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NTAs: David Attenborough on Blue Planet II's Impact
Python owner was killed by his 8ft-long pet, coroner rules
Dan Brandon kept 10 snakes and 12 tarantulas in his bedroom and was said to be responsible owner
A lover of exotic animals died of asphyxia after his 8ft-long pet African rock python called Tiny wrapped itself around him, a coroner has ruled.
Dan Brandon was found dead by his mother, Babs, in his bedroom in Hampshire, with the python concealed close by.
Continue reading...World's first electric container barges to sail from European ports this summer
Dubbed the ‘Tesla of the canals’, the unmanned vessels will operate on Dutch and Belgian waterways, vastly reducing diesel vehicles and emissions
The world’s first fully electric, emission-free and potentially crewless container barges are to operate from the ports of Antwerp, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam from this summer.
The vessels, designed to fit beneath bridges as they transport their goods around the inland waterways of Belgium and the Netherlands, are expected to vastly reduce the use of diesel-powered trucks for moving freight.
Continue reading...Remote Amazon tribe hit by mercury crisis, leaked report says
Peru’s Health Ministry found shocking contamination among the Nahua, but hasn’t published its full report
An indigenous people living in one of the remotest parts of the Peruvian Amazon has been struck by a mystery mercury epidemic, according to an unpublished Health Ministry report dated 2015 and 2017 seen by the Guardian.
The Nahua only entered into sustained contact with “outsiders” in the mid-1980s, which led to almost 50% of the population dying mainly from respiratory and infectious diseases. Today, numbering less than 500 people, the vast majority live in a village in the Kugapakori, Nahua, Nanti and Others Reserve established for indigenous peoples in “voluntary isolation” and “initial contact” in south-east Peru.
Continue reading...Tasmania: new find of extremely rare red handfish doubles population to 80
Team of divers spent two days searching a reef, and hope more red handfish will be found
Divers in Tasmania have discovered a new population of red handfish, doubling the known population of the elusive and extremely rare fish and raising hopes that more may be found.
Until last week the remaining population of red handfish, Thymichthys politus, was believed to be confined to one 50m long reef in Frederick Henry Bay near Hobart in south-east Tasmania.
Continue reading...UK opposes strong EU recycling targets despite plastics pledge
Exclusive: government accused of hypocrisy as documents show opposition to urban waste plan
The UK government is opposing strong new recycling targets across the EU despite its recent pledge to develop “ambitious new future targets and milestones”, confidential documents have revealed.
A 25-year environment plan was launched earlier in January by the prime minister, Theresa May, who particularly focused on cutting plastic pollution. The plan, aimed partly at wooing younger voters, says “recycling plastics is critical”.
Continue reading...$60 million to save the Great Barrier Reef is a drop in the ocean, but we have to try
Neoen starts on 150MW solar plant in NSW – just a year from initial “idea”
SolarReserve opens Australian HQ ahead of solar tower construction
Construction begins on 212MW wind farm and storage project in S.A.
$1.6 million garden island microgrid project milestone payment
Geoengineering carries ‘large risks’ for the natural world, studies show
Trump’s solar tariff backfires: It hits red states and U.S. taxpayers harder than China
5 reasons why clean energy future can’t be stopped
Kiata wind farm to strengthen Victoria’s energy network
Antarctica's Weddell Sea 'deserves protected status'
Murky world of 'science' journals a new frontier for climate deniers | Graham Readfearn
Deniers have found a platform in emerging publications that publish without rigorous review
There’s a new scientific journal you might not have heard of called the International Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences. It says it “supports scientist who sweats for the real innovation & discovery”.
If that’s a little too sweaty for you, then how about another new journal, also called the International Journal of Earth and Environmental Sciences?
Continue reading...National Trust to create UK sanctuary for endangered butterfly
Heddon Valley in Devon to be haven for high brown fritillary, supported by lottery funding
A beautiful wooded valley on the Devon coast is to be the focus of a project to save the UK’s most endangered butterfly – the high brown fritillary.
Conservationists believe changes to woodland management, such as the abandonment of coppicing, and climate change have contributed to the steep decline of the large, powerful, fast-flying butterfly over the last 50 years.
Continue reading...Musk could pocket $88 billion bonus if Tesla dreams come true
Specieswatch: greater tussock-sedge – safe haven and playground
The tall grass is perfect habitat for vulnerable aquatic species
As a child living deep in the country, the greater tussock sedge, Carex paniculata, provided me with both an adventure playground and a guarantee of getting muddy. This ancient grass, which grows in shallow bogs in pillars up to 1.5 metres high (4ft 11in) and about a metre (3ft 3in) across, often has colonies of 20 or 30 plants close together. The childhood game was to climb on top of one without getting your feet wet and jump from one to the next without falling off into the swamp. An added hazard was (and is) that the leaves are narrow and rough – sharp enough if they slip through your fingers to cut through the skin. So most adventures ended with getting muddy and bloody at the same time.
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