Environment news

• Saudi Arabia, Russia to meet as mood on oil deal shifts - sources

  15-02-2016 23:01
  The world's top two oil exporters Saudi Arabia and Russia will hold talks on Tuesday, sources told Reuters, as producers try to tackle a glut that has pushed prices to their lowest in over a decade. Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak will meet in the Qatari capital Doha, where they will be joined by ministers from OPEC members Qatar and Venezuela. The meeting revives memories of a 2001 encounter between OPEC and non-OPEC producers when OPEC heavy
  
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• Overfishing is as big a threat to humanity as it is to our oceans | Dermot O'Gorman

  15-02-2016 21:53 via theguardian.com
  
  As market leader John West commits to sustainably sourced tuna, WWF Australia CEO says the move will drive fishery reform, helping to provide food security for Pacific islanders as well as save vulnerable marine speciesThere has never been a more urgent time for seafood businesses and fishing nations to make a commitment to sustainability. The world’s oceans are in trouble, with marine life plummeting and the people who are dependent on the sea for income and food left increasingly vulnera
  
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• Saudi Arabia and Russia to meet amid shifting mood on oil cuts - sources

  15-02-2016 21:37
  Saudi Arabia and Russia will hold previously undisclosed talks on Tuesday as the world's top oil producers try to tackle a glut which has pushed prices to their lowest in over a decade, sources told Reuters on Monday. The secret talks between Saudi Arabia's oil minister Ali al-Naimi and his Russian counterpart Alexander Novak will take place in the Qatari capital of Doha and the two men will be joined by ministers from OPEC members Qatar and Venezuela. Such talks have revived memories of the 200
  
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• Oil stages late gains as Saudi, Russia, Venezuela to meet

  15-02-2016 21:28
  Oil prices rose nearly 2 percent on Monday on news that ministers from Saudi Arabia, Russia, Qatar and Venezuela would hold a previously unpublicised meeting in Doha this week, adding to speculation of a global output deal. Russian Energy Minister Alexander Novak will attend the meeting on Tuesday in what would be the largest producer gathering since OPEC's last formal session in early December, sources familiar with the matter told Reuters on Monday. Venezuelan Oil Minister Eulogio Del Pino mad
  
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• Extinct plant discovered in amber

  15-02-2016 20:17 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Biologists describe a new species of extinct plant, based on two fossil flowers that were trapped in chunks of amber for at least 15 million years.
  
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• Shell expects its Brazil output to quadruple by 2020 - CEO

  15-02-2016 20:13
  By Jeb Blount and Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell , Europe's largest oil company, expects to make robust investments in Brazil's offshore resources, hoping to quadruple oil and gas output there by the end of the decade, its chief executive officer said on Monday. CEO Ben van Beurden spoke in Brazil shortly after Shell's $52 billion (36.01 billion pounds) takeover of BG Group Plc , approved in late January, took effect. Thanks to BG's large portfolio of assets in Brazi
  
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• Britain's got talons: the writer raised on raptors

  15-02-2016 20:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Merlin in the Highlands, harriers in the Fens, peregrines in Coventry cathedral … James Macdonald Lockhart on how he travelled the length of Britain to capture the wild beauty of its thriving raptorsThere is a spring-like buoyancy in the air and the rolling countryside of south Warwickshire is filled with the see-sawing song of a great tit. A wood pigeon clatters through the trees where buzzards are nesting, sparrowhawks dash, and red kites float. When James Macdonald Lockhart moved to th
  
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• Most vulnerable EU industries need 100 percent free carbon - France

  15-02-2016 19:10
  Energy intensive industries most likely to leave the European Union because of costs should get all of their EU Emissions Trading System permits free until other major blocs have a carbon price in place, France's economy minister said on Monday. The European Commission is revising its rules for handing out free permits to cushion energy intensive industries, such as the steel sector and oil refiners, from the expense of offsetting emissions on the ETS. "We are calling for the maintenance of a sy
  
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• Oil holds above $33/barrel on hopes OPEC could act

  15-02-2016 18:29
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices were steady on Monday, holding on to last week's gains on speculation that OPEC might agree to cut production to reduce a supply glut that has pushed prices to the lowest in over a decade. "Some traders still think about the chances of an OPEC plus Russia (production) cut and close their short positions," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. Nigeria's oil minister told Reuters the mood inside OPEC was shi
  
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• Marsupial lion 'could climb trees'

  15-02-2016 17:37 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The discovery of claw marks in a bone-filled cave suggests an extinct Australian predator was able to climb and could have threatened humans, scientists say.
  
