Environmental campaigners against electric plant and pipeline say Samir Flores Soberanes’s murder is a ‘political crime’

A Mexican environmental activist has been murdered before a referendum on a controversial thermal-electric plant and pipeline that he opposed.

Samir Flores Soberanes, an indigenous Náhuatl, was killed in his home during the early hours of Wednesday in the town of Amilcingo in Morelos state, 80 miles south of Mexico City. He was a human rights activist, producer for a community radio station and long-time opponent of the Proyecto Integral Morelos (the integral project for Morelos) – which includes the plant and pipeline.

Planet of the Humans film has had 5m views on YouTube and has enraged renewable energy experts who are demanding an apology

Planet of the Humans is an environmental documentary that has enraged renewable energy experts and environmentalists, with some calling for its high-profile executive producer, Michael Moore, to apologise.

It was released for free less than two weeks ago, and at the time of writing had had close to 5m views on YouTube.

El confinamiento y la caída del precio del petróleo ponen en juego el futuro de un enorme yacimiento petrolífero argentino

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En las próximas semanas, se esclarecerá si el mundo vuelve a los combustibles fósiles tras la pandemia o si da un paso adelante hacia una economía limpia, mientras el FMI (Fondo Monetario Internacional) y Argentina deciden si van a continuar ofreciendo su apoyo a los inmensos yacimientos de petróleo y gas de Vaca Muerta, en Patagonia.

El objetivo del proyecto es explotar el segundo depósito más grande de esquisto del planeta (después de la Cuenca Pérmica, en Texas), pero su futuro es incierto debido al confinamiento forzoso provocado por COVID-19, que ha causado el descenso más drástico en el precio del crudo de los últimos treinta años.

Revealed: records show law enforcement has called demonstrators possible ‘domestic terrorism’ threats

US law enforcement officials preparing for fresh Keystone XL pipeline protests have privately discussed tactics to stop activists “by any means” and have labeled demonstrators potential “domestic terrorism” threats, records reveal.

Internal government documents seen by the Guardian show that police and local authorities in Montana and the surrounding region have been preparing a coordinated response in the event of a new wave of protests opposing the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, which would carry crude oil from Canada to Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska.

The oil industry saw its opening and moved with breathtaking speed to take advantage of this moment

I’m going to tell you the single worst story I’ve heard in these past few horrid months, a story that combines naked greed, political influence peddling, a willingness to endanger innocent human beings, utter blindness to one of the greatest calamities in human history and a complete disregard for the next crisis aiming for our planet. I’m going to try to stay calm enough to tell it properly, but I confess it’s hard.

The background: a decade ago, beginning with indigenous activists in Canada and farmers and ranchers in the American west and midwest, opposition began to something called the Keystone XL pipeline, designed to carry filthy tar sands oil from the Canadian province of Alberta to the Gulf of Mexico. It quickly became a flashpoint for the fast-growing climate movement, especially after Nasa scientist James Hansen explained that draining those tar sands deposits would be “game over” for the climate system. And so thousands went to jail and millions rallied and eventually Barack Obama bent to that pressure and blocked the pipeline. Donald Trump, days after taking office, reversed that decision, but the pipeline has never been built, both because its builder, TC Energy, has had trouble arranging the financing and permits, and because 30,000 people have trained to do nonviolent civil disobedience to block construction. It’s been widely assumed that, should a Democrat win the White House in November, the project would finally be gone for good.

Parks have remained open amid the coronavirus and become a haven over the past week, prompting fears for staff and large crowds

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Even as Broadway shows were shuttered and Disneyland was closed due to the Covid-19, most US national parks were open for business on Tuesday, confounding public health officials and worrying park staff who did not want to be exposed to the virus.

National parks have become a haven over the past week as the public seeks places to go during spring break. One park employee reported on Facebook that a visitor center at Big Bend national park was full on Monday with hundreds of people. Another shared a photo of shoulder to shoulder crowds at Zion national park waiting to board shuttle buses. (The park closed its shuttle bus system later in the day.)

Wildlife conservation efforts are essential to preventing outbreaks, scientists and advocates say

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For more than five years, wildlife conservationists in the US have been clamoring for the government to provide Endangered Species Act protections to pangolins, a group of imperiled ant-eating mammals that are widely, and often illicitly, trafficked for their scales and meat. The Trump administration, however, has refused to act and that refusal has suddenly taken on grave new implications.

Earlier this year, scientists in China identified pangolins, along with bats, as one of the possible animal hosts involved in the transmission of the deadly coronavirus from wildlife to humans.

Hundreds of workers pass through Ajo, Arizona, daily. Residents say they have been partying and visiting stores in large groups

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Unlike the rest of the US, the sleepy border community of Ajo, Arizona, is busier than ever these days, as hundreds of border wall construction workers pass through each day.

“The rest of us are staying at home just the way the governor has ordered,” said Susan Guinn-Lahm, an Ajo resident in her 60s. “We’re taking this seriously. They are not.”

Planned sale of land to fossil fuel, mining and and timber concerns mirrors rollback of Obama-era pollution regulations

The Trump administration has ratcheted up its efforts amid the coronavirus pandemic to overhaul and overturn Obama-era environmental regulations and increase industry access to public lands.

The secretary of the interior, David Bernhardt, has sped efforts to drill, mine and cut timber on fragile western landscapes. Meanwhile, the EPA, headed by the former coal lobbyist Andrew Wheeler, has weakened critical environmental laws and announced in March that it would cease oversight of the nation’s polluters during the Covid-19 crisis.

