Many more stinging insects have arrived in the UK – they’re welcome | Patrick Barkham
The migration of 25 new species of bees and wasps – and a slime-covered fungus – could be a beneficial effect of climate change One of Britain’s newest arrivals inhabits a kind of ingenious microflat sadly not available to human victims of the housing crisis. Constructing secure compartments with resin inside a grass stem or […]
Royal Institution's new director Sarah Harper: we must show gold standard for science
Second woman to be appointed in RI’s 218-year history identifies role, in era of fake news, to supply trusted data across many issues from health to climate change and robotics When Michael Faraday ran the Royal Institution, one of the oldest scientific organisations in the world, the 19th-century chemist took time to pile into public […]
Pecking order: East Devon district council to fine seagull feeders
People who habitually feed birds as well as cafes and restaurants that improperly dispose of food to be hit with £80 fine Seaside residents and holidaymakers who feed seagulls could be fined under new council powers in an effort to stop the birds attacking people for food. People who feed the often aggressive birds could […]
State-owned Swedish firm Vattenfall enters UK energy market
Company is latest foreign publicly owned entity to join lucrative UK market with plan to sell energy from windfarms to big business A state-owned Swedish company has become the latest European firm to enter the UK’s lucrative energy market, as Britain’s appeal to continental power suppliers shows no sign of abating after the Brexit vote. […]
My wormhole through a Yorkshire childhood
Otley, West Yorkshire It ran around the back of our house, connecting it to the fields via a conduit of green shadows Mid-run, I suddenly stop by the inconspicuous entrance. I have passed it many times, but the thought to revisit never occurred until now. As an adult, with my sense of scale expanded, perhaps […]
Mathias Cormann says Westpac's restrictions on coal projects are 'very disappointing'
Finance minister attacks bank’s ‘blanket refusal’ and says Queensland coalmines offer significant economic opportunity Mathias Cormann has described the decision by Westpac to place tougher restrictions on lending to new coal projects as strange and disappointing. The finance minister said that, while banks had the right to make their own lending decisions, coal remained Australia’s […]
'The back of her leg was missing': woman bitten by shark in California
Attack experts say likely involved a great white or seven-gill shark would have been life-threatening if immediate care had not been available, witness says A shark attacked a woman wading in the ocean with friends, tearing away part of her upper thigh in the ocean off a popular southern California beach, authorities and witnesses said […]
Woods alive to the sound and throb of spring: Country diary 100 years ago
Originally published in the Manchester Guardian on 1 May 1917 April 30All weekend, from dawn to dusk, the chiff-chaff throbbed in the trees, its small body jerking with each emphatic note; everywhere in the Delamere woods I heard the cheerful music of the willow wrens, which, a friend told me, reached here in numbers on […]
The Guardian view on defending science: the battleground is culture | Editorial
It is not enough for scientists to be right. They must also be politically adept The Wellcome Trust is not making any kind of threat. That would be vulgar. The trust is a unique institution that has helped to fund almost every worthwhile piece of scientific research in the UK over the last 20 years. […]
Powerhouse: the startup making solar the most accessible energy in the world
It’s one of the only incubators focused on solar companies – but Powerhouse is part of a larger movement to nurture new companies in the low-carbon future It started with a crowdfunding startup, an investment from Prince, and the idea to help new solar companies tackle business challenges that can be hard to overcome on […]