Australian scientists create brick refuges in greenhouses to help green and golden bell frogs survive infection
A “sauna” treatment for frogs has been used by researchers in Australia to successfully fight a deadly fungal disease that has devastated amphibians around the world, according to a new study.
Scientists created refuges for the animals using painted masonry bricks inside greenhouses that they called “frog saunas”. They found that endangered Australian green and golden bell frogs were able to clear infections from the deadly Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis fungus, in the warmer conditions of the greenhouses, when they would otherwise have died. Many of the frogs that recovered in the refuges were then resistant to infection.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/11/2024 - 14:00
07/11/2024 - 12:06
Snail mail replaced with slug mail as scientists need 1,000 grey field slugs to explore their impact on various crops
It may be known as snail mail, but researchers are hoping the public will use the postal service to send them a different kind of mollusc: slugs.
A team of scientists and farmers carrying out research into slug-resistant wheat say they need about 1,000 of the creatures to explore how palatable slugs find various crops.
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07/11/2024 - 11:30
Projected high of 10.3bn people is lower and will come earlier than expected, analysis suggests
The global population is likely to peak earlier than expected and at a lower level, according to new UN projections that officials have said offer hope of reduced pressure on the environment.
The analysis predicts there will be about 10.3 billion people by the mid-2080s, up from 8.2 billion this year.
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07/11/2024 - 11:07
Lawyers acting for minister say emissions of coal extracted from mine should have been taken into account
The government has admitted that a proposed coalmine in Cumbria was approved unlawfully, as the carbon emissions of coal from the mine should have been taken into account in the planning decision.
This follows a precedent set by a supreme court judgment last month, when Surrey county council’s decision to extend planning permission for an oil drilling well at Horse Hill, on the Weald, was quashed.
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07/11/2024 - 10:15
Researchers have found that the key to a quick and cost-effective mapping of biodiversity has been right in front of our eyes all along, but at the same time invisible -- i.e., in the air that surrounds us.
07/11/2024 - 10:00
As Saturday after Saturday gets wiped out by bad weather, clubs are drowning in a sea of unplayed fixtures
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The first thing Jamie Amendolia’s boys ask him when he picks them up from school every afternoon is the same: “Is training on? Is the game on? Has it been called off? Are we playing?”
Both of his sons, Sebastian, 10, and Alexander, eight, play football at Enfield FC in Sydney’s inner west. They’re footy fanatics. Except both have had their season thrown into chaos by the wet weather that has hit and bogged down Sydney’s weekends for months.
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07/11/2024 - 09:40
Usama Al-Qassab cited tournament’s ‘very thorough vetting process’ after pro-Palestine and climate protests
A top Wimbledon official has staunchly defended the tournament’s sponsorship deal with Barclays, accusing pro-Palestine and climate protesters of seeking to boost their campaigns’ profiles.
Tournament organisers have come under pressure to drop the bank as a sponsor from climate groups and anti-war activists, who accuse Barclays of using the event to “cover up its role” in funding the climate crisis and to “hide from accountability for its role in enabling Israel’s war crimes”.
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07/11/2024 - 07:00
Satellite analysis looked at credits sold by Finite Carbon, which runs some of North America’s largest offset projects
This story is co-published with SourceMaterial and Floodlight
Some forest carbon offsets sold by the biggest offsetting company in the US offer little or no benefit to the climate, a satellite analysis has found.
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07/11/2024 - 06:00
Rescued chicks favour seafood, suggesting they turn to urban diet as adults from necessity rather than preference
Herring gulls have wrecked many a seaside picnic, pouncing on unsuspecting people trying to enjoy a Cornish pasty, a sandwich or a bag of chips.
But a study from the University of Exeter suggests gull chicks prefer seafood even after being raised on a diet of the sort of scraps found around humans.
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07/11/2024 - 03:58
Ofwat says UK’s biggest water company will come under extra scrutiny as it faces prospect of restructuring or temporary renationalisation
Rise in water bills is ‘bitter pill’, says chancellor
Company by company: how much are bills going up?
The water industry regulator has put Thames Water into unprecedented special measures, allowing extra scrutiny of the struggling water supplier as it faces the prospect of a painful restructuring or temporary nationalisation.
Ofwat said on Thursday that the company, which is creaking under £15.2bn of debt, would be placed in a “turnaround oversight regime” and subjected to “heightened regulatory” measures, meaning it must regularly report on the progress of its investment plan.
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