Environment news

• 'Garnet Planets' Would Be Hostile to Life

  11-01-2017 23:18
  
  Earth's surface is ever-changing, with tectonic plates bumping together to cause earthquakes and volcanoes, grow mountains and replenish and redistribute elements — and that dynamic environment helps life thrive. Planets are mostly made of the same stuff as their stars, and researchers have used that fact to simulate two very different rocky planets: one whose upper mantleis mostly the mineral olivine, like Earth's, and one with a stiff upper mantle made of garnet. According to Johanna Tes
  
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• Arizona city, where going dark is good, sees success in sky

  11-01-2017 23:17
  FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) — A decadeslong commitment to preserving a dark sky for stargazers and wildlife is paying off for a small Arizona city, with satellite images showing far less excess artificial light than cities of comparable size, the National Park Service said.
  
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• PRESSURE FROM GRAZERS HASTENS ECOSYSTEM COLLAPSE FROM DROUGHT

  11-01-2017 22:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  Extreme droughts, intensified by a warming climate, are increasingly causing ecosystem collapse in many regions worldwide. But models used by scientists to predict the tipping points at which drought stress leads to ecosystem collapse have proven unreliable and too optimistic.A new study by scientists at Duke University and Beijing Normal University may hold the answer why.   The researchers found that these tipping points can happen much sooner than current models predict because of t
  
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• CWRU researchers directly measure how perovskite solar films efficiently convert light to power

  11-01-2017 20:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Measurement shows potential for building better solar cells by imaging fundamental properties of the materialSolar cells made with films mimicking the structure of the mineral perovskite are the focus of worldwide research. But only now have researchers at Case Western Reserve University directly shown the films bear a key property allowing them to efficiently convert sunlight into electricity.Identifying that attribute could lead to more efficient solar panels.
  
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• VW diesel settlement blames managers below board level

  11-01-2017 20:41
  Volkswagen agreed a $4.3 billion settlement to resolve the U.S. government's civil and criminal investigations into its diesel emissions cheating on Wednesday, which singled out six senior managers below board level, an attorney and other VW employees for their role in a decade of emissions deception. VW pleaded guilty to three felonies: conspiracy to commit fraud and violate the Clean Air Act, obstruction of justice and entry of goods by false statement. The statement of facts filed in the U.S.
  
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• Changing climate changes soils

  11-01-2017 20:29 via feedproxy.google.com
  The hottest months. The snowiest winters. Catastrophic floods and droughts.Climate change impacts lives across the world in drastic and unpredictable ways. This unpredictability also extends to the more subtle – yet still important – effects of climate change.For example, it is uncertain how climate change will affect soils and their ability to support productive farms or healthy natural ecosystems.
  
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• Oil rises by most in over a month on weak dollar after Trump conference

  11-01-2017 20:20
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Wednesday by the most in over a month, boosted as the U.S. dollar weakened following a news conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and on news that Saudi Arabia had cut exports to Asia. The U.S. dollar collapsed during Trump's remarks, which disappointed investors who had sent the currency to its highest level in a week ahead of this news conference.
  
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• Tillerson says supports keeping Russia sanctions for now

  11-01-2017 20:18
  By Patricia Zengerle and Yeganeh Torbati WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's nominee for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, said on Wednesday he favoured maintaining current U.S. sanctions against Russia for now and that NATO allies were right to be alarmed by Moscow's growing aggression. Tillerson, oil company Exxon Mobil's former chairman and chief executive who had extensive business dealings in Russia, refused to call President Vladimir Putin a war criminal and kept the doo
  
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• Mysterious fossils find place on the tree of life

  11-01-2017 19:04 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say they have solved the mystery surrounding a sea creature that lived more than 500 million years ago.
  
