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Koko, the gorilla that mastered sign language, has died aged 46 in California. It was considered a pioneer in interspecies communication after being taught it by scientist Dr Francine Patterson. At one point Koko was estimated to able to understand about 2,000 words in English.

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Is your TV running? Not the opening line of a joke, but serious question smart meter giant Landis+Gyr wants to be able to answer for customers – before they even ask.

Small-scale solar systems installed by Australian homes and businesses have passed the three million-mark, with one in five homes now generating their own power.

There is a lot you should do before getting battery storage for you home. Here are 5 steps households should take before making the leap.

Adding or removing the colour cyan can have an impact on sleep, according to biologists.

A daily summary of our news plus bite-sized updates from around the world.

Two of the world’s best known automotive manufacturers continue push into fuel cell vehicle technologies, even though sales just a fraction of EVs.

California regulator Air Resources Board (ARB) may take steps in its current carbon market rulemaking package to address Ontario’s planned withdrawal from the WCI cap-and-trade programme, it said Thursday, while also hitting back against past comments that it had erred in the methodology used to set the state’s post-2020 emissions caps.

North American carbon prices gained on both coasts in the last week, with California traders shrugging off uncertainty generated by Ontario’s planned withdrawal from the WCI market and RGGI prices jumping in the wake of a stronger-than-anticipated auction result.

One person with a disability is killed by their carer almost every three months in Australia. For the first time, Background Briefing has calculated this number by reviewing years of court documents and media reports.

One person with a disability is killed by their carer almost every three months in Australia. For the first time, Background Briefing has calculated this number by reviewing years of court documents and media reports.

The US owner of a Bulgarian power plant that last week contracted to buy €79 million ($91.7 mln) in EU carbon allowances has revealed the details of the deal, shedding some light on the opaque world of corporate emission unit tenders.

Brazil’s government should introduce an emissions trading system starting with extensive free allocation and a $10/tonne price ceiling, according to an academic study commissioned by business groups.

Carbon taxes can be designed with more assurances that they will cut emissions, US think-tank WRI said in a paper on Thursday, as a new group of former lawmakers launched a new campaign to tax US greenhouse gas output.

The discovery of a prehistoric pet gibbon suggests humans pushed apes to extinction far back in history.

Vision Zero is a plan that rejects road accident deaths as ‘acceptable’. Is it time we called for zero tolerance of deaths from traffic pollution?

The programme Vision Zero refuses to view the continued deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents as an acceptable fact. Like safety in the workplace, risks need to be designed out of road systems, it says. The initiative, which began in Sweden in 1994, founded by the government and industries, is gaining ground with cities in the UK and globally.

Related: Millions of British children breathing toxic air, Unicef warns

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We rely on climate data to help us make important decisions for our future, such as building infrastructure. But what if a region's climate has long been more volatile than we realised? Jack Coates-Marnane, Post-doctoral research fellow, Griffith University Joanne Burton, Adjunct Research Fellow, Griffith University John Tibby, Senior Lecturer in Environmental Change, University of Adelaide Jon Olley, Professor of Water Science, Griffith University Joseph M. McMahon, PhD candidate, Griffith University Justine Kemp, Senior Research Fellow in Geomorphology, Griffith University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

EU carbon prices climbed by more than 5% from their intraday low on Thursday, rising back towards €15 after it became clear that Wednesday’s options expiry would not trigger a large sell-off.

Elm leaf-eating pest has gradually travelled across Europe from Japan, leaving mark reminiscent of that by Zorro’s sword

A pest which leaves a signature trail of destruction on elm leaves reminiscent of the mark of the fictional sword-wielding hero Zorro appears to have arrived in the UK, experts have warned.

The zigzag elm sawfly, originally found in Japan, feeds only on elm leaves and has been progressing steadily through Europe.

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Tests show drug causes eels to become hyperactive and damages their muscles, possibly hindering their ability to migrate

Tiny amounts of cocaine flushed into rivers cause eels to become not only hyperactive but to suffer from muscle wastage, impaired gills and hormonal changes, a study has found.

The impact of traces of cocaine on the physiology of European eels could be hindering their epic migrations through the oceans to reproduce, according to researchers who examined the impact of the drug.

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