Latest news with #RoyalSociety
1News
6 hours ago
- Health
- 1News
Trump loves cane sugar in his Coca-Cola – is it better for you?
President Donald Trump teased the announcement last week, but now the Coca-Cola company has confirmed it: a cane sugar-sweetened version of the beverage maker's trademark soda will be released in the US this year. For decades, Coke and the makers of other soft drinks have generally used high fructose corn syrup or artificial sweeteners in their products manufactured in the US. But American consumers are increasingly looking for food and drinks with fewer and more natural ingredients, and beverage companies are responding. The Royal Society says in New Zealand, sucrose - derived from cane sugar - is the most common sweetener in fizzy drinks, unlike the US where high-fructose corn syrup is more prevalent. PepsiCo and Dr Pepper have sold versions of their flagship sodas sweetened with cane sugar in the US since 2009. Coca-Cola has sold Mexican Coke — which uses cane sugar — in the US since 2005, but it's positioned a trendy alternative and sold in glass bottles. Coke with cane sugar will likely be more widely available. Here are some frequently asked questions about the sweeteners in US sodas: ADVERTISEMENT What's the difference between cane sugar and high fructose corn syrup? Many consumers know that consuming too many sweets can negatively affect their health, but soda drinkers sometimes debate if either cane sugar or high fructose corn syrup is better (or worse) than the other. The short answer is that it doesn't make a difference, said Marion Nestle, one of the nation's top nutrition experts and professor emeritus at New York University. High fructose corn syrup is made of the simple sugars glucose and fructose in liquid form. Cane sugar, also known as sucrose, is made of glucose and fructose bonded, but quickly split, Nestle explained. Both are still sugars, with about the same amount of calories. Whether a can of Coca-Cola contains one or the other, it will still be a sugary drink with about the same amount of calories and the same potential to increase well-documented health problems from obesity and diabetes to tooth decay. Why did soda companies switch from using sugar to high fructose corn syrup? ADVERTISEMENT ottles of Mexican Coca-Cola are displayed at a grocery storeottles of Mexican Coca-Cola are displayed at a grocery store (Source: Associated Press) High fructose corn syrup costs less. According to price data from the US Department of Agriculture, the wholesale price of HFCS-55, the type of corn syrup most commonly used in beverages, averaged US49.4 cents (NZ82 cents) per pound last year. The average wholesale price of refined cane sugar was US60.1 cents (NZ$1) per pound, while the average wholesale price of refined beet sugar was US51.7 cents (NZ85 cents) per pound. But high fructose corn syrup has advantages beyond price. According to a 2008 paper in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, high fructose corn syrup is more stable than sugar when added to acidic beverages, and it can be pumped directly from delivery trucks into storage and mixing tanks. Why is high fructose corn syrup less expensive that sugar? Tariffs are one reason. The US has had barriers on sugar imports almost back to its founding; the first went into place in 1789, according to the Cato Institute, a think tank that advocates free markets. Since the passage of the Farm Bill in 1981, the US has had a system in place that raises duties on sugar once a certain amount has been imported. The US also has domestic production controls that limit supplies, keeping prices higher. But high fructose corn syrup is also cheaper because of the federal government's billions of dollars in subsidies for corn farmers. Loans, direct payments, insurance premium subsidies and surplus crop purchases all lower farmers' costs – and the price of the corn they grow. ADVERTISEMENT Are sugar replacements used in diet sodas safe? Bottles of Coca-Cola are displayed at a grocery store in Mount Prospect (Source: Associated Press) While cutting back on added sugars has documented benefits, replacing them with artificial sweeteners is complicated, too. Coca-Cola Zero Sugar, introduced in 2017, uses the artificial sweetener aspartame and the natural sweetener stevia in its recipe. But research suggests that aspartame may be linked to cancer. In 2023, a committee for the World Health Organisation determined that aspartame should be categorised 'as possibly carcinogenic to humans'. While that doesn't mean that diet soda causes cancer, the scientific committee concluded that there may be a possible link between aspartame and liver cancer, and that the issue should be studied further. The US Food and Drug Administration disagreed with the WHO panel, citing 'significant shortcomings' in the research that backed the conclusion. ADVERTISEMENT FDA officials noted that aspartame is one of the most studied food additives and said 'FDA scientists do not have safety concerns' when it is used under approved conditions. Stevia, a plant-based sweetener, appears to be 'a safe choice', according to the Center for Science in the Public Interest, an advocacy group. - with
Mercury
a day ago