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• World's largest tropical peatland found in Congo basin

  11-01-2017 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Carbon-rich peatlands could store three years’ worth of world’s total fossil fuel emissions, say scientistsScientists have discovered the world’s largest tropical peatland in the remote Congo swamps, estimated to store the equivalent of three year’s worth of the world’s total fossil fuel emissions.Researchers mapped the Cuvette Centrale peatlands in the central Congo basin and found they cover 145,500 sq km – an area larger than England. The swamps could lock
  
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• World's largest peatland with vast carbon-storage capacity found in Congo

  11-01-2017 19:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Carbon-rich peatlands in remote Congo basin could store three years’ worth of world’s fossil fuel emissions, say scientistsScientists have discovered the world’s largest tropical peatland in the remote Congo swamps, estimated to store the equivalent of three year’s worth of the world’s total fossil fuel emissions.Researchers mapped the Cuvette Centrale peatlands in the central Congo basin and found they cover 145,500 sq km – an area larger than England. The sw
  
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• Testing how species respond to climate change

  11-01-2017 18:22 via feedproxy.google.com
  Predicting how species will respond to climate change is a critical part of efforts to prevent widespread climate-driven extinction, or to predict its consequences for ecosystems.
  
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• Oil rises with Wall Street, and as Saudi trims exports to Asia

  11-01-2017 17:51
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for the first time in three days on Wednesday, boosted by an early Wall Street rally ahead of a news conference by U.S. President-elect Donald Trump, and also lifted by news of Saudi supply cuts to Asia. Wall Street shares rose early ahead of the speech in which Trump was expected to provide more details about his plans for the world's largest economy. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) rose $1.30, or 2.6 percent, to $52.12 per barrel.
  
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• Fears mount over Green Investment Bank sale as MPs warn of asset-stripping

  11-01-2017 16:58
  
  MPs have today (11 January) raised concerns over the proposed sale of the Green Investment Bank (GIB) to private investors in a letter which urges Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Secretary Greg Clark to consider the bank's long-term role in the green economy.
  
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• A sudden drop in outdoor temperature increases the risk of respiratory infections

  11-01-2017 16:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  You can pretty much put a mark in your calendar for when the annual flu epidemic begins. Using 20,000 virus samples and weather statistics, researchers have now discovered more details about how outdoor temperature and flu outbreaks are linked.
  
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• Antarctic Science Lab On the Move to Escape Breaking Ice

  11-01-2017 16:46
  
  A British scientific base in Antarctica is on the move to a new location, to avoid being cut adrift by a crack in a floating ice shelf. The British Antarctic Survey (BAS) announced on New Year's Eve that the first module of the Halley VI Research Station was towed by tractors to a new site on the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica's Weddell Sea, 14 miles (23 kilometers) east of its former location. The remaining seven main buildings of the modular research base will be towed to the new site over the
  
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• Ageing Kazakh leader gives green light to constitutional reforms

  11-01-2017 16:39
  Kazakhstan's veteran leader Nursultan Nazarbayev gave the green light on Wednesday for constitutional reforms that could dilute the sweeping powers he has amassed as president and force his eventual successor to share power with other institutions. Kazakhstan, an exporter of oil and metals, is the only former Soviet republic that is still run by its communist-era leader. Now aged 76, Nazarbayev has so far not identified a clear successor and investors fear what may come after him.
  
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• University of Bristol tests how species respond to climate change

  11-01-2017 16:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  Predicting how species will respond to climate change is a critical part of efforts to prevent widespread climate-driven extinction, or to predict its consequences for ecosystems.
  
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• 2016 was 2nd warmest year on record for U.S.

  11-01-2017 16:24 via feedproxy.google.com
  Last year will be remembered as warmer than average for much of the nation, and depending on where you live, 2016 was either parched, soggy — or both.
  
