Some queens don’t rule nonstop. A new study from the University of California, Riverside shows that even bumble bee queens, the sole founders of their colonies, take regular breaks from reproduction — likely to avoid burning out before their first workers arrive. In the early stages of colony building, bumblebee queens shoulder the entire workload….
After the island of Madagascar drifted away from India 88 million years ago, isolating it from all other landmasses, its flora and fauna evolved in seclusion. As these transformed into plants and animals completely unique to their island, Madagascar became a biodiversity hotspot unlike anywhere else on Earth. An important facet of this biodiversity is…
Joe Crowley / BBC Kate Pryke is campaigning to prevent new housing being built in a village where sewage facilities are over capacity On the edge of Buckingham in southern England, the quiet and leafy village of Maids Moreton, dotted with thatched cottages, is at the heart of a dilemma. There is a plan –…
Recent scholarship has concluded that Neanderthals made a second major migration from Eastern Europe to Central and Eastern Eurasia between 120,000 and 60,000 years ago. But the routes they took have long been a mystery — primarily because there are few archaeological sites connecting the two regions. In a new analysis, a team of anthropologists…
Ancient sloths came in a variety of sizes Diego Barletta A cooling, drying climate turned sloths into giants – before humans potentially drove the huge animals to extinction. Today’s sloths are small, famously sluggish herbivores that move through the tropical canopies of rainforests. But for tens of millions of years, South America was home to…
“Most people can recognise the Plough…” VCG/VCG via Getty Images Some of my earliest stargazing memories involve the same seven stars. Whether you call it the Plough or the Big Dipper – or even the saucepan, the panhandle or the wagon – the stars that form this asterism are ones I think many people learn…
Jo Lonsdale BBC North East & Cumbria Investigations BBC Martin Beal’s former home, which he lost to the now cancelled A1 road scheme, has been empty since 2022 In October 2024 the government announced it was cancelling a project to widen part of the A1 in Northumberland, years after its National Highways agency had spent…
A Delta flight travelling from Minneapolis to Madison, Wisconsin was delayed after two pigeons ended up onboard the aircraft, baffling both passengers and crew. Video shows one of birds flying through the cabin as a passenger attempts to catch it with a jacket. According to local media, baggage handlers were called on board and safely…
A Tasmanian devil is carried to safety by a ranger amid flooding at the Aussie Ark sanctuary Aussie Ark Conservation workers are racing to protect a precious group of Australian animals after record rainfall in New South Wales led to floods that have killed four people. Tasmanian devils (Sarcophilus harrisii), brush-tailed rock wallabies (Petrogale penicillata),…
Red kites sometimes put plastic objects in their nests Mike Read / Alamy Stock Photo Birds may decorate nests with artificial objects and feathers to deter magpies and ravens from taking their eggs. Many birds have been observed placing human-made objects in their nests, such as plastic, wires or even anti-bird spikes from buildings. Often,…
