NT minister for trade and business Robyn Cahill makes scientifically inaccurate claims while pushing to make territory ‘datacentre capital of the globe’
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A Northern Territory minister has been criticised for scientifically inaccurate claims that groundwater in the Northern Territory needs to be used to prevent the Earth’s magnetic poles from flipping.
The NT minister for trade and business, Robyn Cahill, made the claim while speaking in Darwin last week about the government’s push to make the territory “the datacentre capital of the globe”.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
07/23/2026 - 02:10
07/23/2026 - 00:00
Exclusive: Analysis of NHS England data reveals stark impact of air pollution in deprived areas
Children living in the poorest areas across England are 40% more likely to be admitted to hospital for respiratory infections, an analysis of NHS England data shows, with experts raising the alarm on the impact of air pollution on young people’s health.
The analysis, based on data obtained via freedom of information requests by the charity Impact on Urban Health, revealed 1,941 out of every 100,000 children living in the most deprived fifth of England were admitted to hospital for respiratory illnesses in 2024/25.
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07/23/2026 - 00:00
Industrial poultry farming is killing our rivers. But rather than stop it, the government has been facilitating it. Will Andy Burnham end this ecocide?
There’s a slightly mean question I often ask British people with an interest in the living world: can you name the environment secretary? I don’t intend to show them up: it’s not them I’m testing. I watch the brows knit, a finger go up, the mouth open and close. “It’s, you know, the one who … no, they went, didn’t they? That other one …” It’s been like this for seven years.
Why? Because throughout this period, we’ve not had environment secretaries. We’ve had portals through which corporate lobbyists may pass. The last incumbent to represent the wider public interest (and I can scarcely bring myself to type these words) was Michael Gove. In his other roles, he’s widely remembered with loathing and disgust. Out of office, he continues to poison public life, as editor of the Spectator. But in this role, to general astonishment, he placed the public good above special interests.
George Monbiot is a Guardian columnist
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07/22/2026 - 23:00
Scientists believe sunfish-smashing behaviour could be form of entertainment or to help younger whales feed
Orcas have been observed ramming into giant fish so hard that the prey explode, possibly as a form of gory entertainment.
On several occasions, orcas were observed to hold sunfish in their jaws while a second whale smashed into the target at high speed, causing it to break into thousands of pieces. Since the fish had already been killed, scientists suggested the behaviour may represent a form of play.
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07/22/2026 - 10:34
Figures come as large parts of southern Europe endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures
France recorded more than 5,700 excess deaths during its June heatwave, authorities have said, as swathes of southern Europe continue to endure another record-breaking period of extreme temperatures.
The French national health agency said on Wednesday that it had recorded 5,764 excess deaths between 17 June and 2 July, an excess mortality rate of 36%.
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07/22/2026 - 10:34
Up to 25 tonnes of nurdles, the raw material for plastic manufacturing, have spread further than initially feared
Approximately a billion tiny plastic nurdles have entered the River Tyne after a “devastating spill”, with the pellets thought to have spread much further than first thought.
Nurdles, which are usually 1mm-5mm in size, act as the raw material to manufacture most plastic products.
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07/22/2026 - 10:00
Research identifies 808,585 viral genomes belonging to what scientists estimate to be 362,802 different viruses
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More than a decade after the human microbiome was comprehensively mapped, scientists have now identified the vast communities of microbes that make up the Great Barrier Reef.
Analysing DNA from seawater samples of 48 reefs, researchers have mapped the microbiome of the Great Barrier Reef, documenting more than 360,000 distinct viruses as well as more than 500 new bacterial species not previously known to science.
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07/22/2026 - 09:06
In Kentucky and West Virginia, rescuers freed trapped residents as states face catastrophic floods and damage
Tropical storm Bertha made landfall in St Bernard parish, on the Gulf coast south-east of New Orleans, Louisiana, on Wednesday afternoon, the US national hurricane center said.
The Miami-based forecaster added that maximum sustained winds were estimated to be 45mph (75km/h) with higher gusts.
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07/22/2026 - 08:00
Researchers listening off the Caribbean island of Dominica found variations in the mammals’ audible clicks when marine traffic was close
Sperm whales produce a specific pattern of clicking noises when they hear the noise of boats, researchers have found. The pattern is so distinct that the scientists who identified it said they can now use it to predict when ships are nearby.
Researchers from Project Ceti (the Cetacean Translation Initiative), a non-profit research organisation working to decode sperm whale communication, spent four years tuning in on the calls of 15 sperm whales off the coast of Dominica.
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