Breaking Waves: Ocean News

Savor, backed by Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, says product has lower carbon footprint as it doesn’t need cows Butter made from air instead of cows? A California-based startup claims to have worked out a complex process that eliminates the need for the animals while making its dairy-free alternative taste just as good. Savor, backed by the Microsoft billionaire Bill Gates, has been experimenting with creating dairy-free alternatives to ice-cream, cheese, and milk by utilising a thermochemical process that allows it to build fat molecules, creating chains of carbon dioxide, hydrogen and oxygen. The company has now announced a new animal-free butter alternative. Continue reading...

Former NSW Liberal minister calls on renewables sector to ‘put your mouth where your money is’ in first speech as incoming Climate Change Authority chair Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updates Get our morning and afternoon news emails, free app or daily news podcast The incoming Climate Change Authority chair Matt Kean has issued a call to arms for the clean energy industry to “enter the arena” and push back against vested interests seeking to erode public confidence in renewable energy. Kean, a former energy minister in New South Wales and Liberal MP for another three weeks, told the Australian Clean Energy Summit 2024 in Sydney the industry had the science and the financial heft to counter the “propaganda” of vested fossil fuel interests. Sign up for Guardian Australia’s free morning and afternoon email newsletters for your daily news roundup Continue reading...

As part of the annual Beaker Street festival, a celebration of science and art in Tasmania, finalist images in the festival’s annual science photographic competition will be on show at the Tasmanian Museum and Art Gallery from 6 August to 23 August Continue reading...

When I was in school, for a few weeks every year, caterpillars were the most exciting thing happening Get our weekend culture and lifestyle email On the trunks of small magnolia trees, in the corner where a table leg meets a table top, on a low damp wall in the shade – here the hairy caterpillars gather together. They travel in long lines, they sleep as close to each other as possible (displaying, it is called in science, a high level of “gregariousness”), as though the scariest thing a predator might see is a cat’s disembodied tail or retched-up fur ball, or a too-small itchy blanket. If you take a picture of a hairy caterpillar and put it on the internet, a stranger will tell you that you can safely touch it, while another will say you can’t under any circumstances. “What about that says, ‘Touch me’?” one person will ask. “People really need to get a grip,” another will write. “The caterpillars which are hazardous to touch are the hairy Marys, which have hollow hairs with venom. The hairy Marys are very obviously hairy.” This person sounds exactly like an older kid talking to a younger one. Sign up for the fun stuff with our rundown of must-reads, pop culture and tips for the weekend, every Saturday morning Continue reading...