An independent review of UK food policy is calling for “a gold standard level of scrutiny” to ensure new trade deals do not undermine the environment. Verification schemes should address concerns such as imports of beef reared on land recently cleared of rainforest. And the government should press on with […]
Science & Technology
Scientists have discovered kelp off the coast of Scotland, Ireland and France that has survived since the last ice age, around 16,000 years ago. Experts from Heriot-Watt University’s Orkney campus analysed the genetic composition of oarweed from 14 areas across the northern Atlantic ocean. The team found three distinct genetic […]
France’s government has announced new environmental measures, including a ban on heated terraces for cafes and bars. Ecology Minister Barbara Pompili said outside heating or air conditioning was an “ecological aberration”. The ban will not come into force until after the winter as restaurants have been hard hit by Covid-19, […]
A pet cat has tested positive in the UK for the strain of coronavirus that is causing the current pandemic. Experts say it is the first confirmed case of infection in an animal in the UK but does not mean the disease is being spread to people by their pets. […]
MAUI, Hawaii: Hurricane Douglas bore down on Hawaii on Sunday (Jul 26) packing torrential rains and damaging winds as it churned just east of the islands in the central Pacific, forecasters said, with one local leader urging residents to be prepared for the worst. Douglas was expected to make landfall […]
MOSCOW: Moscow rejected criticism from the United States and the United Kingdom of Russia’s activities in space on Friday (Jul 24), after the two nations expressed concern at a Russian satellite test conducted on Jul 15. Britain on Thursday said Russia had launched a projectile with the “characteristics of a […]
Sharks are rarely seen at almost one in five of the world’s coral reefs, a major study has found. The crash in shark numbers, caused largely by over-fishing, could have dire consequences for corals struggling to survive in a changing climate, researchers have said. Sharks are top predators, playing a […]
WENCHANG: China launched an unmanned probe to Mars on Thursday (Jul 23) in its first independent mission to another planet, a journey coinciding with a similar US mission as the powers take their rivalry into deep space. The two countries are taking advantage of a period when Earth and Mars […]
BUENOS AIRES: Scientists have discovered an active methane seep from Antarctica’s sea bed that could shed light on the potent greenhouse gas trapped beneath frozen continent. Marine ecologist Andrew Thurber first glimpsed what a colleague described as a “microbial waterfall” during a dive in the icy waters of the Ross […]
Scientists have deciphered the genetic blueprints of six of the world’s bats. Their codes of life contain genetic clues to their “exceptional immunity”, which protects them against deadly viruses. Researchers hope to use the information to crack the secrets of how bats carry coronaviruses without getting sick. They say this […]