It has long been the holy grail for those who believe that technology can save us from catastrophic climate change: a device that can “suck” carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air, reducing the warming effect of the billions of tonnes of greenhouse gas produced each year.

Now a group of US scientists say they have made a breakthrough towards creating such a machine. Led by Klaus Lackner, a physicist at Columbia University in New York, they plan to build and demonstrate a prototype within two years that could economically capture a tonne of CO2 a day from the air, about the same per passenger as a flight from London to New York.

More…

Many scientists now believe the Earth can be altered to tackle global warming. But are these geoengineers being overly optimistic? Danny Bradbury investigates.

It sounds like something from B-movie lore. Scientists working to avert global catastrophe invent a terrible technical instrument that could affect the fundamental way that the planet operates. The question is not whether they should use it, but whether they have a choice.

More…

Nearly 200 countries have agreed on measures to protect the world’s most threatened wildlife.

At a Bonn conference they pledged to set up a deep-sea nature reserve and increase by tens of millions of hectares the area of land protected.

More… 

English Heritage has been accused of wasting public money by putting a majestic 15th century property on the market for £4.5 million after spending more than £7 million to save it for the nation.

Apethorpe Hall is one of the country’s finest Elizabethan and Jacobean houses. It was bought by the Government for more than £3 million. Over the past two years, English Heritage has spent £4 million on its restoration.

More…

Today, thanks in no small part to £32 billion in EU grants, it is the second richest per capita (after Luxembourg).

.So the result of a referendum on June 12 on whether to consolidate EU powers by ratifying the Treaty of Lisbon must surely be a foregone conclusion.Think again. 

More…

On May 22, researchers at Osaka University presented the first demonstration of cold fusion since an unsuccessful attempt in 1989 that has clouded the field to this day.

To many people, cold fusion sounds too good to be true. The idea is that, by creating nuclear fusion at room temperature, researchers can generate a nearly unlimited source of power that uses water as fuel and produces almost zero waste. Essentially, cold fusion would make oil obsolete.

More…

“Monkeys have learnt to feed themselves using a robotic arm controlled by their thoughts”, The Times reported today. It said that this experiment could ultimately lead to paralysed people and amputees leading more independent lives. Extensive media coverage was given to a study in two rhesus monkeys that were fitted with a brain implant and then trained to control a robotic arm with their thoughts to feed themselves.

A letter to the scientific journal Nature described the study and included a description and videos of the technology known as the “brain-machine interface”. Microelectrodes were implanted in the parts of the brain that control movement and the monkeys learned how to generate signals that were used to direct a robotic arm with five types of movement. Complex software allowed the researchers to adjust the speed, direction and end position of the arm so that the electrical impulses from the brain produced a useful movement with which the monkeys fed themselves.

More…

More:

Original research paper:

More:

Thousands of communities blighted by landfill sites can look forward to a greener future, with dumps being transformed into woodlands.

  A ten-year study has found that it is possible to grow mature and sturdy trees on land once used to dispose of liquid, clinical and hazardous waste without any threat of leakage in the local environment. 

More…