
But there are alternatives....


But there are alternatives....

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies
The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves pummelled Europe and Asia, and oil markets around the world leapt and sputtered, the two big chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were being demolished. Meanwhile, the Australian energy minister was holding a media conference to hail a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country.
Quietly, and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar power, with panels on one in three homes. It also remains, however, a major contributor to the climate crisis through its vast fossil fuel exports.But it is batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed.
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Many of those who love spending time in Britain’s green places say it is awe-inspiring, calming and therapeutic
As a recent study revealed almost half of UK adults now spend less than three hours a week in natural settings such as gardens, parks, fields or woods, we asked readers to tell us about what being outside means to them.
The replies – heartfelt and passionate – came flooding in, with some admitting they just did not have the words to say how important it is.
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The insatiable horseshoe whip snake has become an existential threat to the Ibiza wall lizard
Irrefutable proof of what Spanish researchers and wildlife experts had long suspected, and long feared, finally presented itself in the form of a grainy video that was shot on a minuscule island in the Balearics in April 2024.
Ribboning its way through the turquoise waters that separate the east coast of Ibiza from the islet of Santa Eulària 450 metres away, came a pale and solitary horseshoe whip snake in search of new territory and fresh sustenance.
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Exclusive: Local authority asked what steps it is taking after hordes of splashing revellers seen disturbing nesting birds
Ministers have written to the City of London demanding it stop people from swimming in a protected pond on Hampstead Heath, after disturbing scenes of cygnets and eggs being disrupted went viral on social media.
Swans and their 12-day-old cygnets were disturbed by hordes of splashing revellers in the north London park on Monday as temperatures reached a record 35C in the capital. In one video, a swan was seen poking an unhatched egg with its beak after it fell into the water during the chaos.
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Hour by hour, Shahida and her baby are exposed to the full force of the deadly temperatures affecting India’s capital – without reliable access to food, water or healthcare. Here is a day in their lives
Delhi is sweltering through another summer of extreme heat, with top daytime readings consistently reaching 43C and even minimum temperatures hovering around 32.4C (90.3F).
Last week the city endured its warmest May night in 14 years. As government heat alerts follow one after another and people retreat indoors, more than 300,000 individuals living on the city’s streets remain out in the punishing heat.
Shahida dreads the arrival of summer, and this year, she has the additional worry of keeping nine-month-old Jannat safe from the heat
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Despite government pledges, more than 20 authorities will not allow gullies, citing safety, legal and parking concerns
The energy secretary, Ed Miliband, has said charger gullies to connect electric cars parked on streets will help cut costs for drivers, yet millions of UK households may be unable to use the simple technology because their local councils will still not allow charging cables to cross the pavement.
Despite government promises to “slash red tape” and make it easier to put in gullies, more than 20 local authorities appear to be holding out against them.
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The births, fledgling flights and even first dates on Robert Fuller’s site are about to hit a million global subscribers
Having enjoyed setting up bird boxes with his father as a child, the wildlife artist Robert Fuller wanted to go one step further. While he happily spent hours making the boxes and dotting them around the Yorkshire Wolds, he found it tantalising that he was unable to see exactly what the nesting owls, kestrels and kingfishers were up to.
It transpires Fuller was not alone in his curiosity. His YouTube channel, which livestreams footage from his artificial habitats and documents his love of British nature, is about to hit a million global subscribers. His channel now generates on average 2.8m monthly views.
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She had a passion for butterflies and would seek out rare ones, yet this was used against her by violent, money-grabbing husband. Now this pioneering naturalist’s story has been translated to today’s manosphere
‘There’s nothing wrong with having a hobby, or even what you might call in this case a hyperfocus,” psychiatrist Dr Godrick tells Eleanor Glanville in a claustrophobic therapy room.
Outside the Phoenix theatre in Hampshire, a summer heatwave is delivering perfect conditions for butterflies. Inside, a rather darker story is being rehearsed in air-conditioned gloom. Butterfly, a new play, shines a light on one woman’s passion for butterflies and how it is turned against her when she became trapped in an abusive relationship.
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With no recorded sightings before 1885, noctilucent clouds have been linked to volcanoes, pollution or climate change
As summer arrives in the northern hemisphere, so do the noctilucent clouds – hopefully. These high-altitude formations are as enigmatic as they are beautiful. Their name derives from Latin, meaning “night shining”.
They appear during the summer months and glow with an electric-blue intensity against the darkening western sky. Look for them about half an hour after sunset.
