Environment news

• Oil pushes higher on Iran sanctions, jobs data

  03-02-2017 22:07
  By David Gaffen NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices rose on Friday after the United States imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities, days after the White House rebuked Tehran for a ballistic missile test. The strong U.S. January jobs figure was also supportive, as it suggests ongoing strength in energy demand. Front-month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures settled up 29 cents, or 0.5 percent, to $53.83.
  
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• Human activity degrades Natural World Heritage Sites

  03-02-2017 21:10 via feedproxy.google.com
  A report published in the journal Biological Conservation finds that recent increases in human pressure and forest loss are causing the degradation of over 100 Natural World Heritage Sites (NWHS) globally.
  
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• China to protect areas of high ecological importance identified by Stanford researchers

  03-02-2017 21:06 via feedproxy.google.com
  China leads the world in greenhouse gas emissions. Its biggest cities are shrouded in smog. And the country’s population is 1.4 billion people and growing. At least to the rest of the world, China isn’t known as a leader in environmental mindfulness.
  
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• Plan to return the lynx splits friends and families in Kielder Forest community

  03-02-2017 19:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Northumberland nature reserve community at odds over application to import six of the mammals from SwedenIt is the idyllic nature reserve where walkers roam among roe deer and red squirrel while star-gazers enjoy the biggest expanse of dark sky in the whole of Europe.
  But there’s a blot on the horizon over Kielder Forest, in Northumberland, thanks to highly contentious plans to reintroduce the Eurasian lynx.Continue reading...
  
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• Oil pushes higher as U.S. Treasury announces sanctions on Iran

  03-02-2017 19:00
  By Libby George and David Gaffen LONDON/NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil prices jumped on Friday after the United States on Friday imposed sanctions on some Iranian individuals and entities, days after the White House put Tehran "on notice" over a ballistic missile test. Front month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 24 cents to $53.78, after closing 34 cents down on Thursday, as of 12:22 p.m. ET (1722 GMT). Volume in U.S. crude futures was relatively low on Friday, with about 335,000 co
  
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• Toshiba exit could scrap plans for new nuclear power plant in Cumbria

  03-02-2017 18:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Government urged to seek new investors to save Moorside project as key partner considers leaving consortiumPlans for a new nuclear power station in Cumbria are likely to be scrapped due to a key backer pulling out, creating a major hole in the government’s nuclear strategy.Two industry sources close to the process said Toshiba had privately decided to quit the consortium behind the planned Moorside plant, echoing sources who told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal that the Japanese compan
  
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• Blow to UK nuclear strategy as Toshiba considers pulling out of Cumbria plant

  03-02-2017 18:29 via theguardian.com
  
  Government urged to seek new investors to save Moorside project after concerns key partner will leave consortiumPlans for a new nuclear power station in Cumbria are likely to be scrapped after a key backer pulled out, creating a major hole in the government’s nuclear strategy.Two industry sources close to the process said Toshiba had privately decided to quit the consortium behind the planned Moorside plant, echoing sources who told Reuters and the Wall Street Journal that the Japanese com
  
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• WRAP: Consumer demand creating economic opportunities for resource management

  03-02-2017 18:17
  
  The private sector can progress waste reduction methods and promote recycling and reuse by building new business models around the consumer, WRAPs technical specialist Greg Lucas has claimed.
  
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• Britain's FTSE enjoys best day of 2017 as oils and banks rally

  03-02-2017 18:00
  By Kit Rees and Atul Prakash LONDON (Reuters) - Britain's top share index climbed to a one-week high on Friday and recorded its best one-day rise so far this year, with a rally in energy and banking stocks eclipsing weaker miners. Energy shares were supported by a rise in oil prices amid speculation about possible new sanctions on Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump said "nothing is off the table" in response to Tehran's test launch of a missile. The UK oil and gas index rose 1.3 percent, boo
  
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• Heathrow 'surprised' as Government omits air quality regulation from plans

  03-02-2017 17:48
  
  Heathrow Airport has today (3 January) urged the Government to ensure independent regulation of the air quality impact of the Airport's expansion, a day after ministers launched a consultation on proposals for the third runway.
  
