Around The Web

A new study finds alarming decline in insect numbers – we’d like your help celebrating what these creatures do for life on earth

A dramatic plunge in insect numbers reported in a new study has led scientists to predict what they are calling “ecological Armageddon”.

Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, the study says, with serious implications for all life on Earth.

Continue reading...

RN Drive helps you sort fact from fiction with the latest from the world of science.

Flying insects have declined by more than 75% in 30 years in German nature reserves, alarming ecologists.

David Yeo’s photography places naturally small species alongside animals that have been selectively bred to be tiny and cute, opening a troubling ethical debate

Continue reading...

How Turnbull's National Energy Target will be worse for the renewable energy sector than no policy at all.

Chinese battery and EV giant is ramping up its presence in Australia’s home energy storage market with its modular B-Box battery offering.

It seems like the government’s plan may reduce competition, and that is never good for price in the long run. One of the many advantages of state run reverse auctions is they introduce new suppliers and new players into the system.

Energy Security Board forecasts suggest a sharp slow down in rooftop solar deployments to meet its modest renewable energy share. It comes as concerns grow about ESB process and the alacrity with which the normally snail-paced AEMC has moved to confer great powers upon itself.

Work to begin on first 60MW of 1200MW Kennedy Energy Park, after the wind, solar, and battery storage project in north Queensland received another $94m from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and an $18m grant from ARENA.

Hospital issues warning as ‘extraordinary’ spate of bird-inflicted injuries include a penetrated eye that required surgery

A penetrated eye that needed surgery is just one of an “extraordinary” spate of magpie-inflicted injuries in Melbourne, and one hospital has issued a warning about the swooping birds.

The number of eye injuries caused by the bird has risen significantly, according to the emergency director of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, Dr Carmel Crock.

Continue reading...

While China launches its new energy market, Australia is still lagging behind in implementing a mechanism to control carbon emissions Peter Christoff, Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

The new policy could end up feeding demand for coal.

Animals were transported from as far away as the north east of Scotland to the Neolithic site in Wiltshire.

JinkoSolar Holding Co today announced that its practical sized P-type multi-crystalline silicon solar cells reached the world’s highest conversion efficiency of 22.04%

Self serving and misleading comments from CEO of one of the country's iconic energy businesses need to be held up as a shining example of how recent energy summit forgot about one key person: the customer.

Walter Munk might be the most under-appreciated man in surfing, but he is a big deal in ocean science. If you've ever checked a surf forecast before paddling out, you have him to thank. Paul Spence, Senior Lecturer, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Shane Keating, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Oceanography, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth, scientists say

The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists.

Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is “on course for ecological Armageddon”, with profound impacts on human society.

Continue reading...

If you’re not familiar with the new genre of climate fiction, you might be soon.

Cli-Fi refers to “climate fiction;” it is a term coined by journalist Dan Bloom. These are fictional books that somehow or someway bring real climate change science to the reader. What is really interesting is that Cli-Fi books often present real science in a credible way. They become fun teaching tools. There are some really well known authors such as Paolo Bacigalupi and Margaret Atwood among others. A list of other candidate Cli-Fi novels was provided by Sarah Holding in the Guardian.

What makes a Cli-Fi novel good? Well in my opinion, it has to have some real science in it. And it has to get the science right. Second, it has to be fun to read. When done correctly, Cli-Fi can connect people to their world; it can help us understand what future climate may be like, or what current climate effects are.

Continue reading...

The New South Wales town of Tyalgum says there's no time to wait for the Federal Government to figure out what it's going to do about Australia's energy future, so it's going 'off grid'.

A new study gives insight into the strange breeding behaviour of banded stilts. These water birds fly thousand of kilometres to nest in temporary desert salt lakes. Reece Pedler, PhD student, Deakin University Andy T.D. Bennett, Professor, Deakin University Raoul Ribot, Lecturer in Ecology, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.