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• ‘Deeply appalled’: politicians condemn alleged attack after Helen Haines critically injured

• Helen Haines, the principled MP respected across parliament

‘It’s very clear that this was a deliberate act’, PM says

The prime minister, Anthony Albanese, said Haines’ alleged attacker “did a U-turn in order to get back to where Helen Haines was” after passing her on the road.

It would appear that the driver of the vehicle that inflicted the damage to Helen Haines did a U-turn in order to get back to where Helen Haines was after passing where she was getting things from the boot or putting things into the boot of her car.

So it’s clear that there was a deliberate act here, this wasn’t an accident – someone, you know, just getting off the road here.

Rooftop solar alone generates more than half of all power used, as clear sunny days and low demand drive record-breaking surge

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Sunshine and wind met 80.4% of demand on Australia’s main power grid on Saturday, setting a new high bar for renewable electricity.

Solar panels on rooftops provided more than half of the power used in the national electricity market, the grid that supplies the eastern states, South Australia and the Australian Capital Territory, for 30 minutes around lunchtime. This was complemented by solar and windfarms, and a small amount of hydro (1%). Fossil fuels, coal and gas, contributed 20%.

Thousands of sea dragons, pipefishes and seahorses have washed up along state’s coastline according to analysis of citizen scientist records

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Thousands of sea dragons, pipefishes and seahorses died during South Australia’s devastating algal bloom, in what ecologists say is the worst mass mortality event for the fish family globally.

More than 1,600 weedy and leafy sea dragons, 1,400 pipefishes and 160 seahorses washed up as the harmful algae spread along the state’s coastline, according to analysis of citizen scientist records by Dragon Search SA.

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Researchers find fossils ranging from 7,000 years to 46,000 years old showing evidence that devils may have become reliant on humans for scavenging

Tasmanian devils lived alongside humans in Western Australia’s Pilbara region for tens of thousands of years, according to fossils uncovered at Juukan Gorge.

These squat and sable marsupials, now restricted to Tasmania, were once abundant right across Australia, becoming extinct on the mainland about 3,200 years ago.

Many of us are overwhelmed by the sheer number of our belongings, but can we change our consumption habits? And is there a more sustainable way to declutter?

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Whether you call it decluttering, death cleaning or a clear out, many of us face the onerous task of paring back our possessions, or those of a loved one.

There can be many reasons: from managing the mountains of stuff that comes with small children, to downsizing or moving house, or dealing with a deceased estate.

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Christmas Island locals who woke to see the spacecraft floating off the coast hope global attention will encourage tourists

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Engineers from Elon Musk’s SpaceX are on their way to a remote Australian island to retrieve part of a Starship that dived into the Indian Ocean.

The spacecraft – now floating off the coast of Christmas Island – was launched in Texas on 24 July, in the 13th test of the technology. After reaching orbit and releasing 20 non-functioning satellites, the upper stage of the rocket re-entered the atmosphere, landing in the ocean.

Of the 1.3m spineless wonders in the world, you told us your favourites. Now it’s time to pick the winner

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It’s raining in Melbourne as I write this, and on my way to work I saw pale pink earthworms everywhere, scattered and exposed all over the footpath like soft-bodied streamers.

It was a visible reminder, as I dodged to avoid squishing the inaugural winners, in 2024, of the invertebrate of the year contest, of the magnificent array of 1.7m invertebrate species we share the planet with.

Could England and Wales ever run out of water?

The return of the caspian tiger: how a species feared extinct has come back to Kazakhstan

‘Unprecedented, dangerous territory’: US north-west reckons with a summer of historic wildfires

Each year the Guardian runs a competition to find the invertebrate of the year. To find out more about the 2026 nominees, science editor Ian Sample hears from climate reporter Petra Stock, environment reporter Oliver Milman and Science Weekly co-host Madeleine Finlay. They each nominate an incredible invertebrate that you might never have heard of, and argue why their choice should come top. Vote for your favourite now and the winner will be unveiled on 17 August

Calls for South Australian government to release official estimates for cuttlefish, which once numbered in hundreds of thousands in upper Spencer Gulf

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Scientists and divers have called on the South Australian government to release official cuttlefish population estimates amid fears of a “catastrophic” decline, after a dive survey counted only 44 individuals.

Each year, tens to hundreds of thousands of giant Australian cuttlefish assemble off the coast of Whyalla, in the upper Spencer Gulf, to breed – the only place globally where cuttlefish gather en masse.

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The palm-sized greengrocer is bright, loud and abundant, and has long been a collectible item for Australian children

• Revealed: the top 10 invertebrates of the year

Before marbles, stamps and trading cards, there were cicadas.

