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Know your miner from your myna. Both are aggressive in different ways – discover why we’re killing one but never the other

• Vote for Australia’s bird of the year

A kookaburra nestles on my balcony and belts its deliciously rambunctious laugh, like an ape in a zoo. But, mid-cackle, it is interrupted by a series of urgent, high-pitched screams like sirens.

Three miner birds flutter in its face, screaming hysterically at it. At first, the kookaburra just gives the unrelenting interlopers an unblinking, nonchalant death stare before eventually giving in and moving on. The miners follow it and chase it out of the neighbourhood.

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Archaeologists believe they may have uncovered the first evidence of Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain.

Prehistoric women's manual work was tougher than rowing in today's elite boat crews, say scientists.

New research shows by the end of the century an increase in sea level will threaten the White House, early colonial settlements and other historic places

Large tracts of America’s east coast heritage are at risk from being wiped out by sea level rise, with the rising oceans set to threaten more than 13,000 archaeological and historic sites, according to new research.

Even a modest increase in sea level will imperil much of the south-eastern US’s heritage by the end of the century, researchers found, with 13,000 sites threatened by a 1m increase.

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How climate denial blogs misinform so many people with such poor scientific arguments.

The body of evidence supporting human-caused global warming is vast – too vast for climate denial blogs to attack it all. Instead they focus on what a new study published in the journal Bioscience calls “keystone dominoes.” These are individual pieces of evidence that capture peoples’ attention, like polar bears. The authors write:

These topics are used as “proxies” for AGW [human-caused global warming] in general; in other words, they represent keystone dominoes that are strategically placed in front of many hundreds of others, each representing a separate line of evidence for AGW. By appearing to knock over the keystone domino, audiences targeted by the communication may assume all other dominoes are toppled in a form of “dismissal by association.”

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New labelling guidelines suggest we should keep more of our fruit in the fridge. But not everything is suitable for cold storage – here’s a fruit-by-fruit guide

Is there anything more disappointing than biting into an apple, only to find it has gone all fluffy and soft? It happens all the time – and now we know why. According to a government initiative on food labelling, it is because we are not storing our Pink Lady apples in the fridge.

As part of a drive to reduce annual household food waste in the UK by 350,000 tonnes, labelling is changing. In future, it will include, among other things, a “little blue fridge” icon for foods that keep for longer in the fridge, including apples and oranges. Can this be right? Well, yes – but it’s a matter of timing. Here’s a guide to when to let fruit chill.

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A wildlife trust has asked people to get in touch if they spot the creatures.

Hunting animals with the biggest horns, tusks or manes could lead to extinction, according to a study.

The astrophysicist says at the time students weren't awarded Nobel Prizes.

Archaeologists say evidence indicates Caesar's invasion in 54BC began in Kent.

The experimental study is the first to directly show harm to songbirds, extending the known impacts of neonicotinoids beyond insects

The world’s most widely used insecticide may cause migrating songbirds to lose their sense of direction and suffer drastic weight loss, according to new research.

The work is significant because it is the first direct evidence that neonicotinoids can harm songbirds and their migration, and it adds to small but growing research suggesting the pesticides may damage wildlife far beyond bees and other insects.

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Supermarket packaging will carry new logos advising which items can be kept in the fridge, ensuring they last longer and reduce food waste

Bags of supermarket apples will carry a new logo advising consumers to keep them in the fridge to make them last longer as part of a shake-up of food labelling aimed aimed at cutting about 350,000 tonnes of domestic food waste – worth £1bn – by 2025.

The confusing and sometimes misleading “display by”, “best by” and “use by” dates on packaging is being simplified to encourage shoppers to get the most out of their larder, fridge and freezer.

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To mark International Women Human Rights Defenders’ Day, we pay tribute to some of the women killed this year because of their activism

In 2017, 44 female activists died, more than half of them murdered for defending their rights. Among the women killed are those who fought to protect their land from the state and multinational companies, or called out injustices or corruption, or stood up for the rights of lesbian, gay and transexual people.

While thousands of men defend human rights, women face particular challenges for their activism. They are targeted for who they are, as women, not just because they are protesting. In countries that view a woman’s role as being in the home, female human rights defenders are more prone to attack than men because they are seen as breaking social norms.

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Musicians and other stars arriving at the annual music awards at Sydney’s Star casino weigh into the Australian bird of the year debate. There are some firm opinions for and against the ibis. AB Original may contend that the term ‘bin chicken’ is profiling, but David Le’auppe from Gang of Youths maintains that no one can love a bird that defecates on ‘every single picnic table in the inner west’

• Vote in the 2017 Australian bird of the year poll

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A new study identifies dozens of individual reefs on the Great Barrier Reef that are especially important for coral larvae dispersal and which could help the entire ecosystem bounce back. Peter J Mumby, Chair professor, The University of Queensland Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.

Opening of Tesla big battery this week illustrates how South Australia's system black actually accelerated the shift to a clean energy future. The state is likely to double its renewable capacity, and lead the world on storage. It's an inspiring story.

Schneider Electric and Planet Ark Power awarded $1.95m South Australia State Government grant towards a $13.8m solar photovoltaic and battery microgrid project, a first project of its kind in Australia.

EnerNOC is providing Australia’s National Electricity Market with Frequency Control Ancillary Services to support power system security and ensure uninterrupted power for consumers, a first in Australia.

Sydney, Brisbane and Darwin councils join 55 Australian local governments who have signed up to the Climate Council’s Cities Power Partnership, a network of councils driving uptake of clean energy around the country.

Confusion over food labels is prompting people to throw away usable produce, waste agency claims.