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The Sensitive Ecological Data Access and Management Policy provides a process for identifying and managing sensitive ecological data.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: The recently discovered gravitational waves were created under mind-boggling circumstances. Dr Karl goes into the beautiful and awe-inspiring story of their creation.

OLD NERVES: A fossil of a 520-million-year-old animal is so well preserved that its individual nerve fibres are still visible, according to a new study on the crustacean-like creature that once lived in southern China.

CULTURAL CREATIVITY: Completely breaking down 'silos' could actually be the enemy of innovation, a study has found.

Five years in planning and due to be finished in early March, more than 23,000 solar panels will be floated on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir near Heathrow and used to generate power for local water treatment plants

On a vast manmade lake on the outskirts of London, work is nearing completion on what will soon be Europe’s largest floating solar power farm – and will briefly be the world’s biggest.

But few are likely to see the 23,000 solar panels on the Queen Elizabeth II reservoir at Walton-on-Thames, which is invisible to all but Heathrow passengers and a few flats in neighbouring estates.

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First criminal action to be taken after 2011 disaster, in which three nuclear reactors went into meltdown after earthquake

Three former executives from Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco) have been charged with contributing to deaths and injuries stemming from the triple meltdown in 2011 at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant.

Their indictment on Monday marks the start of the first criminal action to be taken in connection with the disaster, which forced the evacuation of 160,000 residents, many of whom are still unable to return to their homes.

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Trump claims he would dismantle agency but law experts say that would be nigh impossible: ‘I wouldn’t dignify it with a serious reply. Maybe “grow up”’

Amid prolonged bickering with his rivals, Donald Trump outlined a fairly radical proposal during Thursday’s Republican debate: to scrap the US Environmental Protection Agency.

Related: First EPA chief accuses Republicans of ignoring science for political gain

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Emissions from Aliso Canyon leak, which took 112 days to plug, totalled 97,100 tonnes of methane – equal to annual output of a medium-sized EU country

A natural gas leak in the mountains above Los Angeles was one of the worst accidental discharges of greenhouse gases in US history. A new study shows the months-long disaster resulted in 97,100 metric tonnes of methane being dumped into the atmosphere.

Related: SoCalGas pleads not guilty to criminal charges in massive natural gas leak case

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Year of the monkey has sparked a trend for pygmy marmosets, the world’s smallest monkey, as pets. But conservationists warn the animals rarely survive in captivity, reports Mongabay

The “year of the monkey” dawned recently in China – and with it, a trendy new exotic pet. Pygmy marmosets are all the rage among China’s wealthy elite, who are forgoing legality and snapping up baby monkeys at around $4,500 (£3,200) each. The internet has exploded with photos of the so-called “thumb monkeys,” while conservationists and primate scientists are lamenting the situation.

Weighing in at just over 100 grams (equivalent to about 20 US nickels), pygmy marmosets (Cebuella pygmaea) are the world’s smallest monkeys. They’re native to the rainforests of South America’s western Amazon Basin, where they live in small groups of around a dozen individuals. They aren’t considered threatened because of their large range and relative prevalence, but they are in decline, according to the IUCN, primarily due to the pet trade.

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A new online application form for permits to import and export wildlife and wildlife products has been launched.

ENVIRONMENTAL REGULATION: Scientists have made an international call to change water quality standards, with the aim of protecting biodiversity from salt pollution of freshwater.

Director of country’s biggest whaling company says his fleet will not be hunting this season because of problems exporting the meat to Japan

Conservationists are hopeful that an end to commercial whaling in Iceland has moved one step closer following media reports that no fin whales will be hunted there this summer.

Kristjan Loftsson, the director of Iceland’s largest whaling company, told daily newspaper Morgunbladid on Wednesday that Hvalur HF would not be sending out vessels to slaughter the endangered whales this season because of difficulties exporting the meat to the Japanese market.

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Head of state-owned power distributor says solar households in the south-east previously cut grid consumption but ‘don’t worry so much about their bill now’

Solar-powered homes in south-east Queensland, which boasts the world’s highest concentration of rooftop panels, have begun consuming on average more electricity from the grid than those without solar, the network operator has found.

Terry Effeney, the chief executive of state-owned power distributor Energex, said the trend – which belied the “green agenda” presumed to drive those customers – was among the challenges facing a region that nevertheless stood the best chance globally of making solar the cornerstone of its electricity network.

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FOSSIL TEETH SECRETS: Teeth survive in the fossil record and are often found in isolation, providing a tantalising clue to their owner - now scientists have a method to help them extrapolate tooth and jaw size in incomplete fossil finds.

