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The engineer who proposed circular runways answers critics in defence of his radical design for airports.

Killer whale Takara was already pregnant when the end of the breeding programme was announced.

Just days after the death of 17 year old Laeticia Brouwer, a senate hearing in Perth has debated the merits of shark culling.

The government has secured green ‘commitments’ after the £2.3bn sale. In reality it has secured only ‘good intentions’

The charge that Macquarie is a ruthless asset-stripper that, given half a chance, would dismember the Green Investment Bank clearly stung. As the government unveiled the inevitable sale, for £2.3bn, to a consortium led by the Australian finance house, all sides were anxious to emphasise the buyer’s long-term enthusiasm for its new purchase.

GIB will survive as a discrete entity in Edinburgh. Macquarie will throw a few of its own assets – a couple of windfarms and a waste and biomass plant – into the mix for it to manage. It will report on progress in honouring GIB’s green investment principles. It will aim to invest £1bn a year in green energy projects, more than the £700m-ish that GIB was achieving via taxpayer funding. “We look forward to seeing these commitments from Macquarie delivered, in full, in the months and years ahead,” said Lord Smith of Kelvin, GIB’s chair.

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What's made this river in Canada disappear? Geoscientist Daniel Shugar explains.

Chris Packham has released the video that shows his encounter with a Maltese hunter and police on the island of Gozo, after being cleared of charges of assault by a Maltese judge on Thursday. The video shows Packham filming with his crew before being accosted by the hunter and police, leading to the incident. The judge threw out the case and criticised the police for the charge. Packham has said he will not press charges

• Chris Packham cleared of assault in Malta after confronting bird hunters
  

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Greenpeace says £2.3bn sale to controversial Australian bank Maquarie risks climate targets while Lib Dems says bank was sold too fast and too cheap

The UK government’s decision to sell the Green Investment Bank to Australian bank Macquarie for £2.3bn has been attacked by critics including the Liberal Democrats and Greenpeace as “politically dubious” and a “disaster”.

A consortium led by Macquarie, which also includes the bank’s European Infrastructure Fund 5 and the Universities Superannuation Scheme, a UK pension scheme for university professors, agreed to buy the GIB, established in 2012 by the coalition government to fund green infrastructure projects.

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Russia scales back staff on the ISS until a long-delayed space lab is sent to the outpost in 2018.

The latest study on the health benefits of cycling suggests it can cut the risk of cancer and heart disease. It’s also the most fun you can have on your daily commute

It may not be a surprise to see another study suggesting that cycling to work can drastically reduce your chances of getting cancer and heart disease – those who ride bikes for transport already know how good it makes them feel. However, it’s perhaps yet another motivation for those who don’t, to dust off their bikes – and remember some other reasons cycling to work is so great.

In a five-year study of 263,450 UK commuters, published in the BMJ, researchers at Glasgow University found regular cycling cut the risk of death from any cause by 41%, and the incidence of cancer and heart disease by 45% and 46% respectively.

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The Aral Sea was once the world's fourth largest inland body of water, it covered 62,000 square kilometres and a yearly commercial fishing catch of 42,000 tonnes.

Raised coastline could end the threat of sea erosion for the time being.

Think of Texas and it’s most likely you imagine rocky, red desert. But each spring the hill country of central Texas is awash with a riot of colour, as millions of wildflowers bloom

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Boris Behncke lives near Mount Etna and monitors the volcano.

The footprint made by a reptile that lived almost 250 million years ago has been found in the Pyrenees.

Scientists call for "amphibian arks" to protect wild salamanders in Europe from a deadly infection.

Surf Life Saving Western Australia rejects accusations from News Corp that mitigation plan is too timid

Lifesavers in Western Australia say they have seen no evidence that shark culling would be effective in reducing attacks and have hit out at claims their mitigation plan is “timid”.

The Senate inquiry into shark deterrence and mitigation began its hearing in Perth on Thursday.

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New project aims to restore what was once Europe’s largest oyster fishery, off the south coast of England

Millions of native oysters are to be put into the Solent, once the site of Europe’s largest oyster fishery.

The five-year project aims first to restore a thriving oyster population to the waters between the south coast and Isle of Wight. Oyster beds provide habitat for many other species and the shellfish filter vast volumes of water – 200 litres per oyster – helping to clean up pollution. Once re-established, significant oyster fishing could resume.

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For utilities to have a chance at succeeding at the “brown to green” transition, a well thought out and highly flexible strategy will be fundamental.

Seaham, Durham Impressions of movement, colour, sound and the scents of spring left an abiding sense of wellbeing

Along the well-worn cliff-edge path from Dawdon to Hawthorn Dene, blackthorn was in full bloom, the air laden with the coconut scent of gorse, and the ground spangled with primroses and dog violets.

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Just how long can the Australian government and gas industry continue the charade that there might be a solution to surging domestic gas prices? It beggars belief that business is not following lead of households and smaller commercial users and investing in cheap and cleaner alternatives for power and heat.