- Climate
- Mercury
Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast: The coastal suburbs that could disappear
Thousands of Aussie homes face coastal threat, some uninhabitable by 2050 Thousands of Australian homes, including those in new housing developments, are at significant risk from coastal erosion and rising sea levels, with some potentially becoming uninhabitable within decades. An interactive online mapping tool, which reveals how melting ice sheets could inundate Australia's coastline, has flagged numerous coastal communities as high-risk property investment zones. Some areas are likely to be underwater as early as 2050. Global sea levels have risen by approximately 3.6mm per year over the past decade, exceeding the 20th-century average, according to the Royal Society. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) predicts further increases are inevitable, with a rise of 15cm to 30cm expected in the next 25 years. Climate Central's risk screening tool indicates that Sydney localities such as Kurnell Beach, Towra Point, Cartler Island, Sydney Airport, and parts of Bondi Beach face regular flooding and erosion. In Melbourne, suburbs including Patterson Lakes, Aspendale, Docklands, and the Cheetham wetlands are under significant threat by 2050. Adelaide could see high-tide inundation of properties in Port Adelaide, Wingfield, Semaphore Park, Grange, and New Port. The Salisbury Council's new City Plan 2035 report may also be affected. Key areas to watch in Brisbane include almost all coastal communities north of Wynnum and south of Thornside, as well as the Gold Coast. In Darwin, northern suburbs are most at risk. Coastal property crisis looms: One in ten homes set to become uninsurable A climate change-fuelled insurance crisis is looming for Australian homeowners, with new modelling predicting a dramatic increase in uninsurable properties. Climate Valuation analysts warn that within the next decade, one in ten Australian homes will be effectively uninsurable due to the escalating risks of rising sea levels and extreme weather. Currently, around 380,000 properties are already deemed either uninsurable or unaffordable to insure, equating to about one in every 20 homes. Rural and regional areas are already feeling the pinch, with community lawyer Denis Nelthorpe reporting instances of homeowners receiving exorbitant flood insurance premiums, effectively rendering them uninsurable, according to the ABC. As insurance becomes unaffordable, property values are predicted to plummet, creating 'mortgage prisoners' trapped in unsellable homes. Climate Valuation chief executive Karl Mallon warns that banks may begin refusing mortgage applications in high-risk zones, further exacerbating the crisis. While some advocate for government intervention through premium caps and pooling arrangements, Mallon argues that prioritising property adaptation to withstand changing conditions, supported by national schemes to cover the costs, is a better solution. Entire town at risk of coastal collapse While most communities face the potential risk of severe flooding, for one Western Australian town, the reality of climate change is already hitting hard. Lancelin is at serious risk of being washed away by aggressive coastal erosion, which has stripped more than 25m of land in the past year, endangering homes and lives. More than 10m of land has vanished since May alone. The erosion is so severe that a popular seaside lookout is scheduled for demolition due to safety concerns. 'Without immediate intervention, the safety of the foreshore and the integrity of essential coastal infrastructure remain at serious risk,' said Glen Trebilcock, owner of the Lancelin Sands Hotel, who has launched a petition calling for emergency government funding. Tourism, a key part of the local economy, is already suffering. Mr Trebilcock told 7News that six tour groups that once passed through daily have stopped coming altogether. Gold Coast faces years of recovery after cyclone's fury Lancelin's plight is not unique. One of Australia's most beloved beachside holiday destinations is grappling with the aftermath of Cyclone Alfred, with experts warning it could take years for the Gold Coast's iconic beaches to fully recover. Four months after the cyclone, the city's 'A-Line' rock wall remains exposed in parts, concerning residents and tourists. 'It's just ruined the beaches, the high tide comes right up to the wall,' Main Beach local Rod Clutton told the ABC. Despite a $30 million investment in sand-pumping, the recovery is slow. The Gold Coast City Council estimates a full recovery could take up to three years, describing Cyclone Alfred as the worst weather event to hit the city in 50 years, leaving beaches at their narrowest in a quarter of a century. The erosion is staggering, with an estimated six million cubic metres of sand ripped from the coastline. Areas like Narrowneck Beach are particularly vulnerable, and the challenge now is to protect the iconic holiday destination for future generations. Flood-prone housing developments spark national debate A controversial housing development in Townsville, North Queensland, has ignited a national debate about the risks of building in flood-prone