Environment department ministers are at odds over whether a Brexit would be good for farmers, who receive roughly £2.5-3bn a year in EU subsidies

A battle for the Tory heartlands of the UK countryside has broken out within the government’s ministerial ranks, as David Cameron’s farming minister has defied his boss to urge farmers to vote to leave the EU.

George Eustice, the farming minister, told the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) annual conference on Wednesday that they would be better off out of the EU. “We would do far better as a country if we ended the supremacy of Europe and shaped new fresh-thinking policies that really deliver for our agriculture,” he said.

“The truth of the matter is that if we left the EU there would be an £18bn a year dividend, so could we find the money to spend £2bn a year on farming and the environment? Of course we could. Would we? Without a shadow of a doubt.”

His appeal for exit was a very public breaking of ranks with the secretary of state for environment, farming and rural affairs, Liz Truss. She addressed the conference on Tuesday with a plea to farmers to stay within the EU, calling an exit “a leap into the dark” at a time when farmers are already hard-pressed.

She told the conference: “By voting to remain we can work within a reformed EU to reduce bureaucracy and secure further reform while still enjoying the significant benefits of the single market, which gives us access to 500m consumers. At a time of severe price volatility and global market uncertainty, it would be wrong to take a leap into the dark. The years of complication and risk caused by negotiating withdrawal would be a distraction.”

At stake, for farmers, is the roughly £2.5 to £3bn a year - varying according to the euro exchange rate - that farmers receive from Brussels. This is paid on the basis of the area of land they farm, and efforts they make to improve the environment, for instance by maintaining habitats for wildlife. Farmers also benefit from access to the EU market, which accounts for more than half of all British food and farming exports, amounting to more than £11bn a year.

Despite Eustice’s assurances, it is unclear that a Conservative government after a Brexit would divert similar levels of taxpayer funding to farmers, and neither the prime minister, David Cameron, nor Truss has made such promises.

Such a measure would be deeply controversial, particularly as current subsidies tend to favour the biggest and richest landowners. To put the money in context, the NHS budget boost in the last review was £3.8bn.

Many farmers argue that the benefit from the EU’s subsidy rarely reaches them, in any case: supermarkets factor in the expected income in their calculations of what to pay their suppliers.

The NFU has been carefully neutral on the issue, but did include in its information pack for the 1,400 farmers attending its conference a comparison of the £153 a year paid by the UK per person into the EU with more than £106 per citizen a year from Norway “with no influence” because Norway is not a member. Norway is frequently cited as an alternative model by those favouring an exit.

For the Tory party, farmers and rural communities have always been a bedrock of support. Few rural constituencies outside Scotland, Wales, Northern Ireland, and a few in the south-west of England vote anything but Conservative. But some farmers feel that they have been taken for granted, while buffeted by the forces of international trade. Farmgate prices for produce such as milk, wheat and pigs have plummeted by more than a third in the last year.

Farming votes in the referendum are up for grabs as never before. When the Guardian questioned farmers at the conference on whether they would prefer to remain in or leave, there was a clear split, with a substantial number opting to leave.

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Data on British buying habits in 2015 reveals a move away from products such as sausages and bacon in favour of fish and poultry

Consumers of organic food are avoiding processed and red meats in favour of fish and poultry, according to data on UK buying habits for 2015.

The move away from products such as sausages and bacon may be because high-end consumers are heeding growing warnings about their impact on health. That was reinforced by an assessment by the World Health Organisation in October that placed cured and processed meats in the same category as asbestos, alcohol, arsenic and tobacco as major causes of cancer.

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EMERGING DISEASES: Vaccinating wildlife with genetically-modified viruses could one day help stop diseases jumping to humans from their animal hosts, say researchers.

Applications for Round Five of the Green Army Programme will be opening in the first half of 2016. Information sessions for prospective applicants will be held in capital cities.

GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Sometimes a major discovery - like finding evidence to support the theory of dark matter - just requires a bit of creative thinking over a curry, as Dr Karl explains.

Report finds air pollution inside and outside the home is costing £20bn a year as well as causing tens of thousands of deaths

Air pollution both inside and outside the home causes at least 40,000 deaths a year in the UK, according to new report, which estimates the cost of the damage at £20bn.

The major health impact of outdoor air pollution is relatively well known but the report, from the Royal College of Physicians and the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, also highlights the less understood impact of indoor pollution, as well as the growing evidence of harm to children’s health and intelligence.

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