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Sir David MacKay obituary
Sir David MacKay, who has died of cancer aged 48, was a true polymath, a rare breed in today’s world, where the frontiers of scientific knowledge are increasingly remote and complex. It is a testament to David’s intellectual brilliance that he was able to contribute to advancing more than one of these frontiers during his short career.
David latterly achieved cult status among climate and energy aficionados following the publication of Sustainable Energy: Without the Hot Air (2008), initially self-published using £10,000 of David’s own money and offered – as were all his works – simultaneously free for download on his website. Described as a “tour de force” by the Economist magazine and lauded by Bill Gates as “one of the best books on energy that has been written”, within two years it had sold 40,000 copies and been downloaded nearly half a million times.
Continue reading...More than 1,000 diesel cars caught without pollution filter, figures show
Government urged to crack down on rogue practice of garages removing compulsory diesel particulate filters from vehicles
More than a thousand diesel cars have been caught without an essential pollution filter that traps deadly particles, according to government figures. But experts warn the rogue practice of removing the filters, which contributes to air pollution-related deaths, could be far more widespread.
Almost 29,000 people die prematurely each year in the UK owing to particle pollution, causing £15bn in health costs. Since 2009 diesel particulate filters (DPFs) have been compulsory in new diesel cars. But, particularly for cars driven in cities, the DPFs can become clogged and cause breakdowns.
Continue reading...RRS Boaty McBoatface wins poll to name £200m polar research vessel – video explainer
The Natural Environment Research Council have conducted a poll to help decide the name of its new £200m polar research vessel and the winning name is – RRS Boaty McBoatface – receiving 124,109 votes. Four times more than RRS Poppy-Mai, which came in second place. Despite the overwhelming result of the poll, the NERC are unlikely to use the winning name. The government says it wants a name that ‘reflects the serious nature of the science it will be doing’
Continue reading...Boaty McBoatface wins poll to name polar research vessel
NERC chief has final say and faces dilemma between credibility of the organisation and burden of public opinion
Latest: Boaty McBoatface may not be name of new polar research vessel
Forget the EU referendum. The major test of modern democracy has fallen into the hands of the Natural Environment Research Council – over the naming of a boat.
As the polls finally closed for the naming of its new polar research ship, the NERC confirmed that the votes were overwhelmingly in favour of RRS Boaty McBoatface.
Continue reading...Australian night parrot legend lives on but bird remains as elusive as ever
Conservationists are putting fragments of information together to learn more about this enigmatic winged creature that only three living people have seen
Somewhere here among the red-dirt channel country of south-west Queensland is a bird that was, until recently, literally a legend.
Continue reading...Clouds gather over solar power after golden years of success
After a day in which Britain generated more power from the sun than from coal for the first time, the industry should be rejoicing. But the mood is fearful
Given that the government is determined to avoid playing a financial role in the planned new nuclear plant at Hinkley Point, it is perhaps surprising that it is involved in the UK’s largest solar array.
The 70-megawatt Lyneham photovoltaic farm – big enough to provide light and heat to 20,000 homes – is located at a former RAF base in Wiltshire owned and rented out by the Ministry of Defence.
Continue reading...March temperature smashes 100-year global record
Average global temperature was 1.07C hotter - beating last month’s previous record increase
The global temperature in March has shattered a century-long record and by the greatest margin yet seen for any month.
February was far above the long-term average globally, driven largely by climate change, and was described by scientists as a “shocker” and signalling “a kind of climate emergency”. But data released by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) shows that March was even hotter.
Continue reading...Did the Sun eat a primordial super-Earth?
GBR could lose more than a quarter of coral to bleaching within 40 years
State Party Report on the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area
Climate change: website reveals which homes will be swamped by rising sea levels
Coastal Risk Australia combines Google Maps with detailed tide and elevation data, as well as future sea level rise projections
For the first time, Australians can see on a map how rising sea levels will affect their house just by typing their address into a website. And they’ll soon be able to get an estimate of how much climate change will affect their property prices and insurance premiums, too.
Launched on Friday, the website Coastal Risk Australia takes Google Maps and combines it with detailed tide and elevation data, as well as future sea level rise projections, allowing users to see whether their house or suburb will be inundated.
Continue reading...England's last golden eagle feared dead
Wildlife experts say the bird likely died of natural causes after they fail to spot him at his usual haunts in the Lake District
England’s only resident golden eagle is likely to have died after failing to appear this spring, wildlife experts fear.
The bird, which has been a resident at Riggindale near Haweswater, Cumbria, since 2001, has not seen by RSPB staff since last November, and would normally be seen at this time of year building a nest and displaying to attract a mate.
Continue reading...Saharan silver ant's hairs reflect light to beat the desert heat
Internet video chat could help reduce agitation in people with dementia
It’s settled: 90–100% of climate experts agree on human-caused global warming | Dana Nuccitelli
All-star team with authors of seven previous climate consensus studies collaborate to debunk the ‘no consensus’ myth once and for all
There is an overwhelming expert scientific consensus on human-caused global warming.
Authors of seven previous climate consensus studies — including Naomi Oreskes, Peter Doran, William Anderegg, Bart Verheggen, Ed Maibach, J. Stuart Carlton, John Cook, myself, and six of our colleagues — have co-authored a new paper that should settle this question once and for all. The two key conclusions from the paper are:
Continue reading...£500,000 tree-planting project helped Yorkshire town miss winter floods
Slowing the Flow scheme, which saw 40,000 trees planted, reduced peak river flow by 20%, after 50mm of rain fell in 36 hours
Tree planting and other natural approaches have prevented flooding at Pickering in North Yorkshire over Christmas, at a time when heavy rainfall caused devastating flooding across the region.
An analysis of the Slowing the Flow scheme published on Wednesday concludes that the measures reduced peak river flow by 15-20% at a time when 50mm of rain fell on sodden ground in 36 hours. The scheme was set up in 2009 after the town had suffered four serious floods in 10 years, with the flooding in 2007 estimated to have caused about £7m of damage.
Continue reading...Insulin-producing cells created in a dish for the first time
Diving scientists record 'cloud' of thousands of swarming crabs
Researchers ‘have no idea’ why red crabs off Panama might be behaving in such a way, says a biologist: ‘Nothing like this has ever been seen’
Descending in a submersible in waters off Panama, scientists noticed something strange happening near the seafloor. It was a drifting fog of sediment, disturbed by something below. Diving deeper, the scientists found the cause: crabs, thousands of them, swarming in a way never before recorded.
“We just saw this cloud but had no idea what was causing it,” said Jesús Pineda, a biologist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution in Massachusetts and the lead author of a paper on the crabs published on Tuesday.
Continue reading...No more hippies and explorers: a lament for the changed world of cycling | Tom Marriage
As cycling’s popularity has increased, there has been a cultural shift away from fun and experiences towards a macho world of speed and Strava
I came across an interesting film the other day. It was linked from Sidetracked, a beautiful, outdoors lifestyle-y type magazine. The kind you buy in a bookshop rather than a newsagent, full of long-form journalism and photo essays, not product reviews and top 10 lists.
The video was of one woman, Lael Wilcox, talking about her experience cycling the Arizona Trail. She was racing, trying to get the best time, but on her own in a self-supported attempt.
Continue reading...Mystery over death of Malaysian python contending for title of world's longest snake
Snake expert rejects suggestion that the 7.5m python might have killed itself
A python caught in Malaysia and first thought to be the longest snake in captivity has lost both its run at the title and its life.
Two people working for the department that trapped the animal said it was remeasured at 7.5 metres, just 17 centimetres short of first place.
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