A global plan to halt the loss of nature is “weak” in one key area, say scientists. The new 10-year strategy to stop extinction must aim to protect the gene pools of all life on earth, according to conservation experts. The action agenda must explicitly refer to the genetic diversity of all species not just […]
The American space agency has a new name for the rover it will be sending to the Red Planet this summer. To date, the project has been known only by its code name – Mars 2020. From now on, it will be referred to as the Perseverance rover. The name came out of a schools […]
Scientists have published the first assessment quantifying the role of climate change in the recent Australian bushfires. Global warming boosted the risk of the hot, dry weather that’s likely to cause bushfires by at least 30%, they say. But the study suggests the figure is likely to be much greater. It says that if global […]
Last month was the wettest February in the UK since records began in 1862, according to the Met Office. The UK received an average of 209.1mm of rainfall, 237% above the average for the month between 1981 and 2010. Elsewhere, a survey suggested that almost a quarter of people felt that climate change was the […]
The discovery of microplastic pollution near the top of the highest mountain in Wales is a “scary wake-up call”, environmentalists have said. Traces of plastic have been found in samples collected from Llyn Glaslyn – a remote lake near the summit of Snowdon. The tiny particles are “most likely” to have been deposited by rain, […]
Scientists have detected evidence of a colossal explosion in space – five times bigger than anything observed before. The huge release of energy is thought to have emanated from a supermassive black hole some 390 million light years from Earth. The eruption is said to have left a giant dent in the Ophiuchus galaxy cluster. […]
A native predator of the red squirrel appears to be an unlikely ally in its battle with the grey squirrel. Scientists from Queen’s University Belfast discovered that, while the pine marten preys on both species, the greys are much more vulnerable to attack. The key seems to be in the reds’ innate ability to “sniff […]
Things go bump on Mars on a fairly regular basis. That’s the conclusion of a year of listening for quake signals on the planet by the InSight lander. The US space agency-led probe has detected over 450 significant seismic events since touching down in 2018. None are particularly big – at most, they’re only 3 […]
A sarcophagus discovered in the remains of an ancient temple in Rome is causing a stir among historians who cannot agree if it belongs to the Italian city’s legendary founder, Romulus. The stone tomb, along with circular altar, dates from the 6th Century BC. According to legend, Romulus founded the city on Palatine Hill in […]
Scientists say they have seen a remarkable collection of blue whales in the coastal waters around the UK sub-Antarctic island of South Georgia. Their 23-day survey counted 55 animals – a total that is unprecedented in the decades since commercial whaling ended. South Georgia was the epicentre for hunting in the early 20th Century. The […]