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• Oil rises ahead of U.S. stock data as Saudi trims Asian exports

  11-01-2017 16:21
  By Scott DiSavino NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for the first time in three days on Wednesday ahead of the U.S. weekly inventory data, following news of Saudi supply cuts to Asia. "We expect some bullish OPEC rhetoric to ramp up in an attempt to neutralise the bearish vibes that have emanated from the recent production increases indicated out of Libya, Iran, Iraq and Nigeria," Jim Ritterbusch, president of Chicago-based energy advisory firm Ritterbusch & Associates, said in a note. An
  
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• MPs tell Theresa May to halt sale of Green Investment Bank

  11-01-2017 16:04 via theguardian.com
  
  Caroline Lucas criticises proposed sale to Macquarie due to Australian firm’s ‘appalling track record of asset-stripping’Theresa May has been urged to stop the Green Investment Bank being “killed off” by a sale to private firm Macquarie, amid fears the assets will be stripped and its environmental purpose abandoned.MPs from across the parties raised concerns about the proposed sale in the House of Commons, after Caroline Lucas, co-leader of the Green party, called a
  
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• Government unveils £20m funding for low-carbon freight projects

  11-01-2017 15:35
  
  The UK Government has unveiled £20m investment for firms developing low-carbon vehicle projects as part of an overarching plan for all new cars and vans to be zero-emission by 2040.
  
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• Dear Mr Trump: We need a low-carbon USA, say 600 firms

  11-01-2017 15:29
  
  More than 630 of America's largest companies and investors have renewed calls for President-elect Donald Trump to re-consider his climate change denial stance and support the nation's low-carbon policies.
  
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• Dramatic Man-of-War Takes Top Ocean Art Photography Prize

  11-01-2017 15:15
  
  A dramatic Pacific man-of-war framed against a deep black sea is the subject of one of the winning photos in this year's Ocean Art Underwater Photo Competition. This year is the contest's sixth, and the top "Best in Show" prize went to a photo called "Blue Lasso" by Matty Smith. The photo, which also won the top prize in the wide-angle category, was shot in Bushrangers Bay in New South Wales, Australia.
  
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• Water relief for 8,000 thirsty elephants neglected by Zimbabwe

  11-01-2017 14:07 via theguardian.com
  
  Boreholes set up by local conservationists are saving drought-stricken elephants in Hwange national parkAs a drought-inducing El Niño settled over southern Africa in 2016, the animals of Hwange national park in Zimbabwe faced desperate water shortages.During a heatwave in October, conservation worker Prince Sansole spotted an elephant partially submerged in a muddy pool. His movements initially looked no different from the water games routinely played by the giant creatures. Only a closer
  
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• Trump taps well of protest with calls for more drilling in national parks

  11-01-2017 13:08
  President-elect Donald Trump aims to open up federal lands to more energy development, tapping into a long-running and contentious debate over how best to manage America’s remaining wilderness. With Trump poised to take office on Jan. 20, energy companies and their lobbyists are eyeing a new gusher of federal drilling and mining leases after a period of stagnation under the administration of Barack Obama. Oil output on federal land made up about a fifth of the national total in 2015 - down
  
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• Rex Tillerson is big oil personified. The damage he can do is immense | Bill McKibben

  11-01-2017 13:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Now a fossil fuel executive will run America’s foreign policy, right out in the open. Donald Trump gets credit for a kind of barbaric transparencyIn one of the futile demonstrations that marked the run-up to the Iraq war, I saw a woman with a sign that read “How Did Our Oil End Up Under Their Sand?” In nine words she managed to sum up a great deal of American foreign policy, back at least as far as the 1953 coup that overthrew Mossadegh in Iran and helped toss the Middle East i
  
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• Oil rises as Saudi tells Asian customers of output cuts

  11-01-2017 12:46
  By Amanda Cooper LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices rose for the first time in three days on Wednesday, following news of Saudi supply cuts to Asia, but persistent doubt over output reductions and signs of rising shipments from other producers kept gains in check. Brent crude futures were up 41 cents at $54.05 a barrel by 1133 GMT, while U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures were up 39 cents at $51.21 a barrel. Brent has surrendered nearly 40 percent of the gains made between late November and e
  
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• Cyber threats and climate change ranked as key business concerns by Allianz

  11-01-2017 12:46
  
  Climate change and cyber security have been highlighted as two of the major concerns for companies that are being subjected to an increasingly "unpredictable business environment" in 2017, new research from financial giant Allianz has found.
  
