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Luc Hoffmann obituary
Luc Hoffmann, who has died aged 93, was one of the last surviving greats of 20th-century nature conservation. As co-founder of the World Wildlife Fund, along with men such as Julian Huxley, Peter Scott and Max Nicholson, he helped turn conservation from a parochial, insular pursuit into a truly international movement.
In the era following the end of the second world war, which saw an unprecedented loss of natural environments and their wildlife, Hoffmann fought to ensure that many unique and precious locations and species were saved from oblivion. These included the Camargue, between Arles in France and the Mediterranean sea, and the Coto Doñana, on the Atlantic coast of Andalucía, in Spain.
Continue reading...Caribbean island launches plan to remove invasive rats and goats
Mongabay: Redonda’s invasive black rats and long-horned goats have transformed the once-forested island into a ‘moonscape’, conservationists say
The remote Caribbean island of Redonda, part of Antigua and Barbuda, is home to numerous species of plants and animals found nowhere else on earth. It is also home to invasive black rats and non-native goats that are wiping out the island’s native, rare wildlife, conservationists say.
To help the island’s flora and fauna, the Government of Antigua and Barbuda is now initiating a plan to remove all goats and rats from the island. The Redonda Restoration Program program has been formed by the Antigua & Barbuda Government and the Environmental Awareness Group (EAG) in collaboration with organizations like Fauna & Flora International, British Mountaineering Council, Island Conservation and Wildlife Management International Ltd.
Continue reading...French inquiry confirms widespread irregularities in diesel emissions data
10-month investigation finds a large number of diesel cars emit much higher levels of pollution than their manufacturers claim
French investigators have found a large number of diesel cars emit much higher levels of pollution than their European manufacturers claim.
The claims were revealed by France’s environment ministry after a 10-month investigation ordered following the “Dieselgate” scandal over Volkswagen’s use of software to cheat emissions tests.
'Hacking nerves can control disease'
Dartmoor lynx returned to zoo after weeks on run
City of London puts the brakes on new diesel vehicle purchases
BusinessGreen: Public authority says it will no longer buy new diesel vehicles when older models need replacing
The City of London Corporation has banned the purchase or hire of diesel vehicles for its business.
The public authority, which has a fleet of more than 300 vehicles, announced on Friday it will now no longer lease or purchase diesel models when older models need replacing.
Continue reading...World weather: 2016's early record heat gives way to heavy rains
The record-breaking heat of the first six months has turned to severe seasonal flooding across Asia in one of the strongest monsoon seasons in many years
The record-breaking worldwide heat of the first six months of 2016 has turned to abnormally severe seasonal flooding across Asia with hundreds of people dying in China, India, Nepal and Pakistan and millions forced from their homes.
In India, the Brahmaputra river, which is fed by Himalayan snowmelt and monsoon rains, has burst its banks in many places and has been at danger levels for weeks. Hundreds of villages have been flooded in Bihar, Assam, Uttar Pradesh and other northern states.
Continue reading...'Amazing' waterspout off Suffolk coast
Banking Britain's brains: The story of a scientific resource
Dissecting brains for medical research
A climate scientist and economist made big bucks betting on global warming | Dana Nuccitelli
Chris Hope and James Annan took £2,000 from two GWPF advisors who were foolish enough to bet against global warming
Climate scientist James Annan and climate economist Chris Hope made a nice sum this year for a bet they made on global warming in 2008. As Hope tells the story:
The record warmth of 2015 just made me £1,334 richer. While the extra cash is a nice bonus, it sadly demonstrates that the atmospheric dice remain loaded towards increasing climate change.
So, how did I turn increasing temperatures into cash? About five years ago I was at a conference in Cambridge where most of the participants were sceptical about the influence of humans on the climate. I took the microphone and asked if any of them would care to make a £1,000 bet with me about whether 2015 would be hotter than 2008. Two brave souls, Ian Plimer and Sir Alan Rudge, agreed.
Continue reading...Cold spring delays British blackberry crop
Citizen science survey has received only 31 reports of first ripe blackberries around the country so far
Blackberry crumble is not on the menu yet as a cold spring has delayed the ripening of the traditional British fruit, wildlife experts said.
The Woodland Trust has only received 31 reports of ripe blackberries so far to its Nature’s Calendar survey, in which members of the public record the signs of the changing seasons.
Continue reading...Pokemon Go 'transformed teenager's life'
Court rules in Santos's favour over coal seam gas water treatment plant in Pilliga
CSG opponents handed legal setback as land and environment court decides plant does not need a separate approval
Opponents of coal seam gas in New South Wales have had a setback, as a court ruled Santos’s CSG wastewater treatment plant near the Pilliga state forest did not need to undergo a full environmental impact statement.