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• Fukushima, Brexit and the Amazon coral reef – green news roundup

  03-02-2017 17:28 via theguardian.com
  
  The week’s top environment news stories and green events. If you are not already receiving this roundup, sign up here to get the briefing delivered to your inbox Continue reading...
  
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• Innovate UK backs fresh wave of cleantech projects with £15m fund

  03-02-2017 16:56
  
  A new £15m fund from the UK Government will support low-carbon projects such as rapid charging for electric vehicles (EVs), 3D printing and drone technology innovations.
  
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• Flipping the switch on ammonia production

  03-02-2017 16:43 via feedproxy.google.com
  Nearly a century ago, German chemist Fritz Haber won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for a process to generate ammonia from hydrogen and nitrogen gases. The process, still in use today, ushered in a revolution in agriculture, but now consumes around one percent of the world’s energy to achieve the high pressures and temperatures that drive the chemical reactions to produce ammonia.Today, University of Utah chemists publish a different method, using enzymes derived from nature, that generates
  
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• Change in astronaut's gut bacteria attributed to spaceflight

  03-02-2017 16:33 via feedproxy.google.com
  Northwestern University researchers studying the gut bacteria of Scott and Mark Kelly, NASA astronauts and identical twin brothers, as part of a unique human study have found that changes to certain gut “bugs” occur in space.The Northwestern team is one of 10 NASA-funded research groups studying the Kelly twins to learn how living in space for a long period of time -- such as a mission to Mars -- affects the human body. While Scott spent nearly a year in space, his brother, Mark, rem
  
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• Indian authorities impound ships, detain crew over oil spill

  03-02-2017 16:20
  Port authorities in Chennai have impounded a BW LPG vessel and a local ship carrying heavy fuel oil, and detained their crews, a spokesman for the port said on Friday, after their collision last week caused an oil spill affecting marine life and local fishing. About 20 tonnes of heavy fuel oil leaked and a complete clean-up is expected to take eight to 10 days, according to an Indian coast guard spokesman. BW Maple, with a total capacity of 82,000 cubic metres of liquefied petroleum gas, was hal
  
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• Belarus says Russia made oil threat, calls border plan a political attack

  03-02-2017 16:05
  MINSK/MOSCOW (Reuters) - Belarussian President Alexander Lukashenko said on Friday a Russian move to create border zones near his country's frontier looked like a political attack and that Moscow had threatened to halve oil supplies to Minsk. Speaking at a marathon news conference which lasted over seven hours, Lukashenko said he sensed Russia was afraid his country, a long-time ally, would move too far out of Moscow's orbit. "Russia has become wary that Belarus could turn to the West," said Luk
  
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• A new study confirms: Pregnant women should avoid liquorice

  03-02-2017 15:59 via feedproxy.google.com
  Liquorice and its natural sweetener, glycyrrhizin, can have long-term harmful effects on the development of the fetus. 
  
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• Mathematically optimizing traffic lights in road intersections

  03-02-2017 15:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  Traffic modeling has been of interest to mathematicians since the 1950s. Research in the area has only grown as road traffic control presents an ever-increasing problem. Generally, models for traffic flow in road networks are time-dependent and continuous, that is, they describe traffic by a continuum rather than as individual drivers or cars. These macroscopic models describe the temporal and spatial evolution of traffic density without predicting traffic patterns of individuals.  In
  
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• Number of Children Emerging as Cardiovascular Risk Factor for Both Parents

  03-02-2017 15:53 via feedproxy.google.com
  Sophia Antipolis, 3 February 2017: Number of children is emerging as a novel factor that influences the risk for some cardiovascular diseases (CVD), and in some societies in both parents, according to Professor Vera Regitz-Zagrosek, chairperson of the European Society of Cardiology “management of CVD During Pregnancy” guidelines task force.
  
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• Researchers investigate decline in forest-birds

  03-02-2017 15:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  Forest-dwelling bird species are disappearing from some of South Africa's indigenous forests, with forest birds in the Eastern Cape being the most affected.
  
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• Great Barrier Reef building coral under threat from poisonous seaweed

  03-02-2017 15:45 via feedproxy.google.com
  World-first research on the Great Barrier Reef has shown how ‘weed-like’ algae will kill vital coral because of increased carbon dioxide concentrations in the atmosphere.
  