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• Nightmare on the pill

  11-01-2017 11:30 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Millions of women have no problem with the pill but some find it shatters their mental health. Here The Debrief's Vicky Spratt describes years of depression, anxiety and panic.
  
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• Polar bear cam to show bears' response to declining sea ice

  11-01-2017 11:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A camera attached to the neck of a female polar bear shows two bears breaking through ice sheets to hunt for prey.
  
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• Inside the secret lives of polar bears

  11-01-2017 11:22 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A camera attached to the neck of a female polar bear shows two bears breaking through ice sheets to hunt for prey.
  
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• From green bonds to solar roads: France's low-carbon revolution is taking shape

  11-01-2017 11:12
  History was made in France a little over a year ago when national delegates from across the world agreed on a landmark climate deal. With the Paris Agreement now ratified, the host nation is introducing a plethora of fresh green legislation aimed at transforming the way it interacts with the environment.
  
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• How Travis Perkins is exploiting big data to maximise energy savings

  11-01-2017 11:00
  
  Off the back of another successful year of energy reduction, British builders' merchant Travis Perkins is placing an extra focus on data analysis in order to take its energy management strategy onto the next level, the group's energy manager has said.
  
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• Blind mice have sight restored

  11-01-2017 11:00 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Blind mice regain partial vision after stem cell reprogramming
  
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• New species of gibbon discovered in China

  11-01-2017 10:31 via theguardian.com
  
  Newly recognised species given the name ‘Skywalker hoolock gibbon’ by the team that proved it was distinct from other Chinese gibbonsScientists have discovered a new species of gibbon living in south-west China’s rainforests.Although scientists had been studying the primate for some time, new research has revealed it is in fact a different species. Continue reading...
  
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• Tullow founder to step down as CEO, insider to replace him

  11-01-2017 09:10
  By Karolin Schaps LONDON (Reuters) - Tullow Oil's long-serving CEO and founder Aidan Heavey is to step down in April and retire within two years and will be replaced as head of the company by Chief Operating Officer Paul McDade from April, the company said on Wednesday. Heavey, who founded Tullow in 1985 and named it after the Irish town where it was set up, will take over as chairman after the company's annual general meeting on April 26, subject to shareholder approval. "The Board and I have l
  
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• Oil prices rise as details of Saudi supply cuts start to emerge

  11-01-2017 08:28
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil rose on Wednesday, lifted by reports of Saudi supply cuts to Asia, but gains were capped by a lack of detail about the reductions and because of signs of rising supplies from other producers. Prices for Brent futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $53.85 per barrel at 0723 GMT, up 21 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude futures were at $51.07 a barrel, up 25 cents.
  
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• As OPEC cuts, traders send European oil volumes to Asia

  11-01-2017 07:32
  By Florence Tan and Mark Tay SINGAPORE (Reuters) - European and Chinese traders are shipping a record 22 million barrels of crude from the North Sea and Azerbaijan to Asia this month, seeking to plug any supply gap left by OPEC production cuts. Over 11 million barrels of North Sea Forties crude have either been offloaded or are on their way to Asia, adding to a record 11 million barrels of Azeri crude oil from Azerbaijan, Reuters oil trade flows data showed. The record export volumes come on exp
  
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• 'Star Wars gibbon' is new primate species

  11-01-2017 07:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists have found a new species of gibbon living in the tropical forests of south west China.
  
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• Of course farmers fear Brexit, but it could save the British countryside | George Monbiot

  11-01-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Removing the dependency on European money will be painful for rural Britain, but it could be just what our wildlife and agriculture needWe will leave the European Union like a drunk tumbling out of a pub at closing time, perhaps with the barman’s boot on our backside. We’ll find ourselves face down on the pavement wondering what just happened. The idea of an orderly, negotiated exit retreats to the margins of possibility: the more likely outcome is chaotic rupture. Related: This cash
  
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• Bird species vanish from UK due to climate change and habitat loss

