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Pluto may harbour a slushy water ocean beneath its most prominent surface feature, known as the "heart".

Sampling DNA from seawater may be one way to check up on ocean life, according to research.

Boa constrictors are frequently found at large in Australia, despite being banned. Marcos André/flickr, CC BY

Australians are banned from keeping non-native reptiles as pets, but there is a nevertheless a thriving illegal trade in these often highly prized animals. We have documented the threat that these species – many of them venomous or potentially carrying exotic diseases – pose to people and wildlife in Australia.

In a study published in Conservation Letters, we estimate that of 28 alien reptile species illegally traded in Victoria between 1999 and 2012, 5 of them (18%) would have the potential to establish themselves in the wild if they escape or are released. Our findings also indicate that smaller alien reptiles are more likely to establish in the wild in Australia.

Worryingly, more than a third of these illegal reptile species are highly venomous snakes (10 out of the 28 species). The presence of 10 alien venomous snakes represents a serious human health hazard, even in Australia which is already home to some of the most venomous snakes in the world.

Previous research has focused on the overharvesting of wild populations to meet the demand for illegal wildlife products such as traditional medicine ingredients and other commodities, as well as live animals themselves.

But the trade in illegal wildlife poses a risk not just to the species being trafficked, but also to the people and ecosystems potentially exposed to new hazardous alien species as a result. Unfortunately, these risks are often overlooked or underestimated by wildlife agencies.

Frogs take their diseases with them

Effective biosecurity measures are crucial for tackling these threats. Are Australia’s biosecurity activities as good as they are made out to be in popular television shows about customs officers policing our borders?

Let’s look at the example of ranaviruses, an emerging disease that kills huge numbers of amphibians around the world. The introduction of these viruses to Australia could be catastrophic for native frogs. Alien frogs transported as unintentional stowaways can carry ranavirus, so intercepting those alien frogs will also prevent the spread of these pathogens.

In an earlier study, we examined the effectiveness of Australian biosecurity activities for stopping the introduction of dangerous alien ranaviruses. Our main conclusion was that existing biosecurity measures have significantly reduced the likelihood of introduction of alien ranaviruses.

Moreover, biosecurity activities do not need to intercept every single incoming alien frog in order to reduce significantly the likelihood that new diseases will be introduced. This is particularly good news for threatened native frogs.

Puff adders have been illegally kept in Victoria, despite being a seriously dangerous pet. Julius Rückert/Wikimedia Commons A way forward

Unfortunately, many other countries seem to have inadequate systems for keeping unwanted species out, despite the many social, economic and ecological impacts that alien species cause across the world.

This situation paints a bleak picture for the future of biodiversity, with alien species increasingly wreaking havoc across all environments. But we believe there is hope and a way forward – as long as countries are willing to work much harder to combat the threats posed by alien species.

Foremost, we need to improve our understanding of the importance and drivers of transport pathways through which alien species travel. Armed with that knowledge, we can plan more effective management – although a lack of data is no excuse for delay in the meantime. Prevention is always better than cure, so our number one goal should be to prevent the introduction of alien species, rather than simply tackling the problems they cause.

Some important lessons emerge from our research. The illegal wildlife trade and the transport of stowaways are global issues. Therefore no country, however effective its biosecurity, can solve its problems on its own. Multilateral biosecurity agreements will be necessary to manage both stowaways and the illegal wildlife trade.

In Australia, we need to raise public awareness about alien species. We have to enlist the public in reporting suspicious activities and the presence of alien species at large. Meanwhile, supporting biosecurity activities is a no-brainer. Biosecurity is a responsibility shared by all Australians, and the general public have a role to support biosecurity activities, even if that means a few more minutes to clear biosecurity ports and airports. Be on the lookout for potential alien species, and if you spot anything unusual, report it to the Department of Agriculture and Water Resources.

Pablo Garcia-Diaz receives funding from the Invasive Animals CRC and the Department of Education and Training (Australian Government).

Joshua Ross receives funding from the ARC, NHMRC, and D2D CRC.

Phill Cassey receives funding from Australian Research Council and the Invasive Animals CRC.