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• Make a honk for rare geese | Patrick Barkham

  15-02-2016 17:23 via theguardian.com
  
  Climate change is helping many species of wildlife, but not the Greenland white-fronted goose. If the 21 left in Wales look troubled, there’s good reasonOne of the joys of winter is hearing geese honking conversationally to each other as they descend to their roosting sites at twilight. I used to hear Canada geese sail overhead to a Stoke Newington reservoir behind where I lodged in my London days. In Norfolk, the great skeins of pink‑footed geese that congregate on the marshes at Ho
  
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• Fiji becomes first country in the world to ratify Paris agreement

  15-02-2016 16:16 via theguardian.com
  
  Parliament unanimously agree to ratify UN climate treaty ahead of signing ceremony in April in New York, reports BusinessGreenFiji has become the first country in the world to formally approve the UN climate deal agreed by 195 nations in Paris in December.The island nation’s parliament unanimously agreed to ratify the Paris agreement on Friday, according to local news reports. Continue reading...
  
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• Ordnance Survey releases Mars map

  15-02-2016 15:56 via bbc.co.uk
  
  British mapping agency Ordnance Survey has released an easy-to-read map of terrain from the planet Mars.
  
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• What is your dog's IQ?

  15-02-2016 15:16 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers in Scotland are attempting to come up with an easy, fast and reliable canine IQ test. This comes after an initial study showed that much like in humans, intelligence in dogs varies considerably. Similarly to human IQ tests, the canine IQ test used spatial patterns and problem solving to determine an underlying intelligence. To administer the test as fairly as possible the researchers recruited 68 border collies raised on farms in Scotland. They also tested to make sure
  
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• Circular economy boon for Scotland with £70m Investment Fund

  15-02-2016 14:46
  
  A new centre of excellence and an innovative new strategy for manufacturing form part of a major new investment aimed at revolutionising Scotland's circular economy.
  
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• Whale CSI: why sperm whales are washing up dead on British shores

  15-02-2016 14:21 via theguardian.com
  
  Scientists from the UK’s Cetacean Strandings Investigation team are trying to determine the cause of the biggest mass stranding in a centurySlicing cleanly through two inches of skin and blubber, Rob Deaville considers the possible causes of death of the sea mammal on his dissecting table. “It’s a female, juvenile, stranded in north Devon,” he says. “No signs of parasite infestation. It looks healthy. It may have just come too close to shore.”This porpoise, in
  
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• WRAP unveils phase two of England recycling plans

  15-02-2016 14:19
  The Government's Waste & Resources Action Programme (WRAP) has kick-started phase two of its collaborative, cross-industry plan to bring greater consistency to household waste and recycling collections in England.
  
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• Scottish minister worries remaining North Sea oil won't be extracted

  15-02-2016 14:12
  Scotland's finance minister has told the British government he is concerned that some of Britain's remaining North Sea oil will never be recovered as companies active in the area have scaled down investments due to the weak oil price. John Swinney, who is also Scotland's deputy first minister, urged British Chancellor George Osborne in a letter to cut taxes on oil and gas companies and to consider giving loan guarantees to the sector to avoid early field shutdowns and more job losses. Scotland i
  
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• Shell CEO expects Brazil output to quadruple by 2020

  15-02-2016 14:05
  By Jeb Blount and Marta Nogueira RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell, Europe's largest oil company, expects to make robust investments in Brazil's offshore, hoping to quadruple oil and gas output there by the end of the decade, its chief executive officer said on Monday. CEO Ben Van Beurden spoke in Brazil shortly after Shell's $52 billion takeover of rival BG Group Plc, approved in late January, took effect. "We believe in the strong fundamentals of Brazil and the fundamentals of its g
  
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• Energy firms slash green gas prices

  15-02-2016 13:53
  Green energy providers Ecotricity and Good Energy have cut their gas bills by 7% and 7.2% respectively in the wake of falling wholesale prices.
  
