Environment

An unmanned Russian cargo spaceship carrying provisions to the International Space Station was destroyed after liftoff from the Baikonur Cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday. The Progress MS-04 cargo spacecraft failed to reach orbit and broke up minutes after take-off in the atmosphere over Siberia due to an unspecified malfunction, the Russian space agency Roscosmos said on Twitter. Miami Herald reports: The Progress MS-04 cargo craft broke up at an altitude of 190 kilometers (118 miles) over the remote Russian Tuva region in Siberia that borders Mongolia, Roscosmos said in a statement.

Update: Eni, commenting in statement on accident that occurred earlier today, says the fire is now under full control, being extinguished. Affected facility “EST” closed, isolated from rest of plant. Company reiterates no staff injured at refinery. Causes of incident being investigated, information to be passed on to authorities.

* * *

Update: According to Russia's space agency
Roscosmos, most pieces of the falling spaceship burned up in the
atmosphere above Siberia. It was not immediately clear where the rest of
the pieces went.

• PROGRESS CARGO SPACESHIP LOST, MOST PIECES BURNED UP IN EARTH'S ATMOSPHERE OVER SIBERIA - ROSCOSMOS

*  *  *

As we detailed earlier, an uncrewed Russian spacecraft meant to resupply the International Space Station appears to have suffered a malfunction shortly after launch today.

Farmers in California have been ordered to stop their cows from farting, or face paying an unspecified fine by State regulators.  In an attempt to reduce methane emissions by 40 per cent in order to tackle global warming, California Governor Jerry Brown signed a new law regulating the amount of methane ‘allowed’ to be released from cows. According to scientists, gasses produced by cow farts are a major source of methane, a greenhouse gas that contributes to global warming.

Scientists have warned that the Arctic is undergoing unusually rapid changes at the moment that will result in worldwide flooding as a result of global warming. According to an Arctic Council report, unless the world stops burning fossil fuels, the turbulent changing occuring in the Arctic could result in catastrophic effects for the wildlife that live there and the rest of humanity on the planet. Rising sea levels are already eroding away at America’s coastlines, and threaten to cause entire islands to sink underwater.