Environment news

• Low-cost loans for solar panels could save households hundreds on bills – thinktanks

  07-07-2026 11:00
  New Economics Foundation and Finance Innovation Lab suggest loan scheme backed by Bank of England could benefit up to 8m homesMillions of UK households could save hundreds of pounds a year on their energy bills if the government were to approve low-cost loans for solar panel installation, research has found.Solar panels with batteries are one of the cheapest ways to generate electricity and reduce energy bills, but with an upfront cost of about £6,000 they are still beyond the reach of mos
  
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• Why would we show an optical illusion to a monkey or a sparrow? To learn how they experience time, of course | Ishan Singhal

  07-07-2026 09:00
  Animals may inhabit the same world as us, but new research shows how their perceptions of what is around them differsImagine standing in your garden. A bumblebee whizzes overhead too quickly to follow, a sparrow darts from the fence to the trees, and a snail lugs itself across the garden stones. Assume for a moment that each of these animals has a stream of experience – that the world for them unfolds over time. How does the world appear from their perspective? In short, do they experience
  
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• Do animals experience time the same way humans do? Here's one way to find out | Ishan Singhal

  07-07-2026 09:00
  Animals may inhabit the same world as us, but new research shows how their perceptions of what is around them differsImagine standing in your garden. A bumblebee whizzes overhead too quickly to follow, a sparrow darts from the fence to the trees, and a snail lugs itself across the garden stones. Assume for a moment that each of these animals has a stream of experience – that the world for them unfolds over time. How does the world appear from their perspective? In short, do they experience
  
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• Sun stoppers: seven ways to keep your home cool this summer

  07-07-2026 08:00
  You can keep temperatures down without the cost – or environmental price – of air conditioning. Here’s some tips and tricksThe best fans to keep you cool in 2026 – tried and testedIn the UK we are used to worrying about our homes being warm enough, but after struggling to cope with high temperatures in May and June the race is on to cool them down before the next heatwave hits.And while it might be tempting to swap your desktop fan for a portable air conditioner, there ar
  
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• Fuel on the fire: why oil companies are profiting as the world gets dangerously hot

  07-07-2026 08:00
  The scientific consensus is that burning fossil fuels drives the climate crisis, yet the world’s biggest oil companies are planning to increase productionAs the world swelters in ever more dangerous heat, why are oil companies being allowed to turn up the gas instead of paying for the consequences of their greed?That ought to be the question on everyone’s minds amid baking heat domes over much of the northern hemisphere, temperature records being smashed day after day, children dying
  
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• Country diary: The return of wood warblers here is bittersweet | Mark Cocker

  07-07-2026 06:30
  Buxton, Derbyshire: What a fine sight it is to see one throwing its head back in song, especially after a 50-year absence. Yet this is a journey of vulnerabilityThe wood warbler is one of my signature birds, a highlight of schooldays when a pair bred annually in Lightwood five minutes from my house. They were also widespread at other local sites and while we took them in our stride, they were always special too. Seeing the bird was less frequent than hearing its song, which comes down from the h
  
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• What does China’s long-range missile test in the South Pacific mean for Australia? | David Vallance

  07-07-2026 02:44
  The timing – on the day the Ocean of Peace Alliance treaty was signed with Fiji – reads as provocation at best, coercion at worstChinese government tells critics not to ‘overinterpret’ missile test in Pacific as criticism growsAt 12.01pm on Monday, a People’s Liberation Army Navy submarine test fired a ballistic missile into the South Pacific nuclear-free zone. This is the second time China has conducted a ballistic missile test in the Pacific in two years.Coming on
  
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