

In response to a request from Hvar's registered charity Dignitea, the EC has sent a full explanation of the regulations which should be applied to the proposed oil and gas drilling in the Adriatic.


Former government adviser Polly Billington urges bigger steps to shield people in UK from effects of Iran war
Keir Starmer should convene a global energy summit of the same order as Gordon Brown’s response to the 2008 financial crisis and put Britain on a “war footing” to reduce its exposure to fossil fuels, a Labour MP and former government adviser has said.
Polly Billington, who was an aide in Brown’s government, warned that economic pain was “hurtling down the tracks” and a bigger response was needed to protect the British people from the consequences of the US-Israeli war on Iran.
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Vibrant seagrass meadows once flourished around the UK but most have been destroyed. Now, communities and scientists are working to restore them
“There’s not many jobs where you get to be a sea gardener,” says Dr Oliver Thomas, senior science officer at Project Seagrass. He’s looking for flashes of eel grass that have survived the winter in the wide golden sand of Penrhyn beach on Ynys Môn (Anglesey), in north Wales.
But growing a meadow in the sea is not an easy job. Vast swathes of the gorgeous underwater swards, vital nurseries for fish such as cod, have been wiped out around the UK in the past century. Up to 92% have been lost. Restoring them – and their water-cleaning, carbon-storing, coast-protecting benefits – is a colossal challenge.
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Study shows reducing vulnerability to pollution, including by expanding healthcare access, saves millions of lives
Reductions in vulnerability to air pollution since 1990 saved the lives of about 1.7 million people in 2019, according to new research.
Particle pollution improved in 139 out of 193 countries. The greatest gains were achieved in Europe and North America, with smaller reductions across Africa and Asia.
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In this week’s newsletter: From pollution in the upper atmosphere to mounting debris, experts warn the rapid expansion in space could threaten our planet
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Our relationship with space is changing rapidly.
For almost all of human history, the space above us was an unreachable frontier. Yet in a single human lifetime, Earth’s orbit has gone from largely empty to congested with satellites.
Rubbish and recycling in England: what’s changing
Drive slower, work from home: the world responds to Iran war energy crisis
Exclusive: UK looks to relax planning rules for factory farms after lobbying
Lunar prospectors: the businesses looking to mine the moon
‘This feels fragile’: how a satellite-smashing chain reaction could spiral out of control
‘This was the real thing’: Meet the woman who alerts the world when an asteroid could hit
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Sensory organ in male cephalopod able to detect female hormone progesterone, even if male cannot see partner
Sex might seem an intimate act, but scientists have shed fresh light on how octopuses manage it at arm’s length.
Male octopuses use a specialised arm called the hectocotylus to place a package of sperm inside the female’s reproductive system.
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Document shows partial felling last year, which led to legal action against Toby Carvery, was done by Ground Control
A mystery contractor who chainsawed an ancient oak in north London for the Toby Carvery restaurant chain has been identified by the Guardian, prompting more questions about the incident.
The unauthorised partial felling of the 500-year-old oak a year ago on Friday in Whitewebbs Park, Enfield, prompted widespread public outrage and questions in parliament.
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Texas power plant would emit 4.5m tons of carbon dioxide per year, more than that of the entire city of San Francisco
Google’s plan for a partnership with a natural gas power plant that could provide energy for one of its datacenters in Texas was unearthed by new research and confirmed by the company. The move is part of an ongoing about-face for the tech giant, which once pledged to be carbon neutral by 2030 and has long been seen as a pioneer in clean energy.
The gas power plant is slated to be built in Armstrong county, a sparsely populated area in the Texas panhandle. According to a report by the research organization Cleanview, the project is being led by Crusoe Energy, which partnered with Google to develop the datacenter campus known as “Goodnight”, named after a nearby town.
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It was a slow ascent: I needed to check for wasps, snakes and scorpions
I was born in Tawau, a Malaysian city on the island of Borneo, and grew up around logging camps – my dad worked in the industry. In the early 90s, a lot of the forest here started being cleared for commercial use. At the time, I just thought that was the way things were.
That changed when I began working in conservation as a teenager at the South East Asia Rainforest Research Partnership in the nearby Danum Valley. My job was to plant seedlings in places where the forest had been cut down. I began to learn about the importance of keeping the forest safe.
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US states from California to Georgia are promoting induction stoves for climate, health and cost benefits
Marcos Ramos hasn’t been able to cook a full meal at home in nearly four years, after a gas leak resulted in a lengthy supply cut off for his New York City apartment building.