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• Study traces black carbon sources in the Russian Arctic

  03-02-2017 15:39 via feedproxy.google.com
  According to a new study published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 35% of black carbon in the Russian Arctic originates from residential heating sources, 38% comes from transport, while open fires, power plants, and gas flaring are responsible for only 12%, 9%, and 6% respectively. These estimates confirm previous work for some areas of the European Arctic, but for Siberia, the findings differ from previous research, which had suggested that contribution from
  
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• Battling corrosion to keep solar panels humming

  03-02-2017 15:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  People think of corrosion as rust on cars or oxidation that blackens silver, but it also harms critical electronics and connections in solar panels, lowering the amount of electricity produced.“It’s challenging to predict and even more challenging to design ways to reduce it because it’s highly dependent on material and environmental conditions,” said Eric Schindelholz, a Sandia National Laboratories materials reliability researcher who studies corrosion and how it affect
  
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• Allianz sponsors gamification scheme to enhance efficiency for UK van fleets

  03-02-2017 14:48
  
  The UK's second largest fleet insurer Lightfoot has turned to gamification to encourage higher levels of driving efficiency amongst its customers, through a new sponsored partnership with Allianz Insurance.
  
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• Sweden criticises US climate stance as it reveals ambitious carbon emissions law

  03-02-2017 14:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Prime minister Stefan Löfven calls the Trump administration’s approach worrying as he announces new law binding future governments to a goal of carbon neutrality by 2045Sweden has criticised the Trump administration’s approach to climate policy as it announced legislation binding future governments to a goal of phasing out greenhouse gas emissions by 2045, among the most ambitious by any developed nation.“The position we hear from the new [US] administration is worrying,&r
  
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• Protected Nature Areas Protect People, Too

  03-02-2017 14:04 via feedproxy.google.com
  A group of scientists is recommending giving the world’s nature reserves a makeover to defend not only flora and fauna, but people, too.Scientists in this week’s Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences argue that the world’s protected areas such as nature reserves, traditionally havens for endangered animals and plants, can be made better if they ratchet up benefits that directly help people. The world’s nature reserves not only defend nature for nature&rsquo
  
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• Online reuse hub could save universities £1m in 2017

  03-02-2017 13:55
  
  British universities have been tasked with saving £1m this year by internally sharing resources through an online reuse scheme.
  
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• Ancient 'Naked' Worm Did a Little Dance to Catch Seafood

  03-02-2017 13:42
  About 500 million years ago, a squishy, thumb-size sea creature did a little dance — waving its upper limbs around in the ocean in a never-ending attempt to ensnarl some tasty morsels floating by. Researchers found the remains of this newly identified critter in the Burgess Shale deposit, a world-famous area in the Canadian Rockies that's brimming with animal fossils from the Cambrian Period (540 million to 490 million years ago). "The Burgess Shale is certainly no stranger of already biza
  
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• Three aims mobile reuse scheme towards disadvantaged communities

  03-02-2017 13:41
  
  Communications provider Three UK is attempting to connect disadvantaged citizens to the digital world, through a new recycling donation scheme aimed at redistributing unused mobile phones across the nation.
  
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• RSPB logged 200 reports of crimes against birds of prey in 2015

  03-02-2017 13:41 via theguardian.com
  
  Charity calls for tougher legislation to prevent shooting, poisoning and trapping of birds such as peregrine falcons, red kites, buzzards and hen harriersAlmost 200 reports of shooting, trapping and destruction of birds of prey were received by the RSPB in 2015, the charity said. Some 64 out of the 196 reports were confirmed, including the shooting or attempted shooting of 46 birds of prey, including 16 buzzards, 11 peregrines, three red kites, one red-footed falcon and one hen harrier, a new re
  
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• A Century of Habitat Loss Affects Genetics of Endangered Bird

  03-02-2017 13:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  A new study analyzes the genetic diversity and population structure of the California Ridgway’s rail, Rallus obsoletus, a state and federally-listed endangered bird. The results demonstrate that the so-called “rails” are experiencing negative genetic effects following more than a century of salt marsh habitat loss from agriculture, commercial salt production and urban development.
  