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Rather than dreaming of restoring past glory, some are advocating for a future with a lighter footprint. And there are signs of renewal
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Kerry Outerbridge motored his powerboat through coral reef ringing the lush, tropical island and alighted upon white sand.
Catamarans and jetskis lay strewn about the beach. Nothing but quiet emerged to greet him from the bungalows scattered among a grove of coconut trees. A plate of food sat on a kitchen table, mouldering.
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Prema rezultatima novog istraživanja, okrelizumab, lijek koji se već propisuje nekim pacijentima s multiplom sklerozom, značajno usporava napredovanje invaliditeta kod osoba s primarnom progresivnom multiplom sklerozom (PPMS), uključujući starije pacijente i one s uznapredovalim oblikom bolesti koji već koriste invalidska kolica.
Zašto se neki ljudi lako oporavljaju od bakterijskih infekcija, dok se kod drugih stanje brzo pogoršava u po život opasnu sepsu? Prema novoj studiji, odgovor može ležati ne samo u samom patogenu koji napada, već i u mikroorganizmima koji već žive u crijevima.
U novom kliničkom ispitivanju, vaginalni bromokriptin pomogao je ženama s adenomiozom da prijave manje boli, slabije krvarenje, kraće menstruacije i redovitije menstrualne cikluse, što ukazuje na potencijalni novi put liječenja koji sada treba širu potvrdu.
Prema novoj studiji, destabilizacija crijevnog mikrobioma povezana sa starenjem nije prvenstveno posljedica promjena u samim mikroorganizmima, već smanjenja imunološkog nadzora. Kada imunološki sustav koji stari izgubi svoju kontrolnu funkciju, pojedinačni mikroorganizmi mogu preuzeti kontrolu i poremetiti mikrobnu ravnotežu. Smatra se, da studija otvara nove perspektive za razumijevanje zdravog starenja.
Više od desetljeća nakon uklanjanja adenoma - prekancerozne mase - iz debelog crijeva, promjene crijevnog mikrobioma i metabolita ostaju i mogu povećati rizik od raka debelog crijeva (CRC), tvrdi nova studija. Studija je također otkrila da su prehrana i tjelesna aktivnost usko povezane s obiljem ovih crijevnih mikroba povezanih s rakom debelog crijeva kod osoba s anamnezom adenoma nego kod osoba bez adenoma, što sugerira da način života može igrati posebno važnu ulogu u oblikovanju ovih mikroba u ovoj skupini visokog rizika.
S manje vremena i više posla, kronični umor postao je značajka modernog društva. Međutim, on ne samo da smanjuje kvalitetu života, već predstavlja i društveni problem koji utječe na radnu učinkovitost i dovodi do nesreća. Naizgled, uzrok umora često se pripisuje nedovoljnom odmoru, ali može postojati i drugi temeljni problem - nedostatak pravilne prehrane.
Menstrualni ciklus uključuje ponavljajuće hormonalne, metaboličke i bihevioralne fluktuacije kod osoba reproduktivne dobi. Duljina i varijabilnost ciklusa ključni su pokazatelji ženskog zdravlja, s povećanom varijabilnosti i nepravilnostima povezanima s negativnim menstrualnim simptomima i većim rizikom za dugoročna zdravstvena stanja poput raka, dijabetesa, kardiovaskularnih bolesti, prijeloma i prerane smrtnosti.
Malo kliničko ispitivanje koje su vodili znanstvenici s Dana-Farber Instituta za rak testiralo je ideju Salk Instituta na pacijentima: da aktiviranje receptora vitamina D može pomoći u preoblikovanju zaštitnog okruženja koje okružuje tumore gušterače na načine koji bi mogli učiniti rak, koji je poznat po tome što ga je teško liječiti, osjetljivijim na terapijske tretmane.
Nova studija otkrila je skupinu krvnih proteina koji su promijenjeni kod ljudi koji razviju multiplu sklerozu (MS), u nekim slučajevima više od desetljeća prije dijagnoze. Rezultati daju nadu da bi jednostavan test krvi jednog dana mogao identificirati ljude s visokim rizikom od multiple skleroze na vrijeme kako bi djelovali prije nego što dođe do oštećenja.
Vitiligo je depigmentirajuća bolest koja destruktivno utječe na melanocite i povezana je s imunološkom upalom, pri čemu prehrana potencijalno posreduje u upalnim procesima putem imunološke disregulacije. Međutim, specifična uloga prehrane u patogenezi vitiliga još uvijek nije dovoljno proučena.