Nature

Shortly after midnight on 26 April 1986, the name Chernobyl became synonymous with nuclear disaster. A nuclear power station in northern Ukraine exploded after a safety test, casting a radioactive shadow over the land. The literal and figurative fallout of the event continues to inspire a strange mix of fear and hope over the risks

Sometimes, when it rains or when they feel the urge to migrate, spiders get out their little silk knapsacks, and balloon away. This ballooning behaviour is well understood by spider scientists, but researchers have recently discovered that electric fields can not only trigger the behaviour, but also provide lift – even without the slightest breeze.

A giant Pacific octopus named Rabio caught off the coast of Obira, Japan, last month became something of a national sensation when its snack selections ‘predicted’ Japan’s 2018 World Cup victories. Now the fisherman who found the celebrated cephalopod has declared Rabio’s fifteen minutes of fame is up and given him the chop. Literally. For

The emergence of life on Earth was obviously a time of great change for our wee blue marble. Plants and algae had evolved some time before, helping convert the atmosphere from carbon dioxide to oxygen, which paved the way for fauna. But the change did not stop there: when animals did turn up around 520-540

The Chernobyl nuclear disaster of 1986 left a landscape that was highly toxic, but in the 30 years since we’ve seen small signs of nature recovering. The latest is evidence of a young wild wolf boldly making its way far out of the designated Chernobyl Exclusion Zone or CEZ. Covering some 4,300 square kilometres (1,660

Underneath our feet, deep down in the Earth, liquid iron is producing the magnetic field that we all take for granted. But every now and then that magnetic field reverses or flips its polarity. What was once magnetic north becomes south – and vice versa. When these reversals take place – and why they do

Cats have some of the most unique eyes in the animal world: Instead of having circular pupils like humans, the black parts in the centres of their eyes are vertical – which can adapt quickly and can open and close like the aperture of a camera.  Why are cat eyes so special? It all comes

Goats might not seem like the most cuddly animals, but researchers have found evidence that goats are as clever as dogs, and just as capable of building emotional relationships with humans as all the other domesticated animals we’ve let into our hearts and homes. The 2016 study showed that goats stare intensely at their owner when

When I was at elementary school, my teacher told me that matter exists in three possible states: solid, liquid and gas. She neglected to mention plasma, a special kind of electrified gas that’s a state unto itself. We rarely encounter natural plasma, unless we’re lucky enough to see the Northern lights, or if we look

Deep in the woods of the West Pomerania region of Poland, an entire section of trees bends at sharp angles near their bases, forming an odd and entrancing phenomenon known as ‘The Crooked Forest’. Why do the trees bend like this? No one is quite sure. Some have theorised that harsh weather conditions made them this

The scrotum is a mystery. Why do most male mammals have their reproductive glands so vulnerably located in a sack of skin and muscle outside the body? According to new research, the answer might be found in those unusual mammals that have testicles located inside the abdomen. These includes elephants, aardvarks and others from a

Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano is continuing to erupt, with lava gushing throughout a swath of Hawaii’s Big Island and pouring into the Pacific Ocean. The volcano – which has been slowly and continuously erupting for decades – entered a new, more violent eruption phase in May. Thousands of local residents were forced to evacuate following a

Florida beaches are being adorned with purple flags to warn swimmers of an almost invisible hazard – an outbreak of “sea lice” in the warm summer waters. Although the creatures can’t survive out of the water, they can sting bodies within – leaving victims with an itchy rash. The name is not entirely accurate –

A pair of swans in Austria have been forcibly removed from the lake they called home after a series of violent, escalating attacks to defend their nest from intrusive humans. The twist in this case is the swans weren’t biological parents, but appear to have been two gay male swans who had formed an inseparable

Scientists studying one of the fastest-warming regions of the global ocean say changes in this region are so sudden and vast that in effect, it will soon be another limb of the Atlantic Ocean, rather than a characteristically icy Arctic sea. The northern Barents Sea, to the north of Scandinavia and east of the remote

Scientists have recently discovered and described 29 cool new species of wasp, and their life-cycle is enough to give you nightmares for weeks. Here’s how it goes. Parasitoid wasps lay their eggs in other animals so that their larvae will have something to snack on when they hatch. Oftentimes, this means that the ‘hosts’ are

