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EXOTIC ENVIRONMENT: Data from the Hubble Space Telescope shows the planet is surrounded by an atmosphere mostly made up of hydrogen and helium like a gas giant, such as Jupiter or Saturn.

COCKROACH EVOLUTION: Australian soil-burrowing cockroaches are adding weight to the idea that evolution is a much more predictable process than some believe.

Former deputy editor of National Geographic Brazil says a “humanitarian catastrophe” is taking place in Brazil’s Amazon

One of the perpetrators of arguably Brazil’s most internationally high-profile murders in recent years is currently walking around free. In 2013, amid much media coverage, Lindonjonson Silva Rocha was sentenced to 42 years prison for killing two nut collectors-turned-environmental activists in southern Pará, but then in November last year he escaped.

One man who knew both victims, “Zé Cláudio” Ribeiro da Silva and his wife Maria do Espírito Santo, is Felipe Milanez, a political ecologist at the Federal University of Recôncavo of Bahia, activist, film-maker, former deputy editor of National Geographic Brazil, and the editor of the recently-published book, Memórias Sertanistas: Cem Anos de Indigenismo no Brasil. Here I interview Milanez, via email, about Zé Cláudio and the Brazilian Amazon:

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US climate envoy says threats by Republican presidential candidates to withdraw from the global agreement would be ‘diplomatic black eye’

President Obama’s special envoy for climate change has warned Republican presidential hopefuls including Donald Trump and Ted Cruz that any attempt to scrap the Paris climate agreement would lead to a “diplomatic black eye” for the US.

Speaking to journalists in Brussels, Todd Stern also said that a recent supreme court decision to block Barack Obama’s clean power plan would not affect US climate pledges, or plans to formally sign up to the Paris agreement later this year.

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Developers have abandoned their original goal of building the world’s first zero-carbon city in the UAE desert. With completion originally scheduled for this year, just how much of the once-revolutionary vision has actually been realised?

Years from now passing travellers may marvel at the grandeur and the folly of the futuristic landscape on the edges of Abu Dhabi: the barely occupied office blocks, the deserted streets, the vast tracts of undeveloped land and – most of all – the abandoned dream of a zero-carbon city.

Masdar City, when it was first conceived a decade ago, was intended to revolutionise thinking about cities and the built environment.

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GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Why are the Higgs field and dark energy so weak? Find the answer and you could earn yourself a Nobel Prize, says Dr Karl.

PRECIOUS PETAL: The discovery of a new species of ancient flower beautifully preserved in amber indicates that ancestors of today's daisies, mints and tomatoes flourished in Caribbean jungles up to 45 million years ago.

Parliament unanimously agree to ratify UN climate treaty ahead of signing ceremony in April in New York, reports BusinessGreen

Fiji has become the first country in the world to formally approve the UN climate deal agreed by 195 nations in Paris in December.

The island nation’s parliament unanimously agreed to ratify the Paris agreement on Friday, according to local news reports.

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On Wednesday, the consultation closes on an outrageous proposal to allow destructive fishing activities in a special area of conservation in Wales. This is the last chance to make our voices heard

Governments take the advice they want to hear. As they seek to avoid trouble and find the path of least resistance, they often look for advice that meshes with the demands of industrial lobbyists.

This problem has afflicted the life of the sea for many years. Governments consult the scientists who tell them that high catches of fish are sustainable, and ignore more cautious assessments. This allows them to get the fishing lobby off their backs, while claiming to have based their decisions on science. Bad advice from scientists and selective hearing by government were among the factors that led to the collapse of the Grand Banks cod fishery off Newfoundland.

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A date for disaster: the end-Permian mass extinction event.

Seth Burgess has, literally, travelled to the ends of the Earth to find a date. Along the way he has endured attacks of giant flesh-eating bee-flies, paddled a raft 60 miles in driving Siberian rain, braved volcanoes in Alaska, and inhaled polluted air in China for weeks on end, all the while hauling pounds of rocks. And all in the name of Science.

The date he seeks plays extremely hard to get.

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This month’s data set graphic by Pete Guest looks at the deaths attributable to air pollution as well as WHO guidelines

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Girl was bitten at property near Walgett on 5 February, taken to local hospital then airlifted to Sydney Children’s hospital before her condition deteriorated

A six-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a brown snake on a property in outback New South Wales.

The girl was bitten at a property near Walgett, in the state’s north, on the afternoon of 5 February and was transferred to the local hospital to receive anti-venom.

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Xylella fastidiosa has wreaked havoc in the US and Europe and could dwarf the impact of ash dieback in the UK

It has caused severe damage to plants and trees in the US and southern Europe and now there are fears it is heading this way. With experts warning that it could make the devastating ash dieback disease seem like “a walk in the park”, the UK is on red alert for signs that Xylella fastidiosa has entered the country.

First confirmed in Europe three years ago when it ran rampant across olive plantations in southern Italy, a subspecies of Xylella has since been detected in southern France, where it has destroyed vines and lavender plants, and in Corsica. Xylella fastidiosa has also been found in both South and North America where it is commonly referred to as “phony peach disease” and where it has caused severe damage to citrus and coffee plantations. In New Jersey it has attacked more than a third of the state’s urban trees.

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NEADERTHAL LEGACY: Having Neanderthal DNA in your genes may increase the risk for depression, nicotine addiction, stroke, pregnancy complications and many other health problems, a new study suggests.

INSECT HOMING: When sand wasps leave home in the morning they capture snapshots of the landscape around their nest to make sure they can find their way back later, a study using high-speed video has found.

HISTORIC DISCOVERY: Tiny ripples in the fabric of space-time known as gravitational waves first proposed by Albert Einstein 100 years ago have been directly observed for the first time, an international team of scientists has announced.

Booming market grew 27% in 2015 edging past European Union for first time, says industry group. Climate Home reports

China installed half of all new wind capacity worldwide last year, according to the Global Wind Energy Council (GWEC).

The country added an “astonishing” 30.5 gigawatts (GW) to boost installations to 145.1GW, the Brussels-based industry group said on Wednesday.

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GRAVITATIONAL WAVES: What are gravitational waves, and what does their discovery mean?

COMMUNITY SPIRIT: Belief in an all-seeing punitive god motivates people to be more charitable towards strangers outside their own family and community, particularly to those of similar beliefs, researchers have found.

BUSHFIRE FREQUENCY: The number of bushfires per week in Australia increased by 40 per cent between 2008 and 2013, according to a new study, but experts say it's too early to link this to climate change.