New research has shown that glossy black-cockatoos prefer to feed from trees growing in acidic soils.
Breaking Waves: Ocean News
08/09/2024 - 12:58
The need for a dramatic selfie or the perfect landscape photo is proving detrimental to nature, a new research collaboration has found.
08/09/2024 - 07:00
For a writer and runner in Denver, Colorado, the city’s severe air pollution creates a daily dilemma: do something you love, or risk your health?
Outdoor runners have always had a lot of data to juggle: their pace, heart-rate, mileage, route, calories, weather and much more. Though in recent years there’s been a new, considerably more ominous data point for alfresco athletes to monitor: the Air Quality Index (AQI).
The index, which measures the level of air pollution at any given time and location, is an increasingly necessary tool for outdoor enthusiasts in the age of climate change.
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08/09/2024 - 07:00
New research shows toxic ‘forever chemicals’ gas may escape landfills and threaten the environment
Toxic PFAS “forever chemicals” that leach from landfills into groundwater are among the major pollution sources in the US, and remain a problem for which officials have yet to find an effective solution.
Now new research has identified another route in which PFAS may escape landfills and threaten the environment at even higher levels: the air.
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08/09/2024 - 07:00
Flea treatments for dogs, ant killer, washing-up liquid and herbicides may be partly to blame for decline in UK
Insect numbers are in freefall and most people know that pesticide use in agriculture is partly to blame.
But many domestic products including topical flea treatments for dogs, ant killer applications, washing-up liquid and herbicides can also contribute to the problem.
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08/09/2024 - 06:47
Most data stored on power-hungry servers is used once then never looked at again
When “I can has cheezburger?” became one of the first internet memes to blow our minds, it’s unlikely that anyone worried about how much energy it would use up.
But research has now found that the vast majority of data stored in the cloud is “dark data”, meaning it is used once then never visited again. That means that all the memes and jokes and films that we love to share with friends and family – from “All your base are belong to us”, through Ryan Gosling saying “Hey Girl”, to Tim Walz with a piglet – are out there somewhere, sitting in a datacentre, using up energy. By 2030, the National Grid anticipates that datacentres will account for just under 6% of the UK’s total electricity consumption, so tackling junk data is an important part of tackling the climate crisis.
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08/09/2024 - 06:00
Legal action aims to force criminal justice department to air condition prisons, where 85,000 are at risk of heat illnesses
When Jason Wilson was transferred in June to the Coffield Unit, a men’s prison in Texas, to serve his sentence for unlawful possession of a firearm, he was initially pleased by the change of scenery. He was aware that the lock-up could be challenging in summer, given its lack of air conditioning and the intense heat in the cells, but his previous institution had been depressing.
“It’s better here for sure,” he wrote in an email to an outside advocate.
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08/09/2024 - 02:00
The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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08/09/2024 - 01:00
Areas where farmers provide good habitats show notable increase in butterflies, bees, bats and breeding birds
Butterflies, bees and bats are among the wildlife being boosted by England’s nature-friendly farming schemes, new government research has found.
Birds were among the chief beneficiaries of the strategy, particularly ones that largely feed on invertebrates. An average of 25% more breeding birds were found in areas with more eco-friendly schemes.
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08/09/2024 - 00:00
Drax received £22bn in subsidies despite being UK’s largest emitter in 2023, though company rejects ‘flawed’ research
The Drax power station was responsible for four times more carbon emissions than the UK’s last remaining coal-fired plant last year, despite taking more than £0.5bn in clean-energy subsidies in 2023, according to a report.
The North Yorkshire power plant, which burns wood pellets imported from North America to generate electricity, was revealed as Britain’s single largest carbon emitter in 2023 by a report from the climate thinktank Ember.
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