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Silicone wristbands worn by volunteers in the Netherlands captured 173 substances in one week
For decades, Khoji Wesselius has noticed the oily scent of pesticides during spraying periods when the wind has blown through his tiny farming village in a rural corner of the Netherlands.
Now, after volunteering in an experiment to count how many such substances people are subjected to, Wesselius and his wife are one step closer to understanding the consequences of living among chemical-sprayed fields of seed potato, sugar beet, wheat, rye and onion.
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Former Paralympics champion says inaccessible charging points show government ‘has forgotten about us’
Campaigners including Tanni Grey-Thompson have warned that disabled drivers are at risk of being locked out of the electric car transition because of inaccessible chargers.
The former Paralympics champion and the Electric Vehicle Association England are pushing for the government to introduce standards to ensure chargers are easy to reach.
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Committee urges ministers to set out measures to reduce carbon emissions before work starts on new runways
Airport expansion plans backed by the government are putting the UK’s net zero target in “serious jeopardy”, MPs have warned.
Without new safeguards, proposals to enlarge airports including Heathrow and Gatwick could push the UK over its carbon budgets, according to a report from the cross-party Commons environmental audit committee.
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There are three common types of turbulence – and our volatile atmosphere is making them worse
Turbulence has always been an inconvenience for airline passengers and can cause alarm for the already nervous. Part of the problem is that most of the time you cannot see it coming – pilots can run into severe clear-air turbulence in a perfect blue sky.
High in the atmosphere, where most intercontinental flights cruise to make maximum use of fuel, the jet stream can behave erratically, causing wind shear that can throw around an airliner in the sky.
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The best of this week’s wildlife photographs from around the world
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Stoke-on-Trent, Staffordshire:They are shuttling between marshland every day, honking overhead, taking it in turns to take the strain
Right now, my terrace house sits directly under a flight path, belonging not to planes but to skeins and skeins of honking Canada geese. As reliable as the first misty mornings and the slow shedding of the trees, I hear that familiar harsh call as the geese pass overhead. My view of the V shapes is often cut short by the built-up limitations of my urban view, yet they are a wonder nonetheless, their shadows occasionally forming a shifting echo on the pavement below.
Most of the Canada geese here are happily resident in the UKand no longer migrate, but come autumn, with their babies big enough to fly now, an old restlessness seems to stir in them. My neighbourhood is sandwiched between areas of marshland, and the geese have begun to move more between the best roosting and feeding sites, back and forth each day, some venturing farther afield to look for new territory, honking their movement with eager, open mouths.
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Environment Agency rates eight of nine companies as poor and needing improvement
England’s water company ratings have fallen to the lowest level on record after sewage pollution last year hit a new peak, with eight of nine water companies rated as poor and needing improvement by the Environment Agency.
The cumulative score of only 19 stars out of a possible 36 is the lowest since the regulator began auditing the companies using the star rating system in 2011.
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Zoe Rosenberg, a California student, is on trial over a tactic that animal rights activists consider a moral imperative. Critics say it’s a threat to the food supply
On a Monday afternoon in late September, Zoe Rosenberg, a 23-year-old University of California, Berkeley, student, emerged from a courtroom in Santa Rosa, California. Flanked by her lawyers, she moved briskly through the courthouse corridors, past more than 100 prospective jurors.
Pinned to her black blazer was a tiny metallic chicken, glinting on the lapel.
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Around the Cook Islands, the world’s two most powerful countries are exploring the possibility of deep-sea mining for critical minerals
Deep below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, the seafloor is dotted with clusters of brown and black rocks, each containing valuable metals.
The rocks, known as polymetallic nodules, hold reserves of critical minerals that could be used to power clean energy and fuel a new industrial future. In the Cook Islands, a nation halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, exploration vessels are mapping the mineral-rich seabeds.
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Local non-profits and schools are helping students explore traditional practices paired with modern science to make food sovereignty a reality
The Blackfeet Nation is a remote and rugged landscape on the windswept plains of northern Montana. While rich in resources, the remote location and management by the federal government have made food access a challenge here.
Only four grocery stores serve the entire reservation. Fresh, healthy produce and meat options are often limited at these stores, and prices are higher than in neighboring communities, making access difficult for low–income families. Instead, highly processed foods, rich in sugars, carbohydrates and fat make up the bulk of the food choices.
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