Science

The red kite, once pushed close to extinction in Britain because of human persecution, has made one of the country’s most successful wildlife recoveries. After centuries of hunting and egg collecting reduced the UK population to fewer than 10 breeding pairs in remote Welsh valleys, a reintroduction programme launched in 1989 brought birds from Spain…

Elephant in Tanzania. Image Credit: Nevit Dilmen/Wikimedia Commons In parts of Tanzania, small farms are increasingly coming into contact with African elephants, leading to a hard conflict between wildlife conservation and rural livelihoods. A 2026 study, published in the ‘International Journal of Biodiversity and Conservation’ found that most of the reported crop raids in the…

Egg and rice waste can be converted into a material for storing electrical energy. Researchers developed a nitrogen- and oxygen-co-doped porous carbon from a mixture of egg waste and rice waste and tested it for use in supercapacitors. The material was produced through pre-carbonisation followed by pyrolytic activation. According to the study published in Molecules…

For 12-year-old Yuvi Agarwal, a keyboard became more than a musical instrument after he noticed it could calm his restless dog, Bozo. The discovery inspired him to wonder whether music could also comfort animals facing the stress of life in shelters. In 2023, Yuvi turned that idea into Wild Tunes, a non-profit that brings volunteer…

The open-air study was designed to mimic future warming while maintaining natural outdoor conditions. Researchers established plots in both open and closed-canopy forest environments and planted seedlings representing 11 tree species. In a Minnesota forest, researchers turned up the heat, not for days or weeks, but for years. Beneath the trees, heating cables warmed the…

Charles Darwin, the English naturalist whose theory of evolution by natural selection transformed our understanding of life, also left behind observations that extended beyond biology. One of his most memorable reflections was on the value of time and how people choose to use it. His words, “A man who dares to waste one hour of…

A two-month-old epaulette shark pup, born through apparent parthenogenesis, is now on display at Brookfield Zoo’s Living Coast exhibit.Jim Schulz/CZS-Brookfield Zoo A female epaulette shark at Brookfield Zoo in Illinois produced a pup in 2023 despite having no contact with a male for years, in a rare example of parthenogenesis among sharks. The female, which…

PC: Study : Assessment of process variability and colour in synthesised and ancient Egyptian blue pigments A vivid blue pigment used in ancient Egypt has revealed a far more complicated story than its striking colour suggests. Known as Egyptian blue, the material dates back around 5,000 years and is regarded as the world’s oldest synthetic…

On the edge of farm fields in British Columbia, where cultivated land meets forest and mountain, farmers have long struggled with deer that slip in at dusk to feed on crops. In search of non-lethal ways to protect their harvest, scientists tested a simple idea. They broadcast recordings of human shouts, wolf howls and cougar…

Daniel ZhangPhoto: Tumor Tactics/ Instagram In a San Diego high school classroom, a deck of 72 cards sits on a desk, each one representing a different cancer treatment option, side effect or patient factor. The game built from these cards was designed to help young patients and their families visualise complex treatment decisions, turning abstract…