NEWS

The Urban Coalition, a new coalition of built environment and conservation groups, has launched a wide-ranging national plan to tackle emerging urban challenges and improve the liveability of Australian cities.

Every year millions of birds make heroic migratory journeys across oceans and continents guided by the Earth's magnetic field. How they detect those magnetic fields has puzzled scientists for decades.

Big ‘boss crocs' – large dominant males that keep subordinate males out of their territory – could be the key to safer management of Northern Australia's crocodile populations.

The authors of Australia's first significant study into providing 100 per cent renewable energy have welcomed a new report from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO), which has found that it is technically feasible and affordable to run the National Electricity Market with 100 per cent renewable energy.

A new global-scale modelling study that takes into account nitrogen – a key nutrient for plants – estimates that carbon emissions from human activities on land were 40 per cent higher in the 1990s than was estimated in studies at the time, which did not account for limited nitrogen availability for plant growth.

In the second of six international Indigenous ranger exchange visits funded by the Australian Government, five Torres Strait Island rangers and traditional owners have travelled to the Solomon Islands to work alongside their Pacific Island counterparts.

Tilapia, one of North Queensland's most invasive species of introduced freshwater fish, may be tracked by its own DNA, in a new collaborative project between researchers from James Cook University and the Queensland Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry.

A new project based on a collaboration between Australia’s AusCover facility and Europe’s Geo-Wiki Project will enable anyone to contribute local knowledge to the development of more accurate land cover maps.

The latest State of the World (2013) report – which features contributions from experts at the Worldwatch Institute and other disciplines – sets out to answer the question, is sustainability still possible?

Leading international marine scientists have called for the protection of more, large marine wilderness areas in a bid to shield the world's dwindling stocks of fish from destruction.

A study based in the WA wheat belt is investigating whether increasing soil carbon in grain production to offset greenhouse gas emissions may also increase nitrous oxide emissions, which are nearly 300 times more damaging than carbon dioxide.

Norway's government pension fund – one of the world's largest – has withdrawn US$314 million in investments from a string of companies that it says produce palm oil ‘unsustainably' – a move environmental advocates are likely to welcome because of links between the industry and deforestation.

The Australian Government has released a discussion paper proposing amendments to the regulations governing the administration of the National Television and Computer Recycling Scheme.

In an Australian-led, world-first genome mapping project, a multi-agency Australian research team has discovered how and why koalas respond to infectious diseases.

A recent report from The Climate Institute concludes that Australia has staged a fragile reversal in its previously declining low-carbon competitiveness, with Asia, especially China, now taking centre stage in preparedness for the low-carbon economy.

Figures from the Clean Energy Regulator show the number of Australian homes with solar power systems passed the one million mark in March. According to the Clean Energy Council (CEC), this means more Australians are getting cheaper power and saving some half a billion dollars a year on their electricity bills.

Kerbside recycling needs expansion and consistency across local government areas to help lift Australia's recycling rate, according to the Australian Packaging Covenant (APC).

New research show that potential global crop yield losses from wheat stem-rust – a disease that stops grains forming – are unlikely to be as catastrophic as past predictions, but that sustained research investment is needed to ensure crops are resistant to new strains of the disease.

A new Centre for Biodiversity Analysis based in Canberra will help Australia harness advances in biological sciences to inform better environmental management decision making by policy-makers.

The Climate Commission last week released a major report on extreme weather in Australia, collating the latest knowledge of the influence of climate change on heat, heavy rainfall, flooding, drought, bushfires, storm surges and cyclones.

A carbon price of between $50 and $100 per tonne of carbon dioxide would make coal-fired and gas-fired power less economical than renewable electricity, according to a new study from the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Researchers say biogas from small-scale food waste digesters could provide a source of renewable energy for Australia's rural and regional communities.

Scientists from CSIRO and the University of Western Australia have teamed up with Traditional Owners in the Kimberley region of WA to test a molecular technique that has the potential to revolutionise the discovery of new species, particularly those living in remote and poorly studied parts of the world.

Some of the big questions about weather, climate, and the atmospheric conditions in remote areas of the world's oceans can now be answered following the purchase of a dual-polarisation weather research radar to sit atop Australia's new research vessel, the RV Investigator.

A recent National Water Commission (NWC) report on Murray–Darling Basin Plan implementation urges renewed action and cooperation so that real benefits can start to flow to the basin and its communities.

A novel degradable plastic could dramatically improve the efficiency of native tree revegetation from seed in marginal low rainfall areas, which typically give low germination and establishment.

One of the country's biggest sugar companies has opened a cogeneration facility that uses waste (bagasse) to produce enough electricity to meet one-third of the power needs of the regional city of Mackay, Queensland, as well as supply steam and electricity to its own mill and sugar refinery.