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Tesla is emphasising profitability from its solar business, which has undergone significant transformation since the company bought SolarCity.

In “Australasian first”, 250kW Tesla Powerpack added to 660kw wind turbine, to provide 75 per cent of energy for NZ salt manufacturer.

There are huge uncertainties in greenhouse gas totals due to inaccurate data, the BBC finds.

His legs and feet were bleeding profusely after he went for a paddle at Brighton beach in Melbourne on Sunday.

Recognition of barred grass snake as distinct species different to common cousin increases native total to four

England is home to four kinds of wild snake, not three as was previously believed, according to scientists.

The barred grass snake, Natrix helvetica, is now recognised as a species in its own right distinct from the common or eastern grass snake (Natrix natrix).

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The meat-loving marine creatures that feasted on the legs of a Melbourne teenager have been identified as sea fleas, lysianassid amphipods. Marine biologist Dr Genefor Walker-Smith says they are small, scavenging crustaceans that usually feeds on dead fish or sea birds.

• Australian teen just ‘unfortunate’ to be attacked by meat-loving sea fleas

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We should beware of myths about electric vehicles, says David Bricknell; but John Richards still worries about the environmental impact of their batteries

Your editorial perpetuates a number of myths about electric vehicles (Car drivers are heading into a future far from their dreams, 7 August). You say “Tesla has just started selling its first electric car aimed squarely at the middle classes”, reinforcing the views recently posted online by fossil fuel lobby groups that EVs are only for the rich while being subsidised by the poorer. The Tesla 3 is directly cost competitive with similar cars with internal combustion engines and cheaper when including running costs, and there is now a growing second-hand market.

You say Tesla sales are “a remarkable figure for a machine with a fairly short range and a very limited number of specialised charging stations”. The Tesla 3 has an EPA rated range of 310 miles – this is not a “fairly short range”.

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Carnivorous amphipods feasted on the legs of one unlucky Australian teenager, but they are not the only watery beasts with a taste for human flesh. Which ones should we really be afraid of?

Just when you thought it was safe to go back in the water, some mystery lice chow down on a boy’s legs in Australia. Sam Kanizay had been paddling at a Melbourne beach. Half an hour later, the 16-year-old reeled when the sand he thought was covering his legs turned out to be eating his flesh, leading to unstoppable bleeding.

Related: Tiny 'meat-loving' marine creatures 'eat' teenager's legs at Melbourne beach

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Thousands of the "rare" tadpoles have been spotted at a reserve despite adverse breeding conditions.

Exclusive: series of emails show staff at Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service advised to reference ‘weather extremes’ instead

Staff at the US Department of Agriculture (USDA) have been told to avoid using the term climate change in their work, with the officials instructed to reference “weather extremes” instead.

A series of emails obtained by the Guardian between staff at the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS), a USDA unit that oversees farmers’ land conservation, show that the incoming Trump administration has had a stark impact on the language used by some federal employees around climate change.

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There are now four species of wild snake native to the UK, not three as scientists first thought.

The algorithm learned to recognise sarcasm, allowing it to spot hate speech faster than humans.

The first record of a pine marten living in Yorkshire for about 35 years

Supermarket to stop selling ‘single-use’ bags but will offer customers ‘bags for life’ costing 10p

The UK’s largest retailer is to stop selling “single use” 5p carrier bags in its UK stores from the end of the month, instead offering shoppers reusable “bags for life” costing 10p.

The move by Tesco follows a 10-week trial in Aberdeen, Dundee and Norwich, which led to a 25% cut in bag sales as shoppers either brought their own or switched to the bags for life.

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A new study finds 6.5% of global GDP goes to subsidizing dirty fossil fuels

Fossil fuels have two major problems that paint a dim picture for their future energy dominance. These problems are inter-related but still should be discussed separately. First, they cause climate change. We know that, we’ve known it for decades, and we know that continued use of fossil fuels will cause enormous worldwide economic and social consequences.

Second, fossil fuels are expensive. Much of their costs are hidden, however, as subsidies. If people knew how large their subsidies were, there would be a backlash against them from so-called financial conservatives.

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The worst drought in 40 years has a cruel grip on Somalia. A struggling young government and militant violence have compounded to bring crisis to 6.7 million lives. The town of Baidoa is facing some of the harshest conditions. Surrounded by territory controlled by al-Shabaab militants and amid ongoing attacks, 160,000 people have had to leave their farms and are surviving in camps where hunger, thirst and cholera await them

All photographs by Peter Caton/Mercy Corps

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Daimler says diesel is worth fighting for but there is no comeback for the toxic technology and the fight must now be to save lives

When the story of Volkswagen’s cheating on diesel emissions tests broke nearly two years ago, a number of reporters asked me if this spelled the end for diesel cars. My response was a confident, dismissive “no”. While dieselgate would cast a long shadow, there was no reason to write off diesel cars, at least in the short term. After all, the technology does exist to make clean diesel cars. It’s just a question of improving the existing regulations and enforcing them better.

I was wrong.

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Moreland Council and the Victorian State Government announce $1m spending on commercial-scale hydrogen refueling station for garbage trucks.

Queensland govt opens registrations for reverse auction, with aim of installing 100MW of energy storage before 2020, alongside 400MW new solar and wind.

There is increased speculation that the Coalition government is prepared to spend taxpayers money on a new clean/cleaner/cleanish/not-quite-so-dirty coal plant in an effort to get conservative support for a clean energy target and even to appease potential One Nation voters.