This project focuses on the health of the seas, the impact of fishing and pollution on our vast oceans and their connections to climate change, and global efforts to drive forward conservation

This series draws attention to the dramatic changes taking place in our oceans, and the innovations under way to tackle them. It is supported, in part, through a grant to theguardian.org by the David & Lucile Packard Foundation, which is dedicated to improving the lives of children, enabling the creative pursuit of science, advancing reproductive health, and conserving and restoring the earth’s natural systems.

All of the journalism is editorially independent, commissioned and produced by our Guardian journalists. You can read more about content funding on the Guardian here.

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NovaSAR: UK radar satellite to track illegal shipping activity

BBC - Sun, 2018-09-16 10:11
The all-British NovaSAR spacecraft will monitor big stretches of ocean for suspicious shipping activity.
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Adani is on the back foot. But even a downsized Carmichael mine spells global calamity | John Quiggin

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 09:01

The catastrophic prospect of 300m tonnes of carbon a year appears to have been averted, but even 25m poses a danger to the climate

The recent announcement by Adani that it will halve the costs of its rail line to the proposed Carmichael coalmine by building a shorter, narrow-gauge line raises an obvious question: if such a massive cost-saving is feasible, why didn’t Adani go that way in the first place?

The short answer is this is the latest in a string of changes that have massively downsized both the Carmichael project and the bigger plans to develop the Galilee Basin. The longer answer is that, despite optimistic talk about a long-term future for coal, the writing is on the wall. The only way to make money out of coal is to do so quickly, before the present gradual decline turns into a collapse.

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Drought-stricken farmers challenge Coalition's climate change stance in TV ad

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 06:00

‘We need to stick to the Paris agreement, we need to stop burning coal and we need to commit to more renewable energy,’ Longreach farmer says

“This drought has really hit our family hard,” says Longreach farmer Jody Brown. “Climate change is making the droughts more severe.”

Those two sentences are the opening lines to a new advertisement challenging the federal government’s stance on climate change and the drought in Australia’s eastern states.

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Nasa laser launches into space

BBC - Sun, 2018-09-16 02:41
ICESat-2 will use laser beams to measure ice levels on Earth as it orbits 500km above the planet.
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Off Tanzania, in one of the world’s richest seas, why is the catch getting smaller?

The Guardian - Sun, 2018-09-16 00:00

In Dar-es-Salaam, local fishermen are being squeezed out by illegal boats with explosives which take much of the catch, killing coral reef and putting an eco-system at risk

Fishing boat XTK191, known as Home Boy, returned to Kivukoni fish market in downtown Dar es Salaam at dawn one day last week. The 15 young men on board the old dhow dropped anchor and heaved their catch over the side for others to run it across the beach to where hundreds of traders milled.

Within an hour of landing in eastern Africa’s largest fish market, Home Boy’s fish, crabs, prawn, lobsters, tuna, squid and shark pups were being sold in impromptu auctions, along with the catches of several dozen other boats.

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'World's oldest brewery' found in Israel

BBC - Sat, 2018-09-15 23:51
Researchers believe they have found the world's oldest brewery in a prehistoric cave in Israel.
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Writers’ wilderness haven split over Brecon Beacons phone mast plan

The Guardian - Sat, 2018-09-15 23:24
Edna O’Brien, Ian McEwan and Bruce Chatwin have treasured its wild beauty. But now plans for a 17.5-metre tower have divided a tranquil hamlet

Its monks left more than a century ago but the whitewashed stone walls of the monastery in Capel-y-ffin stand proud. Outside, a large, well-preserved statue of the Virgin Mary welcomes visitors to the venerable Victorian building, which has now been converted into self-catering apartments in great demand when the crowds flock to nearby Hay-on-Wye for its celebrated literary festival.

Since the monks’ departure, little has changed in this picturesque Welsh hamlet of a few houses, a chapel and a scattering of farms. Nestling in the foothills of the Black Mountains, it is a place of moss and bracken, stone walls and brooks, and has the lingering solemnity of an untended churchyard.

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Europe's meat and dairy production must halve by 2050, expert warns

The Guardian - Sat, 2018-09-15 18:00

Policymakers, farmers and consumers face ‘deeply uncomfortable choices’, says author of report advising urgent reduction of unsustainable livestock sector


Europe’s animal farming sector has exceeded safe bounds for greenhouse gas emissions, nutrient flows and biodiversity loss, and urgently needs to be scaled back, according to a major report.

Pressure on livestock farmers is set to intensify this century as global population and income growth raises demand for meat-based products beyond the planet’s capacity to supply it.

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Former IPCC chief Rajendra Pachauri to stand trial on sexual harassment charges

The Guardian - Sat, 2018-09-15 17:16

Delhi court decides there is enough evidence to charge Pachauri with harassing a female colleague

The former chairman of a United Nations climate change panel has been ordered stand trial on charges of sexual abuse and harassment of a female colleague.

A Delhi court on Friday said there was prime facie evidence to charge Rajendra Pachauri, 78, with sexual harassment and two offences of intending to outrage the modesty of a woman.

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Will this Aussie hatchback EV trigger a Kodak moment for cars?

RenewEconomy - Sat, 2018-09-15 16:30

Remember how film cameras gave way to digital cameras over a couple of years? The promise of cheap EVs like a $20,000 Aussie hatchback, could see the same thing happen with EVs.

The post Will this Aussie hatchback EV trigger a Kodak moment for cars? appeared first on RenewEconomy.

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CP Daily: Friday September 14, 2018

Carbon Pulse - Sat, 2018-09-15 14:50
A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.
Categories: Around The Web

Dining with Killer Whales

ABC Environment - Sat, 2018-09-15 13:05
The water turns red and smells of fish. It's the blood of the prey of a pod of Orcas. This episode of Off Track has been selected from the archives for your listening pleasure.
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'Gel-like' see-through fish discovered 7.5km down on Pacific ocean floor

The Guardian - Sat, 2018-09-15 12:20

Scientists have been surprised to find three new kinds of snailfish thriving deep in the Atacama trench

Scientists have discovered three new species of “hardcore” fish living in one of the deepest parts of the ocean, the see-through, scale-free creatures perfectly adapted to conditions that would instantly kill most life on Earth.

An international team of researchers used state-of-the-art underwater cameras to find the new fish at the bottom of the Atacama trench in the eastern Pacific ocean at a depth of 7,500 metres (24,600 feet) – and were surprised at their abundance in such an inhospitable environment.

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It's hard to spread the idiot fruit

The Conversation - Sat, 2018-09-15 11:23
In a few idyllic parts of Queensland grows the idiot fruit, a tall tree with intricate flowers and some of the largest seeds in Australia. Stuart Worboys, Laboratory and Technical Support Officer, Australian Tropical Herbarium, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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