The Australian coastline that reveals a glimpse of early life on Earth – video
Hamelin pool contains the world’s largest collection of active stromatolites – stony mounds of sand and calcium carbonate stuck together with a kind of biological glue, which emerge from the water as the tide goes out. Studying stromatolites today promises an insight into how life began as well as what the Earth was like 3.7bn […]
Wildcats, foxes, squirrels or bats? Britain asked to vote for its favourite mammal
The Royal Society of Biology is inviting the public to pick the animal closest to its heart, to raise awareness of threats to wildlife Britons have been asked to name their favourite mammal. A Royal Society of Biology (RSB) poll, launched on Sunday, will seek to pinpoint which non-domestic creature – found within our shores and […]
Top anti-Heathrow Tories will miss vote on third runway
Theresa May set to support expansion and spare opponents including Boris Johnson and Justine Greening embarrassment The most high-profile cabinet critics of a third runway at Heathrow – Boris Johnson and Justine Greening – will be “unavoidably away” when the Commons votes on the issue. With the prime minister expected to announce her support soon, […]
Cholera outbreaks in Haiti follow devastation of Hurricane Matthew
Fears that disease could spread as storm leaves almost 900 dead and tens of thousands displaced on Caribbean island Haiti was counting the cost of the devastation wrought by Hurricane Matthew on Saturday night, with almost 900 inhabitants killed and tens of thousands displaced in the Caribbean country. Outbreaks of cholera led to the deaths […]
Welsh tidal lagoon project could open way for £15bn revolution in UK energy
A prototype system of dams and turbines in Swansea Bay could provide Britain with a major zero-carbon source of power Backers of an ambitious proposal to transform the UK’s power supply will learn in the next few weeks if they are to be given the go-ahead to build tidal lagoons to generate electricity. The green […]
We have money to fight climate change. It's just that we're spending it on defense | Kenneth Pennington
Stopping one fighter plane program would save enough to build wind farms to power 320,000 homes. We need to drastically reassess our priorities One year ago this week, I was sitting in a cramped hotel room with 15 other staffers in Las Vegas for Bernie Sanders’ first debate for the presidential nomination. The question came […]
Brighton gears up for new fleet of solar-powered buses
A fleet of 10 electric buses operating around town will be charged overnight at a bus depot which has solar panels on its roof The bright yellow Big Lemon buses are a familiar sight – and smell – on the roads of Brighton and Hove. For nine years the Community Interest Company has run all […]
'Walking into the unknown': rural England weighs up the reality of Brexit
The EU helped shape the UK landscape with both money and a swath of rules and directives. In places like Crediton, a picture-perfect corner of rural Devon, locals fear the change to come – but also smell opportunity The landscape around Crediton in Devon is picture-postcard perfect – a patchwork of fields, thick hedges, woods, […]
Predatory menace of the peregrine in the pylon
Airedale, West Yorkshire We have kestrel and sparrowhawk here, buzzard and kite, but nothing quite matches the peregrine for dramatic oomph I’ve spent a lot of time lately staring up at the electricity pylon across the river. Hawks, wrote JA Baker in his 1967 classic book The Peregrine, grow out of dead trees, like branches; […]
Gourd almighty: grower hopes giant pumpkin will break record
Fruit was grown in Chelmsford from world’s most expensive pumpkin seed and has circumference of 4.5 metres A giant pumpkin grown in Chelmsford could set a new record on Saturday when it is weighed at a festival in Southampton. The fruit was grown from the world’s most expensive pumpkin seed at RHS Garden Hyde Hall […]