Interesting Ideas

Study on skull of Altamura Man could be blow to adaptation theories about Neanderthals and their extinction

One sign of a really cold day is the sharp sting of freezing air in your nose. It was believed that the noses of Neanderthals were better adapted to breathing the cold air of the Ice Age and that when the climate became warmer they were outcompeted by modern humans. This is now being questioned.

The opening in the Neanderthal skull is bigger than ours, with a larger nasal cavity behind it. This was thought to have bony convolutions to warm and moisten the incoming air, similar to those seen on some arctic mammals. These delicate structures would only survive in an exceptionally well-preserved skull though, so it was never clear whether they were actually present.

Analysis marking 10 years since Paris climate agreement underscores effectiveness of strong government policies

The once-rigid link between economic growth and carbon emissions is breaking across the vast majority of the world, according to a study released ahead of Friday’s 10th anniversary of the Paris climate agreement.

The analysis, which underscores the effectiveness of strong government climate policies, shows this “decoupling” trend has accelerated since 2015 and is becoming particularly pronounced among major emitters in the global south.

A few times in the past few months, Elon Musk has said that Tesla would remove its human safety monitors in some robotaxis by the end of this year. This is the biggie. Or one of the biggies. It’s one thing to have ~30 robotaxis driving around Austin and San ... [continued]

The post Tesla To Reach Huge Robotaxi Milestone Just In Time, Elon Musk Says appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Wildlife smuggling is serious organised crime that ‘fuels corruption and drives species to extinction’, Home Office says

More than 250 endangered species and illegal wildlife products were seized at the UK border in a single month, new figures have revealed, including spiders, snakes and birds.

The illicit cargo was uncovered as part of an annual crackdown on wildlife smuggling known as Operation Thunder, which is led by Interpol and the World Customs Organisation.

Once upon a time, states’ rights were a big deal for conservatives. As Wikipedia summarizes states’ rights, these are “political powers held for the state governments rather than the federal government according to the United States Constitution, reflecting especially the enumerated powers of Congress and the Tenth Amendment.” Some conservatives ... [continued]

The post King Donald Is Trying To Bomb States’ Rights For AI & Fossil Fuels appeared first on CleanTechnica.

People — especially many of our highly esteemed CleanTechnica readers — have been clamoring for someone to produce a truly cheap electric car for years. Battery prices have come down enough to make it possible. Chinese carmakers have been able to do it. But we haven’t been granted such an ... [continued]

The post Citroën May Release A Sub-£15,000 Electric Car appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Tyrella Beach, County Down: These fine ducks are tricky to spot from the shore, but I feel lucky to be seeing them at all

The common scoter has long haunted the edges of my mind. I think of this handsome duck migrating from its summer breeding grounds in the boreal lakelands of Scandinavia. I watch for the tattered ribbons of its flight formations arriving to winter along this coast. I scrutinise the sea for flocks far offshore.

Because even here in Dundrum Bay, where large winter flocks gather, any sighting is hit and miss. Scoters’ flocking behaviour is reinforced by the patchy distribution of their mollusc prey. The ducks congregate over shellfish beds, diving from the surface to seize an individual shellfish, which they then swallow whole, to digest – shell and all – in their powerful gizzards. But as a flock drifts and flies from bed to bed, from my perspective on the beach, the birds easily dissolve into a vast and moving sea.

Ghana’s capital is a party and entertainment hub but members of the diaspora would do well to experience its spectacular art scene

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After more than 50 editions surfing across the waves of the global Black diaspora with Nesrine, this will be my final dispatch for the Long Wave, as I move on to a new role on the Opinion desk at the Guardian. I am heartbroken to be leaving, but I am so thankful to all of our readers for being so encouraging and engaged throughout the past year.

Any who, time to cut the sad music (this is my farewell tune of choice), as I have one more edition for you. In late autumn, I took my first trip to Ghana for Accra Cultural Week. While there, I visited the historic area of Jamestown, which was reflected in an exhibition by artist Serge Attukwei Clottey.

Peterbilt has unveiled four new medium duty electric trucks powered by a battery-electric powertrain from PACCAR.

The post Peterbilt Unveils New Electric Truck Models While Dispute With California Continues appeared first on CleanTechnica.

