LHC on tenterhooks
Is it a new particle or not? Physicists from the Large Hadron Collider鈥檚 twin experiments, ATLAS and CMS, presented their latest data at the Moriond conference in Italy last week. Both see hints of new signal at 750 GeV, and the physics blogosphere is abuzz with rumours. A cousin of the Higgs? Something else entirely? Or maybe just a fluke. We should know by July, when the LHC will have doubled its data set.
Get up, stand up鈥�
Too much sitting can shave years off your life, but standing desks probably aren鈥檛 the solution. A review has concluded that while they do reduce the amount of time we spend sitting, there is no evidence for health benefits. You鈥檒l burn hardly any extra calories either (Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews, ).
Yay, extra holidays
Everyone in Venezuela was given an extra three days off work this week, after an ongoing drought dramatically reduced the power available via the country鈥檚 hydroelectric dams. The enforced break is designed to ease demand on the nation鈥檚 grid. The Venezuelan government has blamed El Ni帽o for the lack of rain.
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Renewables rock
Energy-related CO2 emissions held steady for the second year in a row even as the global economy grew, says the International Energy Agency. The spread of renewable energy is largely responsible for the decoupling of global emissions from economic growth.
Slapped wrists for UK
The UK government has been taken back to court over its failure to tackle air pollution. Environmental law group ClientEarth has asked the High Court to review government plans to cut toxic nitrogen dioxide emitted by vehicles and industry.
