Environment

The Dutch government has announced it will allow researchers to grow human embryos “under strict and limited conditions” for scientific research. The Netherlands will change its laws on embryonic research, which had until now only allowed tests to be conducted on leftover embryos procured from in vitro fertilisation processes. Edith Schippers the Dutch health minister said she “wants to allow the creation of embryos for scientific research – and under very strict conditions to give people the possibility of (healthy) children”.

NASA have revealed that a huge hole has appeared on the Sun, which covers a staggering ten percent of its entire surface.  Footage captured by the Solar Dynamics Observatory between May 17 and 19 shows a huge black hole on the Sun’s upper half, known as a coronal hole. Express.co.uk reports: A NASA spokesman said: “Coronal holes are low-density regions of the sun’s atmosphere, known as the corona. “Because they contain little solar material, they have lower temperatures and thus appear much darker than their surroundings.

Tens of thousands of internally displaced Syrians are trapped along the Turkish border after a surprise ISIS advance through the rebel held territory in Aleppo province. Doctors Without Borders, known by its French acronym MSF, said it was evacuating medics and patients from the Al Salamah hospital as the terrorist group neared. Human rights groups and activists reported at least 100,000 refugees trapped by Friday, after Jihadists launched an onslaught to secure their supply lines from Turkey.

Five years after the Fukushima tragedy, TEPCO's chief of decommissioning Naohiro Masuda admits that the company still has no idea exactly where 600 tons of melted radioactive fuel from three nuclear reactors is located.

Residents in Ohio who want to collect rain water in their backyards will have to pay a mandatory tax imposed by the local government.  Any resident installing a rain barrel in their yard will have to pay a $31 fee for the privilege. Wearechange.org reports: Last week, the Sun Post reported that it would cost just $1 to install a rain barrel. That was based on a reading of a rain-barrel ordinance that City Council approved May 7. The ordinance established regulations for rain barrels.