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• Foreign flights to slip under the radar of EU emissions limits

  03-02-2017 13:18
  By Julia Fioretti BRUSSELS (Reuters) - International flights in and out of the European Union could be exempted from emissions limits for at least another four years to give the United Nations time to implement a global system to curb pollution from planes. The EU proposed extending the exemption, which was set to end at the start of 2017, on Friday to avoid a repeat of tensions when it tried to include all flights in 2012. Airlines who back the ICAO deal, which will not be mandatory until 2027,
  
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• Premier Oil agrees debt restructuring deal after months of wrangling

  03-02-2017 13:11
  North Sea-focused Premier Oil , which has struggled to contain its $2.8 billion (£2.24 billion) debt pile, has agreed further terms with lenders to stretch out repayment of its debt after months of wrangling. Premier has agreed to pay an additional 1.5 percent interest on debt repayments and to issue equity warrants to lenders equivalent to around 15 percent in the company's issued shares, the company said. Premier's debt rose after it bought the North Sea assets of German energy company E
  
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• Will turtles and tourism always be at loggerheads?

  03-02-2017 12:53 via theguardian.com
  
  Zakynthos has some fascinating wildlife, but the Greek island’s biggest stars, its loggerhead turtles, are dying out – partly because of their popularity“See turtles or your money back,” says the sign on the beach. A smiling local hands out fliers and shakes the hands of passersby; occasionally they stop and a few Euros change hands. Looking across the bay, there are five or six more operations that either rent out small boats with 20hp outboard motors to “visit Mar
  
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• Oil pushes higher on worries over new U.S. sanctions on Iran

  03-02-2017 12:33
  By Libby George LONDON (Reuters) - Oil prices edged higher on Friday in response to the possibility of new sanctions on Iran after U.S. President Donald Trump said "nothing is off the table" in dealing with the country after its test launch of a missile. Comments by Russian energy minister Alexander Novak that oil producers had cut their output as agreed under a deal with OPEC, also helped to support prices, analysts said. Front month U.S. West Texas Intermediate crude futures climbed 25 cents t
  
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• Fukushima radiation levels at highest level since 2011 meltdown

  03-02-2017 11:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Extraordinary readings pile pressure on operator Tepco in its efforts to decommission nuclear power stationRadiation levels inside a damaged reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station are at their highest since the plant suffered a triple meltdown almost six years ago.
  The facility’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said atmospheric readings as high as 530 sieverts an hour had been recorded inside the containment vessel of reactor No 2, one of three reactors that experie
  
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• Fukushima nuclear reactor radiation at highest level since 2011 meltdown

  03-02-2017 11:19 via theguardian.com
  
  Extraordinary readings pile pressure on operator Tepco in its efforts to decommission nuclear power stationRadiation levels inside a damaged reactor at the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power station are at their highest since the plant suffered a triple meltdown almost six years ago.
  The facility’s operator, Tokyo Electric Power (Tepco), said atmospheric readings as high as 530 sieverts an hour had been recorded inside the containment vessel of reactor No 2, one of three reactors that experie
  
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• Flood of light crude to Asia may push prices of regional grades lower

  03-02-2017 09:27
  By Florence Tan and Mark Tay SINGAPORE (Reuters) - A flood of light crude oil set to arrive in Asia will likely push prices for regional grades lower, crimping revenues and potentially creating a supply surplus since local refiners are ill-equipped to process all of the flow. Price differentials for Malaysian crude grades, particularly the light Kimanis grade, should decline as a surge in cargoes from the United States and Europe is due in Asia in March and April, said multiple traders who parti
  
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• Battered Toshiba seeks exit from UK, India in nuclear retreat - sources

  03-02-2017 09:09
  By Geert De Clercq and Kentaro Hamada LONDON/TOKYO (Reuters) - Toshiba Corp plans to withdraw from its lead role in projects to build nuclear plants in Britain and India, sources with direct knowledge of the matter said, marking a retreat as it wrestles with an imminent multi-billion dollar writedown. Such a move would leave Toshiba's U.S.-based Westinghouse focused on the much narrower field of nuclear reactors and services, rather than civil engineering for nuclear power plants, or their const
  
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• How can we deliver a circular economy for novel materials?

