As Colombia hosts a UN biodiversity summit, its own Amazonian rainforest is in crisis

Oct 25, 2024 12:08 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The city of Cali, in Colombia, is hosting the UNs 16th biodiversity summit, known as Cop16. The summit, which runs until Friday, November 1, is focused on how countries will fulfil previous pledges to protect at least 30%...

Hurricane Milton explodes into a powerful Category 5 storm as it heads for Florida − here’s how rapid intensification works

Oct 08, 2024 07:18 am UTC| Nature

Hurricane Milton rapidly intensified into a dangerous Category 5 hurricane on Oct. 7, 2024, as it headed across the Gulf of Mexico toward Florida. Twenty-four hours earlier, it was barely a Category 1 storm. As its wind...

The biodiversity jukebox: how sound can boost beneficial soil microbes to heal nature

Oct 03, 2024 00:13 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

In a race against time, scientists are exploring new ways to restore natural systems. Alongside traditional methods such as planting trees, reducing pollution and reintroducing native species, a surprising new tool is...

Bees have irrational biases when choosing which flowers to feed on − just like human shoppers do

Sep 30, 2024 02:13 am UTC| Nature

Just like people confronted with a sea of options at the grocery store, bees foraging in meadows encounter many different flowers at once. They must decide which ones to visit for food, but it isnt always a straightforward...

Oil pollution in North Sea is ‘grossly underestimated’, suggests new report

Sep 29, 2024 10:17 am UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Growing up in Aberdeen, Scotland, the shadow of the Piper Alpha disaster loomed large over our community. The tragic explosion of the oil rig platform in 1988 claimed the lives of 167 people. Back then, I was blissfully...

Reading desert sands – Indigenous wildlife tracking skills underpin vast monitoring project

Sep 29, 2024 10:15 am UTC| Nature

As animals move across the desert, they leave tracks, diggings and droppings. For skilled trackers, reading these signs is like watching a movie. A story of who was there and what they were doing unfolds in front of...

Ancient DNA helped us uncover the Iberian lynx’s potential secret weapon against extinction

Sep 25, 2024 12:41 pm UTC| Nature

Many large mammals have lost genetic diversity, often thanks to the actions of people shrinking their populations. The implications can be severe because without genetic diversity, a population does not have a genetic...