Environment news

• Is your football team playing badly? It may be air pollution

  05-03-2016 23:00
  
  Footballers’ performance is affected by particles in the air, says German studyDown the years, professional footballers have blamed a lacklustre performance on many things. Famous explanations have included the ball being too bouncy (Newcastle United); the pitch being too small (Tottenham Hotspur); and the team being forced to play in the wrong colour kit (Manchester United).Now a group of health economists has discovered another reason that should send alarm bells ringing far beyond the w
  
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• 'Ghostlike' octopus found in Pacific may belong to new species

  05-03-2016 22:56
  By Frank McGurty NEW YORK (Reuters) - An underwater research craft has spotted a "ghostlike" octopus that appears to belong to a previously unknown species on the ocean floor near Hawaii, a discovery that highlights how little is known about the deep sea, a U.S. zoologist said on Saturday. The milky white creature, nicknamed "Casper the Friendly Ghost" by Twitter users, was caught on cameras mounted on the craft as it explored the Pacific Ocean at a depth of 4,290 meters, or about 2-1/2 miles, t
  
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• Blast near Novatek's oil field kills one man in Russia - Interfax

  05-03-2016 20:20
  MOSCOW (Reuters) - An explosion near an oil field operated by Russian natural gas producer Novatek killed one man and hurt two other people in Siberia's Yamal region on Saturday, Interfax news agency reported, citing regional emergency officials. Interfax said the accident happened during exploration and blasting works near the Yarudeyskoye field, which started commercial production in 2015, according to Novatek's website. The field reached its planned production capacity of 9,700 tonnes of crud
  
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• Ghost-like 'Casper' octopod discovered

  05-03-2016 17:42 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say a translucent, "ghost-like" octopod discovered in ocean depths near Hawaii is "almost certainly" a new species.
  
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• VIDEO: Burning skin and more... after 340 days in space

  05-03-2016 17:15 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scott Kelly is back in the United States after spending 340 days in space, aboard the International Space Station.
  
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• From rags to riches to rags in 12 years: the extraordinary story of Nathan Tinkler

  05-03-2016 17:06
  
  The prickly Australian tycoon’s fortunes were closely tied to the massive boom – and now bust – in coal and commoditiesIt is a safe bet there will never be another Nathan Tinkler. A former apprentice electrician, Tinkler went from living with his parents to becoming Australia’s youngest ever billionaire – and, last week, going bankrupt. His extraordinary rise and fall took just 12 years, and neatly sums up an unprecedented mining and commodities boom that has now im
  
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• In-N-Out Burger beefs up its promise of antibiotic-free meat

  05-03-2016 17:00
  
  The burger chain is joining a small group of fast food restaurants commiting to using antibiotic-free meatIn-N-Out Burger has long set itself apart with its refusal to use frozen meat, microwaves and heating lamps, and a focus on higher-quality, freshly made food. But it hasn’t stood out in addressing a big public health concern about the tie between drugs used routinely to raise livestock and the increasing number of antibiotic-resistant infections in humans.
  That’s changing. The bu
  
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• Ghostly-white octopus discovered near Hawaiian Islands – video

  05-03-2016 14:14
  
  Video footage released by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, shows a small light-coloured octopus 2.5 miles deep in the Pacific Ocean floor near the Hawaiian Islands. The discovery was made on February 27, with scientists saying that they might have discovered a new speciesOctopus dubbed Casper the friendly ghost could be new species Continue reading...
  
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• Pictures of the day: 5th March 2016

  05-03-2016 11:44
  
  Today: Snowy owls, fields of foil and stormy skies
  
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• Newly discovered ghost-like deep sea octopus fondly dubbed Casper could be new species

  05-03-2016 10:28
  In an unexpected turn of events, deep sea explorers have made a new discovery of a ghost-like octopus, which may turn out to be an entirely new species. A team of scientists aboard the Okeanos Explorer, which is a National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) ship, made the discovery near Necker Island. Michael Vecchione, a zoologist with the NOAA, said the octopus was found swimming slowly at a depth of about 2.5 miles.
  