areas, prompting calls for governments across Australia to reassess their planning policies. An ABC investigation revealed that homes are being built in areas known as 'black zones,' which are subject to evacuation orders during floods, raising serious questions about the safety and insurability of these properties. As Australia grapples with a housing affordability crisis, the Townsville case highlights a difficult trade-off: balancing the need for more housing with the increasing threat of extreme weather events exacerbated by climate change. Experts warn that continuing to build in high-risk areas could lead to unsustainable insurance costs and leave homeowners vulnerable to devastating losses. The Queensland government's role in approving these developments is now under scrutiny, with critics arguing for a more cautious approach to land sales and development approvals in flood-prone zones. The debate is now extending nationally, with calls for a consistent, evidence-based approach to planning that prioritises community safety and long-term resilience over short-term development gains. The question now facing governments across the country is: How can Australia address the housing crisis while ensuring that communities are protected from the growing risks of flooding and other climate-related disasters? Aussie town where land is 'worthless' due to sea level guidelines In Victoria, the situation is equally concerning. Coastal landowners in Loch Sport are facing financial devastation as new climate change planning laws, factoring in rising sea levels, effectively render their vacant land 'worthless'. The policy shift is blocking new housing construction and wiping out property values, leaving owners trapped and local communities struggling. Henry and Veronica Luiz, who purchased land in the Gippsland district with retirement plans, are among those impacted. They've discovered their block now has 'basically… zero value' after planning authorities retracted previous approvals due to the state's flood plain management strategy. This strategy mandates new builds in low-lying areas account for a 0.8m sea level rise, on top of the existing 1.9m Australian Height Datum. Real estate agent Rachelle Potts estimates 350 properties in the Wellington Shire area are affected, describing the impact as 'devastating'. Owners who viewed their land as a 'nest egg' for retirement are now facing significant losses. A petition demanding a review of the regulations and compensation for affected landowners has garnered over 1200 signatures. Nationals Member for Gippsland South, Danny O'Brien, has also taken the issue to parliament, seeking clarity from the government. While coastal geomorphologist David Kennedy defends the overlays as a 'conservative estimate', the Victorian government insists the policy protects lives by preventing construction in vulnerable areas. However, the policy is sparking outrage and raising questions about the future of coastal communities in the face of climate change.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
The British wildcatters drilling for hydrogen
British drilling companies are pioneering a new industry they hope will trigger a green energy gold rush: seeking vast reserves of natural hydrogen hidden within the Earth's crust. Billions, maybe trillions, of tonnes of the lighter-than-air gas are thought to lie trapped in rock formations deep underground – once out of reach but nowadays accessible with modern drilling techniques. If the suspected reserves are proven, it could provide a plentiful new source of ready-made, low-carbon fuel that can be extracted straight from the earth just like oil and gas – but with one key difference. 'When hydrogen burns, it does not produce carbon dioxide, just water vapour,' says Prof Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who recently led a study for the Royal Society, the UK's most august scientific body, into natural hydrogen's potential. Her report suggests that the Earth is effectively a giant hydrogen factory, with various common rock types undergoing reactions that have been releasing hydrogen for billions of years. Those reactions are estimated to produce millions of tonnes of the gas a year, a process that has continued for billions of years. Some of that hydrogen will have risen to the surface and escaped into space; much more will have accumulated underground. 'It's just a matter of finding it,' says Sherwood Lollar. A recent research paper in Science estimated the amount of hidden hydrogen to be in the trillions of tonnes. If even a tiny fraction could be recovered it 'would supply the hydrogen needed to reach [global] net zero for 200 years', the paper said. One of the companies trying to turn this promise into reality is Sound Energy, listed on London's Aim market and hunting for hydrogen beneath Morocco's deserts along with joint venture partners Getech, a British firm specialising in crunching geological data. They have surveyed the whole country seeking out the rocks most likely to hold trapped hydrogen. Now they want to start drilling. 