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Will this rover succeed in exploring the Moon's surface?
Sussex chemical haze: MPs criticise decision to curtail investigation
Concern grows that cause of toxic plume last month, which left 150 people seeking hospital treatment, may never be known
MPs have criticised a decision to wind down an investigation into the mysterious chemical haze that caused Sussex beaches to be evacuated and left dozens of people reporting sore eyes and breathing problems.
Victims of the incident, after which 150 people sought hospital treatment, expressed alarm that they may never know the cause of the toxic plume that gave them sore throats for weeks after it drifted on to Birling Gap and other beaches on 27 August.
Continue reading...Monsanto banned from European parliament
MEPs withdraw parliamentary access after the firm shunned a hearing into allegations that it unduly influenced studies into the safety of glyphosate used in its RoundUp weedkiller
Monsanto lobbyists have been banned from entering the European parliament after the multinational refused to attend a parliamentary hearing into allegations of regulatory interference.
It is the first time MEPs have used new rules to withdraw parliamentary access for firms that ignore a summons to attend parliamentary inquiries or hearings.
Continue reading...Embryo: Precise 'chemical surgery' performed
Dirty laundry a powerful magnet for bedbugs, study finds
To sleep tight and dodge the bedbug’s bite, pack away worn clothes to avoid spreading the insects, which are attracted to human scent, travellers advised
After a long day of sightseeing in a foreign city, you might be tempted to kick off your socks, sling your sweaty T-shirt across your hotel room room and flop down on the bed. Think again.
Dirty laundry acts as a powerful magnet for bedbugs, a study published in the journal Scientific Reports has found. Its authors have warned that a failure to securely pack away clothes while travelling may explain why populations of biting parasites have soared during the past decade.
Continue reading...'Virtual flu'
New species of giant rat discovered on the Solomon Islands
Satellite eye on Earth: August 2017 – in pictures
Greenland wildfires, deforestation and tropical storm Harvey are among the images captured by Nasa and the ESA last month
Tropical storm Harvey in the Gulf of Mexico on 24 August. This geocolor image appears differently depending on whether it is day (right of the image) or night (left).
Continue reading...Climate and energy are becoming focal points in state political races | John Abraham
The latest example, Minnesota gubernatorial candidate Rebecca Otto has a strong clean energy proposal
As soon as Donald Trump won the presidential election, people in the US and around the world knew it was terrible news for the environment. Not wanting to believe that he would try to follow through on our worst fears, we held out hope.
Those hopes for a sane US federal government were misplaced. But they are replaced by a new hope – an emerging climate leadership at the state level and a continuation of economic forces that favor clean/renewable energy over dirty fossil fuels. In fact, it appears that some states are relishing the national and international leadership roles that they have undertaken. Support for sensible climate and energy policies is now a topic to run on in elections.
Continue reading...Leuser ecosystem: one of most biodiverse places on Earth under threat – in pictures
The Leuser ecosystem spans 2.6m hectares into the Indonesian provinces of Aceh and North Sumatra. It’s the only place in the world where tigers, orangutans, rhinos and elephants coexist in the wild. But it’s under threat from agricultural industries, including palm oil
Continue reading...Research Filter: Ancient wombats, panda habitats and gravitational waves
SENG National Conference, Melbourne October 18-19
More wind and solar – the answer to all Turnbull’s energy problems
FRV reaches financial close on 100MW Lilyvale solar farm
European countries spend billions a year on fossil fuel subsidies, survey shows
Survey of 11 European countries reveals huge government subsidies to the transport sector and for fuels such as gas
Governments of 11 European nations are providing subsidies totalling more than £80bn a year to fossil fuel industries, green campaigners have claimed.
Transport fuels account for the lion’s share of the support to fossil fuels. Many of the 11 countries surveyed encourage drivers to use diesel as it produces less carbon per mile than petrol, despite the fuel’s effects on air pollution which is particularly harmful to children. For many years, governments had incentives to prioritise the use of diesel, as it helped them meet internationally-set carbon reduction targets.
Continue reading...DNA surgery on embryos removes disease
Country diary: London park heron
Clissold Park, London Folded in on itself, the grey heron is still, only slightly moving its head to watch the water for an eel or frog
Old Spear-Face crouches in the rushes. The great grey heron has folded itself, all beak and eye, wing and leg, invisibly for such a large bird, into the watery edge of bulrushes in a park busy with people. Perhaps the people pretend not to notice the heron so the heron believes it really is invisible; they may steal a glance at each other from different realities in the same place but their gazes never meet.
Old Spear-Face is still, only slightly moving its head to watch the water for an eel or frog, while the surface reflects the finest autumn afternoon, high clouds and rumours of change in the trees. The bird’s eye, with its golden ring, has a determined look, like that of self-conscious cyclists, sellers of socialist papers, wedding photographers, proprietors of food stalls. Its wings cloak its body in plumy tassels of grey, and the scaly stick of its one leg (or so it seems) is jammed into the mud of the New river.
Continue reading...Future Grid teams with WattWatchers to tap demand response energy market
Global carbon emissions stood still in 2016, offering climate hope
The new data is a welcome sign of progress in the battle against global warming but many challenges remain, including methane from cattle
Global emissions of climate-warming carbon dioxide remained static in 2016, a welcome sign that the world is making at least some progress in the battle against global warming by halting the long-term rising trend.
All of the world’s biggest emitting nations, except India, saw falling or static carbon emissions due to less coal burning and increasing renewable energy, according to data published on Thursday by the Netherlands Environmental Assessment Agency (NEAA). However other mainly developing nations, including Indonesia, still have rising rates of CO2 emissions.
Continue reading...ARENA backs RayGen solar tower technology with $4.8m investment
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