  03-02-2017 08:30
  
  The UK Government must embed circular economy thinking within its industrial strategy and place a particular focus on encouraging the recycling and recovery of 'novel' materials such as bioplastics and carbon fibre, a new report has claimed.
  
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• U.S. reversal on transparency could sting Canadian, European oil companies

  03-02-2017 08:12
  By Ernest Scheyder and Nia Williams HOUSTON/CALGARY (Reuters) - Canadian and European oil companies will find themselves at a competitive disadvantage to their American rivals if U.S. lawmakers scrap tighter transparency requirements on the industry, as expected, according to company executives, legal experts and trade groups. The U.S. Senate is poised to overturn the so-called "resource extraction rule", a regulation requiring U.S. natural resources companies to disclose taxes and other payment
  
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• Rising carbon emissions could kill off vital corals by 2100, study warns

  03-02-2017 08:05 via theguardian.com
  
  Destructive seaweeds found in reefs worldwide will grow more poisonous and eventually take over in the fight for spaceThe destruction of coral reefs worldwide could accelerate as rising carbon emissions help coral-killing seaweeds grow more poisonous and take over, according to researchers.A Griffith University study on the Great Barrier Reef has shown how rising CO2 emissions trigger more potency in chemicals from common “weed-like” algae that poison corals as they compete for space
  
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• Curled tightly in the mulch, a hedgehog

  03-02-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Crewe Green, Cheshire No wonder the spines of this tiny mammal keep most predators away; it’s like touching surgical needlesAlthough the air is mild for the time of year, the sky is iron-blue, threatening another downpour. It is wet and muddy under foot, slippery too. Charcoal and murky-brown, dead leaves clot the woodland path. There is the breath of tannin; I can almost taste it. Two grey squirrels chase each other over rotten logs, then dash up a tree strangled by ivy. A blackbird skitt
  
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• South Pacific islands ban western junk food and go organic

  03-02-2017 05:37 via theguardian.com
  
  Leaders of Vanuatu province want to turn local people and tourists away from unhealthy imports in favour of locally grown crops and seafoodA group of south Pacific islands are banning foreign junk food imports in favour of an all-local, organic diet as a way to combat future health problems.Torba province, part of Vanuatu, aims to impose restrictions on the import of western foodstuffs and instead take advantage of its productive agricultural land and rich natural resources. Continue reading...
  
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• Oil edges up on threat of U.S. issuing new Iran sanctions

  03-02-2017 05:01
  By Keith Wallis and Osamu Tsukimori SINGAPORE/TOKYO (Reuters) - Oil prices edged up on Friday on news that U.S. President Donald Trump could be set to impose new sanctions on multiple Iranian entities, firing geopolitical tensions between the two nations. Comments by Russian energy minister Alexander Novak that oil producers had cut their output in accordance with a pact agreed in December also helped support prices, analysts said. Reuters reported on Thursday that Trump's administration is prep
  
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• Turnbull's new climate and energy adviser worked for coal industry lobby group

  03-02-2017 04:14 via theguardian.com
  
  Sid Marris leaves role as head of climate and environment at Minerals Council of Australia to take up job with PM’s officeMalcolm Turnbull’s next climate and energy adviser will be Sid Marris, who is leaving his role as head of climate and environment at the coal industry lobby group, the Minerals Council of Australia.The appointment comes amid a push from the Turnbull government for new coal-fired generators to be built, a suggestion enthusiastically welcomed by the Minerals Council
  
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• 'Clean' coal power plants: Matt Canavan hints at government subsidy

  03-02-2017 03:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Minister says he’s not surprised that generators don’t want another big baseload power station to enter the marketAustralia’s resources minister, Matt Canavan, has flagged subsidising a “clean” coal baseload power plant from the government’s $5bn northern Australia infrastructure fund, and says the government has already heard from an interested party.Canavan on Friday suggested a potential investor in a new power station was eyeing off development in the Gali
  
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• Why aren't we gene editing people to be my size?

  03-02-2017 02:53 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Kiruna Stamell, a dwarf, explains her problem with gene editing.
  
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