Environment News
Ultimate limit of human endurance found
Image copyright Getty Images The ultimate limit of human endurance has been worked out by scientists analysing a 3,000 mile run, the Tour de France and other elite events. They showed the cap was 2.5 times the body’s resting metabolic rate, or 4,000 calories a day for an average person. Anything higher than that was …
Heathrow scanners mean liquids can stay in bags
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Current systems require people to remove liquids and laptops from their bags Passengers at Heathrow airport will be able to keep their liquids and laptops inside their carry-on bags, once new security equipment is installed. The airport is investing £50m in the computer tomography (CT) security scanners, to be …
Prehistoric stone engraved with horses found in France
Image copyright Denis Gliksman/Inrap Image caption A generated image of the prehistoric sandstone plate and its engraving A stone believed to be about 12,000 years old and engraved with what appears to be a horse and other animals has been discovered in France. The prehistoric find by archaeologists excavating a site in the south-western Angoulême …
Climate change: Emissions target could cost UK £1tn, warns Hammond
Image copyright PA The chancellor has warned Theresa May that reducing greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050 could cost the UK more than £1tn. The Financial Times reports that the PM wants to introduce the legislation to Parliament next week as “one of her most important legacies”. Philip Hammond has written to her, …
How fish and shrimps could be recruited as underwater spies
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Goliath groupers make a booming noise when approached We have a long history of trying to use animals as spies, weapons and warning systems, but the latest plans to use marine organisms as motion sensors may be the strangest yet. When a beluga whale was spotted wearing a harness …
Blue belt zones to protect minke whales
Image copyright Kerry Froud/HWDT Image caption The nursery grounds used by minke whales to feed and rest will be protected Special protections are planned for minke whales and basking sharks in their feeding grounds around Scotland. A consultation has been launched on creating four new Marine Protected Areas (MPAs) covering 5,000 square miles of sea. …
Large Ebola outbreaks new normal, says WHO
Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Family members place leaves on the grave of a deceased relative who died from Ebola in Butembo The world is entering “a new phase” where big outbreaks of deadly diseases like Ebola are a “new normal”, the World Health Organization has warned. Previous Ebola outbreaks affected relatively small numbers …
Antarctic glaciers to honour ‘satellite heroes’
A series of glaciers in the Antarctic are being named after the satellites that have revealed the changing state of the White Continent. The spacecraft, from Europe, the US and Japan, have all contributed important observational data which confirms a picture of accelerating ice loss. They include the pioneering American Landsat series of satellites and …
Nasa to open International Space Station to tourists
Image copyright NASA Image caption Private astronauts will be permitted up to 30 days’ travel to the ISS Nasa is to allow tourists to visit the International Space Station from 2020, priced at $35,000 (£27,500) per night. The US space agency said it would open the orbiting station to tourism and other business ventures. There …
Temperature maps from space would ‘boost crop production’
Image copyright ESA Image caption The EU plans to add to its Sentinel Earth observation satellites Scientists are developing a satellite system to record the temperatures of individual fields of crops. The aim is to survey land temperatures to estimate water-use by plants and to show how they transfer that water back to the atmosphere. …