Justice Timothy Moore of the NSW land and environment court ruled the treatment plant was part of its wider coal seam gas exploration, and so did not require its own approval under broader state legislation.
Continue reading...Lichens may be a symbiosis of three organisms; a new Order of fungus named
Lichen is made up of two types of fungus and an algae, that's one more species than previously thought. wikimedia
There is big news in the world of lichens. These slow growing organisms have long been known to be a collaboration between a fungus and a photosynthetic algae or cyanobacteria. A recent publication in Science may have changed all that.
Researchers have discovered another fungus living in the tissues of lichens. Unlike the dominant fungal type, also known as Ascomycetes, the new fungus is a Basidiomycete that exists as single cells, more closely related to yeast. A survey has found these new fungal cells in 52 genera of lichens, raising the prospect of a previously undetected third partner in the ancient symbiosis.
Interestingly, despite many attempts, it has never been possible to synthesise lichen in the laboratory by combining the two known partners, and now we might know why. Lichenologists have always recognised a mycobiont (fungal partner) and a photobiont (the photosynthetic organism that makes food) and now we may have to find a word for the new fungal component.
Toby Spribille of the University of Graz in Austria and his colleagues were trying to understand why two species of lichen that were made up of the same species of mycobiont and photobiont were differently coloured and contained varying levels of a toxin known as vulpinic acid.
Using an approach that examined the messenger RNAs produced by the organism, they tried to find the genes that produced the toxin, but neither the mycobiont or the photobiont had genes that matched the transcript. By broadening their search to include other types of fungi, they found genes belonging to a rare fungus called a Cystobasidiomycete.
Unable to see the cells responsible for this unusual finding, they used fluorescent in situ hybridisation (FISH) to light up cells containing genes for the algae, the ascomycete and the cystobasidiomycete. By linking different colours to each organism, they produced videos showing the distribution of each cell type. The new fungus existed as single cells inside the cortex, where it may play a structural role as well as providing chemical defence.
It is hard to overstate the importance of this discovery. Spribille was quoted in the New York Times as saying that lichens are as diverse as vertebrates. And yet we did not know until now that the symbiosis that allows lichens to exist has more than two partners.
The authors have described a new order of fungi called the Cyphobasidiales. It is not everyday that scientists are able to add new taxa at such a high level. It is like discovering the Primates. By creating a phylogenomic tree and applying a molecular clock, they found that this group has been around for 200 million years, probably since the beginning of lichens.
The 52 genera that have been examined thus far are widespread (on six continents) but are still a small portion of lichens, so there may be more to discover. Interestingly, the continent that is not included is Australia. Perhaps we do not have enough lichenologists to provide samples to the international community. It is possible that some lichens do not contain this new order of fungi. What is not in doubt is that now scientists will be looking at lichens more closely.
Lichens grow very slowly. Individuals can be hundreds or even thousands of years old. Now it seems that our knowledge of this ancient symbiosis has also grown slowly, as it has taken 150 years to find the third partner.
Given the sophisticated techniques required to untangle this conundrum, I suppose it was not possible to know about the silent partner, the yeast in the mix, until now. But it certainly gives rise to some exciting science.
Five thoughts on the 2016 Ride London
How some crashes are caused by idiocy, and why it’s the family cycling event which is the most important one.
Ride London, the capital’s weekend of cycle events – now expanded to three days – is in its fourth year. And for another time, I’ve taken part in what is officially called the Ride London Surrey 100, a vast, 100-mile closed-roads sportive, which this year saw up to 27,000 people take part.
As is also traditional for the Bike Blog, below are my instant (I’m writing this in the event press tent, still clad in my clammy bike clothes) thoughts on what is the UK’s biggest cycling extravaganza.
Continue reading...MH370 was flown into water, says Canadian air crash expert
Britons urged to help chart spread of thriving butterfly species
Campaign asks wildlife enthusiasts to visit local woodland to record number of speckled woods and other butterflies
Wildlife lovers are being asked to spend 15 minutes in a wood this week to chart the spread of the speckled wood (Pararge aegeria), Britain’s most successful butterfly.
The speckled wood is one of a handful of species that appear to be benefitting from climate change, recently colonising East Anglia, the Midlands and much of northern England, increasing in abundance by 84% over the past 40 years. The southern population has expanded northwards at an average of four miles a year since the 1970s.
Continue reading...All cars on Australian roads will be driverless by 2030: Telstra exec
Woman rescued from car in Maryland floods after men form human chain – video
Four men brave fast-flowing, waist-deep water rushing down the main street of Ellicott City to save a woman trapped in her car. Local business owner Sara Arditti posted the footage to Facebook after her husband Dave took part in the daring rescue.
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