Gene editing technologies — such as those used in agriculture and de-extinction projects — can be repurposed to offer what an international team of scientists is calling a transformative solution for restoring genetic diversity and saving endangered species. In a new Nature Reviews Biodiversity Perspective article published on July 18, the authors explore the promises,…
Helen Briggs BBC environment correspondent•@hbriggs Getty Images Conditions this year are more favourable for wasps than last year John Horsley was gardening when he felt a wasp crawl down his T-shirt. “That stung me a few times in the back,” he says. “It wasn’t a pleasant experience.” Part of the British Pest Control Association, John…
Mark Poynting Climate and science reporter, BBC News Getty The long-awaited review into England and Wales’ troubled water sector has been released. There’s much to pick through in the 465-page report – but here are the key points. 1. All sides to blame – but Ofwat gets the boot The independent Water Commission, led by…
Getty Images Water companies spilled raw sewage for a record time of 3.61m hours into sea and rivers in England in 2024, according to data from the Environment Agency. Rules allow a limited discharge of sewage in periods of excess rain, but environmental groups remain concerned that the levels post a threat to wildlife and…
Researchers are creating new moiré materials at the nanometer scale using advanced DNA nanotechnology: DNA moiré superlattices form when two periodic DNA lattices are overlaid with a slight rotational twist or positional offset. This creates a new, larger interference pattern with completely different physical properties. A new approach developed by researchers at the University of…
International researchers have, for the first time, pinpointed the moment when planets began to form around a star beyond the Sun. Using the ALMA telescope, in which the European Southern Observatory (ESO) is a partner, and the James Webb Space Telescope, they have observed the creation of the first specks of planet-forming material — hot…
Subaru Telescope has made an exciting discovery: a small body beyond Pluto, with implications for the formation, evolution, and current structure of the outer Solar System. The object was found as part of the survey project FOSSIL (Formation of the Outer Solar System: An Icy Legacy), which takes advantage of the Subaru Telescope’s wide field…
BBC Raquel Celina Rodriguez watches her step as she walks across the Vega de Tilopozo in Chile’s Atacama salt flats. It’s a wetland, known for its groundwater springs, but the plain is now dry and cracked with holes she explains were once pools. “Before, the Vega was all green,” she says. “You couldn’t see the…
Magnets and shot glasses serve as fun holiday souvenirs, but certain foods synonymous with a country’s identity can make for extra meaningful gifts for friends and loved ones; think French cheese, Dutch Stroopwafels and Canadian maple syrup. According to new research, communities that lived in western Iran about 11,000 years ago during the Early Neolithic…
A team of scientists has developed a powerful new way to detect subtle magnetic signals in common metals like copper, gold, and aluminum—using nothing more than light and a clever technique. Their research, recently published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, could pave the way for advances in everything from smartphones to quantum computing. The…
