Environment news

• What steps can the UK take to reach net zero emissions by 2050?

  20-04-2018 18:24 via theguardian.com
  The government has pledged to review its long-term climate targets. Renewable energy, housing and and transport are just some areas where new policies could cut emissions fastMore wind farms, solar power and electric cars: these are likely to be the future of the UK, under government plans announced this week to seek a zero-carbon economy in the next 30 years.Some of the less obvious effects could be just as transformative, however, involving innovations such as smart houses and smart roads, wid
  
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• Murder most fowl: Oxford dodo 'shot in the back of the head'

  20-04-2018 17:34 via theguardian.com
  Revelation astonishes experts, who thought the renowned bird lived out its life in London as a money-spinning curiosityWith its plump head and bulbous beak, the renowned remains of a dodo at the Oxford University Museum of Natural History have long captivated visitors, Lewis Carroll among them. Now researchers say they have uncovered how the dodo died – a discovery that makes the old bird’s past curiouser and curiouser.Researchers used a form of CT scanning and sophisticated software
  
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• Gove’s cotton bud ban is feeble. This is how we can wipe out plastic | Susanna Rustin

  20-04-2018 15:56 via theguardian.com
  From plastic forks to Arctic oil, here are eight crackdowns any plastic-restricting government should consider• Cotton buds and plastic straws could be banned in England next yearAt least two decades after cotton buds (known in my childhood home as “ear cleaners”) became well known as a public health hazard, never, ever to be placed anywhere near ears, the government has announced plans to ban them, maybe next year. Low-hanging fruit and all that, but like the 5p plastic bag cha
  
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• Scientists discover protein behind motor neurone disease

  20-04-2018 14:48 via bbc.co.uk
  An international team found that a protein causes brain cells to die when it is in the jelly phase.
  
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• Scientists discover mechanism behind motor neurone disease

  20-04-2018 14:48 via bbc.co.uk
  An international team found that a protein causes brain cells to die when it is stuck in the jelly phase.
  
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• Open cast coal mine rejection faces High Court challenge

  20-04-2018 13:03
  The government's rejection of plans for a new open cast coal mine faces a High Court challenge amidst accusations by the project's backers that the move will push up energy prices by increasing the UK's reliance on risky overseas supplies of the fuel.
  
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• ExoMars: Getting ready to drive on the Red Planet

  20-04-2018 13:03 via bbc.co.uk
  Engineers finish assembly of the test model for Europe's ExoMars rover mission.
  
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• Sainsbury's accused of breaking pledge on chicken welfare

  20-04-2018 12:51 via theguardian.com
  Supermarket clashes with Compassion in World Farming over award given in 2010Sainsbury’s has been accused of breaking promises on improving welfare conditions for chickens after it handed back a good practice award.The animal rights pressure group Compassion in World Farming said Sainsbury’s applied for the group’s “good chicken” award in 2010 and committed to upgrade within five years all its fresh own-label chicken to the RSPCA welfare mark, which involved giving
  
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• Mallorca's scenic roads, designed for early motorists, are a cyclist's dream

  20-04-2018 12:46 via theguardian.com
  Former pro-cyclist Doug Petty has been bringing cyclists to the Balearic island for more than 50 years to ride the famous hairpin bends on its spectacular mountain roadsMallorca attracts more than 200,000 roadies a year. Bradley Wiggins and Chris Froome are usually credited for popularising winter riding on this Spanish Balearic island, but it’s two others who really put the island on the cycling map, one of them quite literally.
  1950s pro cyclist Doug Petty has been bringing cyclists to M
  
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• Exclusive: US official appeared to delay protections for endangered species at behest of oil group

  20-04-2018 12:00 via theguardian.com
  The energy friendly agenda inside Trump’s interior department is revealed in records obtained by the Guardian and the watchdog groups Documented and the Western Values Project
  The Texas hornshell is a sleek green-grey mussel that once thrived in the Rio Grande watershed, its habitat stretching from southern New Mexico down into the arid Texas borderlands. Some of its habitat happens to overlap with rich deposits of oil and gas.Amid a long-term decline in its range, the Obama administration
  
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• Meeting Miss Daisy: Apple unveils new iPhone recycling robot

  20-04-2018 11:06
  Ahead of Earth Day (22 April), technology giant Apple has revealed that its old iPhone recycling robot Liam has evolved into Daisy - a robot capable of recovering valuable materials from up to 200 devices an hour.
  