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• Iran oil and gas condensate exports to reach 2 million barrels per day by end March - Shana

  05-03-2016 09:05
  DUBAI (Reuters) - Iran's oil and gas condensate exports would reach 2 million barrels per day by the end of March, director of international affairs at National Iranian Oil Co (NIOC) was quoted as saying by the oil ministry's news agency SHANA on Saturday. "The gas condensate sells more slowly than the crude oil, but we expect its sales to become even faster than the crude oil's in the future," Mohsen Ghamsari added. (Reporting by Bozorgmehr Sharafedin. Editing by Jane Merriman)
  
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• Octopus dubbed Casper the friendly ghost could be new species

  05-03-2016 08:31
  
  Small, ghostly-white octopus was found in the deep sea off Hawaii and has been likened to the beloved cartoon characterScientists say they have discovered what might be a new species of octopus while searching the Pacific Ocean floor near the Hawaiian Islands.On 27 February, a team found a small light-coloured octopus at a depth of about 2.5 miles.Continue reading...
  
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• Bats at large, unseasonably, on a mild winter afternoon

  05-03-2016 06:30
  
  Harlech The light was fading, but those small round wings, and the sound they made, could only belong to a batIn the woods at the end of a sunlit afternoon, clouds of gnats swirled in slant shafts of light filtering through bare oak branches. The temperature held unseasonably mild even as the sun poured itself like melting wax behind the western peninsula.I was aware of the presence before I saw it. It fluttered erratically into view on rounded wings, quartered several times the space the gnats
  
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• SpaceX launches communications satellite but botches sea landing

  05-03-2016 05:15
  By Irene Klotz CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida and thrust a communications satellite into orbit on Friday, but the launch vehicle's reusable main-stage booster was destroyed when it failed to land itself on an ocean platform, the company said. It marked the fourth botched at-sea return landing attempt for Elon Musk's privately owned Space Exploration Technologies, though a Falcon main-stage rocket did achieve a successful ground-based touchdown
  
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• VIDEO: Fifth time lucky for SpaceX rocket?

  05-03-2016 02:34 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Commercial space company SpaceX has successfully launched a satellite into space, but failed in an attempt to land a rocket booster on a platform at sea in order to re-use it.
  
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• SpaceX rocket destroyed in failed ocean landing attempt

  05-03-2016 02:15
  CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. (Reuters) - A SpaceX Falcon rocket thrust a communications satellite into orbit on Friday before the reusable main-stage booster turned around, soared back towards Earth and was destroyed when it failed to land itself on a platform in the ocean, the company said. SpaceX, owned and operated by technology entrepreneur Elon Musk, previously said the chances of a successful return landing of the rocket's main stage at sea were slim, given its high speed when it separated from th
  
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• SpaceX Rocket Misses Landing at Sea After Successful Satellite Launch

  05-03-2016 02:12
  
  After a series of delays, a SpaceX rocket soared into space to successfully deliver a commercial satellite into orbit, but couldn't quite manage to stick the landing during an audacious attempt to touch down on a drone ship at sea. SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket blasted off in a brilliant launch from Florida's Cape Canaveral Air Force Station in Florida tonight, March 4, at 6:35 p.m. EST (2335 GMT). It's mission: Deliver the SES-9 commerical communications satellite into orbit for its Luxembourg-based
  
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• Running with the hyenas of Addis Ababa

  05-03-2016 02:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Where an early morning jog attracts scary companions
  
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• Death valley bursts into bloom – in pictures

  05-03-2016 01:00
  
  Death valley, the hottest and driest place in North America, is famous for its spectacular spring wildflower displays: only under perfect conditions does this desert fill with life. Heavy rain last autumn has led to the rare super blooms of 1998 and 2005 being repeated in this Spring Continue reading...
  
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• SpaceX rocket blasts off on satellite-delivery mission

  05-03-2016 00:56
  A SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket blasted off from Florida on Friday on a satellite-delivery mission that was to involve an attempt to make a return landing at sea. There was no immediate word from Elon Musk’s privately owned Space Exploration Technologies on whether the first stage of the rocket returned intact to a landing platform floating in the Atlantic Ocean off Florida. The rocket, carrying the 12,613-pound (5,721 kg) Boeing-built satellite, lifted off from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station a
  
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• Brazil's Lula detained in corruption probe; Rousseff objects

  05-03-2016 00:38
  By Brad Haynes and Anthony Boadle SAO PAULO/BRASILIA (Reuters) - Former Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva was briefly detained for questioning on Friday in a federal investigation of a vast corruption scheme, fanning a political crisis that threatens to topple his successor, President Dilma Rousseff. Lula's questioning in police custody was the highest profile development in a two-year-old graft probe centred on the state oil company Petrobras , which has rocked Brazil's political an
  
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• VIDEO: Evidence may link Zika and birth defects

  05-03-2016 00:06 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Researchers in the United States say they may have found the first evidence that the Zika virus does cause birth defects in babies.
  
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