'We are securing hydrogen exploration permits in Morocco to enable ground-based surveying and drilling to validate potential hydrogen deposits,' says John Argent, Sound Energy's vice president for geoscience. Rivals include university spin-out Snowfox, co-founded by professors Chris Ballentine and Mike Daly, from the University of Oxford, and Prof Jon Gluyas, from Durham University, now scientific advisers to the company. Snowfox's AI-based 'hydrogen search engine' crunches geological data gathered from all over the planet to find potential hydrogen mines. A patent is pending so Snowfox is cautious about publicity. But at a conference on natural hydrogen held at London's Geological Society last month Mike Lawson, Snowfox's chief exploration officer, claimed natural hydrogen could soon become a globally important energy source. 'Natural hydrogen has the potential to provide cost-competitive supply at a fraction of the carbon footprint of alternative hydrogen sources,' he said. Gold rush Translating the promise of hydrogen as a fuel source into reality has been fiendishly difficult to date, however. Stellantis, the car giant that owns Vauxhall and Fiat, last week abandoned plans to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles because the product remained too 'niche'. A Lords report in 2023 dismissed the prospect of fuelling boilers with hydrogen as 'not a serious option'. Pilot 'hydrogen towns' across Britain have failed to get off the ground, scrapped after local opposition. Hydrogen's problems stem from its physical properties: it is expensive to produce and store, and can be dangerous if not handled properly given it is easily flammable. It would be easy to dismiss Britain's crop of hydrogen wildcatters as little more than day-dreamers. But serious players are paying attention. Natural hydrogen has the potential to change the economics of production, which could transform the market. Snowfox's recent share offering inspired BP's venture capital arm to lead investment into the company, along with mining giant Rio Tinto and investment firm Oxford Science Enterprises. In America the search and potential for natural hydrogen has inspired at least two of the world's richest men with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos investing in Denver-based Koloma, which is prospecting for hydrogen in North America. Gates's fund has also invested in France's Mantle8, which is prospecting in the Pyrenees mountains and has pledged it will find 10 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030. It claims to be able to use seismic imaging to 'see' hydrogen-producing rocks deep underground. 'Our science-first approach makes hydrogen discovery more scalable, accurate, faster and profitable,' said Emmanuel Masini, Mantle8's chief executive, in a fundraising round in March. Geologists have long known of natural hydrogen. It is often found mixed into natural gas (methane), but the amounts were considered small and uneconomic. That changed in 1987 when well-diggers drilling for water in the village of Bourakébougou, Mali, discovered wind rushing from the hole they had made in the ground. When one driller peered into the hole while smoking a cigarette, the wind exploded in his face and then caught fire, burning for weeks till it was capped. The 'wind' was pure hydrogen. Years later, in 2012, Denis Brière, a petrophysicist at Chapman Petroleum Engineering, a Canadian energy consultancy, interviewed witnesses, took samples and reported that the gas was 98pc hydrogen. Within a few months the well was hooked up to a generator that gave Bourakébougou its first electricity. All over the world the hunt for more such 'white hydrogen' sources, as the natural gas is known, began. Hydrogen is made naturally by two main processes. One involves water reacting with iron rich rocks, the other is radiolysis, when radioactive elements like uranium smash water molecules apart. Both processes turn water into hydrogen and oxygen. Geologists seeking hydrogen must hunt for the right rocks – either iron-rich or radioactive – deep underground. That would once have been a tough task, but the mass of global geological data now available, plus the advent of AI, has made it much easier. In Australia Gold Hydrogen has drilled the Yorke Peninsula near Adelaide, reporting finds of natural hydrogen up to 96pc purity plus helium, another valuable gas, with more test drilling under way this year. 'Successful results will lead to completion of a pilot project with the aim of commercialising both gases,' the company said. France is also progressing – its government has issued several exploration licences, covering areas from the Pyrenees to Lorraine in the north-east, as are companies in the US, Canada and Brazil. Cautious promise Why, though, do we need hydrogen? It's most widely known for its use as a rocket fuel and in balloons but its most vital use is in helping feed us. Hydrogen is essential to make the ammonia-based fertilisers on which crops depend. There are also the clean-energy implications if it cannot be reliably sourced and safely handled. The problem is that it's expensive and dirty to make. About 74m tonnes of hydrogen is produced annually, mostly from blasting coal or gas with superheated steam. That process generated 800m tonnes of CO2 last year, roughly 2pc of the 38bn tonnes humanity poured into the atmosphere. That total