Environment news

• Bio-inspired energy storage: a new light for solar power

  31-03-2017 23:27 via feedproxy.google.com
  Inspired by an American fern, researchers have developed a groundbreaking prototype that could be the answer to the storage challenge still holding solar back as a total energy solution.The new type of electrode created by RMIT University researchers could boost the capacity of existing integrable storage technologies by 3000 per cent.
  
  Read more

• From grass to grassoline

  31-03-2017 23:21 via feedproxy.google.com
  Researchers at Ghent University have developed a process that turns grass into fuel.Scientists at the Centre for Microbial Ecology and Technology (CMET), Ghent University have developed a way to turn grass into biofuel. Will we soon drive on ‘grassoline’?"Until now, grass has mainly served as feed for animals. We can get more out of grass: due to its vast abundance, it is an attractive source to produce organics such as aviation fuel" , scientist Way Cern Khor tells us
  
  Read more

• Some of Greenland's coastal ice will be permanently lost by 2100

  31-03-2017 23:12 via feedproxy.google.com
  The glaciers and ice caps that dot the edges of the Greenland coast are not likely to recover from the melting they are experiencing now, a study has found.Researchers report in the current issue of the journal Nature Communications that melting on the island passed a tipping point 20 years ago. The smallest glaciers and ice caps on the coast are no longer able to regrow lost ice.
  
  Read more

• China to create 'giant' giant panda reserve to boost wild population

  31-03-2017 18:52 via theguardian.com
  
  National park three times the size of Yellowstone in the US will link up 67 existing reserves to make mating easier
  China is planning to create a giant panda reserve three times the size of Yellowstone national park in the US, as part of efforts to boost the wild population of the long-endangered animal. The 10,476 sq mile (27,134 sq km) area will link up 67 existing panda reserves on six isolated mountain ranges. It is hoped the “merger” will help the pandas mingle and mate, thus en
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Shrinking renewables sector dealt further blow with Renewables Obligation closure

  31-03-2017 18:29
  
  The UK's renewable energy industry is at risk of "rapidly shrinking" as one of the main financial support mechanisms for large-scale renewable electricity projects has now closed for new capacity developers.
  
  Read more

• ‘The river is life’ - a photographer among the Arawete in Brazil

  31-03-2017 17:58 via theguardian.com
  
  Alice Kohler shares photos and thoughts on her time in the Xingu river basin in the Brazilian AmazonAlice Kohler is a Brazilian photographer who has visited over 20 countries during her career. In Brazil in particular she has travelled into some of the remotest parts of the Amazon basin and spent time with many of the country’s indigenous peoples, including the Araweté, Asurini, Guarani, Kamaiura, Karajá, Kayapo, Kuikuro, Parakanã, Pareci, Xavante and Yawalapiti.An exh
  
  Read more

• Most of Mars' air was 'lost to space'

  31-03-2017 17:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  The gas argon tells scientists that the atmosphere at Mars was once as thick as it is on Earth today.
  
  Read more

• Elon Musk Isn't the Only One Trying to Computerize Your Brain

  31-03-2017 17:00 via feedproxy.google.com
  Elon Musk wants to merge the computer with the human brain, build a “neural lace,” create a “direct cortical interface,” whatever that might look like. In recent months, the founder of Tesla, SpaceX, and OpenAI has repeatedly hinted at these ambitions, and then, earlier this week, The Wall Street Journal reported that Musk has now launched a company called Neuralink that aims to implant tiny electrodes in the brain “that may one day upload and downloa
  
  Read more

• Advertisement

• Can you dig it? Badger captured on camera burying cow

  31-03-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  In an astonishing display of digging prowess, an American badger has been seen completely burying a calf carcass several times bigger than itselfAn American badger has been captured burying the carcass of a cow – a previously unrecorded behaviour – in an astonishing display of the creature’s digging prowess.The images were taken by camera traps set up by researchers who had left seven calf carcasses in Utah’s Grassy Mountains in January last year in an attempt to study wh
  
  Read more

• American badger singlehandedly buries cow – timelapse video

  31-03-2017 17:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers at Utah University have captured video of an American badger burying a calf carcass in Utah’s Grassy Mountains. The images show the badger digging around the cow’s body, which then sinks into the tunnels below, before covering it with earth. It then returned to feed on it over the coming weeks. This behaviour has never before been caught on cameraContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Scientists go out on a limb to study tree-climbing land snails

  31-03-2017 16:57 via feedproxy.google.com
  Land snails are generally believed to be ground-dwelling creatures, preferring dark and humid places, like the forest floor, or a suburban garden. So why do we find some species of snails in the tops of trees, where it is relatively light and dry? Associate Professor Ikuyo Saeki from the University of Tsukuba, Japan and her colleagues from Hokkaido University and other institutions, have performed some fascinating research to find out why.
  
  Read more

• Energy Storage Solutions will help tackle Climate Change

  31-03-2017 16:51 via feedproxy.google.com
  The UK is placing energy storage at the heart of its new Modern Industrial Strategy, due to its potential to support smart energy systems and the automotive sector. As the energy industry moves away from carbon-heavy production, the twin-approach of renewable energy and storage will be critical for delivering on the demand while securing the future of UK energy.
  