New research indicates that for brain connections to be properly formed in babies' brains, they need to feel safe, secure and loved.

US secretary of state John Kerry urges countries to treat the earth’s changing climate as an urgent threat as he addresses the uncertainty created by the election of Donald Trump. ‘Obviously an election took place in my country, and I know it’s left some here and elsewhere feeling uncertain about the future,’ he told the audience, before reiterating that a majority of citizens in the US believe climate change is a real threat

• John Kerry: We will fight to keep US in the Paris climate deal
  

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World Coal Association boss Benjamin Sporton puts his case for a place at the UN climate talks, but won’t criticise climate science denial supporters

An awful lot of people would really like it if Benjamin Sporton went home and never came back.

Sporton is the boss of the World Coal Association and he’s walking the halls of the United Nations climate change talks.

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Secretary of state says the outgoing Obama administration is determined to prevent Trump withdrawing the US from the landmark deal

John Kerry has signalled that the outgoing Obama administration is preparing a fight to ensure that Donald Trump does not withdraw the US from the landmark Paris agreement, to prevent catastrophic climate change.

“This is bigger than one person, one president,” the US secretary of state said in Marrakech, before his last address to the UN climate summit being held there. “We have to figure out how we’re going to stop this.”

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Researchers from the University of Veterinary Medicine in Vienna and the University of Oxford have shown that Goffin’s cockatoos can make and use elongated tools out of different materials. In video footage released on Wednesday, the cockatoo makes tools from wood and twigs, but also from cardboard, suggesting the birds can anticipate how the tools will be used

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The US secretary of state John Kerry says that the overwhelming majority of US citizens support the US taking action on climate change.

Darren Capewell of the Malgana Native Title Working Group, Indigenous ranger David Green and Richard Nelly, the former director of the Bindiyarra Aboriginal Community Corporation, discuss a proposal by native title holders to partner with the Western Australian government to create more than 210 Indigenous ranger jobs in remote communities and stimulate WA’s regional economy through the creation of a major new parks network. Under the proposal, which was announced in Perth on Tuesday, 5m hectares of former pastoral land would be converted into national parks and Indigenous rangers would manage and maintain their essential tourism infrastructure

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IEA makes mockery of Turnbull government's renewable energy scare campaigns, saying that 60% of world's electricity will come from wind and solar alone if climate targets are to be met.

International Energy Agency chief says current government pledges to cut greenhouse gas emissions are inadequate

The Paris agreement on climate change risks failure unless countries come forward with more ambitious and detailed plans to cut greenhouse gas emissions, the world’s energy watchdog has warned.

The agreement, reached almost a year ago, is only a “framework”, said the International Energy Agency on Wednesday, and requires sweeping policy changes among governments around the world to put its aims into force.

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Researchers find traces of oil from the Deepwater Horizon spill in birds' feathers.

Herefordshire Massive oaks, neolithic tombs and a farmer on a quad bike checking his sheep are a few of the highlights on this 12-day walk

Often within sight of the Malverns, Black Mountains or Radnor Forest, our 12-day walk along the Herefordshire Trail leads from place to place around the county. Massive oaks used to be pollarded, and, in derelict orchards, clumps of mistletoe colonise old trees. Wayside hedgerows are loaded with haws, rotting blackberries, holly and spindle berries; crab apples strew rough lanes and bullaces keep yellow leaves and wrinkled purple fruit.

Churches, from Dore Abbey to Pudleston, are decorated with flowers, fruit and swags of hops for harvest festivals. Pheasants bred for shoots feed and shelter in scrubby woods and, above Leintwardine, mature birds scuttle and glide between coverts of maize as five red kites wheel overhead.

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Frank Bainimarama calls on Donald Trump to make a ‘personal change of heart and public change of policy on climate change’ at the United Nations climate change conference in Morocco. ‘Please take another look at the overwhelming scientific consensus of the man-made effects of global warming,’ he says, before inviting the US president-elect to see the communities that have been moved out of the way of the rising seas and meet the families of those killed by cyclone Winston

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Despite lingering uncertainty about Trump’s intentions, week two has begun with progress on the details of Paris, as national, state and city governments push on – some emphatically so.

AGL Energy projects an image of the old utility taking a lead role in new energy technologies and concepts. Yet it's difficult to imagine a company more entrenched in the economics of brown and black coal generation. Here's why CEO Andy Vesey wants to have his cake and eat it too.

Donald Trump might actually reduce US emissions, however unintentionally.

French oil giant Total confirms plan to invest more than $300 million in a project to solar power its petrol stations.

South Australian Premier Jay Weatherill’s announcement of a non-binding public vote, no earlier than 2018, on his proposed high-level nuclear waste storage facility looks like an act of political desperation.

It’s understandable that Weatherill wants to explore every possible option to replace some of the jobs lost in his state when the Abbott government withdrew support for the car industry. To that end, he took the unusual step of setting up a Royal Commission to consider South Australia’s potential role in the nuclear industry. His appointed Commissioner, Kevin Scarce, faced accusations of pro-nuclear bias.

Scarce’s report put a very positive spin on the idea of SA accepting high-level radioactive waste from other countries, suggesting that nations like Japan, South Korea and Taiwan would be willing to pay serious money to make their nuclear waste problems go away.

The local business community embraced the idea enthusiastically, while Adelaide’s newspaper, The Advertiser, published a series of articles promoting the scheme, describing the expected economic returns as “gigantic” and running Liberal senator Sean Edwards’ claim that nuclear energy would have “no cost apart from the poles and wires”.

The way ahead was not straightforward, however, with the community clearly divided. Public meetings convened by those opposed to the proposal saw packed halls, and thousands turned up to a rally outside Parliament House. Indigenous groups are particularly hostile to the prospect of overseas radioactive waste being brought onto their land.

Next, a citizens’ jury was appointed to offer a verdict on the issue. The randomly selected individuals interrogated experts with a range of views and probed the findings of the Royal Commission in great detail over several days. Their two-thirds majority view that the scheme should be dropped was seen by many as sounding its death knell.

The jury’s scepticism is understandable. After deep probing of the estimates, they concluded that the numbers are very rubbery. Moreover, recent examples like the Royal Adelaide Hospital redevelopment do not inspire public confidence in the state government’s ability to manage a complex project within a fixed budget. So the jury decided that the probability of a good financial outcome was not high enough to justify risking billions of dollars of public money developing the waste management system.

Pressing the plebiscite button

It’s difficult to know why we need a plebiscite on top of all this. If government members want to know what well-informed members of the public think, they can read the report of their own citizens’ jury. If they want to know what relatively uninformed members of the public think, they can consult opinion polls. And if they want to know what members of the public think after being systematically fed slanted information, they can check the polls conducted by The Advertiser.

The only rational explanation for Weatherill’s decision to hold a public vote is that he is hoping for a different outcome. It’s a political tactic with a very notable recent precedent. When it became clear to conservatives in the Abbott government that they had lost the public debate on same-sex marriage, and that a free vote in parliament would probably see it approved, they came up with the idea of holding a national plebiscite. At the very least, they thought, this would delay the arrival of an outcome they opposed, while there was always the chance that a well-funded, carefully targeted scare campaign might shift the public mood.

But the same-sex marriage plebiscite died when it became clear that it would not be binding on politicians, and that public money would be used to fund the opposing campaigns. Senators sniffed the public wind and voted down the scheme.

Weatherill has invested a lot of political capital in his nuclear waste proposal. He funded the Royal Commission and the citizens’ jury process. But by pressing the plebiscite button as a way to end the ongoing impasse, he risks running foul of the same problems.

In Canberra, the Senate reflected the general public opinion that a non-binding plebiscite on same-sex marriage would be a waste of taxpayers’ money, as well as probably causing an acrimonious and unproductive public debate. One might very well say the same about the idea of a vote on radioactive waste management.

We elect our politicians to decide on policy after studying the issues carefully. It is therefore hard to justify spending millions of dollars on an expensive opinion poll.

Whether Weatherill opts to abandon his radioactive waste proposal or push ahead with it, his decision will inevitably be very unpopular with some. It’s a tough call, but it’s his job to make it.

Ian Lowe is the former president of the Australian Conservation Foundation.