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Saturn moon 'able to support life'

BBC - Fri, 2017-04-14 04:05
Enceladus has the conditions, including a key energy source, to enable microbes to exist, Nasa says.
Categories: Around The Web

The week in wildlife – in pictures

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-04-14 03:14

Ducks, red deer, cherry blossoms and leopards in the hill forests of Myanmar are among this week’s pick of images from the natural world

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Scottish islands hold out for government U-turn on windfarm subsidies

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-04-14 02:52

Hopes that ministers will make special case for Western Isles, Orkney and Shetland after visit by business secretary

Ministers are believed to be on the verge of a U-turn on their manifesto pledge to halt the spread of subsidised onshore windfarms – on remote Scottish islands, at least.

The business secretary, Greg Clark, visited the Isle of Lewis in the Western Isles on Monday to discuss the possibility of government support for turbines off the mainland.

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Giant whale shark caught on camera by US divers

BBC - Fri, 2017-04-14 01:37
Diver Keith Brock and his wife capture a rare close-up video of the shark off the east coast of the United States.
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Whale’s eye view reveals feeding habits in Antarctica – video

The Guardian - Fri, 2017-04-14 00:09

The World Wildlife Fund released this footage filmed in March 2017 that shows the view from a camera attached to a whale in Antarctica. Scientists used suction cups to attach cameras to humpback and minke whales, revealing new feeding habits and their social lives. The data gathered will be used to protect whales and their ecosystems

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Arizona Sky Village's residents have one rule: 'Turn off your goddamned lights'

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-04-13 21:00

Nearly every house in this rural 450-acre development of stargazers is equipped with its own domed observatory, and outdoor lights are strictly forbidden. Does it also hold answers for combatting America’s problem with light pollution?

Take a nighttime drive into Arizona Sky Village, in a remote valley in south-east Arizona, and the only thing you can see clearly are the millions of stars twinkling overhead. Beyond the light show, the sky is a deep inky black, and the ground below is nothing but shadows. Dimmed car headlights might pick up spooked jackrabbits hopping through the desert brush, but the village’s unlit houses are all but invisible in the darkness.

That’s the way the residents of this astronomy-loving community like it. The less light, the better their view of the universe.

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Coals future is bright according to Rio but not enough to keep its mines

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-04-13 18:35
Despite talking up the future of the coal sector for years, Rio has been divesting itself of the commodity.
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What makes a dolphin happy?

ABC Environment - Thu, 2017-04-13 18:25
A Coffs Harbour marine park is facing a legal challenge over their claims that the dolphins in their park are "happy and healthy".
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How much could commuter cycling increase in your part of England?

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-04-13 17:30

New tool maps the potential increase in bike journeys under different scenarios – from routes avoiding hills to adopting e-bikes – revealing health benefits and informing future investment

Chances are you live in a place where less than one in 20 commuters regularly cycle to work. Sometimes people assume this is because England is too hilly, or that most home-to-work distances are too far to cycle. Hilliness and distance do matter. However, new research has found that this is only part of the story. With the right cycling conditions, cycling levels could be much higher than they are now.

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Women's Institute urges supermarkets to do more to cut food waste

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-04-13 15:30

First WI report on food waste finds confusion persists over ‘best before’ and ‘sell by’ dates, with supermarkets potentially contributing to the problem

The Women’s Institute is urging supermarkets to do more to help consumers reduce their domestic food waste, after a survey of its own membership revealed widespread confusion about “best before” and “use by” labelling on packaging.

Its new analysis of products on supermarket shelves found that “once-opened” instructions were often contradictory and often failed to make clear whether they were a guide to food safety or quality.

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‘I liked elephant heart. It was soft and very tasty’

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-04-13 15:00

For 40 years I hunted elephants and other big game in the forests of Rwanda. This is how I became an ex-poacher

I was born in Kinigi, in Rwanda’s Musanze district, about 65 years ago, and it is still my home. I come from the Batwa community; we are very short people. There are about 400 of us, which makes us the smallest tribe in Rwanda.

We lived in the forests long before the government took them over, and we were known as their keepers. They meant everything to us. I did not even know what a school was. Like my parents, my brother and my two sisters, all I knew was life in the forest.

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Poor results at auction reflect lack of faith in Emissions Reduction Fund

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 14:55
The fifth Emissions Reduction Fund auction was held on April 5–6. As forecast in our earlier auction outlook, results are a considerable step down from earlier auction events.
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Chiffchaffs warm to the theme of spring

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-04-13 14:30

Sandy, Bedfordshire Climate change has boosted the songbirds’ advance northwards, and they seem to fill every copse

In the rising chorus over the past few weeks, one migratory bird has stood out as insistent, persistent, and more variable in its simple song than most books would have us believe.

Chiffchaffs are on the up; climate change has warmed their advance northwards, and here in the south they seem to be filling every copse, every patch of scrubland. They are often heard, but far less frequently seen.

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VSUN eyes household market for vanadium batteries, and local manufacturing

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 14:11
VSUN looks to household market for vanadium redox flow batteries, and to a local manufacturing facility to help reduce prices.
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South Australia gets 31 proposals for new back-up generator

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 14:09
South Australia says it has received 31 proposals from 12 countries for its proposed emergency back-up gas generator.
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Nuclear power lobbyists ‘freaked out’ as crisis deepens

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 14:07
The most important impact of the crisis facing Toshiba and Westinghouse is the chilling effect it will have ‒ and is already having ‒ on the nuclear power industry.
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Tide turns as solar, storage costs trump ideologues and incumbents

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 13:52
Despite the bravado of the fossil fuel apologists, the tide to clean energy is turning. Seven events in the past two months highlight the significant and unstoppable transformation that is occurring in our energy system.
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Engie Solar sets new record low solar tariff in India with 250MW plant

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 12:42
The winning tariff is for 250 MW of solar capacity in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh.
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China to spend $US750 billion on wind and solar energy by 2030

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 12:40
China’s wind and solar industry is projected to expand fivefold by 2030. So what’s fuelling this historic shift?
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Hey look, another record low month for sea ice

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-04-13 12:39
Climate change continues its rapid reshaping of the Arctic as yet another month saw sea ice set a record-low mark.
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