  Read more

• These 5 tests better predict heart disease risk

  31-03-2017 16:48 via feedproxy.google.com
  Five simple medical tests together provide a broader and more accurate assessment of heart-disease risk than currently used methods, cardiologists at UT Southwestern Medical Center found.
  
  Read more

• Why You Should Put Your Supercomputer in Wyoming

  31-03-2017 16:41 via feedproxy.google.com
  Travel just few miles west of bustling Cheyenne, Wyoming, a you’ll find yourself in big-sky country. Tall-grass plains line the highway, snow-packed peaks pierce the sky, and round-edged granite formations jut out of the ground. But in this bucolic scene sits an alien building: a blocky, almost pre-fab structure with a white rotunda, speckled with dozens of windows that look out onto the grounds. Inside, it’s home to two supercomputers that focus on the vast landscape above.
  
  Read more

• Climate seesaw at the end of the last glacial phase – A warmer Europe cools down East Asia

  31-03-2017 16:34 via feedproxy.google.com
  The climate of the Earth follows a complex interplay of cause-and-effect chains. A change in precipitation at one location may be caused by changes on the other side of the planet. A better understanding of these “teleconnections” – the linkages between remote places – may help to better understand local impacts of future climate change. A look into the climate of the past helps to investigate the teleconnections. An international team of Japanese, British, Australian, an
  
  Read more

• Birth of Britain’s first crowned sifaka lemur caught on camera – video report

  31-03-2017 15:43 via theguardian.com
  
  The birth of Britain’s first crowned sifaka, a type of rare lemur, has been filmed by staff at the Cotswold Wildlife Park. Yousstwo, a male pup, was born to parents Bafana and Tahina in December. The sifaka lemur is critically endangered in Madagascar, so the birth has extra significanceContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Government launches first phase of £100m autonomous vehicle project

  31-03-2017 15:07
  
  The Government has launched the first phase of a £100m investment in the development of driverless vehicles with a new competition supporting the creation of testing infrastructure.
  
  Read more

• Research into water issues neither dry nor all wet

  31-03-2017 14:37 via feedproxy.google.com
  Installing green infrastructure in residential neighbourhoods can reduce stormwater run-off, mitigating the effects of climate change on sewer systems, says Zach McPhee. 
  
  Read more

• Meet the fish with the heroin-like bite

  31-03-2017 14:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Research reveals the toxic secret behind the fang blenny's pain-free bite.
  
  Read more

• Rare tigers, US policy, and cephalopods – green news roundup

  31-03-2017 14:16 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...
  
  Read more

• 'Footballing' tortoise Bubba is online hit

  31-03-2017 13:49 via bbc.co.uk
  
  A film of Bubba the "football playing" tortoise has clocked up millions of views after it was posted online.
  
  Read more

• Kering named as founding partner for fashion innovation accelerator

  31-03-2017 13:41
  
  Global luxury fashion group Kering has been announced as the first founding partner of a new innovation accelerator geared at invigorating sustainability within the fashion and apparel industries.
  
  Read more

• Great Repeal Bill raises environmental concerns for green groups

  31-03-2017 13:07
  
  The Government's white paper for the Great Repeal Bill has faced criticism from green groups for failing to guarantee that existing environmental laws will be maintained as primary legislation post-Brexit.
  
  Read more

• Is it socially acceptable to challenge climate denial? | Adam Corner

  31-03-2017 12:46 via theguardian.com
  
  A new study found people were less likely to want to become friends with those who confronted climate sceptics. How can we overcome these attitudes? When does a social attitude become morally unacceptable enough that it is OK to challenge and confront it?
  That is the question that motivated a new study conducted at the University of Exeter in which participants were given descriptions of people being confronted after expressing certain views. When the views expressed a disregard for racial equal
  
  Read more

• Scientists understood the climate 150 years ago better than the EPA head today | John Abraham

  31-03-2017 12:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Scott Pruitt denies basic science that we’ve understood for over a century
  The current head of the US Environmental Protection Agency Scott Pruitt does not believe or understand long-known principles of climate science and basic physics. Recently he claimed on CNBC that carbon dioxide is not a primary contributor to global warming:I think that measuring with precision human activity on the climate is something very challenging to do, and there’s tremendous disagreement about the degr
  
  Read more

• Striking drone footage shows Hinkley Point C under construction – video

  31-03-2017 11:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Seen from a drone’s eye view, the enormous earthmoving trucks, buses and tractors criss-crossing this corner of Somerset look like toy town models. The vehicles are dwarfed by their surroundings at Hinkley Point, where new footage has revealed the full scale of the site being prepared for Britain’s first new nuclear power station in a generation. UN asks UK to suspend work on Hinkley Point
  Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• A moment that changed me: an inspiring encounter with a bold fox| Paula Cocozza