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• Is urban farming only for rich hipsters?

  15-02-2016 13:35 via theguardian.com
  
  Farms are springing up in cities across Europe, but if they exclude lower income groups they’ll do little to help shift towards sustainable food systemSpending on ethical food and drink products – including organic, Fairtrade, free range and freedom foods – hit £8.4bn in the UK in 2013, making up 8.5% of all household food sales. By leveraging environmental credentials, such as local, sustainable and transparent production, a new wave of urban agriculture enterprises are
  
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• Why can’t poor countries access the climate finance they were promised?

  15-02-2016 13:24 via theguardian.com
  
  As some of the least developed nations claim they can’t access the Green Climate Fund, NGOs help with the ‘excruciatingly painful’ accreditation processSinking states: the islands facing the effects of climate changeWhen the Green Climate Fund (GCF) was announced at COP16 in 2010, the intention was to give small, developing countries direct access to finance to protect themselves from climate change. Yet many of the smallest and most at-risk countries in the world now claim tha
  
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• 0.01% of Britain's vans are ultra-low emission - FoI figures

  15-02-2016 13:14
  Despite the number of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) on Britain's roads continuing to increase year-on-year, 'green' vans representjust 0.01% of light goods vehicles on the road, according to new analysis from insurance provider Direct Line for Business.
  
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• 0.01% of Britain's vans are ultra-low emission, finds Direct Line

  15-02-2016 13:14
  
  Despite the number of ultra-low emission vehicles (ULEV) on Britain's roads continuing to increase year-on-year, 'green' vans representjust 0.01% of light goods vehicles on the road, according to new analysis from insurance provider Direct Line for Business.
  
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• Bundesbank cuts German inflation forecast after oil dip

  15-02-2016 13:06
  By John O'Donnell FRANKFURT (Reuters) - Germany's Bundesbank slashed its forecast for inflation on Monday, a signal that the same will happen across the wider euro zone, increasing pressure on the European Central Bank to loosen money supply. The German central bank said that the tumbling price of oil meant that price inflation would hover close to zero this year, at 0.25 percent, compared to its earlier prediction of 1.1 percent.
  
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• Help save Britain's seas from governments who make a mockery of marine conservation | George Monbiot

  15-02-2016 12:52 via theguardian.com
  
  On Wednesday, the consultation closes on an outrageous proposal to allow destructive fishing activities in a special area of conservation in Wales. This is the last chance to make our voices heard Governments take the advice they want to hear. As they seek to avoid trouble and find the path of least resistance, they often look for advice that meshes with the demands of industrial lobbyists.This problem has afflicted the life of the sea for many years. Governments consult the scientists who tell
  
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• Why don't we treat climate change with the rigor we give to terror attacks? | Ruth Greenspan Bell

  15-02-2016 12:30 via theguardian.com
  
  They’re both extreme hazards, but evolutionary responses favor real-time threats, not those that take place on an extended time scaleExtreme weather, water shortages and the spread of mosquito-borne diseases like Zika are all having very real effects on everyday realities globally, and they are all linked to a fast-heating earth system. Yet we still don’t treat climate change with the reverence we reserve for something like a terrorist attack. Maybe the blame goes deeper, into our ve
  
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• This climate scientist has tried really hard to get a date | Howard Lee

  15-02-2016 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  A date for disaster: the end-Permian mass extinction event.
  Seth Burgess has, literally, travelled to the ends of the Earth to find a date. Along the way he has endured attacks of giant flesh-eating bee-flies, paddled a raft 60 miles in driving Siberian rain, braved volcanoes in Alaska, and inhaled polluted air in China for weeks on end, all the while hauling pounds of rocks. And all in the name of Science.The date he seeks plays extremely hard to get. Continue reading...
  
