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Bright radio burst sheds light on Universe's cosmic web

ABC Science - Fri, 2016-11-18 08:32
BRIGHT FLASH: An ultra-bright cosmic flash of radio waves from a galaxy far, far away has given scientists an unprecedented view of what lies between galaxies in the Universe.
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Peggy Whitson: Oldest woman in space blasts off to ISS

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 08:16
Nasa astronaut Peggy Whitson, 56, breaks more records as she heads to the ISS for the third time.
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Marrakech climate talks wrap up as Trump's win clouds negotiations

ABC Environment - Fri, 2016-11-18 07:35
US President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to walk away from the deal to limit global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius. Will Trump's win cause other countries to reconsider their commitment to the deal?
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Countries unite to defy Trump climate threat

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 07:27
Delegates from more than 190 countries meeting in Marrakech issue a united call for action on climate change.
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Huge water bird survey wraps up

ABC Environment - Fri, 2016-11-18 07:25
Scientists from the University of New South Wales have flown over every major river system and wetland in eastern Australia to count waterbirds.
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Huge deposit of untapped oil could be largest ever discovered in US

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 07:16

Estimated 20bn barrels of oil found in Texas’s Permian Basin, three times larger than the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota, could be worth as much as $900bn

A huge deposit of untapped oil, possibly the largest ever discovered in the US, has been identified by the US Geological Survey (USGS) in west Texas.

The USGS estimated that 20bn barrels of oil was contained within layers of shale in the Permian Basin, a vast geological formation that stretches across western Texas and an area of New Mexico. The discovery is three times larger than the Bakken oilfields of North Dakota and is worth around $900bn.

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Genetic breakthrough: Crops use more sunlight to grow

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 05:55
A genetic technique makes plants produce more food from sunlight - a key step in feeding the growing global population, scientists say.
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How to make plants use more sunlight

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 05:41
A genetic technique makes plants produce more food from sunlight - a key step in feeding the growing global population, scientists say.
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Oysters are making a comeback in the polluted waters around New York City

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 05:40

A coalition of bivalve enthusiasts is trying to revive oyster farming in water that is beset by trash and raw sewage

The oysters in the Hudson River around the Statue of Liberty are some of the plumpest and fastest growing Crassostrea virginica in the whole of New York harbor. Fitting it should be that way, at least in contrast to the East River, between Manhattan and Brooklyn, where untreated effluent is allowed to flow out during storms in what New York authorities describe as a “rain event”.

Related: Lives in the balance: climate change and the Marshall Islands

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Thousands of dead fish cover New York canal – video

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 05:28

Thousands of dead fish were seen on the surface of the Shinnecock Canal in Southampton, New York, on Monday, after becoming trapped inside overnight. Tom Jones, a marine adviser at Hampton Watercraft, shot drone footage of the bizarre occurrence. It is believed the fish were chased into the canal by larger predatory fish and then became trapped inside when the canal shut early Monday morning. The fish eventually dispersed back into the bay when the canal opened later on Monday

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Asteroid strike made 'instant Himalayas'

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 05:07
The asteroid impact that wiped out the dinosaurs moved rock huge distances as it dug out a crater in what is now the Gulf of Mexico, scientists say.
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Ancient corn cob shows how maize conquered the world

BBC - Fri, 2016-11-18 03:16
Scientific analysis of one of the world's oldest cobs of corn shows how maize became one of our most popular cereals.
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UK ratifies Paris climate agreement

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 02:42

Foreign minister, Boris Johnson, signs global pact to cut carbon emissions in London

The UK has become the 111th country to ratify the Paris climate agreement, which aims to avoid the most devastating effects of climate change by cutting carbon emissions.

The foreign minister, Boris Johnson, who has flirted with climate scepticism, signed the pact in London on Thursday after a parliamentary deadline passed on Wednesday night, with no objections raised.

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Challenges to Heathrow runway and HS2 to be hit by law lifting cap on legal costs

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 01:53

Government changes to rules on claimants’ costs could make it harder for anyone to challenge public projects, warn campaigners, lawyers and politicians

Environmental legal challenges face being hit by the “chilling effect” of new government rules that remove a cap on claimants’ costs, according to campaigners, lawyers and politicians.

They warn that the changes could deter organisations and individuals challenging projects such as fracking wells, HS2 and the Heathrow third runway for fear of racking up huge court costs.

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What's air pollution like where you are? Share your experiences

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 01:21

We’d like to find out about air pollution around the world. How does it affect your daily life? Share your views and experiences

Air pollution has risen by 8% in in five years with fast-growing cities in the developing world worst affected, according to the WHO. We want to explore its impact on the daily lives of people around the world. If you live in a city that is affected by toxic air or you work in air quality control, we’d like to hear from you.

Two weeks ago, India’s capital city, New Delhi, was effectively shut down because of air pollution. The threat to citizens from smog in Delhi was judged so great that traffic was rationed, coal-fired power stations closed and diesel generators suspended. This week schools were closed in Iran’s capital, Tehran after a blanket of smog was blamed for a string of deaths and in Beijing, students have been told to stay indoors. Air quality in London is among the worst in Europe, and is illegally in breach of EU limits.

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Penguin chicks, polar bears and icebergs – pictures from the Poles

The Guardian - Fri, 2016-11-18 00:01

Award-winning wildlife photographer, Sue Flood, is one of the world’s only women to specialise in polar photography. Her images capture wildlife, people and landscapes in the Arctic and Antarctica

Cold Places: Pictures from the Poles exhibition opens in Chester on 19 November

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'Roundest known space object' identified

BBC - Thu, 2016-11-17 23:50
Astronomers claim to have discovered the roundest object ever measured in nature.
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SpaceX aims to launch internet from space

BBC - Thu, 2016-11-17 23:50
Private rocket firm SpaceX applies for US government approval for a large network of internet satellites.
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Ugly fruits and vegetables: why you have to learn to love them

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-11-17 23:00

A cohort of US delivery services want to change the way we view, cook and eat ‘imperfect’ produce that grocery stores regularly banish

King-sized kiwis, curvy squash and smaller-than-usual apples and limes. That was the “ugly” produce count in boxes of fruits and vegetables Deborah Levine recently received at her home in the San Francisco Bay Area. While most of the produce she gets in her biweekly deliveries is “very normal”, she recalls one particular veggie. It was like a siamese carrot, but with part of it broken off, it looked like it “didn’t have its leg”.

Related: Half of all US food produce is thrown away, new research suggests

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'We have been almost buried': the Sudanese villages being swallowed by sand

The Guardian - Thu, 2016-11-17 22:32

Climate change and deforestation mean people who once lived among trees now go to bed not knowing if their homes will be lost to the desert by morning. Villagers are learning how to adapt and stop the sand

Standing next to a thin belt of rattling trees that represents the only line of green in vast stretches of orange desert, 70-year-old Hamud El-Nour Hamdallah recalls a time when this area in Sudan’s River Nile state was dense forest. If you had not found Goz El Halg village by nightfall, you would have to wait until morning to find your way out.

But decades of drought and deforestation have allowed sand to roll through the desert and swallow homes and farmland. Hamdallah and his community now go to bed not knowing if they will make it out of their homes the next day.

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