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On the road and lab test discrepancies undermining efforts to curb toxic air levels as UN environment assembly admits global response is not up to scratch

The growing gulf between laboratory tests and real world air pollution from cars is hampering efforts to cut the toxic air that kills millions of people a year worldwide, a leading expert has warned.

The UN admitted on Tuesday that the global response to air pollution is not up to scratch, after it was revealed last week by the World Health Organisation (WHO) that harmful airborne particulates had risen by 8% in cities around the world.

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European scientists are working on techniques that would allow them to routinely monitor the health of corals worldwide from orbit.

Energy minister tells MPs that no time limit has been set for EDF to make a final investment decision on the much-delayed nuclear plant

The UK has set no deadline for the final go-ahead to the much-delayed Hinkley Point C nuclear plant, energy minister Andrea Leadsom told a committee of MPs on Tuesday.

The head of the company aiming to build the new reactors, French state-owned EDF, told the same hearing he could not give a date for the decision nor confirm that it would start generating electricity in 2025, as previously pledged.

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US biochemical engineer Frances Arnold takes the million-euro Millennium Technology Prize for pioneering 'directed evolution'.

Countries urged to outlaw possession of wildlife and timber illegally harvested or traded elsewhere

Governments around the world need to pass national laws outlawing the possession of wildlife and timber that has been illegally harvested or traded elsewhere, a new report by the UN’s Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) urges.

At present, unlisted but endangered flora and fauna can be legally sold in other nations, even if it was illicitly taken from the countries of origin, due to a lack of coverage in the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites).

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Approval for fracking in North Yorkshire raises the prospect of the controversial technique being allowed at other sites and restarts an intense debate.

Five glimpses inside China's scientific revolution

Court dismisses government bid to uphold seven-year ban on domestic trade in rhino horn - but global ban remains in place

South Africa’s supreme court has dismissed a government bid to uphold a seven-year ban on the domestic trade in rhino horn, an industry group said this week.

The decision has no bearing on a ban on international trade in rhino horn. Potential domestic buyers could include those who see rhino horn as a store of wealth that could appreciate in value and those who want it as a decoration.

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Push for nuclear and gas over renewables could be more costly in the long term, warns UN’s environment chief

The UK government risks slowing the shift to clean energy sources by cutting support for renewable energy and strongly backing gas as a transitional fuel, according to the UN’s environment chief.

Achim Steiner, executive director of the UN Environment Programme (UNEP), told the Guardian that he thought the UK’s push for nuclear and gas over renewables could be more costly in the long term.

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Virtual reality technology used in the gaming industry could be utilised to recreate crime scenes for jurors, researchers claim.

Wu Pinggui talks to the BBC after having an operation to transplant a pig's cornea into his eye.

The scientist and author discusses his legacy - and giving up Twitter

Chinese drinkers may have been brewing beer as many as 5,000 years ago, new research suggests.

From phasing out coal to creating nature reserves, it is the EU which should be taking lectures from the UK, not the other way round

The leading lights of the UK environmental movement would have us believe that a win by the Brexit camp on 23 June would be akin to a natural disaster.

According to them, it is only our membership of the EU that renders our beaches swimmable, our water drinkable and our air almost breathable. Freed from the noble, ceaseless efforts of the ever-vigilant EU, troglodyte Britain would tear up decades of environmental legislation and return to our 1970s roots as the “dirty man” of Europe. This is complete and utter tosh.

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GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Need to calculate pi while fending off zombies? Dr Karl has found a way to solve both your problems.

Darren Soh, a landscape photographer, creates a composite image that captures the beauty of Singapore's lightning storms.

The ban on GM crops by European countries should be reassessed, the president of UK science body the Royal Society has said.

WEEDS OF THE SEA: A surprising 60-year boom in global octopus, squid and cuttlefish numbers points to long-term changes taking place in the world's oceans, scientists say.

Speaking on Q&A, Christopher Pyne rejects a suggestion that the Coalition’s Direct Action climate policy could operate as a de facto emissions trading scheme, while responding to a question from the audience, Pyne claims the scheme was not intended to work that way. The industry minister and his regular sparring partner, opposition frontbencher Anthony Albanese, were the only two panellists on Monday’s election special, which fell in week three of the eight-week campaign

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BODY IMAGE: Some women say the voice in their head gets kinder as they enter midlife, while other women become more critical of themselves - the difference appears to be related to acceptance of age-related changes, researchers find.