China’s rapid adoption of agricultural drones is one of the most interesting examples of technological divergence between two major food producers. The contrast is striking. Chinese pilots are now treating an amount of land with drones each year that is larger than the total farmland base, which means multiple drone ... [continued]

The post Drones, Diesel, & Policy: Two Countries, Two Agricultural Futures appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Exclusive: Use of toxic plastic beads in treatment works is unnecessary and outdated, say conservationists

The use of tiny, toxic plastic beads at sewage works should be banned nationwide, an MP and wildlife experts have said after a devastating spill at an internationally important nature reserve.

Hundreds of millions of “biobeads” washed up on Camber Sands beach in East Sussex last month, after a failure at a Southern Water sewage treatment works caused a catastrophic spill. It has distressed and alarmed local people and conservationists, as not only are the beads unsightly but they pose a deadly threat to wildlife.

ATLANTA, Georgia — An hour before hearing testimony from the public and advocacy groups, the Georgia Public Service Commission (PSC) posted a settlement agreement approving Georgia Power’s plan to build the most expensive gas plants in the country, leaving Georgians to foot the bill. The settlement, which the PSC is ... [continued]

The post Georgia’s Utility Regulator Rushes Deal for Georgia Power Before Public Hearing appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Fans of new sodium battery technology suffered a big disappointment earlier this year when the once-promising US energy storage startup Natron shuttered its doors. However, other US innovators have picked up the slack. That includes California-based Inlyte Energy, which has just completed a successful test of its full scale “salt ... [continued]

The post New Large-Scale Iron-Sodium Energy Storage System Passes The Test appeared first on CleanTechnica.

MADISON, Wisconsin – A new toolkit is available to help Wisconsinites take action to protect their communities as Big Tech companies continue to look to build energy-hungry hyperscale data centers in the state. “Hyperscale Data Centers in Wisconsin: Big Tech Unchecked” provides information for people to learn more about data centers, data ... [continued]

The post New Toolkit Helps Communities Push Back Against Big Tech As Data Center Proposals Surge In Wisconsin appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Northern resident killer whales appear to use dolphins as ‘scouts’, in a surprising cooperative hunting strategy

Orcas and dolphins have been spotted for the first time working as a team to hunt salmon off the coast of British Columbia, according to a new study which suggests a cooperative relationship between the two predators.

The research, published on Thursday in the journal Scientific Reports, shows interactions between northern resident orcas (also known as killer whales) and Pacific white-sided dolphins are not just chance encounters while foraging.

An official report lays out different scenarios for the cost of transitioning away from fossil fuels to net zero by 2050

Britain’s official energy system operator has attempted to work out what achieving net zero carbon emissions will cost, with its figures showing surging spending in the coming years.

The scale and speed of the shift to a low-carbon economy, and how to fund it, are hotly debated by political parties.

A fin whale washed ashore in Anchorage and was left there for months. Then a self-described ‘wacko’ museum director made a plan

When a whale dies, its body descends to the bottom of the deep sea in a transformative phenomenon called a whale fall. A whale’s death jump-starts an explosion of life, enough to feed and sustain a deep-ocean ecosystem for decades.

There are a lot of ways whales can die. Migrating whales lose their way and, unable to find their way back from unfamiliar waters, are stranded. They can starve when prey disappears or fall to predators such as orcas. They become bycatch, tangled in fishing lines and nets. Mass whale deaths have been linked to marine heatwaves and the toxic algae blooms that follow.

Ecologically important Diadema africanum almost eliminated by unknown disease in Canary Islands

A marine pandemic is bringing some species of sea urchin to the brink of extinction, and some populations have disappeared altogether, a study has found.

Since 2021, Diadema africanum urchins in the Canary Island archipelago have almost entirely been killed by an unknown disease. There has been a 99.7% population decrease in Tenerife, and a 90% decrease off the islands of the Madeira archipelago.

One of my favorite over-the-air updates to my 2019 Tesla Model 3 came right after I bought it. Tesla added the capability to watch YouTube, Netflix, Disney+, and other things on the vehicle touchscreen. Actually, I forget now if all of those were added at once or some were added ... [continued]

The post Audi Brings Disney+ Into Car appeared first on CleanTechnica.

One of two things is true: 1) Waymo lives in Elon Musk’s head rent-free and is going to continue to be the robotaxi leader in North America for years to come, or 2) Waymo has been living on borrowed time, as Elon Musk claims, and Tesla will sprint past the ... [continued]

The post The Tesla vs. Waymo Battle Rages on with New Comments appeared first on CleanTechnica.