  11-01-2017 07:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rising temperatures and crop farming mean birds are disappearing from parts of England, says study, while butterflies and dragonflies are faring betterClimate change has already led to the vanishing of some bird species in parts of England, where intensively farmed land gives them no room to adapt to warming temperatures. The revelation, in a new scientific study, contradicts previous suggestions that birds are tracking global warming by shifting their ranges.The research found that birds that p
  
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• The tiny world in a rotten post top

  11-01-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Wenlock Edge, Shropshire In this miniature pool had fallen a gunk of seeds and leaves, and lawns of algae had spreadSomething about the fencepost grabbed my attention, and instead of watching the path winding through dark trees against the orchestral sweep of a January sky, I picked out small visual notes: moss, water, tree rings on the post. I’d passed this way 100 times; each time was different and each time I’d been looking elsewhere. What brought the fencepost into focus this tim
  
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• Tillerson to face questions on Russian ties at confirmation hearing

  11-01-2017 06:09
  By Lesley Wroughton and Patricia Zengerle WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President-elect Donald Trump's pick for secretary of state, Rex Tillerson, faces tough questioning at his confirmation hearing on Wednesday over his ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin as both Democrats and Republicans worry about Moscow's increasingly aggressive behaviour. The central question facing Tillerson, 64, the former chairman of Exxon Mobil, is how effectively he can transform himself from a Big Oil "dealmaker" to be
  
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• Oil prices edge up on reports of Saudi supply cuts, but details murky

  11-01-2017 04:39
  By Henning Gloystein SINGAPORE (Reuters) - Oil edged up on Wednesday, lifted by reports of Saudi supply cuts to Asia, but prices were prevented from rising further over a lack of detail of these reductions and because of signs of rising supplies from other producers. Prices for Brent crude futures , the international benchmark for oil prices, were trading at $53.75 per barrel at 0316 GMT, up 11 cents from their last close. U.S. West Texas Intermediate (WTI) crude oil futures were at $50.97 a bar
  
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• Crocodile caught near far north Queensland children's playground

  11-01-2017 03:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Wildlife officers warn heavy rains influencing ‘unexpected’ crocodile movements after 1.5 metre reptile initially mistaken for palm frondWildlife officers were called to remove a saltwater crocodile near a children’s playground in far north Queensland on Tuesday, amid warnings that heavy rains were seeing the dangerous reptiles turning up in “unexpected places”.The 1.5 metre crocodile was spotted by residents in a grass area opposite a caravan park playground in Bra
  
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• Mexico's Pemex says protests cause 'critical' border city fuel shortage

  11-01-2017 02:52
  Mexico's oil company, Pemex, is struggling to supply gas stations around the northern border city of Mexicali because of a blockade at a storage site, part of sometimes violent protests and looting over a gasoline price hike. In a post on Twitter on Tuesday afternoon, Pemex said its ability to supply gas stations in Mexicali, across the border from California, had reached "critical levels" because of the blockade of its local storage plant. "No gas stations have any inventory," said Rodrigo Llan
  
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• US lists first bumble bee species as endangered

  11-01-2017 02:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rusty patched bumble bee population plunged nearly 90% since the late 1990sThe rusty patched bumble bee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once familiar to much of North America, was listed on Tuesday as an endangered species, becoming the first wild bee in the continental United States to gain such federal protection.One of several species facing sharp declines, the bumble bee known to scientists as Bombus affinis has plunged nearly 90% in abundance and distribution since the late 1990s, accord
  
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• First US bumblebee species listed as endangered after numbers plummet

  11-01-2017 02:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Rusty patched bumblebee population plunged nearly 90% since the late 1990sThe rusty patched bumblebee, a prized but vanishing pollinator once familiar to much of North America, was listed on Tuesday as an endangered species, becoming the first wild bee in the continental United States to gain such federal protection.One of several species facing sharp declines, the bumblebee known to scientists as Bombus affinis has plunged nearly 90% in abundance and distribution since the late 1990s, according
  
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• 'Puppy talk' - why do we use it and do dogs respond?

  11-01-2017 01:55 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists decode "dog-directed speech" - and they find puppies respond but older dogs ignore it.
  
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