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• Ripples came too late for gravity bet

  15-02-2016 11:57 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Two physicists who placed a long-odds bet that gravitational waves would be detected by 2010 say the discovery is "worth much more" than the £2,500 they missed out on.
  
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• Oil extends rally on prospects OPEC could act to counter low prices

  15-02-2016 11:54
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Monday, extending a rally triggered last week by speculation that OPEC might agree to cut production to reduce a supply glut that has pushed prices to the lowest in over a decade. "Some traders still think about the chances of an OPEC plus Russia (production) cut and close their short positions," said Frank Klumpp, oil analyst at Stuttgart-based Landesbank Baden-Wuerttemberg. Non-OPEC member Russia said on Monday it wanted to see improved r
  
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• Sainsbury's ditches 'BOGOF' sales to ease food waste

  15-02-2016 11:36
  Sainsbury's has announced that it is scrapping multi-buy promotions across its food retail outlets in an effort to ease growing customer concerns about food waste and price logistics.
  
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• Pictures of the day: 15 February 2016

  15-02-2016 10:54
  
  Today: Nuns on the run, polo in Lagos and New York Fashion Week
  
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• Shell pursues transition plan after sealing $53 billion BG deal

  15-02-2016 10:51
  By Ron Bousso LONDON (Reuters) - Royal Dutch Shell on Monday sealed the $53 billion (36 billion pounds) acquisition of British rival BG Group to form the world's top liquefied natural gas company, even as slumping oil prices cast a shadow on the upcoming years of transition. The success or otherwise of the complex merger will define the legacy of Shell Chief Executive Ben van Beurden, seeking to transform Shell into a more specialised group focussed on the rapidly growing LNG market and deepwate
  
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• Europe's climate change goals 'need profound lifestyle changes'

  15-02-2016 09:51 via theguardian.com
  
  Leaked European commission document calls for wide-ranging debate on how to keep global warming to 1.5CEuropean countries should prepare for a far-reaching debate on the “profound lifestyle changes” required to limit climate change, according to a leaked European commission document. The commission will tell foreign ministers meeting in Brussels on Monday that a Europe-wide debate is needed on how to limit global warming to 1.5C, according to a staff working document for ministers se
  
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• Russia - Better Iran-Saudi Arabia ties would help oil prices: RIA

  15-02-2016 09:29
  Russia wants to see improved relations between Iran and Saudi Arabia at a time when joint action is needed to influence global oil prices, the RIA news agency on Monday quoted Zamir Kabulov, a senior official at Russia's Foreign Ministry, as saying. "We all need stability on the oil market and a return to normal (crude) prices," RIA quoted Kabulov as saying. "And these are the key nations, especially Saudi Arabia and Iran, which is striving to return to the oil market, anticipating the removal o
  
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• The world's most polluted cities

  15-02-2016 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  This month’s data set graphic by Pete Guest looks at the deaths attributable to air pollution as well as WHO guidelines Continue reading...
  
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• Construction firm uses driver tracking device to slash emissions

  15-02-2016 08:45
  One of the UK's leading construction and engineering companies has seen a 22% reduction in carbon emissions following the implementation of tracking devices in its vehicles to drive a behaviour change campaign.
  
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• Sea Shepherd struggling to find Japan whaling fleet

  15-02-2016 08:20
  
  Environmental activist group Sea Shepherd admitted on Monday it was struggling to find Japanese whaling vessels in the vast Southern Ocean and urged the Australian government to help.
  
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• Ivory trafficking in Africa controlled by a powerful few

  15-02-2016 07:38
  
  Ivory trafficking in Africa, which threatens the survival of elephants, is highly concentrated in a few geographic hotspots and controlled by a powerful few, say scientists who use DNA analysis to track the illegal wildlife trade.
  
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• Six-year-old girl dies after bite from brown snake in northern NSW

  15-02-2016 06:39 via theguardian.com
  
  Girl was bitten at property near Walgett on 5 February, taken to local hospital then airlifted to Sydney Children’s hospital before her condition deterioratedA six-year-old girl has died after being bitten by a brown snake on a property in outback New South Wales.The girl was bitten at a property near Walgett, in the state’s north, on the afternoon of 5 February and was transferred to the local hospital to receive anti-venom. Continue reading...
  
