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Boris Johnson: Mummy is distant ancestor

BBC - Fri, 2018-01-26 03:32
Researchers have taken two years to identify a lady who lived 230 years ago.
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Are you a mosquito magnet? Swatting really can deter them, study shows

The Guardian - Fri, 2018-01-26 03:07

Researchers have discovered why mosquitoes prefer some people over others – and how a swat teaches them to avoid you

Researchers have found a solution for those plagued by mosquitoes: thrash about, and the insects will learn to give you a wide berth.

While it has long been known that mosquitoes favour some individuals over others – and can shift those preferences when availability is scarce – it was not clear what was behind the switch.

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Most UK bat species 'recovering or stable'

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 23:01
Volunteer data on the country's 18 resident bat species suggests a positive outlook for the animals.
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Communities offered £1m a year to host nuclear waste dump

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-01-25 21:57

New search for communities willing to host underground site for thousands of years

Local communities around England, Wales and Northern Ireland will be offered £1m a year to volunteer to host an underground nuclear waste disposal facility for thousands of years, as part of a rebooted government programme.

The financial incentive is one way the government hopes to encourage communities to host the £12bn facility, after previous efforts failed in 2013 when Cumbria county council rejected the project.

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Boris Johnson 'is descendant' of mummified Basel woman

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 19:01
A Swiss woman who died in 1787 after contracting syphilis is identified as an ancestor of the politician.
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Planet rumbles

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 17:03
The seismic region has seen lots of activity in recent weeks, but is there anything to worry about?
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Why beetles are the most important organisms on the planet | Richard Jones

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-01-25 16:45

From the minuscule to the mighty, tree-dwellers to pond-swimmers, millions of beetle species reveal a wealth of information about the world we live in


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New network of water refill points aims to reduce England's plastic waste

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-01-25 16:30

Free refill points and fountains will be set up in shops, cafes and high streets in every English town and city, under plans announced by the water industry

Consumers will be encouraged to refill their water bottles free of charge in tens of thousands of shops, cafes, businesses and water fountains in England under plans announced by the water industry.

The national scheme aims to fight the growing scourge of waste created by single-use plastic by preventing the use of tens of millions of plastic bottles every year, as well as increasing the availability of quality drinking water.

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Country diary: a mighty poplar brought down by old age and the revenge of the wind

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-01-25 15:30

Sandy, Bedfordshire: At the tree’s base, an autopsy of its last seconds was written in splits, snaps, rips and a broken heart

When the last storm whipped through our valley it brought down the tallest tree on the river. An old Lombardy poplar, a spire without a church, it belonged to an age when planting poplars was popular. They were the leylandii of their day, for they shot up as fast as rockets and looked like them too. They were often grown in rows as windbreaks, though nobody much thought about old age and the wind’s revenge.

For a day or so after, my eyes clawed at the air, looking for the absent shape of a tower that had been a crow’s nest for a magpie, a labyrinth for tits, a cricked neck. I saw only a wooded ridge, some houses, and sky – so much sky that it snuffed out the memory. For a day or so only, passersby stopped to inspect the toppled giant, as they might view the corpse of a beached whale.

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Tesla big battery setting market prices, including at $14,200 cap

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 13:41
Tesla big battery has been been an active bidder in wholesale markets, including being a price-setter for bids at the market cap.
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Why is Australia misleading consumers on electric vehicle emissions?

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 13:15
Craig Kelly has proved a loose cannon on the subject of EV emissions, but the government is not helping by providing misleading information to consumers.
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App shows water refill stations to tackle plastic waste

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 13:13
Thousands of water stations are being installed to tackle plastic use - with users able to find them via an app.
Categories: Around The Web

Australia added 1.3GW of solar in 2017, and could treble it in 2018

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 12:58
While 2017 was a record year for solar PV in Australia, it will be completely put in the shade by what we’re likely to install in 2018.
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‘We have to change capitalism’ to beat climate change, says world’s biggest asset manager

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 10:48
Top brass at the world’s largest asset manager says the rules governing investments are evolving to factor in environmental risks
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AusNet services to develop terminal station for Pacific Hydro’s crowlands wind farm

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 10:20
AusNet Services announces today that agreement has been secured with Pacific Hydro to develop a new transmission connection for the 80 MW Crowlands Wind Farm project in the Pyrenees Shire Council in western Victoria, near Avoca.
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Conversion efficiency at 20.41%, LONGi solar creates world record of monocrystalline PERC module

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 09:02
LONGi Solar announced that the independent third-party certification test organization, the company's 60-cell PERC module achieved a photoelectric conversion efficiency of 20.41%, a new world record.
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Tesla among 19 groups competing to build Darwin big battery

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2018-01-25 08:26
Tesla among 19 groups bidding for contract to build a big battery in Darwin that will reduce the need for back-up gas generators, and smooth the way for more solar PV in the Northern Territory.
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Sound waves 'can help' early tsunami detection

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 07:18
People in high-risk tsunami areas could be helped by an alarm system devised by Cardiff scientists.
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Hundreds of wildflower species found blooming in midwinter

The Guardian - Thu, 2018-01-25 05:07

UK survey finds 532 types – far more than older textbooks suggest should be out

It’s been said that spring is coloured by flowers, while the colour of winter is only in the imagination.

Not so for intrepid botanists who discovered 532 species of wildflowers in bloom across Britain and Ireland around New Year’s Day.

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Cloned monkeys: First primate clones are created in lab

BBC - Thu, 2018-01-25 04:48
Two monkeys named Zhong Zhong and Hua Hua have become the first primates to be cloned.
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