-
Necks stop! Sedated giraffe gets the VIP treatment as rangers move towering giant to new home
A giraffe has been sedated and carefully relocated to a new home by wildlife rangers, in an operation designed to safely transport the towering animal without causing it distress or injury. Moving giraffes is a delicate and specialised undertaking due to their height, weight and sensitivity to stress, so sedation and careful handling by trained…
-
Once-in-a-decade ‘painted lady summer’ sees huge numbers of migratory butterflies arrive in the UK
A reported “painted lady summer” has brought unusually large numbers of migratory painted lady butterflies to the UK. The influx matters because it is being described as a once-in-a-decade natural event, offering a noticeable wildlife spectacle across the country. Painted ladies migrate long distances and can reach Britain in substantial waves when conditions are favourable.…
-
‘Culture of creepiness’: Republican says she wouldn’t want daughter on Capitol Hill
Republican Representative Kat Cammack of Florida said she would not feel comfortable having her daughter work on Capitol Hill, citing what she called a “culture of creepiness” in Congress. Her remarks draw attention to concerns about power imbalances and inappropriate relationships between elected members and junior staff. Cammack said the problem involved members approaching and…
-
In a first, Chinese woman wins the prestigious Fields Medal
Hong Wang has become the first Chinese woman to win the Fields Medal, mathematics’ most prestigious prize, awarded alongside fellow Chinese mathematician Yu Deng. Often described as the Nobel Prize of mathematics, the Fields Medal is given every four years to mathematicians under 40 for outstanding achievement and future promise, and this marks only the…
-
AI builds virtual homes where robots learn from their mistakes
Researchers at MIT’s Computer Science and Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, working with the Toyota Research Institute, have developed an AI system called SceneSmith that generates detailed virtual homes to help robots learn everyday tasks before attempting them in the real world. This matters because household chores that humans perform without thinking, such as putting away a…
-
Space datacenters proposed by Musk and Bezos ‘catastrophic’ for planet, experts warn
A new petition filed with the US Federal Communications Commission warns that plans by SpaceX, Blue Origin and other tech firms to build vast networks of orbital datacentres could cause “catastrophic” environmental damage. Space industry experts and environmental groups argue that pollution from satellites and rockets burning up on re-entry is accumulating in the stratosphere…
-
The Trump Administration Wants to Change Public Engagement Rules for Polluters
The Trump administration’s Environmental Protection Agency is considering a rule change that would let individual US states decide how much public input is required before permits are granted for smaller polluting facilities, including gas plants and diesel generators increasingly used to power data centres. Campaigners warn this could strip away opportunities for communities to learn…
-
Environmental group within Labor pushing for industry to pay more tax for using fossil fuels in a move that would send household bills soaring
A faction within Australia’s Labor Party linked to environmental concerns is reportedly pushing for fossil fuel industries to pay higher taxes, in a move that critics warn could push household energy bills up significantly. The push appears to relate to changes to fuel tax credits, a scheme that currently reduces the tax fossil fuel-reliant industries…
-
Besieged by lobbyists, will UK ministers protect our ecosystems? No, they’ll chicken out | George Monbiot
George Monbiot argues that successive UK environment secretaries have prioritised industrial poultry lobbyists over environmental protection, with rivers suffering as a result. He singles out outgoing secretary Emma Reynolds, who used her final weeks in post to push for weaker planning rules that would make it easier to build more large-scale chicken factories, despite the…