Environment news

• EU rule could leave theatres dark | Letters

  29-04-2018 18:58 via theguardian.com
  The president of the Association of Lighting Directors warns that a new directive could make all existing equipment obsoleteI am writing to you as the president of the Association of Lighting Designers, and as the Founder of Theatre Projects, an international theatre design company that for 60 years has been at the forefront of British theatre technology, responsible for the stage design of the National Theatre, and for over 1,500 theatre projects in 80 counties.I have been a lighting designer f
  
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• Millions of trees at risk in secretive Network Rail felling programme

  29-04-2018 15:12 via theguardian.com
  Exclusive: Plan to stop leaves and branches falling on lines has already led to thousands of trees being chopped downMillions of trees are at risk in a secretive nationwide felling operation launched by Network Rail to end the nuisance of leaves and branches falling on the line.
  Thousands of poplars, sycamores, limes, ash trees and horse chestnuts have already been chopped down across the country from Yorkshire to Dorset, and the scale of the potential destruction outlined in a Network Rail blue
  
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• Self-destructive species: from exploding ants to postnatal octopuses

  29-04-2018 08:00 via theguardian.com
  Animals that sacrifice their lives, for their homes or offspring – or just because they’re in the wrong place at the wrong timeEarlier this month, a group of scientists described a newly discovered ant species, Colobopsis explodens, in the journal ZooKeys. As the name suggests, the worker ants of the species, which is found in south-east Asia, are known to explode when attacked, releasing sticky, toxic fluid from their abdomens. The explosion kills the ant, which sacri
  
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• Solar plant built at site of Chernobyl nuclear disaster

  29-04-2018 01:22 via bbc.co.uk
  How solar power is giving the site of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster a new beginning.
  
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• Blackcap, redstart, yellowhammer: what’s in a bird’s name?

  29-04-2018 01:05 via theguardian.com
  The author of a new book on the history of birds’ names found tales of conquest, myth and human endeavourIt’s easy to assume, with bird names, that we know what they mean, and often that assumption is quite correct. Woodpeckers peck wood, bee-eaters feed on bees, and whitethroats are indeed white around the neck.Other names seem almost wilfully obscure: what on Earth does the name puffin mean? Or hobby? Why are turtle doves named after reptiles? And don’t get me started on some
  
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