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A short history of nuclear fission
An Italian physicist, Enrico Fermi, was the first to achieve it but just recently nuclear fission’s popularity has been decreasing
It began in 1789 when a German chemist named Martin Klaproth discovered uranium but it was not until 1934 that nuclear fission was first achieved following a series of experiments by Enrico Fermi, an Italian physicist.
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Hinkley Point C timeline: all the key moments
Nuclear reactor project has seen several developments since being announced in 2005
UK energy policy review launched by Tony Blair
Hinkley's nuclear plant fails all tests - bar the politics | Damian Carrington
Huge, expensive and difficult to build, Hinkley is a throwback to the last century, just as the world is embracing the smart energy systems of the future
The new nuclear reactors now given the go-ahead at Hinkley Point have failed every test bar the one that finally mattered - political expediency.
The plant, to be paid for by UK energy customers, could cost them £37bn and is a leading contender for the most expensive object ever built on the face of the Earth. A former Conservative energy secretary calls it “one of the worst deals ever” for Britain.
Continue reading...'I'm not scared by nuclear': locals divided over Hinkley Point C
Businesses and education providers on the Somerset coast see opportunities but residents remain concerned over safety and waste
The EDF Energy visitor centre at the Angel Place shopping centre in Bridgwater was doing brisk business.
A group of pensioners waited for a coach to take them for a tour of Hinkley Point B nuclear power station 10 miles away on the Somerset coast while children played with displays explaining how electricity is created. Teenagers dropped in to jump on to a static bike and power up their mobile phones.
Continue reading...Record 46% of UK's electricity generated by clean energy sources in 2015
Official figures show low-carbon sources accounted for almost half of national electricity supply last year - outstripping coal for the first time
Almost half the UK’s electricity came from clean energy sources such as wind and nuclear power last year, official figures have revealed.
Renewables accounted for a quarter of the country’s power supplies in 2015, outstripping coal power for the first time, the data published by the government revealed.
Continue reading...Scottish farms face losing millions in subsidy after Brexit
UK government would need to increase funding to match common agricultural policy levels, Holyrood committee hears
Scottish farmers face losing hundreds of millions of pounds in subsidy after Brexit unless the UK government increases funding for Holyrood, a Scottish parliament committee has been told.
A senior economist and the National Farmers Union Scotland (NFUS) said the EU referendum vote raised significant doubts over the future of £452m in common agriculture programme spending in Scotland, because of the current Treasury deal to fund Holyrood.
Continue reading...Cancer found in ancient human ancestor's foot
The 'human sensor' making Manchester's air pollution visible
The hi-tech illuminated costumes worn by media artist Kasia Molga reveal changes in urban air pollution and bring together art and science
Heads turn when media artist Kasia Molga and her performers walk the streets of Manchester. When they near buses belching diesel fumes, their futuristic capes and masks turn a bright red. Near a park they go green. Depending on the traffic pollution levels in the northern industrial city, their clothing pulses, flashes and changes colour from purple through to white.
Molga calls herself a “human sensor”. She has linked with atmospheric scientists at King’s College London to develop clothing that reacts to the minute particles (PM2.5s) emitted mainly by diesel engines.
Continue reading...PM wants positive outcome for science in Brexit talks
People run from floods in Nepal – video
Amateur video shot on Tuesday shows floods in Butwal, a village in the the Rupandehi district of Nepal, after flash floods and landslides swept through villages, killing at least 58 people over two days. In Butwal, local residents run away as torrential floodwaters overflow the riverbank and break a flood defence wall
Continue reading...Elephant killings in Africa 'stabilise' but threat continues
Biodiversity greater inside Earth's protected areas, study finds
Scientists show for the first time that there are 15% more individual plants and animals and 11% more species inside terrestrial conservation zones
Biodiversity is greater inside the world’s protected areas, scientists have been able to show for the first time.
There are 15% more individual plants and animals and 11% more species inside than outside protected areas, according to the largest analysis of biodiversity in terrestrial globally protected areas to date.
Rhinoceros calf responds to his name – video
Warren, a rhinoceros calf, responds to being called while on a walk with his carers at the Meyersdal Nature Estate in South Africa on Monday. Warren comes running back after being called by name and also accompanies some dogs on a trip around the sanctuary. The Meyersdal Nature Estate is run by Working with Rhinos, a charity dedicated to rescuing and rehabilitating rhinoceros and indigenous wildlife from the area
Continue reading...Butterflies: a feast for more than eyes
Sandy, Bedfordshire What are they tasting, and what makes them dab their egg on one particular leaf above all others?
Day by day, summer has been eating its way through the nasturtium at the back door. Over the past fortnight, I have conducted my own leafwatch. Victorian naturalists used systematic, meticulous, studies to gain insights: I’m looking in my lunch break. Even so, during these half-hour snatches, I’ve discovered a tiny something that contradicts an authoritative textbook.
We call them cabbage whites, the butterflies with a taste for brassicas, but these insects have a fondness for nasturtiums too. One flits over the fence and breaks its zigzag course through the garden to home in. It circles and lands on leaf after leaf, wings whipped into a frenzy at the point of exact touchdown.
Continue reading...ScienceTalk: Jupiter's hot spot and the relationship between campfires and tuberculosis
Great Barrier Reef oil spill: foreign ship faces prosecution after 12-month hunt
Queensland authorities say they have identified the vessel that spilled up to 15 tonnes of oil off Cape Upstart in July 2015
An unnamed foreign ship faces prosecution over an oil spill on the Great Barrier Reef after a 12-month investigation by Queensland government agencies.
Maritime investigators claim they have identified the vessel that spilled up to 15 tonnes of oil in reef waters off Cape Upstart in July 2015, which washed up on mainland beaches and islands north of Townsville and triggered a response costing $1.5m.
Continue reading...NSW solar bonus scheme ends this year: what are your options?
Installation begins on 500kW solar array for Canberra Hospital
All the smart people are on our side, we just need a majority
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