is set to triple by 2050 when global hydrogen demand is predicted to reach 220m tonnes, the Royal Society estimates. Unless, that is, new sources can be found. Environmentalists enthuse about green hydrogen, where renewable electricity is used to electrolyse water - breaking it down to hydrogen and oxygen. It sounds perfect till you look at the price: the electricity to make just one kilo of hydrogen could cost up to £9. That compares with £1-3 for making it from gas, and maybe double that if a CO2 capture system were added to limit environmental damage. By contrast, Sherwood Lollar estimates that natural hydrogen could be extracted for under £1 per kilo if it could be found in large quantities. Such suggestions make natural hydrogen sound like Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's dream fuel: cheap, clean and as renewable as it gets. Bizarrely, despite the UK being a global leader in exploiting underground energy assets such as coal, oil and gas, the search for natural hydrogen has only just started. But the results are already offering cautious promise. The British Geological Survey is mapping the radioactive or iron-rich rocks that might be worth drilling with Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Pennines and Scotland all being likely prospects. 'This could offer a strong foundation from which to expand [natural] hydrogen as a possible UK resource,' said the Royal Society report. The wildcatters may just be on to something. Broaden your horizons with award-winning British journalism. Try The Telegraph free for 1 month with unlimited access to our award-winning website, exclusive app, money-saving offers and more. Sign in to access your portfolio
Telegraph
2 days ago
- Business
- Telegraph
The British wildcatters on the hunt for hydrogen
British drilling companies are pioneering a new industry they hope will trigger a green energy gold rush: seeking vast reserves of natural hydrogen hidden within the Earth's crust. Billions, maybe trillions, of tonnes of the lighter-than-air gas are thought to lie trapped in rock formations deep underground – once out of reach but nowadays accessible with modern drilling techniques. If the suspected reserves are proven, it could provide a plentiful new source of ready-made, low-carbon fuel that can be extracted straight from the earth just like oil and gas – but with one key difference. 'When hydrogen burns, it does not produce carbon dioxide, just water vapour,' says Prof Barbara Sherwood Lollar, who recently led a study for the Royal Society, the UK's most august scientific body, into natural hydrogen's potential. Her report suggests that the Earth is effectively a giant hydrogen factory, with various common rock types undergoing reactions that have been releasing hydrogen for billions of years. Those reactions are estimated to produce millions of tonnes of the gas a year, a process that has continued for billions of years. Some of that hydrogen will have risen to the surface and escaped into space; much more will have accumulated underground. 'It's just a matter of finding it,' says Sherwood Lollar. A recent research paper in Science estimated the amount of hidden hydrogen to be in the trillions of tonnes. If even a tiny fraction could be recovered it 'would supply the hydrogen needed to reach [global] net zero for 200 years', the paper said. One of the companies trying to turn this promise into reality is Sound Energy, listed on London's Aim market and hunting for hydrogen beneath Morocco's deserts along with joint venture partners Getech, a British firm specialising in crunching geological data. They have surveyed the whole country seeking out the rocks most likely to hold trapped hydrogen. Now they want to start drilling. 'We are securing hydrogen exploration permits in Morocco to enable ground-based surveying and drilling to validate potential hydrogen deposits,' says John Argent, Sound Energy's vice president for geoscience. Rivals include university spin-out Snowfox, co-founded by professors Chris Ballentine and Mike Daly, from the University of Oxford, and Prof Jon Gluyas, from Durham University, now scientific advisers to the company. Snowfox's AI-based 'hydrogen search engine' crunches geological data gathered from all over the planet to find potential hydrogen mines. A patent is pending so Snowfox is cautious about publicity. But at a conference on natural hydrogen held at London's Geological Society last month Mike Lawson, Snowfox's chief exploration officer, claimed natural hydrogen could soon become a globally important energy source. 