Interesting Ideas

The Australian artist was a relentless self-promoter, prolific painter and pro wrestler. He loved a tall tale – but his true story was remarkable

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If you checked out the Archibald prize finalists back in 1983, one painting in particular might have caught your eye. Taking up seven feet of wall space, Dr Brown and Green Old Time Waltz is a psychedelic portrait of Bob Brown, rendered in rich colours and filled with hidden details: from faces smuggled into the trees to little green men walking around Brown’s feet.

But just as noteworthy as the painting was the man standing next to it. Clad in hand-painted clothes, with painted false teeth in his mouth and a walking stick he didn’t really need in his hand, stood Harold “the Kangaroo” Thornton, the artist and self-described “greatest genius that ever lived”.

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Study shows animals hear very high frequencies, making it possible to design a deterrent to cut deaths

Hedgehogs have been discovered to hear high-frequency ultrasound, raising hopes that they could be deterred from dangerous roads with ultrasound repellers.

Vehicles are estimated to kill up to one in three hedgehogs, a big factor in the much-loved mammal’s drastic decline across Europe over recent decades.

They will soon be looking for nest sites to begin the huge effort of raising their brood of between eight and 10 chicks

If there were an award for the most underrated British garden bird, the blue tit may well come out on top. Feisty and fascinating, this colourful little creature is so common and familiar that we often take it for granted.

This could be because of the blue tit’s ubiquity. In both the main garden bird surveys in the UK – the RSPB’s annual Big Garden Birdwatch and the long-running BTO Garden BirdWatch – the species is always in the top five. With roughly 3 million breeding pairs, blue tits are as common in urban and suburban gardens as they are in rural ones.

Knightwood Inclosure, New Forest: I realise my knowledge of my favourite haunt is the size of the spidery-speck hanging in the heather

In soft sunlight the woodland wakes. Brimstone butterflies boast their presence, a raven pair rattle overhead, and the first scents of warming earth drift upwards. Spring shouts its arrival across Knightwood Inclosure, home of the New Forest’s girthiest tree, the Knightwood Oak. It falls on deaf ears though; knelt in mud, immersed in undergrowth, I’m mesmerised in micro.

In front of me, suspended on barely-there thread, hangs a speck of a spider. It was the disco-ball water droplets, clinging to its intricately woven web, that enticed me in. The spider is so small that my eyes and camera struggle to focus, flicking from a cream and tawny-coloured orb to a faded heather flower. When I do lock on, the abdominal markings gain clarity: inky black lines encasing two small spots.

Hemmed in by the sea and poor transport links, many young people from the Yorkshire town feel trapped, but there is also a pride in the area

It’s the morning after a wet and stormy day in the Yorkshire seaside town of Scarborough. The waves, which the previous day had been crashing dramatically on the harbour walls, have calmed and a few brave souls have entered the water with surfboards. There is a man throwing a ball for his dog on the beach and a kayaker bobbing on the waves.

Just up from the seafront in the centre of town, Jack and Charlie, both 17, are leaning forward listening to a story from 19-year-old Keane about his recent visit to a drama school in London, where he is hoping to apply for a place on an actor training course once he has saved enough money.

Scarborough, on the North Yorkshire coast, was one of England’s first seaside resorts

Reaching up to 100ft, these massive piles contain tonnes of salt that keep roads clear – but pose environmental risks

Most mountains take tens of millions of years to form. Toronto’s newest mountain took just days.

Towering atop the crowns of evergreens, it has no skeleton of limestone or granite. There are no spires, cornices or headwalls. It is simply piles upon piles of snow, mixed with a toxic cocktail of road salt, antifreeze, oil, coffee cups and lost keys. It is the final resting place for the forces of nature that have battered the city in recent weeks – and a daunting environmental hazard.

San Francisco writer, historian, and activist Rebecca Solnit came into my consciousness two decades ago as I was doing research for my dissertation. Her 2004 non-fiction book, Hope in the Dark, spoke to me with her rejection of cynicism and despair. She depicted the evolution of rights, ideas, concepts, and ... [continued]

The post Political Change Requires A Hopeful Vision Of Tomorrow: Rebecca Solnit appeared first on CleanTechnica.

There is sort of a humorous situation in the US now with some people having a bit of gasoline price anxiety because of geopolitical conflict and instability. It may be seen as humorous because the cost of climate change impacts globally could be trillions of dollars and some Americans are ... [continued]

The post Another Electric Vehicle Benefit: No Catalytic Converters To Be Stolen appeared first on CleanTechnica.

