Environment news

• A garden alive with art: all-natural insect sculptures – in pictures

  11-08-2018 18:00
  Inspired by the art of ikebana – a traditional style of Japanese flower arranging – Montreal-based artist Raku Inoue hand-crafts bugs using materials from his garden. He transforms his garden waste, including sticks, seeds and petals, to create his Natura Insects series. “I think about the main shape of the insect,” he says, “and try to find something to satisfy that. It’s very much like a puzzle.” As the year progresses, his creative options change. &ld
  
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• Weedkiller glyphosate 'doesn't cause cancer' - Bayer

  11-08-2018 15:25 via bbc.co.uk
  The new owner of the Monsanto group insists glyphosate use is safe despite a cancer payout.
  
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• Rising sea levels leave Belgium’s St Tropez ‘fighting for its life’

  11-08-2018 15:00
  Proposed offshore island to protect a haunt of Sinatra and Dietrich would be its ruin, says long-time mayorIt is known affectionately as Belgium’s answer to St Tropez – a town once frequented by Frank Sinatra and Marlene Dietrich and which has inspired the pop art of Keith Haring and surrealism of René Magritte, who painted the walls of the town’s casino.But now the chic, if slightly faded, seaside resort of Knokke-Heist is, in the words of its mayor, Count Leopold Lippe
  
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• Parker Solar Probe: Nasa delays mission to unlock Sun's mysteries

  11-08-2018 11:06 via bbc.co.uk
  The US space agency delays for 24 hours the boldest mission in its history after an alarm went off.
  
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• How ethical is the elephant ‘sanctuary' you're visiting?

  11-08-2018 11:00
  On the eve of World Elephant Day experts advise how to avoid cruel elephant attractions and support genuine welfare centres“Many parks advertise themselves as sanctuaries but they are not,” says Maria Mossman, founder of non-profit group Action for Elephants UK. “Never go to a park that advertises shows, unnatural behaviour, tricks or painting – and please, never ride an elephant.”Mossman, who has been involved in elephant activism since 2013, and also organises glo
  
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• Switch on to LED lightbulbs before September’s halogen ban

  11-08-2018 09:00
  The average home has 10 halogen lights – here’s all you need to know about their greener alternativeFrom the end of this month halogen lightbulbs are to be removed from the market across Europe, with households expected to switch to LED lights – which cost more but last far longer and use much less electricity than energy-hungry halogens.According to Philips, the lighting manufacturer, the average UK household has 10 halogen bulbs and uses them for 2.7 hours a day. If that is c
  
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• Country diary: what hope for this everlasting bird?

  11-08-2018 06:30
  Talsarnau, Gwynedd: That puzzling sound was a willow warbler, trapped on a prong of barbed wireOn a mild, grey evening I stepped down on to the platform at Talsarnau station in a light, blessing rain that pearled the leaves and beaded the grass. A blackthorn tree in the corner of a field was already clustered with purple sloes, misted by the drizzle. A track between taut fences of barbed wire led me through reclaimed land toward the sea wall.The pastures on either side, which teemed with estuari
  
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• Rook at this mess: French park trains crows to pick up litter

  11-08-2018 04:34
  Birds will be rewarded with food every time they bring a cigarette butt or other rubbish, says managerSix crows trained to pick up cigarette ends and rubbish will be put to work next week at a French historical theme park, according to its president.
  “The goal is not just to clear up, because the visitors are generally careful to keep things clean” but also to show that “nature itself can teach us to take care of the environment”, said Nicolas de Villiers of the Puy du Fo
  
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