'Natural hydrogen has the potential to provide cost-competitive supply at a fraction of the carbon footprint of alternative hydrogen sources,' he said. Gold rush Translating the promise of hydrogen as a fuel source into reality has been fiendishly difficult to date, however. Stellantis, the car giant that owns Vauxhall and Fiat, last week abandoned plans to develop hydrogen-powered vehicles because the product remained too 'niche'. A Lords report in 2023 dismissed the prospect of fuelling boilers with hydrogen as 'not a serious option'. Pilot 'hydrogen towns' across Britain have failed to get off the ground, scrapped after local opposition. Hydrogen's problems stem from its physical properties: it is expensive to produce and store, and can be dangerous if not handled properly given it is easily flammable. It would be easy to dismiss Britain's crop of hydrogen wildcatters as little more than day-dreamers. But serious players are paying attention. Natural hydrogen has the potential to change the economics of production, which could transform the market. Snowfox's recent share offering inspired BP's venture capital arm to lead investment into the company, along with mining giant Rio Tinto and investment firm Oxford Science Enterprises. In America the search and potential for natural hydrogen has inspired at least two of the world's richest men with Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos investing in Denver-based Koloma, which is prospecting for hydrogen in North America. Gates's fund has also invested in France's Mantle8, which is prospecting in the Pyrenees mountains and has pledged it will find 10 million tonnes of hydrogen by 2030. It claims to be able to use seismic imaging to 'see' hydrogen-producing rocks deep underground. 'Our science-first approach makes hydrogen discovery more scalable, accurate, faster and profitable,' said Emmanuel Masini, Mantle8's chief executive, in a fundraising round in March. Geologists have long known about natural hydrogen. It is often found mixed into natural gas (methane), but the amounts were considered small and uneconomic. That changed in 1987 when well-diggers drilling for water in the village of Bourakébougou, Mali, discovered wind rushing from the hole they had made in the ground. When one driller peered into the hole while smoking a cigarette, the wind exploded in his face and then caught fire, burning for weeks till it was capped. The 'wind' was pure hydrogen. Years later, in 2012, Denis Brière, a petrophysicist at Chapman Petroleum Engineering, a Canadian energy consultancy, interviewed witnesses, took samples and reported that the gas was 98pc hydrogen. Within a few months the well was hooked up to a generator that gave Bourakébougou its first electricity. All over the world the hunt for more such 'white hydrogen' sources, as the natural gas is known, began. Hydrogen is made naturally by two main processes. One involves water reacting with iron rich rocks, the other is radiolysis, when radioactive elements like uranium smash water molecules apart. Both processes turn water into hydrogen and oxygen. Geologists seeking hydrogen must hunt for the right rocks – either iron-rich or radioactive – deep underground. That would once have been a tough task, but the mass of global geological data now available, plus the advent of AI, has made it much easier. In Australia Gold Hydrogen has drilled the Yorke Peninsula near Adelaide, reporting finds of natural hydrogen up to 96pc purity plus helium, another valuable gas, with more test drilling under way this year. 'Successful results will lead to completion of a pilot project with the aim of commercialising both gases,' the company said. France is also progressing – its government has issued several exploration licences, covering areas from the Pyrenees to Lorraine in the north-east, as are companies in the US, Canada and Brazil. Cautious promise Why, though, do we need hydrogen? It's most widely known for its use as a rocket fuel and in balloons but its most vital use is in helping feed us. Hydrogen is essential to make the ammonia-based fertilisers on which crops depend. There are also the clean-energy implications if it cannot be reliably sourced and safely handled. The problem is that it's expensive and dirty to make. About 74m tonnes of hydrogen is produced annually, mostly from blasting coal or gas with superheated steam. That process generated 800m tonnes of CO2 last year, roughly 2pc of the 38bn tonnes humanity poured into the atmosphere. That total is set to triple by 2050 when global hydrogen demand is predicted to reach 220m tonnes, the Royal Society estimates. Unless, that is, new sources can be found. Environmentalists enthuse about green hydrogen, where renewable electricity is used to electrolyse water - breaking it down to hydrogen and oxygen. It sounds perfect till you look at the price: the electricity to make just one kilo of hydrogen could cost up to £9. That compares with £1-3 for making it from gas, and maybe double that if a CO2 capture system were added to limit environmental damage. By contrast, Sherwood Lollar estimates that natural hydrogen could be extracted for under £1 per kilo if it could be found in large quantities. Such suggestions make natural hydrogen sound like Energy Secretary Ed Miliband's dream fuel: cheap, clean and as renewable as it gets. Bizarrely, despite the UK being a global leader in exploiting underground energy assets such as coal, oil and gas, the search for natural hydrogen has only just started. But the results are already offering cautious promise. The British Geological Survey is mapping the radioactive or iron-rich rocks that might be worth drilling with Cornwall, Dartmoor, the Pennines and Scotland all being likely prospects. 'This could offer a strong foundation from which to expand [natural] hydrogen as a possible UK resource,' said the Royal Society report.