In 2023–2024, I wrote a TON of articles about the NEVI program, or the money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law that was supposed to massively expand highway EV charging in the United States. Having at least one charging station every 50 miles (with some exceptions) was going to be a ... [continued]

The post The NEVI Funds Are Finally Unfrozen, But The Administration’s Chaos Goes Unpunished appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Well, the news of the month so far has been BYD unveiling 1,500 kW “flash charging” for passenger electric vehicles. Apparently, though, it’s hard to keep secrets in the Chinese EV industry and BYD’s top competitor has been working on the same thing. In particular, the Zeekr 001 will be ... [continued]

The post Geely & Zeekr Right Behind BYD with 1,500 kW Charging appeared first on CleanTechnica.

If you’ve been watching the news, you know things are chaotic overseas. With the current conflict effectively shutting down the Strait of Hormuz and tankers taking massive detours around Africa, the global energy market is having a complete meltdown. We’re already seeing the impact at the pump, and many people ... [continued]

The post Stop Waiting for Gas Prices to Go Back to Normal. The Volatility Is the Real Problem. appeared first on CleanTechnica.

The case for clean energy investing in the US continues to grow stronger as Trump's war on Iran sparks turmoil in global commodities markets.

The post 3D Chess Alert As Iran War Builds Case For Clean Energy appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Recent attack on plants led to fears of escalating strikes, but Iran knows drought has left it equally vulnerable

• Middle East crisis – live updates

In 1983, the CIA determined that the most crucial commodity in the Gulf was its desalinated potable water.

Although the loss of a single plant could be handled, “successful attacks on several plants in the most dependent countries could generate a national crisis that could lead to panic flights from the country and civil unrest”. And the greatest threat to the region’s water supply? “Iran.”

More than 100,000 people have tuned in to watch ‘kākāpō cam’, which captures a rare flightless bird sleeping, tidying her nest and fighting off intruders

On an island in New Zealand’s remote south , one of the world’s strangest and rarest parrots – the kākāpō – is caring for her tiny chick as fans from across the globe watch on.

Through the black and white lens of a hidden camera, a fluffy orb with a kazoo-like squeak jostles for food from its mother’s beak. The mother, Rakiura, is attentive – scooping her chick under her large green wings, fending off an intruding bird, and periodically tidying her nest.

This article was amended on 12 March 2026. The kākāpō featured in the story lives on an island in New Zealand’s remote south, not the southern fjords, as previously reported.

Analysis has found more than 3,000 mining operations within the most naturally precious areas of the planet, a much bigger footprint than previously thought

Weda Bay is just one example of a global trend that could see the mining industry expand into some of Earth’s last areas of wilderness in search of minerals and materials to feed the global economy.

Analysis produced for the Guardian by a group of academic researchers found more than 3,267 mining operations within key biodiversity areas (KBAs), accounting for nearly 5% of the mining sector’s global footprint. China, Brazil, Argentina and Mexico top the rankings for total surface mining area within key biodiversity areas, the most naturally precious areas of the planet.

Scientists from the Nature Conservancy have published a study in the journal Environmental Research — Health that finds nearly a third of people alive today are unable to work outdoors safely in the higher temperatures prevalent in much of the world. Rising temperatures, driven by the continued burning of fossil ... [continued]

The post Extreme Heat Limits Outdoor Activities For One Third Of Human Population appeared first on CleanTechnica.

We saw it coming, after years of investment, vision, and hard work, but it’s still a truly momentous occasion and a huge deal for the EV industry as well as NIO itself. The EV company made a profit from operations in the 4th quarter. Following Tesla and BYD doing this, ... [continued]

The post NIO Makes A Profit! appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Climate change committee finds move to renewable energy would also bring health, economic and security benefits

Achieving the UK’s net zero target by 2050 will cost less than a single oil shock and bring health and economic benefits while insulating the country against future costs, the government’s climate advisers have forecast.

Eliminating the UK’s reliance on fossil fuels by adopting renewable energy and green technologies, such as electric vehicles and heat pumps, would be the best and most cost-effective option for the future economy, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) found.

Washington, D.C. — Pollution from coal-fired power plants has reached a quarter-century high under the Trump administration. This massive spike comes as the Trump administration touts rollbacks of bedrock public health safeguards, exemptions for polluting coal plants from emission standards, and handouts to coal plants across the country. Last month, Donald Trump was crowned the “undisputed champion of ... [continued]

The post Toxic Coal Pollution Spikes to 25-Year High Under Trump appeared first on CleanTechnica.

Legacy automakers just can’t help themselves it seems. If one of them isn’t acting out, it’s another’s turn, and progress is always too much, too fast, and too scary. The news this time is that Mercedes-Benz CEO Ola Kallenius has decided to altruistically warn the European Union that overhauling auto ... [continued]

The post Mercedes Is Fear Mongering On EV Policies Again appeared first on CleanTechnica.