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GENE SWEEP: Whether we prefer to get up at the crack of dawn or work late into the night may be influenced by genes connected to the circadian rhythm, a new study suggests.

Spread says it will open the fully automated farm with robots handling almost every step of the process

A Japanese company is to open the world’s first “robot farm”, as agriculture joins other sectors of the economy in attempting to fill labour shortages created by the country’s rapidly ageing population.

Spread, a vegetable producer, said industrial robots would carry out all but one of the tasks needed to grow the tens of thousands of lettuces it produces each day at its vast indoor farm in Kameoka, Kyoto prefecture, starting from mid-2017.

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GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Cybercriminals have set up highly developed businesses in the shady world of the 'dark net'. Dr Karl explains how they make money from stolen credit cards.

Commonwealth Environmental Water Holder first watering event to Banrock Station

Draft Reef 2050 Policy Guideline for Decision Makers released for public comment. Submissions close Friday 26 February 2016.

Local reports were confirmed when a population of previously unknown lions was caught on camera trap in the remote Alatash national park

Conservationists have announced the “amazing discovery” of a previously unknown lion population in a remote north-western region of Ethiopia, confirming local reports with camera trap photographs for the first time.
Lions were spotted in the Alatash national park on Ethiopia’s border with Sudan, lion conservation group Born Free said.
“The confirmation that lions persist in this area is exciting news,” Born Free Foundation said in a statement. “With lion numbers in steep decline across most of the African continent, the discovery of previously unconfirmed populations is hugely important.” Hans Bauer, a lion conservationist from Oxford University who led the tracking expedition in Ethiopia, said there could be up to 200 lions in the area. “Considering the relative ease with which lion signs were observed, it is likely that they are resident throughout Alatash and Dinder [in Sudan],” he said. “On a total surface area of about 10,000 square kilometres, this would mean a population of 100-200 lions for the entire ecosystem, of which 27-54 would be in Alatash,” he said.

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Announcement of the outcomes of the 2015-16 Solar Towns Programme (Round 2). 17 applications were successful under the round.

Announcement of the outcomes of the 2015-16 Solar Towns Programme (Round 2). 17 applications were successful under the round.

Wetlands Australia: National Wetlands Update February 2016 issue now available.

A shark surprises visitors to a South Korean aquarium on Thursday by eating another smaller shark. The footage shows a large sand tiger shark slowly swallowing a smaller banded hound shark over the course of a day, leaving only the tip of the tail visible on Friday

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YouGov study for Sainsbury’s reveals high cost of Britain’s food waste, with the average family of four throwing away the equivalent of 11 meals – or nearly £60 – a month

British families squander twice as much money on food waste each month as they think they do, according to YouGov research commissioned by Sainsbury’s.

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The call for applications for funding through the Protecting National Historic Sites programme is now open. Applications close Thursday 25 February 2016

If neonicotinoids no longer work against the elusive and resilient creatures, bed bugs will continue to thrive despite exterminators’ efforts

Bed bugs have developed a resistance to neonicotinoids, a group of the most widely used insecticides, according to a new study published in the Journal of Medical Entomology.

Products developed over the past few years to control bed bugs combine neonicotinoids, or neonics, with pyrethroids, another class of insecticide.

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Oxford University research also finds Australian, Chinese and US coal-fired power stations are the most vulnerable to environmental dangers

Australian thermal coalmines are some of the riskiest in the world for investors because of their exposure to environmental dangers, according to a report from Oxford University.

The report – which was supported by Norges Bank Investment Management, managers of Norway’s government pension fund, the world’s largest sovereign wealth fund – also found that Australian, Chinese and US coal-fired power stations were the most vulnerable to environmental risks.

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Every year, the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch asks members of the British public to spend an hour during the last weekend of January counting birds in parks and gardens to get a national snapshot of numbers. Ahead of this weekend’s event - which has grown to become the world’s largest garden wildlife survey - can you identify these common garden bird species?

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GREAT MOMENTS IN SCIENCE: Criminals don't need to steal your credit card to get your information. There are many other sneaky ways they nab your details, says Dr Karl.

Thermal expansion of the oceans as they warm is likely to be twice as large as previously thought, according to German researchers

The amount of sea level rise that comes from the oceans warming and expanding has been underestimated, and could be about twice as much as previously calculated, German researchers have said.

The findings in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, a peer-reviewed US journal, suggest that increasingly severe storm surges could be anticipated as a result.

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Department for Transport gives £40m fund to eight towns and cities as part of a drive to boost the uptake of cleaner cars

UK cities are to allow electric car drivers to beat congestion by using bus lanes, as part of a government drive to encourage uptake of the cleaner vehicles.

Milton Keynes and Derby will copy similar measures in Norway and allow the cars to drive in miles of bus lanes, while owners in Hackney will be able to plug in at street lights. York drivers will be able to recharge their batteries at a solar-powered park-and-ride and electric car owners in Bristol and Milton Keynes will be allowed to park for free.

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Four sperm whales die after getting stranded in shallow British waters over the weekend. Three of the whales are believed to have died in sea before washing up on Saturday on a beach in Skegness, on the Lincolnshire coast, according to British officials

• Three dead sperm whales wash up on Skegness beach

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Scientists believe whales are from same pod as one that died on a Norfolk beach and are worried about surviving members

Three dead sperm whales have washed up on a beach near Skegness. Crowds flocked to see the creatures, believed to be from the same pod as one that died on Hunstanton beach in Norfolk, despite efforts to help it back into deeper water after it became stranded.

Scientists are now concerned about any surviving members of the pod, thought to have comprised at least six whales.

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