Feed aggregator

Galileo launch for satellites 13 and 14

BBC - Wed, 2016-05-25 02:11
Two more satellites in the Galileo network are launched to orbit, putting the EU's version of GPS on course to start services at the end of the year.
Categories: Around The Web

Body Shop 'bio-bridges' to regenerate forests and connect wildlife habitats

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-25 02:09

Programme in partnership with World Land Trust will create corridors of natural habitat to prevent threatened species from being cut off from each other

A programme to regenerate thousands of acres of forest and link habitats in wildlife-rich parts of the world has been launched.

The “bio-bridges” scheme, which creates corridors of natural habitat to prevent threatened wildlife populations being cut off from each other, is being run by the Body Shop in partnership with the World Land Trust.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

North Yorkshire council fracking decision a 'declaration of war'

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-25 02:04

Industry welcomes decision in Kirby Misperton but campaigners vow to fight council’s approval

Anti-fracking campaigners have accused North Yorkshire council of declaring war on people’s rights to clean air and water after it approved the first operation to frack for shale gas in five years.

Campaigners opposed to the development outside Kirby Misperton – a village in Ryedale near the North York Moors national park – launched a “people’s declaration” in an attempt to stop the process going ahead. There have also been calls for a judicial review from Friends of the Earth and Frack Free Ryedale, which led the campaign against the application by Third Energy.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Unreliable car emissions tests harming fight against air pollution, expert says

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-05-25 01:06

On the road and lab test discrepancies undermining efforts to curb toxic air levels as UN environment assembly admits global response is not up to scratch

The growing gulf between laboratory tests and real world air pollution from cars is hampering efforts to cut the toxic air that kills millions of people a year worldwide, a leading expert has warned.

The UN admitted on Tuesday that the global response to air pollution is not up to scratch, after it was revealed last week by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that harmful airborne particulates had risen by 8% in cities around the world.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Sentinel satellite probes coral health

BBC - Wed, 2016-05-25 00:12
European scientists are working on techniques that would allow them to routinely monitor the health of corals worldwide from orbit.
Categories: Around The Web

No deadline set for final decision on Hinkley nuclear plant

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-24 23:26

Energy minister tells MPs that no time limit has been set for EDF to make a final investment decision on the much-delayed nuclear plant

The UK has set no deadline for the final go-ahead to the much-delayed Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, energy minister Andrea Leadsom told a committee of MPs on Tuesday.

The head of the company aiming to build the new reactors, French state-owned EDF, told the same hearing he could not give a date for the decision nor confirm that it would start generating electricity in 2025, as previously pledged.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Evolutionary engineer wins tech prize

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 22:10
US biochemical engineer Frances Arnold takes the million-euro Millennium Technology Prize for pioneering 'directed evolution'.
Categories: Around The Web

UN calls for overhaul of national laws to tackle wildlife crime

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-24 22:00

Countries urged to outlaw possession of wildlife and timber illegally harvested or traded elsewhere

Governments around the world need to pass national laws outlawing the possession of wildlife and timber that has been illegally harvested or traded elsewhere, a new report by the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) urges.

At present, unlisted but endangered flora and fauna can be legally sold in other nations, even if it was illicitly taken from the countries of origin, due to a lack of coverage in the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Fracking approval reignites row

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 21:01
Approval for fracking in North Yorkshire raises the prospect of the controversial technique being allowed at other sites and restarts an intense debate.
Categories: Around The Web

China's science revolution

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 20:53
Five glimpses inside China's scientific revolution
Categories: Around The Web

South African court gives green light to domestic trade in rhino horn

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-24 20:50

Court dismisses government bid to uphold seven-year ban on domestic trade in rhino horn - but global ban remains in place

South Africa’s supreme court has dismissed a government bid to uphold a seven-year ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn, an industry group said this week.

The decision has no bearing on a ban on international trade in rhino horn. Potential domestic buyers could include those who see rhino horn as a store of wealth that could appreciate in value and those who want it as a decoration.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

UK renewables cuts 'risk slowing shift to clean energy'

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-24 20:38

Push for nuclear and gas over renewables could be more costly in the long term, warns UN’s environment chief

The UK government risks slowing the shift to clean energy sources by cutting support for renewable energy and strongly backing gas as a transitional fuel, according to the UN’s environment chief.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), told the Guardian that he thought the UK’s push for nuclear and gas over renewables could be more costly in the long term.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Juries 'could enter virtual crime scenes'

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 20:00
Virtual reality technology used in the gaming industry could be utilised to recreate crime scenes for jurors, researchers claim.
Categories: Around The Web

VIDEO: How this pig helped a man to see again

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 18:55
Wu Pinggui talks to the BBC after having an operation to transplant a pig's cornea into his eye.
Categories: Around The Web

The gene's still selfish: Dawkins' famous idea turns 40

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 17:12
The scientist and author discusses his legacy - and giving up Twitter
Categories: Around The Web

Chinese brewed beer 5,000 years ago

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 17:08
Chinese drinkers may have been brewing beer as many as 5,000 years ago, new research suggests.
Categories: Around The Web

Why British environmentalists should vote for Brexit | Michael Liebreich

The Guardian - Tue, 2016-05-24 17:00

From phasing out coal to creating nature reserves, it is the EU which should be taking lectures from the UK, not the other way round

The leading lights of the UK environmental movement would have us believe that a win by the Brexit camp on 23 June would be akin to a natural disaster.

According to them, it is only our membership of the EU that renders our beaches swimmable, our water drinkable and our air almost breathable. Freed from the noble, ceaseless efforts of the ever-vigilant EU, troglodyte Britain would tear up decades of environmental legislation and return to our 1970s roots as the “dirty man” of Europe. This is complete and utter tosh.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Zombies, pi and shotguns

ABC Science - Tue, 2016-05-24 13:30
GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Need to calculate pi while fending off zombies? Dr Karl has found a way to solve both your problems.
Categories: Around The Web

VIDEO: 'Scary but beautiful' lightning on film

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 11:46
Darren Soh, a landscape photographer, creates a composite image that captures the beauty of Singapore's lightning storms.
Categories: Around The Web

Review call over European GM crop ban

BBC - Tue, 2016-05-24 10:22
The ban on GM crops by European countries should be reassessed, the president of UK science body the Royal Society has said.
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator