Feed aggregator

Why are crying babies so hard to ignore?

BBC - Thu, 2016-08-04 03:00
A neuroscientist explains why Donald Trump found a crying baby at his rally so distracting.
Categories: Around The Web

Brexit could herald end to British fruit and veg sales, producers warn

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 21:16

Many of the country’s biggest producers say that without a scheme for seasonal workers, homegrown produce would all but vanish from the shelves

British fruit and vegetables would all but vanish from shops if Brexit means the foreign workers who pick virtually all the home-grown produce are no longer able to come to the UK, according to some of the country’s biggest producers.

They warn that the nation’s food security would be damaged and that produce in UK shops would become more expensive if the freedom of movement for EU workers came to an end. They are urging ministers to set up a new permit scheme for seasonal workers.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Wildlife-friendly gardens may be more deadly to birds, report shows

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 20:30

New research shows that more birds die from collisions with windows in gardens that provide better bird habitat, reports Conservation

Collisions with windows are a serious source of mortality for birds: hundreds of millions die from window strikes each year in the US alone. Most attention to this problem has focused on high-rise buildings, because each individual building of this type can kill a great many birds.

But because there are so many residential dwellings, even a few collisions per home means that collectively these structures are responsible for a huge number of bird deaths. Yet researchers don’t know why one house has more collisions than another, let alone how to prevent them.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

New research shows penguins will suffer in a warming world | John Abraham

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 20:00

Penguin population declines are found to occur in hotter years

We know the world is warming, and we know humans are the main reason. But so what? The thing we’d really like to know is, what will the impacts be on our planet, its biodiversity, our society, our economies? It is only through understanding the impacts of climate change that action for reducing greenhouse gases can be motivated.

This is one of the reasons I was so interested in a very recent study from the University of Delaware, which addressed how penguins will fare in a warming world. The article was published in Scientific Reports and is available open access so anyone with an internet connection can read it here.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

China's elevated bus: Futuristic 'straddling bus' hits the road

BBC - Wed, 2016-08-03 19:26
The 2m-high Transit Elevated Bus took its inaugural test run in the streets of Hebei, much to the amazement of Chinese citizens.
Categories: Around The Web

China's 300m high cliff walk for fearless tourists – in pictures

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 19:24

A glass-bottomed walkway on Tianmen Mountain in China’s Hunan province has been opened to visitors. The Coiling Dragon Cliff walkway measures 100m and towers 300m above the scenery below. It is the third glass skywalk on the Tianmen Mountain in Zhangjiajie National Forest Park

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

What's in the water? Pollution fears taint Rio's picturesque bay ahead of Olympics

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 19:00

Untreated sewage and viruses in Guanabara Bay have led UN to advise athletes to spend as little time in the water as possible

There can be few more beautiful city sights in the world than that from the Marina da Gloria, where the Rio 2016 Olympic sailing events will be launched this weekend.

Look out from the quayside across Guanabara Bay and the panorama takes in Sugarloaf mountain, the Niteroi bridge and the distant hills of the Serra dos Orgãos national park, while behind you are the palm trees of Flamengo Park and the state of Christ the Redeemer.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Britain shouts about immigration but is silent on one of the root causes: climate change | Andrew Simms

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 18:54

The Brexit campaign pivoted around migration but its politicians are sceptical of action on global warming that is a key driver of displacement

What happens as large-scale migration becomes inevitable due to a combination of environmental, economic and humanitarian reasons? Do we tackle the drivers and help the displaced, or worsen conditions causing the displacement and reject responsibility for those affected?

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Scottish windfarms have 'no effect' on tourism, report finds

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 18:12

BusinessGreen: New study concludes there is ‘no overall relationship’ between tourism employment in an area and the deployment of onshore windfarms

“Repels tourists” can now be added to the long list of criticism levelled at onshore windfarms that has been shown to be unfounded.

A new report by consultancy BiGGAR Economics, which analysed the impact of Scottish windfarms on tourism-related employment in an area, this week concluded there was no evidence to suggest windfarms had an adverse effect on tourism in an area.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

Create your Premier League dream team

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 15:57

You may have a game plan for your ideal Premier League team, but every player comes at a price. Using real market value, create your dream team from the European leagues’ top 50 and see how your squad plays out

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

'Science gives us hope in a turbulent world'

BBC - Wed, 2016-08-03 15:24
Professor Brian Cox talks to the BBC about how why science can give us hope in a turbulent world.
Categories: Around The Web

BNEF says broken gas market main offender in SA energy “crisis”

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 14:52
BNEF report says poorly functioning gas market main cause of SA power price spike, blaming renewables "erroneous and simplistic."
Categories: Around The Web

Cliffs and teeming clefts in the coastal landscape

The Guardian - Wed, 2016-08-03 14:30

Aberaeron, Ceredigion The route was almost deserted, so the sensation of being watched was unexpected

Even on the open slopes above the cliff, the air was hot and humid, making the steeper sections of the coast path seem more of a trudge than usual. South of Aberaeron, in west Wales, the route was almost deserted – so the sensation of being watched was unexpected.

As I struggled past a tangled mass of gorse, I realised that I was being observed by a stonechat perched on a bracken frond. My plodding approach hadn’t alarmed him enough to make him retreat and as I returned his gaze I realised that at least three others, perhaps a family, were nearby. They began to exchange the sharply characteristic calls that sound uncannily like two pebbles being tapped together, and which give the species its name.

Continue reading...
Categories: Around The Web

SA Power Networks solar tariff rejected – again – by AER

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 14:28
SA Power Networks proposal to charge rooftop solar customers up to $100 a year more for grid access has again been rejected by the Australian Energy Regulator.
Categories: Around The Web

Origin’s rooftop solar bet: Business wants it now, households wait for storage

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 13:58
Origin Energy bets that the solar market will be dominated by business demand in coming years, while households wait for battery storage costs to come down.
Categories: Around The Web

China solar and wind capacity crosses 200GW

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 13:42
China's wind power capacity has reached 140GW, while total solar capacity has jumped by nearly half to 65GW.
Categories: Around The Web

Grid-scale battery storage ready to go in Australia: Garnaut

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 13:31
Ross Garnaut says grid-scale battery storage ready to apply as "immediate answer" to Australia's energy network problems.
Categories: Around The Web

New York regulators issue 50% by 2030 clean energy mandate

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2016-08-03 12:58
The New York Public Service Commission has approved the state’s Clean Energy Standard, which requires that utilities procure 50% of their electricity from renewable energy sources by 2030.
Categories: Around The Web

The deadly trade around exotic fish

BBC - Wed, 2016-08-03 12:22
Emily Voigt devoted three years of her life and visited fifteen countries in search of the rare Asian arowana.
Categories: Around The Web

Two rare snow leopards born at Twycross Zoo

BBC - Wed, 2016-08-03 10:30
Two Amur snow leopards - believed to be the world's rarest big cat - are born at Twycross Zoo.
Categories: Around The Web

Pages

Subscribe to Sustainable Engineering Society aggregator