Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Out with beach days, in with star-gazing: how holidays turned nocturnal

admin — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 17:00:05 +0000

Travel companies are reporting a surge of interest in people wanting to get away from light pollution and into nature

For the campers at the Dark Skies site near the Cambrian mountains in Wales, the blackness of the pitches is an important draw.

“When people come, they are blown away by the night sky,” said Tanya Jordan, who owns the site and holiday cottages nearby. “We get people who know about it and come for that reason.”

‘It’s sometimes right to disobey laws’: Doctor struck off for Insulate Britain protests speaks out

admin — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 15:15:21 +0000

Convicted of non-violent offences in Insulate Britain action, Dr Diana Warner is second GP to have licence suspended, which a medical tribunal ruled could damage patient trust

A retired GP has become the second doctor to have their medical licence suspended after being convicted of non-violent offences during peaceful climate protests.

London City airport: 54% of journeys take under six hours by train, data shows

admin — Sat, 17 Aug 2024 06:00:51 +0000

Exclusive: Most popular routes can be reached quickly by train, as government mulls expansion proposal

More than half of the journeys taken from London City airport last year can be reached in six hours or less by train, data reveals.

The Labour government is preparing to make the final call on the airport’s application to significantly increase its passenger numbers. The airport wants to increase capacity from 6.5 million to 9 million passengers a year by putting on more weekend and early morning flights.

Arsenic and old sugarcane: cleaning up Hawaii in the fallout from wildfires

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 17:00:35 +0000

When canec, Hawaii’s building material, is damaged, it can release toxic dust like asbestos – requiring special cleanup

When fire engulfed Lahaina last year, some of the older structures that burned contained canec, a historic Hawaiian-made building material made of solid sugarcane waste and potentially harmful inorganic arsenic.

It's a rave: Underground acoustics amplify soil health

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:15:31 +0000

Barely audible to human ears, healthy soils produce a cacophony of sounds in many forms -- a bit like an underground rave concert of bubble pops and clicks. Special recordings made by ecologists show this chaotic mixture of soundscapes can be a measure of the diversity of tiny living animals in the soil, which create sounds as they move and interact with their environment.

‘Strange and mysterious’: rarely seen, 12ft-long oarfish found in waters off San Diego

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 16:00:13 +0000

Group finds elusive deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times since 1901

A group of people kayaking and snorkeling off the San Diego coast made an unusual discovery when they came across an oarfish, a rarely seen deep sea fish that has washed up in California only 20 times in over a century.

The 12ft-long silvery fish was found floating dead in the water last weekend. The group, along with marine experts, helped bring the creature ashore for study.

Chair of Nuclear for Australia denies that calling CO2 ‘plant food’ means he is a climate denier

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:40 +0000

Dr Adi Paterson’s statements are apparently at odds with the group’s official position, which says nuclear is needed to tackle the climate crisis

Say less to the dress: why I’m cutting back on secondhand clothes shopping

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:34 +0000

While the intention behind buying preloved is often rooted in sustainability, I’m uncomfortable enabling our culture’s shopping addiction

Why do whales beach themselves? A vial of parasites in a Tasmanian museum may hold the answer

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 15:00:33 +0000

Pilot whale that beached itself in 1973 was infested with thousands of parasitic nematodes that may have eaten away at its blowhole

Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast

A vial of white parasitic worms left for decades in a Tasmanian museum may help solve a timeless mystery: why do whales strand themselves on beaches?

Climate activists in frame for £1m costs of protest bans run up by UK’s biggest law firm

admin — Fri, 16 Aug 2024 14:00:32 +0000

DLA Piper seeking to recover costs in relation to injunctions it secured for National Highways and HS2, records show

Britain’s biggest law firm has sought more than £1m from climate protesters to cover the cost of court orders banning them from protesting, an investigation has found.

The multibillion-pound City law firm DLA Piper has been trying to recover costs from activists for work done on behalf of National Highways Limited (NHL) and HS2 Ltd – both public bodies – obtaining injunctions banning protests on their sites.