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Scientists race to explore Antarctic marine life revealed by giant iceberg

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 20:37

British Antarctic Survey is trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120,000 years below the Larsen C ice shelf

A team of international scientists is due to set off for the world’s biggest iceberg on Wednesday, fighting huge waves and the encroaching Antarctic winter, in a mission aiming to answer fundamental questions about the impact of climate change in the polar regions.

The scientists, led by the British Antarctic Survey (BAS), are trying to reach a newly revealed ecosystem that had been hidden for 120,000 years below the Larsen C ice shelf on the Antarctic peninsula.

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Categories: Around The Web

Roman boxing gloves unearthed by Vindolanda dig

BBC - Tue, 2018-02-20 17:56
The bands of leather are "probably the only known surviving examples" of their kind.
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It's time football started to take cycling seriously | Robin Ireland

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 17:00

Few clubs cater for fans who choose to cycle to the ground, but simple changes could help reduce traffic jams and pollution on match days

I am a football fan and I am a cyclist. These identities do not need to be mutually exclusive – so why is it often such a challenge to go to the game by bike?

I support Norwich City and I live in Liverpool, which is the first hurdle. Liverpool is 238 miles away from Norwich, and the direct train takes more than five hours. Because of this, I have pretty much given up on home games.

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Problem-solving could be key to grey squirrels' success, study finds

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 16:00

Research in UK shows invasive species bests native red squirrels in complex tasks

The ability to solve problems may explain why grey squirrels are thriving at the expense of native red ones in the UK, research suggests.

Wild greys and reds were presented with an easy task (opening a transparent lid) and a difficult version (a more complex process of pushing and pulling levers) to get hazelnuts.

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Now you see us: how casting an eerie glow on fish can help count and conserve them

The Conversation - Tue, 2018-02-20 15:36
Much of the world's ocean is teeming with 'cryptic' fish species, which are small and hard to spot. But a new technique shines a light on these fish, which may in turn help to keep our seas healthy. Maarten De Brauwer, PhD-candidate in Marine Ecology, Curtin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Country diary: a kind of heaven in avian form

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 15:30

Shapwick, Somerset: Hundreds of thousands of starlings reduced by distance and number to something like smoke

In any other place a great white egret passing overhead would have commanded all our attention. The national breeding total for this species was just seven pairs in 2017. Here, however, at dusk it was an incidental detail, a stately white shape rowing quietly through the binoculars’ orbit, as we focused on something far more captivating.

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Frydenberg, IPA trolling renewables on ABC’s Q&A – again

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 14:42
The Coalition and IPA tag-team were at it again against renewables on Q&A. It's disappointing enough that the country's federal energy minister should have such a blind spot on new technology, but it appears to be a party-wide phenomenon. At least Catweazle was funny.
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Origins of land plants pushed back in time

BBC - Tue, 2018-02-20 14:23
Plants appeared on land 100 million years earlier than previously thought, according to new research.
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Tesla ‘virtual power plant’ second best to real people power

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 14:16
The SA Tesla VPP may not be the most cost-effective solution to our electricity system’s needs.
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Regulator cites Loy Yang B coal unit failure for price surge in January

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 14:15
Coal plant trip and low wind conditions provide perfect opportunity for gas generators to send prices sky-rocketing in January, but at least Tesla big battery kept them honest in FCAS markets.
Categories: Around The Web

Redflow simplifies Large Scale Battery design

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 14:00
Redflow has simplified using its batteries in large energy storage systems by integrating plug-and-play technology into its LSB reference platform.
Categories: Around The Web

Proposed solar farms could meet the RET single-handed

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 13:50
That's great news for the Australian solar industry, but points to the RET being dramatically oversubscribed. Which raises a few questions...
Categories: Around The Web

Tesla battery + solar now “significantly cheaper” than grid power

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 13:48
Just 14 months ago, the writing was on the wall for grid-only electricity supply. Turns out the gap between grid only and PV+battery+grid is growing much more quickly than we imagined.
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World’s first floating wind farm performing better than expected

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 13:42
Hewing Scotland, the world's first floating wind farm, operating at a capacity factor of 65 per cent in first three months.
Categories: Around The Web

Climate change no threat to cheap wind power – except in Sunshine State

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 13:38
Study finds wind power set to become more productive and cheaper in Australia's southern states, even with climate change. Queensland, however, might want to focus on solar.
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Faster reproduction could hold key to saving critically endangered frog

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 11:48

Researchers believe introducing frogs to lower elevation areas would help them reach sexual maturity earlier

Researchers are hoping to increase the population of one of Australia’s most endangered frogs by helping them reach sexual maturity earlier.

The number of wild northern corroboree frogs, which are only found in cold, mountainous areas of the ACT and New South Wales, has been in sharp decline, mostly due to chytrid fungus. The fungus causes an infectious disease that is killing frogs around the world. There are only 20 of the small black and yellow striped frogs left living in the wild in the ACT and fewer than 1,000 in NSW.

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Why Lakeland solar battery could be world leader in battery storage

RenewEconomy - Tue, 2018-02-20 11:35
Lakeland solar and storage facility in far north Queensland may be smaller than Tesla's big battery, but intends setting some records of its own.
Categories: Around The Web

Ocean plastic tide 'violates the law'

BBC - Tue, 2018-02-20 11:20
Campaigners may want new laws to fight pollution but the remedies already exist, a new report argues.
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'Much work needed' to make digital economy environmentally sustainable

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 10:01

MPs cast doubt on whether energy efficiency gains can keep offsetting rising power demand

A cross-party group of MPs has raised doubts over whether the growing energy demand from digital technology and the proliferation of internet-connected gadgets can continue to be offset by energy efficiency improvements.

More efficient smartphones, networking gear and data centres have so far largely staved off increased power demand from the internet and computing – which now accounts for about 6% of global electricity use.

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Categories: Around The Web

A less timid version of Justin Trudeau won’t cut it. The NDP must be bolder | Martin Lukacs

The Guardian - Tue, 2018-02-20 09:29

To challenge the Liberals, Jagmeet Singh will have to overthrow Canada’s neoliberal consensus

At the New Democratic Party’s convention this weekend in Ottawa, their new leader Jagmeet Singh declared “the time to be timid was over.” For a party whose shambling meekness in the last election let Justin Trudeau claim the mantle of progressive champion, such a shift could not come sooner.

That an opportunity exists to capitalize on enormous hunger for change is apparent. Trudeau harnessed it for his route to power, only to betray it in office. The environmental Adonis transformed into an oil barons’ salesman. An electoral reform promise was broken with a shrug. Instead of a peace offensive, we’ve gotten a military spending spree; instead of novel social programs, novelty socks.

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