most-important
Ireland Becomes World’s First Country to Divest from Fossil Fuels
The Republic of Ireland will become the world’s first country to sell off its investments in fossil fuel companies, after a bill was passed with all-party support in the lower house of parliament. The state’s €8bn national investment fund will…
Historic Floods in Japan Kill More Than 100, Force Millions to Flee
At least 109 people have died in Japan following historic flooding and mudslides over the weekend that prompted evacuation orders covering about five million people, The Guardian reported Monday. The flooding was prompted by Japan’s heaviest rainfall in decades. Parts…
Lithium-Ion Batteries Are Fast Becoming the Worlds New Oil
For an energy source that’s been around for three decades, the lithium-ion battery is only just hitting its stride. It’s worked its way up from primitive cellular phones to cameras and laptops before entering everyone’s pockets inside smartphones. But only…
‘Atlantification’ of Arctic Ocean Speeds Up
The Arctic Ocean is warming so rapidly that it may soon transform into an upper arm of the Atlantic Ocean, researchers say. A study published this week in Nature Climate Change shows how the Barents Sea in Scandinavia, where Atlantic…
One Football Pitch of Forest Lost every Second in 2017, Data Reveals
The world lost more than one football pitch of forest every second in 2017, according to new data from a global satellite survey, adding up to an area equivalent to the whole of Italy over the year. The scale of…
Mercedes-Benz Turns Coal Power Plant into Energy Storage System with Electric Car Batteries
Daimler, through its subsidiary Mercedes-Benz Energy and with partners, is turning a coal power plant into a large energy storage facility using over a thousand modules from its electric car battery packs. Like Tesla and its ‘Tesla Energy’ division, Mercedes-Benz…
Fear of Humans Is Forcing Daytime Animals into Night Mode
Thanks to human activity, some daytime animals are switching over to the night shift. Justin Brashares noticed it first in 2013, when he was studying olive baboons in Ghana: during times that humans were around, the primates stayed up long…