Nuclear Regulatory Commission keen to allow material to be disposed of by ‘land burial’ – with potentially damaging effects

The federal agency providing oversight of the commercial nuclear sector is attempting to push through a rule change critics say could allow dangerous amounts of radioactive material to be disposed of in places like municipal landfills, with potentially serious consequences to human health and the environment.

Related: Coca-Cola and Pepsi falling short on pledges over plastic – report

Tottenham forward Son Heung-min finished his three-week military training in South Korea on Friday and was right near the top of the class.

It seems like everyone but Patriots’ head coach Bill Belichick is worried about the quarterback situation in New England. 

Former Los Angeles Lakers player Shannon Brown was arrested last week for allegedly firing a gun at two people who entered his Georgia home that was listed for sale.

The Washington Capitals announced Friday that forward Brendan Leipsic was placed on unconditional waivers after his private messages were leaked on social media Wednesday.

Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban has been the most outspoken figure in the NBA to push for the season to resume but he made it clear on Thursday that he won’t even consider opening the team’s training facility until everyone is able to get tested for coronavirus. 

A woman from Burlington, Ont., says she's had COVID-19 symptoms for nearly two months and hasn't felt entirely supported by health-care workers.

Over time, trash that has been floating in the ocean gets covered in algae and other micro-organisms

On a ship frozen in the Arctic, scientists have spent all winter to shed light on exactly how the world is changing

Long victimized by poaching and deforestation, the primate species is in the midst of a surprising rebound that is sparking new hopes of recovery

In a famous 1970 teach-in demonstration, prosecutors hammered away at the nation’s most powerful defendant

The outbreak, and the travel bans and fears that come with it, have endangered long-running research projects

You’ve got questions, we’ve got experts

With the COVID-19 coronavirus causing a global pandemic, a look back at the scientists who figured out viruses and their relationship to disease

Tasked with curbing a 1907 outbreak, Esther Pohl emphasized the importance of clean, vermin-free environments

It’s been 180 years since Charles Wilkes voyaged to the Antarctic continent and his journey has never been more relevant

Dineobellator was a formidable predator and boasts the battle scars to prove it.

Debate over Earth’s oldest fossils fuels the search for our deepest origins

Past public health crises inspired innovations in infrastructure, education, fundraising and civic debate

The different hominid species, possibly including the oldest-known Homo erectus, existed in the region's hills and caves

Researchers suggest that the Humboldt squid uses bioluminescent backlighting for visual cues in the dark deep sea

Fragments of a comet likely hit Earth 12,800 years ago, and a little Paleolithic village in Syria might have suffered the impact

Researchers see promise in recruiting red siskin pet traders as conservation partners

One detects an active infection; another signals that the virus has already left the body. Both are critical for tracking the spread of disease

Fossil teeth uncovered in Peru reveal that an extinct family of primates, thought to have lived only in Africa, made it across the ocean

A new study of ancient climate has a dire warning about today's dry conditions

An American doctor operating out of Philadelphia made clinical observations that where patients lived, not how they lived, was at the root of the problem

Spencer's ideas laid the groundwork for social Darwinism, but scholars say there was much more to the Victorian Age thinker than that

Meet the hugely influential polymath, who foretold of climate change and inspired artists, writers and even the founder of the Smithsonian

The sixth installment in our weekly series spotlights titles that may have been lost in the news amid the COVID-19 crisis

Computers, mobile phones and all other electronic devices contain thousands of transistors, linked together by thin films of metal. Scientists have developed a method that can use the electrons in a plasma to produce these films.

The extent to which Brazilian soy production and trade contribute to climate change depends largely on the location where soybeans are grown, according to a new study. In some municipalities, carbon dioxide emissions resulting from the export of soybean and derivatives are more than 200 times higher than in others.

The geologic record is exactly that: a record. The strata of rock tell scientists about past environments, much like pages in an encyclopedia. Except this reference book has more pages missing than it has remaining. So geologists are tasked not only with understanding what is there, but also with figuring out what's not, and where it went.

Researchers find evidence of piezoelectricity in lab-grown, two-dimensional flakes of molybdenum dioxide.

Over the past quarter-century, changes in Antarctic sea-ice cover have had profound impacts on life on the ocean floor.

Hydrogen is a possible next generation energy solution, and it can be produced from sunlight and water using photocatalysts. A research group has now developed a strategy that greatly increases the amount of hydrogen produced using hematite photocatalysts. In addition to boosting the high efficiency of what is thought to be the world's highest performing photoanode, this strategy will be applied to artificial photosynthesis and solar water-splitting technologies via university-industry collaborations.

A new method for reliably identifying the presence of beer or other malted foodstuffs in archaeological finds is described in a new study.

Data centres and digital information processors are reaching their capacity limits and producing heat. Foundational work here on optical-acoustic microchips opens door to low-heat, low-energy, fast internet.

New modeling of coronavirus behavior suggests that an intervention strategy based on shield immunity could reduce the risk of allowing the higher levels of human interaction needed to support expanded economic activity.

A new process to harness multiple disease models for outbreak management has been developed by an international team of researchers. The team will immediately implement the process to help inform policy decisions for the COVID-19 outbreak.

In physics, thermalization, or the trend of sub-systems within a whole to gain a common temperature, is typically the norm. There are situations, however, where thermalization is slowed down or virtually suppressed; examples are when considering the dynamics of electron and nuclear spins in solids. Understanding why this happens and how it can be controlled is presently at the center of a broad effort, particularly for applications in the emerging field of quantum information technologies.