
How 19th century fairy tales expressed anxieties about ecological devastation
Mar 23, 2017 04:59 am UTC| Nature
Danish writer Hans Christian Andersen was one of the most popular European fairy tale authors in 19th century England. While today Andersen is known for his agonised mermaids, disabled tin soldiers and disenfranchised...
How recycled water could revolutionise sustainable development
Mar 22, 2017 08:32 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
By 2025, absolute water scarcity will be a daily reality for an estimated 1.8 billion people. In a world where vital resources are increasingly scarce, nations cannot afford to flush them down the drain. But that is...

Government needs to front up billions, not millions, to save Australia's threatened species
Mar 21, 2017 09:17 am UTC| Nature
Southern cassowaries, orange-bellied parrots, Leadbeaters possums, and Australias only purple wattle are among the threatened species the government is seeking conservation investment for under its recently released...

Humans may have transformed the Sahara from lush paradise to barren desert
Mar 16, 2017 08:21 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
Once upon a time, the Sahara was green. There were vast lakes. Hippos and giraffe lived there, and large human populations of fishers foraged for food alongside the lakeshores. The African Humid Period or Green Sahara...

How do animals see in the dark?
Mar 14, 2017 07:27 am UTC| Nature
On a moonless night, light levels can by more than 100m times dimmer than in bright daylight. Yet while we are nearly blind and quite helpless in the dark, cats are out stalking prey, and moths are flying agilely between...

Curbing climate change has a dollar value — here's how and why we measure it
Mar 13, 2017 04:57 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature
President Trump is expected to issue an executive order soon to reverse Obama-era rules to cut carbon pollution, including a moratorium on leasing public lands for coal mining and a plan to reduce carbon emissions from...
Plastic fibres are causing major harm to South Africa's marine life
Mar 08, 2017 08:37 am UTC| Nature
Next time you take a stroll along your favourite isolated beach, far from any city, take a moment to look down at the high tide mark. Youll almost certainly see small plastic particles dotted along your route. These are...