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Testing the waters: can pumping chemicals into the ocean help stop global heating?

To some it was a reckless experiment but scientists hope the dispersal of 65,000 litres of sodium hydroxide into the Gulf of Maine could ease the climate crisisFor four days last August, a thick slick of maroon bruised the waters of the Gulf of Maine. The scene, not unlike a toxic red tide, was the result of 65,000 litres of an alkaline chemical, tagged with a red dye, that had been deliberately pumped by scientists into the ocean.Though it sounds perverse, the event was part of a scientific experiment that could advance a technology to combat both global heating and ocean acidification. Ocean alkalinity enhancement (OAE), as the approach is called, acts like natural weathering, but on human – rather than geological – timescales. Continue reading...

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Contractor warned to ‘step up’ and finish Sydney’s maligned M6 motorway or face the consequences

Twin tunnels should be open but lead contractor wants out, blaming sinkholes and a ‘reverse fault’. The NSW government insists ‘there is a technical solution available’Follow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastTwo years after large sinkholes opened above the construction of a $3.1bn Sydney motorway tunnel, the consortium charged with the project’s completion has been issued a notice forcing it to continue the job or face possible legal consequences.The New South Wales roads minister, Jenny Aitchison, said contractor CGU had on Monday been issued a “notice of default”, forcing it to recommence work on the 90% complete M6 tunnel by 1 May. Continue reading...

Was Iran really building a nuclear weapon? – podcast

Among the many justifications Donald Trump has presented for the US and Israel attacking Iran has been the supposedly imminent threat posed by its nuclear weapons programme. But how close was the country really to developing an atomic weapon? Ian Sample hears from Kelsey Davenport, the director of non-proliferation policy at the Arms Control Association. She sets out why many experts don’t believe the country even had a structured nuclear weapons programme, and explains what she thinks the impact of the war could be on nuclear proliferation around the world.Attacking Iran’s nuclear programme could drive it towards a bomb, experts warnSupport the Guardian: theguardian.com/sciencepod Continue reading...

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Bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure to have major environmental fallout, experts warn

Monitors admit they are struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from widening warIsrael’s bombing of Iran’s oil infrastructure will have major long-term environmental repercussions, experts have warned, as monitors admitted they were struggling to keep track of the environmental disasters arising from the widening war.Even as Iranians filled the streets to mark the appointment of a new supreme leader, the Shahran oil depot north-east of Tehran and the Shahr-e fuel depot to its south continued to burn on Monday, two days after they were bombed by Israeli warplanes. Continue reading...

Kyle Sandilands apologises to former co-host Jackie ‘O’ Henderson and says he wants program back on air

Kiis FM radio host accuses ARN of not running ‘genuine process’ before terminating Henderson’s contract and suspending him following pair’s on-air fightFollow our Australia news live blog for latest updatesGet our breaking news email, free app or daily news podcastKyle Sandilands says he has apologised to his co-host, Jackie ‘O’ Henderson, and is “devastated” that their partnership could be ending in his first public comments since their shock split.In a lengthy statement issued on Tuesday, the Kiis FM radio host said he had been told by the broadcaster’s parent company, the Australian Radio Network (ARN), that he was “not allowed to contact Jackie” or his colleagues after her exit from the $200m Kyle and Jackie O Show on Tuesday 3 March. Continue reading...