Climate change: UK advisers urge tighter curbs on new oil and gas projects

It is naive and wrong to think increasing domestic oil and gas production is the answer to the UK energy crisis, says Chris Stark of the Climate Change Committee Environment 24 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan Oil rigs at Cromarty Firth in Invergordon, UK James Jones Jr/Shutterstock Ending new UK oil and gas production is … Read more

Nuclear waste: Cost of new UK underground storage facility jumps to £53 billion

A larger volume of waste and ‘more realistic’ scope of costs has resulted in a bigger price tag for building and operating a long-term storage facility for radioactive waste Environment 24 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan The Sizewell nuclear site in Suffolk, UK David J. Green/Alamy The cost of a proposed underground storage facility to … Read more

Dogs Seem to Truly Grieve For Their Lost Canine Buddies, Survey Reveals

The loss of a beloved canine companion is devastating, and new research shows that you might not be the only one feeling it. Any other dogs in your family could also go through mourning, as indicated by their behavior.   A survey of 426 multiple-dog owners in Italy revealed that, when one dog in the … Read more

Covid-19 news: Trust in UK government fell in 2021, study finds

By Michael Le Page, Clare Wilson, Jessica Hamzelou, Sam Wong, Graham Lawton, Adam Vaughan, Conrad Quilty-Harper, Jason Arunn Murugesu, Layal Liverpool, Carissa Wong and Alex Wilkins Britain’s health secretary Sajid Javid, prime minister Boris Johnson and chancellor of the exchequer, Rishi Sunak NEIL HALL/POOL/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock Latest coronavirus news as of 12pm on 24 February Trust that … Read more

We Now Have The Largest Ever Human ‘Family Tree’, With 231 Million Ancestral Lineages

In June 2000, two rival groups of researchers shook hands in the shared success of a milestone in biology – the delivery of a rough draft of the human genome. What started with an incomplete map of our chromosomes has since bloomed into a vast trove of individualized sequences from all corners of the globe, … Read more

Fix the Planet newsletter: Climate action needs more than technofixes

Why climate action will require both societal and behavioural change to be effective Environment 24 February 2022 By Adam Vaughan Prof. Paul Ekins ,UCL answers questions from delegates during a panel session with Fernanda Balata and Modi Mwatsama Richard Stonehouse/Getty Images This is Fix the Planet, the weekly climate change newsletter that reminds you there … Read more

Diabetes and obesity: Pedestrian-friendly cities have lower rates

A review of 170 studies finds consistent evidence that people are less likely to be obese or have diabetes if they live in cities where walking and cycling is safe and convenient Health 24 February 2022 By Matthew Sparkes Pedestrians in Montpellier, France Manfred Gottschalk/Getty Images Diabetes and obesity rates can be reduced by transforming … Read more

Vitamins: Thousand edible plants identified as underused source of nutrients

Comparing 6400 understudied wild plants with the better-known plants they are related to suggests that 1000 of them are rich in the B group of vitamins Health 24 February 2022 By Clare Wilson Durian fruit (Durio kutejensis) DE AGOSTINI PICTURE LIBRARY/Getty Images Wild plants are an overlooked source of vitamins and minerals that could help … Read more

Pet dogs really do grieve the deaths of other dogs they live with

Nearly all dogs that lose a “companion” dog from the same household show behaviours like going off their food and seeking more human attention Life 24 February 2022 By Clare Wilson Dogs show grief-like behaviour when another dog from their home dies Edwin Tan/Getty Images Pet owners may have long suspected it, but now a … Read more

Slugs help mushrooms start new colonies by spreading spores through their faeces

Mantleslugs carry spores of dozens of fungal species in their faeces, and some of them even begin to germinate within the moist digestive tracts Life 24 February 2022 By Jake Buehler Mantleslugs feeding on oyster mushrooms Nobuko Tuno Some mushroom-eating slugs may be important – if slow – dispersal vehicles for fungal spores, which the … Read more