The Guardian
7 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Royal Society suggested Elon Musk resign science fellowship
The Royal Society suggested to Elon Musk he should consider resigning his fellowship if he felt unable to help mitigate the Trump administration's attacks on research, the Guardian has learned. The owner of X, who is also CEO of Tesla and Space X, was elected a fellow of the UK's national academy of sciences in 2018 for his contribution to the space and electric vehicle industries. But over the past year, fellows and other scientists have repeatedly called on the Royal Society to take action over Musk's comments and behaviour, saying he has violated the academy's code of conduct, with open letters, resignations and the return of awards among their acts of protest against the academy's apparent inertia on the matter. Among other causes of the outcry was Musk's role as head of the US department of government efficiency (Doge), a body that has slashed research funding and has been accused of imposing a regime of censorship on academia. In March, the Guardian revealed the Royal Society decided Musk would not face an investigation for allegedly violating the code. It has now emerged that the president-elect of the society, Sir Paul Nurse, suggested to Musk in May that he should consider resigning his fellowship. In an email sent to the Fellowship, the current president of the Royal Society, Sir Adrian Smith, revealed Nurse first wrote to Musk on 19 March regarding the 'extensive damage' the Trump administration was inflicting on science in the US, and asking for Musk to 'step in and reverse this tragedy'. Smith added Musk replied immediately, 'emphasising his strong commitment to science, and asking for specific details regarding Paul's concerns'. Nurse then sent a further letter on 27 March suggesting Musk consult public sector scientists in the US to hear about the impact of the administration's actions. 'Paul did not receive a response to this communication nor a subsequent reminder,' Smith wrote. On 20 May, Nurse sent a letter raising concerns that had been shared with him by scientists in the US, including that 'some of the proposed budget reductions appeared nonsensical'. Smith wrote: 'Paul also suggested in that letter – in sorrow – that 'if you do not feel able to help, perhaps you should consider if you want to continue to be a Fellow of the Royal Society, the purpose of which is to promote and support science, and think whether you should resign your Fellowship.'' Musk did not respond, however, until providing a short reply only when Smith and Nurse informed him that the substance of the correspondence would be shared with the fellowship. A spokesperson for the academy confirmed Musk did not address the suggestion he should consider resigning his fellowship, stating: 'Elon Musk remains a Fellow of the Royal Society.' Smith's email to the fellowship went on to say: 'Officers and council of the society concluded that it was not in the interests of the Royal Society to pursue disciplinary action against Mr Musk,' adding that 'sharp and opposing' differences of views were aired at a previous meeting of the fellowship, but that all agreed the global defence of science is the most important activity of the all fellows have supported calls to censure Musk, with some concerned it could raise questions about the position of other fellows who have aired controversial views. However, one fellow with knowledge of Smith's email described the society's stance as 'terrible cowardice'. Another fellow with knowledge of the email said the leadership appeared to be taking the pragmatic rather than ethical view. 'Musk's opening of a new party, if it happens, predicts future fireworks, and that may also influence the closing of his [Royal Society] file at the time being,' they said. Stephen Curry, an emeritus professor of structural biology at Imperial College London, who is not a fellow of the Royal Society but organised the earlier open letter welcomed the correspondence but said the academy should have taken a clearer and stronger stance. 'They have received no indication from Elon Musk that he shares the declared values of the Royal Society, so it should have been put to him that, absent this commitment, his fellowship would be terminated,' he said. 'I'm afraid once again the Royal Society has failed to stand by its own code of conduct, which must now be regarded as a meaningless document.' Musk's representatives were approached for comment.
