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Amazing mini animals – in pictures

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-10-19 16:00

David Yeo’s photography places naturally small species alongside animals that have been selectively bred to be tiny and cute, opening a troubling ethical debate

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Graph of the Day: What we need, what we’re getting

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 14:21
How Turnbull's National Energy Target will be worse for the renewable energy sector than no policy at all.
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BYD hones focus on Australia home battery market

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 13:54
Chinese battery and EV giant is ramping up its presence in Australia’s home energy storage market with its modular B-Box battery offering.
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The NEG will reduce competition, and that’s not good for prices

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 13:50
It seems like the government’s plan may reduce competition, and that is never good for price in the long run. One of the many advantages of state run reverse auctions is they introduce new suppliers and new players into the system.
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Coalition energy target may require a “go slow” on rooftop solar

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 13:47
Energy Security Board forecasts suggest a sharp slow down in rooftop solar deployments to meet its modest renewable energy share. It comes as concerns grow about ESB process and the alacrity with which the normally snail-paced AEMC has moved to confer great powers upon itself.
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Construction of Kennedy Energy Park underway, as CEFC tips in another $94m

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 13:42
Work to begin on first 60MW of 1200MW Kennedy Energy Park, after the wind, solar, and battery storage project in north Queensland received another $94m from the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and an $18m grant from ARENA.
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Surge in eye injuries as Melbourne magpies go on attack spree

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-10-19 12:54

Hospital issues warning as ‘extraordinary’ spate of bird-inflicted injuries include a penetrated eye that required surgery

A penetrated eye that needed surgery is just one of an “extraordinary” spate of magpie-inflicted injuries in Melbourne, and one hospital has issued a warning about the swooping birds.

The number of eye injuries caused by the bird has risen significantly, according to the emergency director of the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear hospital, Dr Carmel Crock.

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Rising dragon: China's carbon market exposes Australia's energy paralysis

The Conversation - Thu, 2017-10-19 11:21
While China launches its new energy market, Australia is still lagging behind in implementing a mechanism to control carbon emissions Peter Christoff, Associate Professor, School of Geography, University of Melbourne Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Coalition’s energy policy hinges on tricky wordplay about coal’s role

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 10:27
The new policy could end up feeding demand for coal.
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Stonehenge builders 'ate food from Scotland'

BBC - Thu, 2017-10-19 09:50
Animals were transported from as far away as the north east of Scotland to the Neolithic site in Wiltshire.
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JinkoSolar p-type multi-crystalline silicon solar cells achieve new world record in conversion efficiency again

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 09:39
JinkoSolar Holding Co today announced that its practical sized P-type multi-crystalline silicon solar cells reached the world’s highest conversion efficiency of 22.04%
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Lights Out! The dark side of demand management

RenewEconomy - Thu, 2017-10-19 07:52
Self serving and misleading comments from CEO of one of the country's iconic energy businesses need to be held up as a shining example of how recent energy summit forgot about one key person: the customer.
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Hang ten (decades): Walter Munk, inventor of the surf forecast, turns 100

The Conversation - Thu, 2017-10-19 05:18
Walter Munk might be the most under-appreciated man in surfing, but he is a big deal in ocean science. If you've ever checked a surf forecast before paddling out, you have him to thank. Paul Spence, Senior Lecturer, Climate Change Research Centre, UNSW Shane Keating, Senior Lecturer in Mathematics and Oceanography, UNSW Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers

The Guardian - Thu, 2017-10-19 04:00

Three-quarters of flying insects in nature reserves across Germany have vanished in 25 years, with serious implications for all life on Earth, scientists say

The abundance of flying insects has plunged by three-quarters over the past 25 years, according to a new study that has shocked scientists.

Insects are an integral part of life on Earth as both pollinators and prey for other wildlife and it was known that some species such as butterflies were declining. But the newly revealed scale of the losses to all insects has prompted warnings that the world is “on course for ecological Armageddon”, with profound impacts on human society.

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CliFi – A new way to talk about climate change | John Abraham

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-10-18 20:00

If you’re not familiar with the new genre of climate fiction, you might be soon.

Cli-Fi refers to “climate fiction;” it is a term coined by journalist Dan Bloom. These are fictional books that somehow or someway bring real climate change science to the reader. What is really interesting is that Cli-Fi books often present real science in a credible way. They become fun teaching tools. There are some really well known authors such as Paolo Bacigalupi and Margaret Atwood among others. A list of other candidate Cli-Fi novels was provided by Sarah Holding in the Guardian.

What makes a Cli-Fi novel good? Well in my opinion, it has to have some real science in it. And it has to get the science right. Second, it has to be fun to read. When done correctly, Cli-Fi can connect people to their world; it can help us understand what future climate may be like, or what current climate effects are.

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NSW town aims for 100 per cent renewable energy

ABC Environment - Wed, 2017-10-18 17:25
The New South Wales town of Tyalgum says there's no time to wait for the Federal Government to figure out what it's going to do about Australia's energy future, so it's going 'off grid'.
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Banded stilts fly hundreds of kilometres to lay eggs that are over 50% of their body mass

The Conversation - Wed, 2017-10-18 16:15
A new study gives insight into the strange breeding behaviour of banded stilts. These water birds fly thousand of kilometres to nest in temporary desert salt lakes. Reece Pedler, PhD student, Deakin University Andy T.D. Bennett, Professor, Deakin University Raoul Ribot, Lecturer in Ecology, Deakin University Licensed as Creative Commons – attribution, no derivatives.
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Government set to face fresh legal challenge over air pollution crisis

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-10-18 15:01

Legal NGO ClientEarth to take the government back to court if it fails to set out a new range of measures to tackle Britain’s toxic air

Environmental campaigners are set to take the government back to court over what they say are ministers’ repeated failings to deal with the UK’s air pollution crisis.

ClientEarth, which has already won two court battles against the government, has written a legal letter demanding that the environment secretary Michael Gove sets out a range of new measures to address air pollution which contributes to the deaths of 40,000 people across the UK each year.

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Why Turnbull’s plan could be disaster for renewables, climate, prices

RenewEconomy - Wed, 2017-10-18 14:45
NEG appears to be the most ill-considered, poorly detailed and potentially useless policy that anyone can remember, and a disaster for renewable energy, climate targets and consumer prices. It appears to be the work of Australia's so-called "energy mafia", hungry to retain power of incumbent oligopoly.
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Country diary: the air is heavy with the scent of apples

The Guardian - Wed, 2017-10-18 14:30

St Dominic, Tamar Valley Black Rocks and Crimson Queens and Green Chisel pears – colourful fruit with colourful names on show at Cotehele’s Apple Day

Sheltered from rain, inside the display tent at Cotehele’s Apple Day, the perfume of juice and ripe fruit pervades the damp air. Examples of different varieties are pinned to a board and Mary and James (my sister and brother-in-law) have laid out a lavish array from their orchard of local varieties, gathered on rare dry days during recent weeks.

A basket of pears, decorated with swags of rose hips and sloes, includes the large Aston Town (originally found in a pub garden at Launceston), Green Chisel (possibly the Hastings pear), green sweats, various harvest pears, grey and red Catterns, all awaiting the results of genetic tests to confirm their identities.

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