Governments could slow global warming dramatically, and buy time to avert disastrous climate change, by slashing emissions of one of humanity's most familiar pollutants - soot - according to Nasa scientists. A study by the space agency shows that cutting down on the pollutant, which has so far been largely ignored by climate scientists, can have an immediate cooling effect - and prevent hundreds of thousands of deaths from air pollution at the same time.
Top civil servants and nuclear administrators colluded to prevent MPs from challenging a massive sweetener to a private business taking over the running of Sellafield, internal documents in the hands of The Independent on Sunday reveal. The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also disclose that the Government pushed through the handover at breakneck speed because it feared that the "unstable management arrangements" of the controversial Cumbrian nuclear complex risked its safety.
Top civil servants and nuclear administrators colluded to prevent MPs from challenging a massive sweetener to a private business taking over the running of Sellafield, internal documents in the hands of The Independent on Sunday reveal.
The documents, obtained through the Freedom of Information Act, also disclose that the Government pushed through the handover at breakneck speed because it feared that the "unstable management arrangements" of the controversial Cumbrian nuclear complex risked its safety.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, giant versions of Australia's unique wildlife stalked the continent. There were kangaroos up to 3m tall and enormous wallabies, wombats and echidnas. There were also koalas: larger and weightier than the creatures sometimes seen today in eucalyptus trees. Giant koalas died out about 50,000 years ago, along with most of Australia's "megafauna". For a long time, modern koalas were assumed to be dwarf descendants of those prehistoric animals. But now an Australian palaeontologist has established that the two koalas lived side by side - a finding that may throw new light on why the megafauna disappeared.
Hundreds of thousands of years ago, giant versions of Australia's unique wildlife stalked the continent. There were kangaroos up to 3m tall and enormous wallabies, wombats and echidnas. There were also koalas: larger and weightier than the creatures sometimes seen today in eucalyptus trees.
Giant koalas died out about 50,000 years ago, along with most of Australia's "megafauna". For a long time, modern koalas were assumed to be dwarf descendants of those prehistoric animals. But now an Australian palaeontologist has established that the two koalas lived side by side - a finding that may throw new light on why the megafauna disappeared.
Police widened their search Sunday for 30 works of art, including prints by Henri Matisse and Pablo Picasso, that were stolen from a Berlin gallery on New Year's Eve....The missing works include Picasso's 1947 Profil au Fond Noir and Nude in a Rocking Chair (1913) by Matisse as well as a sculpture weighing around 100 kilograms. The works were on loan to the gallery and due to be shown in an exhibition scheduled to open mid-January. Police believe the thieves will try to sell the works on the international market.
...The missing works include Picasso's 1947 Profil au Fond Noir and Nude in a Rocking Chair (1913) by Matisse as well as a sculpture weighing around 100 kilograms.
The works were on loan to the gallery and due to be shown in an exhibition scheduled to open mid-January. Police believe the thieves will try to sell the works on the international market.
The first steam engine to be built in Britain for nearly half a century has gone on show at the National Railway Museum. Tornado cost £3 million and was funded entirely from donations.
Tornado cost £3 million and was funded entirely from donations.
(Video mini-feature via the link.)
*Lunatic*, n. One whose delusions are out of fashion.