  31-03-2017 09:55 via theguardian.com
  
  I felt I was being watched – and from a tangle of brambles came the triangulated stare of a fox. I had to write about it – and so my novel began All my life I have read stories. A few years ago, quite out of the blue, I started to write one. I was 40. My children were two and five. I had a job with fairly long hours; at home, the constant churn of domestic duties. On paper, it was not the best time to decide to start. I couldn’t even point to a childhood spent stapling books. B
  
  Read more

• A moment that changed me: deciding to be a writer | Paula Cocozza

  31-03-2017 09:00 via theguardian.com
  
  I felt I was being watched – and from a tangle of brambles came the triangulated stare of a fox. I had to write about itAll my life I have read stories. A few years ago, quite out of the blue, I started to write one. I was 40. My children were two and five. I had a job with fairly long hours; at home, the constant churn of domestic duties. On paper, it was not the best time to decide to start. I couldn’t even point to a childhood spent stapling books. But for me the urge was irrefusa
  
  Read more

• Japan kills more than 300 whales in annual Antarctic hunt

  31-03-2017 08:09 via theguardian.com
  
  Whaling fleet returns to port after slaughtering hundreds of minke whales, in defiance of moratorium on hunting and global criticismA Japanese whaling fleet returned to port on Friday after an annual Antarctic hunt that killed more than 300 of the mammals, as Tokyo pursues the programme in defiance of global criticism.
  The fleet set sail for the Southern Ocean in November, with plans to slaughter 333 minke whales, flouting a worldwide moratorium and opposition led by Australia and New Zealand. C
  
  Read more

• Funding boost to help save England's rarest species from extinction

  31-03-2017 07:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Shrill carder bee and chequered skipper butterfly are among 20 endangered bugs, bees, butterflies and plants to benefit from £4.6m in lottery fundingEfforts to save some of England’s rarest species, including the shrill carder bee and the chequered skipper butterfly, from extinction are being backed by £4.6m in lottery funding. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Hedgehog-like critters arrive at Chester Zoo

  31-03-2017 07:25 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Its stripes are more like a bumblebee's.
  
  Read more

• Scientists print 3D models of Great Barrier Reef in bid to save it

  31-03-2017 07:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Researchers creating virtual maps of coral reefs to precisely model how structure altered by environmental changeScientists are using 3D printing technology to create prosthetic coral that could be used to help the Great Barrier Reef recover from bleaching and storms.Researchers at the University of Sydney are creating virtual 3D maps of coral reefs to precisely model how their structure is altering as a result of environmental change. Continue reading...
  
  Read more

• Perch to arpeggio – the spring choristers arrive

  31-03-2017 06:30 via theguardian.com
  
  Airedale, West Yorkshire The chiffchaffs are already here with their chiming two-step jingle, now we wait for the blackcapsIt’s a time of year for waiting and listening. The chiffchaffs are already here; they turned up mid-March, tumbling in off the Africa-Yorkshire flyway and filling the leafless beech tops with their chiming two-step jingle. Now I’m waiting for the blackcaps. The bird writer Edward Grey wrote of being “ears a-tiptoe for the first note of a blackcap” in
  
  Read more

• Beijing hit by dirty smog but observers say air is getting better

  31-03-2017 06:00 via theguardian.com
  
  Penalties for law-breaking factories and construction sites are contributing to improved air quality in China’s capital, say academicsFor Beijing’s residents, this winter brought a sense of deja vu: flights grounded by smog, air quality “red alerts” and pronouncements on the city’s latest efforts to fight air pollution.In January and February the average amount of PM2.5 – fine particles small enough to pass from the lungs to other organs – was reported t
  
  Read more

• Why a tiny, fanged fish produces a pain-free bite

  31-03-2017 02:44 via bbc.co.uk
  
  Scientists say their discovery shows there are medical secrets still hidden in our oceans.
  
  Read more

• Lismore floods as authorities warn worst is yet to come – video

  31-03-2017 02:12 via theguardian.com
  
  Lennon Bartlett uses a boat to row to his parents’ house next door in central Lismore after the Wilsons river breached its banks early on Friday morning, flooding the northern New South Wales city. Flood waters caused by the remnants of Cyclone Debbie are still rising and are expected to peak in the early afternoon • Ex-cyclone Debbie: deaths feared in Lismore – live updatesContinue reading...
  
  Read more

• Shutting up shop

  31-03-2017 01:27 via bbc.co.uk
  
  China begins closing down its legal ivory trade, but will consumer attitudes to prized artwork change?
  
  Read more

• Success for SpaceX 're-usable rocket'

  31-03-2017 01:01 via bbc.co.uk
  
  SpaceX flies and lands a Falcon 9 rocket that had already been used on a previous mission.
  
  Read more

• Melting sea ice may lead to more life in the sea

  31-03-2017 00:26 via feedproxy.google.com
  When spring arrives in the Arctic, both snow and sea ice melt, forming melt ponds on the surface of the sea ice. Every year, as global warming increases, there are more and larger melt ponds.
  
  Read more

Follow @UK_Environment on Twitter!