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Claxton, Norfolk: It was as if the field had uprooted and their calls were the landscape itself in full clamour

On any walk to the marsh I’m always struck how, with a single click of the closing door, the entire audible routine of the house interior – the ticking clock, the even hum of the central heating and fridge, the slow breathing of all that other civilised stuff – is washed away instantly by the sound tide of the outdoors.

What we perhaps require as animals is release from that atmospheric certainty. Being outdoors permits an immersion in the unending and endlessly unpredictable music of nature, which the musician and naturalist Bernie Krause, in his book The Great Animal Orchestra, calls the “biophony”. Perhaps it is this that restores the default settings of our species. We have been attuned to the Earth’s wild song for 100,000 generations; why should we cease to want or need it after just 10 spent mainly indoors?

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The planned investment is significantly higher than the previously announced target of $4.5bn by 2020

Ford Motor Co will significantly increase its planned investments in electric vehicles to $11bn by 2022 and have 40 hybrid and fully electric vehicles in its model line-up, the company’s chairman, Bill Ford, said on Sunday at the Detroit auto show.

The investment figure is sharply higher than a previously announced target of $4.5bn by 2020, Ford executives said, and includes the costs of developing dedicated electric vehicle architectures.

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New Colorado wind farms with batteries are now cheaper than running old coal plants.

China-Australia renewables developer Maoneng to sell output of 200MW Sunraysia Solar Farm to UNSW, in landmark "tripartite" deal backed by Origin.

If 2017 was a year of price shocks and renewables investment, we expect 2018 to be more cagey. That said, bids in America for wind plus storage at $US21/MWh is not a bad start!

NT calls for expressions of interest to develop battery storage system of 25-45MW to support grid in Darwin and Katherine.

2017 saw almost 1.1 GW of rooftop PV installed and at least another 0.1 GW of PV above 100kW commissioned. What's in store for 2018?

2017 marks the first time scientists concluded certain events could not have occurred – like, at all – without global warming.

Professor Stuart Wenham – the director of the Photovoltaics Centre of Excellence – died suddenly just before Christmas. Colleagues pay tribute to a pioneering researcher and inventor of solar cell technologies with a wide smile, iconic Aussie accent and never-say die enthusiasm.

US battery maker Tesla has again been selected to team up with French renewables developer Neoen on another ground-breaking Australian project; this time on a wind farm and battery storage facility that will help power a major Victorian farming business.

Environment Victoria CEO Mark Wakeham has responded to Yallourn power station’s proposal to extend their coal mining licence revealed in the Herald Sun today.

The Renewable Energy Target legislation has been amended to clarify the eligibility of solar photovoltaic (solar PV) systems under the Large-scale Renewable Energy Target (LRET) and the Small-Scale Renewable Energy Scheme (SRES).

Watch surgeons as they remove a 19.5kg tumour from a woman's body.

Wild flocks bred from aviary escapees pose threat to local species and ‘don’t just eat, they destroy’, mayor says

Regional councils in Western Australia are using fireworks, lethal gas, nets, and mass shooting to reduce the number of corellas, which are reportedly damaging buildings and destroying infrastructure.

The culprits are primarily eastern long-billed corellas, Cacatua tenuirostris, which were introduced to WA as a popular aviary bird.

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Citizen scientists are put to work at a fauna reserve in north-west Victoria; Natimuk pre-schoolers ditch the classroom for an outdoor bush kinder session; and we're off to an alpaca handling school.

Action to combat unlicensed waste carriers to be taken after Environment Agency uncovers 850 illegal dumping sites in a year

Households whose rubbish ends up being dumped illegally by unauthorised disposal companies could face fines under plans being considered by the government.

Councils could be given the power to directly fine people caught using unlicensed waste carriers following a consultation by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

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19 January 1918 Ducks waddled across to a narrow outlet, dabbled with their beaks, flopped in, and breasted away from the current, catching an odd flake as it fell

SURREY
Just after daybreak, while snow was falling, the fowls crept from their house, flew into the bare branches of apple trees, and filled the dead air with an alive gurgling call which tells that laying time has come. Ducks waddled across to a narrow outlet where a stream breaks quickly for the river, dabbled with their beaks, flopped in, and breasted away from the current, now and then catching an odd flake as it fell. Wood and field birds winged about aimlessly, larks and linnets going separately in small flocks, and one wagtail went to the margin of the water as if for company with the swimming birds. The snow turned to rain; the wood, clothed a minute ago in white, was now naked and cold. But a thrush came, trilled softly, then broke into almost full song; a starling perched on the farmhouse eaves shook the wet from his feathers, and tried to warble; rooks swung in their nest trees and called.

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The proposal would stop krill fishing in an effort to improve the health of other wildlife populations.

Indigenous ranger programs have now been running successfully for a decade. Given Queensland's size and large Indigenous population, there's a strong case for expanding the program in that state. Emilie Ens, Senior lecturer, Macquarie University Alana Grech, Assistant Director, ARC Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies, James Cook University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

This is an article from Curious Kids, a series for children. The Conversation is asking kids to send in questions they’d like an expert to answer. All questions are welcome – serious, weird or wacky! Why… Gregory Moore, Doctor of Botany, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.