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• A fell that can feel like Everest

  15-02-2016 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Carrock Fell, Lake District “Trough Gully! It’s as good as a Scottish ice climb.” Given that the Highlands are where Britain’s Alpine-style winter climbs are found, here’s praise indeedThe northern outlier of Carrock, 2,168ft (661m), is a craggy dumpling, like its old Cumbrian and Norse name “Rock Fell” suggests. En route to visit Doug Scott I drive past Carrock fell boulders jumbled by the Mungrisdale to Hesket Newmarket road. As abrasive as an angle-gr
  
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• Oil inches down, weak China trade data drags

  15-02-2016 05:54
  The mood inside OPEC is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, Nigeria's oil minister said, adding he will have talks with his Saudi and Qatari counterparts. London Brent crude for April delivery was down 17 cents at $33.19 a barrel by 0427 GMT, hurt by a strong dollar helped by a bounce in U.S. consumer spending. The oil contract jumped $3.30 on Friday after the United Arab Emirates' energy minister was quoted as sa
  
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• Airlines reject criticism of fares after oil price drop

  15-02-2016 05:09
  Global airlines countered allegations of profiteering from low oil prices on Monday after renewed criticism that air fares have failed to come down in line with tumbling fuel costs.The head of the International Air Transport Association told an audience of airline chiefs and regulators in Singapore that industry profitability remained fragile despite a record $36 billion in airline industry profits forecast for 2016. "Certainly lower oil prices have helped, but that impact has been delayed and d
  
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• Utilities need to pay cash for German nuclear exit

  15-02-2016 04:15
  German power companies will be responsible for the full cost of dismantling Germany's nuclear power plants, the chairman of a commission looking at how to safeguard funds to pay for the country's nuclear withdrawal told a German newspaper on Monday. Germany's "big four" utilities -- E.ON , RWE , EnBW and Vattenfall -- have earmarked nearly 40 billion euros (£30.91 billion) in provisions to pay for the dismantling and storage of waste from their nuclear plants, the last of which will be clo
  
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• Oil edges down, pares Friday's jump of over 10 percent

  15-02-2016 03:53
  By Osamu Tsukimori TOKYO (Reuters) - Brent and U.S. crude futures edged down on Monday as a strong dollar weighed on prices, paring gains from a more than 10-percent jump late last week that came amid renewed talk that OPEC might finally agree to cut output to reduce a world glut. The mood inside the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) is shifting from mistrust to a growing consensus that a decision must be reached on how to end the global oil price rout, Nigeria's oil minis
  
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• Van Gogh's bedroom gets digital makeover

  15-02-2016 02:58 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists in Chicago produce a visualisation of van Gogh's Bedroom in Arles, showing what it would have looked like before its colours faded.
  
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• Inquiry backs plan to store world's nuclear waste in outback Australia

  15-02-2016 02:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Draft findings of royal commission in South Australia back nuclear fuel storage and expanded uranium mining, but rule out nuclear energy industryThe storage and disposal of used nuclear fuel from other countries is likely to deliver substantial economic benefits for South Australia, a royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle has found.
  On Monday, the South Australian royal commission released its tentative findings, which backed nuclear fuel storage and left the door open to further uranium
  
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• Inquiry backs dumps to store world's nuclear waste in outback Australia

  15-02-2016 02:42 via theguardian.com
  
  Draft findings of royal commission in South Australia back nuclear fuel storage and expanded uranium mining, but rule out nuclear energy industryThe storage and disposal of used nuclear fuel from other countries is likely to deliver substantial economic benefits for South Australia, a royal commission into the nuclear fuel cycle has found.
  On Monday, the South Australian royal commission released its tentative findings, which backed nuclear fuel storage and left the door open to further uranium
  
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• How accurate is bite mark evidence?

  15-02-2016 02:28 via bbc.co.uk
  
  How accurate is bite mark evidence?
  
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• Watching stars: Female science pioneers

  15-02-2016 01:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Celebrating the forgotten women of astronomy
  
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