‘Unseen world’: researchers capture fascinating footage of the world’s smallest penguins in a bid to save them

Dec 10, 2024 05:02 am UTC| Nature

On Granite Island off South Australia, a colony of little penguins is fighting to survive. About two decades ago, the penguins numbered 1,600 adults now there are just 30. It is important for scientists to monitor and...

Ravaged jungle: just 25% of the world’s surviving tropical rainforests are in good condition

Dec 10, 2024 05:01 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

We are now in the middle of the sixth mass extinction, caused by our emergence as a planet-shaping force. Species are going extinct far faster than the average natural rate of loss. In response, conservationists are...

Around 9,000 species have already gone extinct in Australia and we’ll likely lose another this week – new study

Dec 10, 2024 05:00 am UTC| Nature

More than 95% of Australian animals are invertebrates (animals without backbones spiders, snails, insects, crabs, worms and others). There are at least 300,000 species of invertebrate in Australia. Of these, two-thirds...

Reflecting on 20 years of the Aceh tsunami: From ‘megathrust’ threat to disaster mitigation

Dec 06, 2024 01:50 am UTC| Nature

20 years have passed since the Aceh tsunami, which left deep scars on Indonesia, especially for those directly affected. Aceh was also recovering from a three-decade armed conflict between the Free Aceh Movement and the...

AI weather models can now beat the best traditional forecasts

Dec 06, 2024 01:50 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

A new machine-learning weather prediction model called GenCast can outperform the best traditional forecasting systems in at least some situations, according to a paper by Google DeepMind researchers published today in...

Climate Change Series

Warmer winters are fuelling a growth in algal blooms across the Great Lakes

Dec 03, 2024 15:36 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

While commonly associated with the summer, algal blooms can also persist into the fall. As of late October 2024, blooms were still present along the southern shores of Lake Erie. In the warm weather, people flock to...

A new model accurately predicts the migration of humpback whales – and may help them survive climate change

Nov 30, 2024 15:26 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

This years humpback whale (Megaptera novaeangliae) season in Australia has almost come to an end. The beloved mammals are on their way to Antarctica for a summer of feeding. Next year from April onwards, millions of people...