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• Meet Daisy: Apple's latest iPhone recycling robot

  20-04-2018 11:06
  To celebrate Earth Day (22 April), technology giant Apple has evolved its old recycling robot, Liam, into Daisy - a super-powered AI machine capable of recovering valuable materials from up to 200 devices an hour.
  
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• Sainsbury's trials UK's first e-bike grocery delivery service

  20-04-2018 10:23
  Sainsbury's has become the first UK supermarket to integrate electric cargo bikes into its delivery service, with the company set to trial five zero-emission bikes across South London.
  
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• London 'pollution pods' let you sample the smog in Beijing and Delhi

  20-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  New installation at Somerset House in London lets visitors experience the air of some pollution hotspots – plus a pristine Norwegian islandNew Delhi: the suffocating smell of old cars and industry. São Paulo: enough ethanol to make your eyes water. And in London, a scent called Living Diesel.Those are the dominant notes of those cities’ contaminated air, according to an “artist’s approximation” that aims to raise awareness of the problem of pollution around t
  
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• Stella McCartney: Fashion is swamping our planet

  20-04-2018 07:34 via bbc.co.uk
  Designer Stella McCartney says fashion is a medieval industry, which produces a huge amount of waste.
  
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• ‘Magical' mushroom mix to boost regrowth of lost Scottish forests

  20-04-2018 07:30 via theguardian.com
  Return of Great Caledonian forest speeded up with fungi spores to help saplings flourishThe return of the Great Caledonian forest that once covered much of Scotland’s highlands is being boosted with a special mix of mushroom spores that should help saplings survive better on the hills.Fungi living on the roots of trees play a vital role in the ecology, helping to break down nutrients in the soil. But trees were lost in much of the Highlands many years ago so the fungi vanished too.Continue
  
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• From flat-pack coffins to water cremation: how to have an eco-friendly death

  20-04-2018 07:00 via theguardian.com
  The funeral industry is catering for the growing number of people who want to deal with their mortal remains in an environmentally sound way The grass may be greener on the other side – but is death?Growing numbers of people who spend their lives recycling their plastics and watching their air miles are wondering about the most environmentally sound way to deal with their mortal remains. Now, help is at hand from a funeral industry increasingly tuned in to the varied and exotic last wishes
  
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• Country diary: as temperatures rise, Mediterranean gulls are all loved-up

  20-04-2018 06:30 via theguardian.com
  Hayling Island, Hampshire: In March their ardour was dampened by the big freeze, but now courtship is in full swingLiving on the south coast, I find myself listening out for an unusual harbinger of spring – the courtship cries of amorous Mediterranean gulls. Though resident year-round, they are much less vocal than other gull species in winter, and it isn’t until the beginning of the breeding season that I start noticing their distinctive mewing as they display over my garden.By mid-
  
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• Oxford Dodo was shot in head, scans find

  20-04-2018 02:52 via bbc.co.uk
  The world-famous specimen is the world's best-preserved example of the extinct bird.
  
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• Closing gender gap in physics 'will take generations'

  20-04-2018 02:40 via bbc.co.uk
  The gender gap in science subjects like physics is likely to persist for hundreds of years, study suggests.
  
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• Plastic-eating enzymes and poo power: the best green innovations of the week

  20-04-2018 02:01
  A number of eye-catching and potentially transformational innovations have emerged that could help businesses and nations deliver on resource efficiency, low-carbon transitions and combat climate change. Here, edie rounds-up six of the best.
  
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• National Trust needs to be 'radical'

  20-04-2018 01:57 via bbc.co.uk
  The new director-general of the National Trust says the charity needs to reach out to people in urban areas.
  
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• Recycling row: China's ban stokes trade fears amid concerns councils will follow Ipswich's lead

  20-04-2018 01:17 via theguardian.com
  Calls for state governments to invest in long-term recycling and sustainable waste solutions
  • Sign up to receive the top stories in Australia every day at noon The body representing Australian councils is urging the federal government to take seriously China’s effective ban on accepting shipments of plastic for recycling, warning it should not ignore potential implications for trade between the two countries.The Australian Local Government Association is calling on state governments
  
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• Solar sailing

  20-04-2018 01:14 via bbc.co.uk
  How can you create public transport in the jungle without polluting it? The isolated Achuar peoples of Ecuador have created an ingenious solution.
  
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