Now, though, Ramos will be able to cook again thanks to a technology that is gradually advancing in the US after being embroiled in an unlikely culture war – the electric induction stove.
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Britain’s swift population fell by two-thirds between 1995 and 2023. Make their lives a little easier with a bit more food and more places to nest
Swifts are wheeling, screaming endurance athletes. They don’t touch the earth for nine months of the year and fly about 14,000 miles annually – travelling from sub-Saharan Africa to nest in the UK, then back again. In Britain, they’re the sign that summer is coming or taking its leave. In between, they provide a heart-soaring display of beauty. No wonder they’re beloved.
“Swifts spark joy,” says Hannah Bourne-Taylor, a passionate swift advocate and author of Nature Needs You: The Fight to Save Our Swifts.
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Novo istraživanje pokazuje da osobe koje žive s opstruktivnom apnejom u snu imaju 71% veći rizik od kardiovaskularnih događaja ili smrti od bilo kojeg uzroka u usporedbi s osobama koje nemaju sleep apneju.
Istraživanje provedeno u SAD-u pokazuje da tjelesna težina, san, pušenje i tjelesna aktivnost mogu biti važniji za hipertenziju od samog ukupnog rezultata prehrane, pri čemu se natrij i dalje ističe kao važan prehrambeni čimbenik.
Multidisciplinarni stručni panel tvrdi da se obični, nezaslađeni jogurt može kod djece uvesti od 6 mjeseci kao dio dopunske prehrane, nudeći korisne hranjive tvari i žive mikroorganizme, a istovremeno pomaže u razbijanju uobičajenih mitova o mliječnim proizvodima kod dojenčadi.
Viša razina vitamina D u krvi u srednjoj životnoj dobi povezana je s nižim razinama tau proteina u mozgu, što je znak demencije, godinama kasnije, pokazuje nova studija. Studija ne dokazuje da razina vitamina D smanjuje razinu tau proteina i rizik od demencije; samo pokazuje povezanost.
Nemogućnost priuštiti si dentalnu skrb može povećati rizik od razvoja kardiovaskularnih bolesti ili demencije, tvrdi nova studija. Naime, pokazalo se, da starije osobe koje odustaju od potrebnih stomatoloških zahvata zbog financijskih prepreka mogu imati veću vjerojatnost da će doživjeti zatajenje srca, srčani udar, moždani udarili demenciju.
Prema rezultatima nove studije, jednostavan dodatak vlakana mogao bi preoblikovati crijevni mikrobiom, stabilizirati skokove šećera u krvi, pa čak i spriječiti prijevremeni porod u trudnoćama visokog rizika, nudeći obećavajući novi put za preciznu prenatalnu skrb.
Test krvi mogao bi pomoći u identificiranju osoba s većim rizikom od kognitivnog pada godinama prije nego što je moguća tradicionalna dijagnoza, tvrde znanstvenici s University of East Anglia. Naime, oni su otkrili da suptilne promjene u krvi mogu otkriti najranije znakove kognitivnog pada mnogo prije nego što simptomi postanu očiti. Te promjene uzrokuju kemikalije koje proizvode crijevne bakterije - što pojačava tezu da veza crijeva i mozga igra važnu ulogu u ranim promjenama pamćenja.
Mnogim ljudima s celijakijom savjetuje se da jedu više vlakana kako bi podržali probavu i upravljali simptomima, bilo putem prehrane ili propisanih dodataka prehrani s vlaknima. Sada novo istraživanje pokazuje da koristi tih vlakana mogu ovisiti o tome jesu li u crijevima prisutne prave bakterije koje ih razgrađuju.
Neredovito vrijeme spavanja u srednjim godinama može signalizirati povećani rizik od kardiovaskularnih bolesti, sugerira nova studija. Naime, velike promjene u vremenu odlaska u krevet mogu udvostručiti rizik od ozbiljnih srčanih događaja - posebno među onima koji spavaju manje od osam sati.
Rezultati nove studije pokazali su da odrasle osobe s većim ukupnim unosom šećera imaju veću vjerojatnost razvoja žučnih kamenaca, što dodaje nove dokaze da svakodnevna prehrana može igrati značajnu ulogu u zdravlju žučnog mjehura. Naime, svako povećanje ukupnog unosa šećera od 100 g/dan povezano je s 41% većim rizikom od žučnih kamenaca, čak i nakon prilagodbe s demografskim, kliničkim, načinom života i prehrambenim čimbenicima.