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Ebola's return
Ebola's return
Cape York land clearing won't impact Great Barrier Reef, Entsch says
Environmental groups warn Queensland land clearing threatens reef
Is that selfie really worth it? Why face time with wild animals is a bad idea
First Solar reaches financial close for Beryl solar farm in NSW
Carnivorous plants: so you thought the triffids were make-believe…
Scientists at the University of Freiburg in Germany have for the first time characterised the snapping movement of this rare aquatic carnivorous plant, found in wetlands around the world. Aldrovanda vesiculosa snaps its “trap” shut 10 times faster than the much larger Venus flytrap, using a combination of hydraulics and the release of pre-stress to capture water fleas and possibly even tadpoles and small fish.
Continue reading...Warning Cape York land-clearing approval puts Great Barrier Reef at risk
Conservation groups call on Coalition to honour reef budget pledge by overturning Kingvale station decision
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The Turnbull government faces a test of its $500m budget commitment to protect the Great Barrier Reef, after federal environment officials ruled that a farmer could clear almost 2,000 hectares of Queensland forest.
A draft report from the Department of Environment recommends that the clearing at Kingvale station on Cape York, which was authorised under the former Newman state government 2014, should be permitted to go ahead with conditions.
Continue reading...'Oldest' turtle, 80, returns to Blackpool after 15 years
Campaigners slam £1m incentive to store nuclear waste
Compensation offered to encourage local communities to allow test boreholes is described as ‘completely inadequate’
MPs from both major parties have attacked the government’s latest incentive to entice communities into volunteering to host Britain’s first deep underground store for nuclear waste as “completely inadequate”.
Ministers have offered up to £1m per community for areas that constructively engage in offering to take part in the scheme, and a further sum of up to £2.5m where deep borehole investigations take place.
Continue reading...Peers to rebel over ‘toothless’ post-Brexit green watchdog
A former Tory cabinet minister is backing efforts to force through tough green laws after Brexit, amid anger over plans that would weaken environmental protections once Britain leaves the European Union.
Four former environment and climate change secretaries from three parties told the Observer they had concerns about “toothless” plans announced by the government last week, which suggested the new post-Brexit green watchdog would lack the power to take the government to court.
Continue reading...‘Paradise and hell’: the battle to save the forest elephant
Gabon’s wild and beautiful rainforest is on the frontline against ivory poachers, part of international criminal networks that also fund terrorists
Deep in the steamy rainforest of Gabon, a poaching gang’s night-time fire is smouldering and two long elephant tusks lie among the tangled roots. The axe that hacked them off lies nearby.
Just after dawn, the insect buzz and bird chatter is suddenly pierced by a whistle blast and camouflaged park guards burst out from their forest cover, swiftly pinning the poachers to the ground.
Continue reading...Cockatoo wail, fledge or fail
Cuckoo bee species 'hiding in plain sight'
Stephen Hawking service: Possibility of time travellers 'can't be excluded'
'Just four citizens': the Australians who confronted Adani in India, and made a difference
In this book extract, Geoff Cousins describes how the farmer, the activist, the tourism operator and ‘an old bald man with hope in his heart’ travelled to India to protest against Adani
I settled back into the seat as the Air India flight took off from my hometown of Sydney, unaware of just how relieved I would be to return there. I had been warned the Indian government might take a dim view of our mission to intercept the Queensland premier on her journey to have lunch with chairman Gautam Adani, who would be intending to impress on her the force and majesty of his major asset, the Mundra power plant – ironically, now for sale for one rupee.
I’d also been told there was a chance that either the government or Adani or both were intercepting all my communications. So there was a degree of apprehension even as I passed through customs in New Delhi, since I was travelling on a tourist visa and the sites we would be visiting did not include the Taj Mahal.
Continue reading...Nasa will send helicopter to Mars to test otherworldly flight
CP Daily: Friday May 11, 2018
SpaceX flies 'lessons learned' rocket
Algae causes glowing aqua waves in San Diego – video
A bloom of bioluminescent phytoplankton has dazzled San Diego residents as the abundance of the algae along the coats lights up the water.
The bloom was cause by a red tide, resulting in a higher level than normal of the plankton in the water. When the small organisms are disturbed, they let off light, making them more visible.
Red tides can be dangerous as the explosion of algae can release an excess of toxins into the air and water, but most are dispersed by currents and wind before they can become too dangerous
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