There are thousands of cicada species globally, but for Australian children the craze centres on one particularly collectible item: the greengrocer.

New research shows early-warning species is on the move, expanding or contracting geographic range and changing altitude

Butterflies, often considered a “sentinel of change”, are on the move across every continent they inhabit, shifting to survive as global heating reshapes their environment.

About one in 10 species have already expanded or contracted their geographic range, or shifted in altitude, according to a global study published in Nature Ecology & Evolution.

Turritopsis dohrnii has the ability to turn back into a baby jellyfish and grow up all over again

• Revealed: the top ten invertebrates of the year

Immortality is generally considered the realm of the gods or science fiction, a fantasy that’s actively pursued by tech entrepreneurs in macabre experiments that include injecting “young blood”, cryopreservation, or resurrection in an AI afterlife.

But one ethereal, thimble-shaped jellyfish has already cracked the code.

It’s Invertebrate of the Year again! From 3-12 August, every day we will be profiling one of the thousands of amazing invertebrates that our readers have nominated, and then, when you have got to hear about all of them, we will open the voting so that you can choose your favourites. Don’t hesitate to get in touch with thoughts and ideas: email us at environment.desk@theguardian.com with Invertebrate in the subject line.

At last! It’s time for our invertebrate of the year competition as voted for by you. Today, the common woodlouse – come back on Tuesday to find out who else made the top 10

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Distillery owner could face only three months in jail over alleged poisoning of Australian teenagers

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The Australian government has increased its travel alert level for Laos, advising travellers to “exercise a high degree of caution” due to the risk of methanol poisoning.

It comes as a distillery owner in Laos was charged after a mass methanol poisoning incident killed six foreign nationals, including the Australian backpackers Bianca Jones and Holly Morton-Bowles.

Bees respond to tasty treats or plain water based on context, a study that may provide support for establishing insect sentience shows

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When bumblebees taste something good, they reach out their glossa – or insect tongue – for a while afterwards, almost as if they are licking their lips. And when they don’t like something, the insects will shake their heads and wipe their mouths.

Scientists who captured the miniature facial expressions on slow-motion video say the behaviour is consistent with “liking” and “disliking” responses observed in mammals. Their results have been published in the journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

Curtin University researchers use innovative techniques to date three-billion-year-old impact crater in Western Australia’s Pilbara region

A meteorite that struck Earth three billion years ago left behind a “smoking gun” – evidence of the world’s oldest impact crater in a remote part of Australia.

Ancient rocks in Western Australia’s Pilbara region record the event, which occurred during the Archean eon, a period 4 to 2.5 billion years ago, when tectonic plates were beginning to form and early life emerging.

Researchers observed unavailable female dolphins – those that were older, or with calves – did not show the same avoidant behaviour

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Female dolphins identify males by their unique calls and keep track of their past behaviour, choosing to avoid the most aggressive males during mating season, new research suggests.

Bottlenose dolphin society is complex, and male and female dolphins often know each other for decades, said Prof Stephanie King, an expert in animal behaviour at the University of Bristol.

Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies

The timing was rich with symbolism. As intense heatwaves pummelled Europe and Asia, and oil markets around the world leapt and sputtered, the two big chimneys of one of Australia’s largest power stations were being demolished. Meanwhile, the Australian energy minister was holding a media conference to hail a fall of up to 10% in the benchmark electricity price in parts of the country.

Quietly, and with surprisingly little fanfare from the rest of the world, Australia is pioneering a revolution in home renewables and battery use, proving what is possible with the right policies. The country was already one of the global leaders in domestic solar power, with panels on one in three homes. It also remains, however, a major contributor to the climate crisis through its vast fossil fuel exports. But it is batteries that are giving Australia a new burst of speed.

The behavioural cue of ‘flexible self-protection’ is a way to establish whether an animal feels pain, scientists say

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Do insects feel pain? Crickets certainly seem to, according to new research which finds they stroke and groom a sore antenna in much the same way as a dog nurses its hurt paw.

Associate Prof Thomas White, an entomologist from the University of Sydney, said the experience of pain was a “longer, drawn-out, ouchy feeling”, that differed from a hardwired nerve response.

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Substituting the petrochemicals that underpin everyday life is challenging, but there are ways to produce what we need without fossil fuels

• I tried to live for 24 hours without using oil-based products. It was ridiculously impossible

The standoff in the strait of Hormuz has shown just how dependent the world’s economy is on fossil fuels. From petrochemicals to plastics and fertiliser, they all begin life as oil or gas – but are there alternatives? Can we loosen the grip that fossil fuels have on our lives?

While solutions to wean the transport system off imported oil are well understood – albeit not fully implemented – substituting the plethora of petrochemicals that underpin everyday life is a much more challenging task.