Scientists have used a novel technique to probe the nature of dark energy some 10 billion years into the past. They hope it will bring them closer to an explanation for the strange force that appears to be driving the Universe apart at an accelerating rate.

The method relies on bright but distant objects known as quasars to map the spread of hydrogen gas clouds in space.

The 3D distribution of these clouds can be used as a tracer for the influence of dark energy through time.

A scholarly paper describing the approach has been submitted to the journal Astronomy & Astrophysics and posted on the arXiv.org preprint site.

A few hardy souls sit on Downhills Park's benches, reading or watching squirrels scamper through multicoloured piles of leaves. Parents and toddlers wrapped up in hats and scarves are braving the playground while pupils from Wisdom School nearby are using the park for their PE class, a run that has collapsed into a walk for many of the giggling teenage girls. Downhills is a well-loved green space in densely populated Haringey, one of London's more deprived areas.

"This park is my lungs," said dog walker and health worker Elizabeth Bell, 62. "I come here most days because it's peaceful and cheers me up to see the colour in the trees and the little ones playing. It lets you breathe again. Not many people round here have gardens, and if they do they're filled with wheelie bins and recycling bins. This is our giant garden. We need it for our health – mental and physical."

Leading European companies announced job losses totalling more than 10,000 on Wednesday, underlining the scale of problems facing the continent's manufacturers.

Vestas, the world's largest wind turbine manufacturer, said 2,000 jobs would be cut after it posted an almost doubling of pre-tax losses in the face of falling prices and fierce competition from China.

Tree growers, politicians, scientists and landowners will meet on Wednesday in London to discuss a strategy to control the deadly fungal disease which threatens to kill 80m ash trees in Britain.

The tree summit is expected to hear from the government that more cases have been identified in both woodlands and nurseries following inspections by the Forestry Commission and reports by the public.

Earlier this week, new cases were identified across Britain, suggesting the disease has arrived on both spores blown in from the continent and on nursery stock.

Large parts of England and Wales are on flood alert after heavy rain – plus snow and hail – swept across the UK over the weekend. On Monday morning 16 flood warnings – meaning flooding is expected and immediate action is needed – were in place: six in the south-west of England, five in the Anglian region and three in the Midlands.

In addition the Environment Agency published more than 70 flood alerts, meaning flooding is possible, almost half of them in the south-east of England.

An automated segmented flow analyzer, the AA3 from SEAL Analytical, is being used at BASF’s manufacturing facility at Ludwigshafen in Germany, to protect manufacturing equipment from corrosion or chemical attack from potential impurities in demineralised water, boiler feed water and steam condensate.

Roland Bruenn, who has been with BASF since 1986, is responsible for the analysis of process and environmental samples. He says “We take samples continuously, twenty four hours per day, and typically test 30 to 50 samples per day for silica, ammonium and iron.  However, the AA3 has the facility to test hundreds of samples per day so we have the ability to increase the work rate if necessary. This work is extremely important for the protection of high value process equipment.”

At the core of the John Hayes intervention on wind turbines was his claim that "even if a minority of [the onshore wind] in the system is built we are going to reach our 2020 target [on renewable energy, to provide 15% of UK energy from renewable sources]".

UK wind energy statistics seem to support this. In its renewables roadmap, the government predicts that onshore wind could provide up to 13GW of peak capacity by 2020.

Politicians, scientists and environmentalists have turned up the heat on ministers and officials planning to merge the British Antarctic Survey with an oceanography centre, before a meeting to decide its fate on Thursday.

Opponents of the plan, which is intended to save money, say the merger would irreparably damage the institution which discovered the ozone hole and is considered a world leader in polar research. The plan attracted further controversy when the Guardian revealed the merger would require BAS to use its skills to help "de-risk" investment for UK oil companies exploring the polar regions.

"Only a few years ago Prime Minister David Cameron was photographed hugging huskies in the Arctic in an effort to stress his green credentials; I hope he can now reassure us that his government would not be so cynical as to refocus the UK's Arctic research on opening up the region to greater resource extraction," said Joan Walley, the Labour MP who chairs the environmental audit select committee. The proposed merger should be abandoned, Walley wrote on Wednesday in a letter to a parliamentary inquiry into the issue.