Environment news

Some condom and lubricant brands contain alarming levels of PFAS – study

28-07-2024 13:00

Toxic ‘forever chemicals’ linked to low birth weight, reduced sperm counts and infertilitySeveral brands of condoms and lubricants contain alarming levels of toxic PFAS “forever chemicals”, including styles of Trojan and K-Y Jelly, new research finds.The testing conducted by the Mamavation consumer advocacy blog comes just as researchers found human skin absorbs the chemicals at much higher levels than previously thought. Continue reading...

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The end is nigh. For insects, bats, protest, the planet… | Stewart Lee

28-07-2024 11:00

Our response to global heating and the decimation of animal species is to marginalise the Green party and lock up protestersSigns and wonders. Omens of black portent. Part of an American looney’s ear has been shot off by another American looney. The proposed presidency of the earless looney had been endorsed by Atomic Kitten’s Kerry Katona. A computer went wrong and everything in the world stopped working everywhere. On Tuesday it was reported that Chris Packham regretted having once

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Philospher Peter Godfrey-Smith: ‘To some extent, our planet would be better off without humanity’

28-07-2024 07:00

With the bestselling Other Minds, the philosopher dramatically changed our view of octopuses. Now, concluding his trilogy about the evolution of intelligence, he shows how animal life has shaped the planet itselfPeter Godfrey-Smith is the scuba-diving philosopher who took octopus off the menu for many readers of his bestselling book, Other Minds. It looked at the distinctive intelligence of cephalopods, rescuing this myth-laden eight-limbed creature from its most frequent setting of a seafood sa

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Bursting the bubble of Just Stop Oil

28-07-2024 07:00

The group scored an own goal if their intention was to influence public opinionThank you, Sonia Sodha, for bursting the bubble (“Yes, five years in jail is too harsh, but the Just Stop Oil Five shouldn’t have done it”, Comment). Party A seeks something that Party B refuses to grant. Party A therefore – usually indiscriminately – targets Party C, who must be entirely innocent for this to work, and threatens to harm them unless given what they want.It’s called h

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‘It doesn’t need to be one or the other’: balancing brolgas and windfarms in Victoria

28-07-2024 05:31

Victorian brolga numbers have shrunk due to habitat loss and drying wetlands. Now conservationists are calling for careful planning of windfarmsSign up for the Rural Network email newsletterJoin the Rural Network group on Facebook to be part of the communityThe vast, windy plains of Neville Oddie’s property in Chepstowe offer a lesson in biodiversity. One by one, the fourth-generation Pyrenees farmer lifts the rippled roofing tiles scattered across the grasslands, revealing little whip sna

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