Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Reporting fromUN Oceans Conference, Nice, France Getty Images Unregulated mining in the deep sea should not be allowed to go ahead, the head of the United Nations has warned. “The deep sea cannot become the Wild West,” UN Secretary General António Guterres said at the opening of the UN…
The end-Permian mass extinction was the deadliest event in Earth’s history. Also called the Great Dying, it is thought to have nearly wiped out all life on Earth 252 million years ago. Yet, earlier this year, we learned of an ancient ecosystem at South Taodonggou, a geological site in what is now China, where plants…
An egg mass with adult termites of the invasive Coptotermes gestroi species T Chouvenc, UF/IFAS Florida’s newest termite is two for the price of one, but nobody’s celebrating. Two species of globally invasive, timber-chewing insects are interbreeding there, creating hybrid colonies that could produce incredibly hardy termites that threaten buildings and forests alike. The findings are…
Palaeontologists are finding more dinosaur remains than ever before, and with new technology they can now peer inside these creatures’ brains, understand their sensory anatomy and reconstruct whole skeletons from fragmentary remains. Applying novel techniques to a single Spinosaurus skeleton discovered in Morocco, researchers have revealed that this dinosaur was perfectly adapted to an aquatic…
Cockatoos in Sydney, Australia, have learned to use public water fountains by twisting a handle, despite how difficult they are for birds to operate. It seems to be a behaviour they copy from each other. Sulphur-crested cockatoos (Cacatua galerita) have already learned how to open waste bins in eastern Sydney, leading to a battle of wits…
Esme Stallard Climate and science correspondent Justin Rowlatt Climate editor The Prince of Wales interviewed TV naturalist Sir David Attenborough ahead of the UN oceans summit Sir David Attenborough has told Prince William he is “appalled” by the damage certain fishing methods are wreaking on the world’s oceans. The Prince of Wales interviewed the TV…
The Kitt Peak National Observatory, near Tucson, Arizona, is home to DESI KPNO/NOIRLab/NSF/AURA/P. Marenfeld Is dark energy changing, or is it just more of the same? Last month, astronomers announced the startling finding that dark energy – which is thought to cause the accelerating expansion of the universe – might weaken over time. This has…
An artist’s impression of a Starlink satellite in orbit La Nacion/ZUMA Press/Alamy Eruptions from the sun are shortening the lives of satellites in Earth orbit, particularly large constellations like SpaceX’s Starlink – which could be both beneficial and a cause for concern. The sun goes through an 11-year cycle of activity, peaking with a period…
An artist’s illustration of a potential Planet Nine Mark Garlick/Science Photo Library/Alamy If the solar system does have a Planet Nine, it is a world that was bullied by its larger siblings, exiled to the far reaches of space and only rescued from oblivion thanks to the intervention of passing stars. Planet Nine is a…
Astronomers have revealed new processes taking place in our sun’s atmosphere, thanks to exquisite new images of the star. Dirk Schmidt at the US National Solar Observatory and his colleagues used the Goode Solar Telescope in California to produce the images. They used a technique known as adaptive optics to remove the blur of Earth’s atmosphere…