Steelhead trout, members of the salmon family that live and grow in the Pacific Ocean, genetically adapted to the freshwater environment of Lake Michigan in less than 120 years, according to new research. Steelhead were intentionally introduced into Lake Michigan in the late 1800s in order to bolster recreational and commercial fisheries. In their native

Marine biologists studying the movements of adult female white sharks in the Gulf Stream and North Atlantic Ocean have discovered, to their surprise, that they prefer warm-water eddies—ocean whirlpools that spin clockwise north of the equator. “We’ve decimated some open-ocean shark populations to a fraction of what they were 100 years ago. And yet we

Now before you stop and ask yourself why you’re reading a story about a giraffe — one who may be pregnant but hasn’t even been confirmed to be — you need to travel back to the winter of 2017. April, the giraffe in question, was then an unknown giraffe, maybe even a little-down-on-her-luck giraffe, having

Sam Van Aken grew up on a family farm before pursuing a career as an artist. Now he works as an art professor at Syracuse University, but his most famous achievement – the incredible Tree of 40 Fruit - combines his knowledge of agriculture and art. In 2008, Van Aken learned that an orchard at the New

A young girl hugs a frog protectively cupped in her hands. A maddened shark gapes its maws at a scurrying school of fish. A sand dune envelops an abandoned house. These and many more visions have been highlighted this year in a global photo contest held annually by The Nature Conservancy (TNC), a charitable environmental organisation

There’s a virus called PRRS that’s every pig farmer’s nightmare – it attacks young pigs and is estimated to cost farmers around US$2.3 billion a year. But now scientists may have found a gene editing method that can block the spread of this terrible disease. A team of researchers have bred genetically engineer pigs resistant

A western lowlands gorilla named Koko, famous for having learned a simplified form of American Sign Language (ASL), died in her sleep at her Californian reserve earlier this week at the ripe old age of 46. The gorilla’s talent for communicating has intrigued primate researchers, but it was her human-like affection, intelligence, and love of

If you ever find yourself staring directly into the jagged, gaping jaws of a hungry Tyrannosaurus rex, take a moment to observe its placid, composed tongue. Remarkably still, no? Despite what pop culture would have us believe about the wildly elongated, lashing tongues of these marvellous, extinct creatures, new research suggests the towering T. rex

This is what it looks like when a bear breaks into your home to steal M&M’s while you’re out. And we totally empathise with those candy cravings. Footage of the break-in was captured last week by security cameras set up in the home of Lane Sykes and Carole Scofield in South Lake Tahoe, California. The

Recent actions by the Trump administration – a wave of unprecedentedly large family separations at the border, aggressive trade-war-fueling tariffs and rebukes of allies – have made some feel as though the Barack Obama presidency was an unrecognizable era shrouded in an ancient past. Perhaps, then, it is fitting that the fossil of a disc-shaped

Scientists have come up with a new way to figure out how much winter rainfall is going to occur in California – simply check out what was happening near New Zealand over the previous seasons. They’re calling it the New Zealand Index, and it’s more accurate than the previous method of predicting rainfall, which was

The mystery of where manta rays keep their babies has started to unravel, with the lucky discovery of a rarely seen manta ray nursery. It’s off the coast of Texas, in the NOAA’s Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary in the Gulf of Mexico, where marine scientists have observed unprecedented numbers of juvenile manta rays.

Last week, the coastal city of Qingdao in eastern China experienced a massive rainstorm, complete with sea creatures allegedly falling from the sky amidst the buffeting winds and heavy rainfall. Residents took to social media with photos of this ‘seafood rain’ bounty, which included prawns and starfish splatted against car windscreens, and even a dramatic

At the height of North American summer, many plants are at their most dangerous. We don’t normally think of plants as particularly scary organisms. But this rather entertaining Reddit thread from 2016 will make you reconsider that assumption. “Botanists of Reddit, what are the scariest plants in the world?” user Zipzapadam asked. And Reddit delivered.

The DNA results are in for a mysterious wolf-like animal shot and killed in Montana in May. To nobody’s great surprise, it didn’t turn out to be some sort of mythical monster. But, contrary to the expectations of experts at Montana Fish, Wildlife & Parks (FWP), it’s not a wolf-dog hybrid, either. The animal has

The more we know about a volcano, the better we can predict when its next eruption will be. Now, scientists have come up with a new method of analysis, and the secret lies with an eerie phenomenon we can best describe as ‘volcano music’. The Cotopaxi volcano in central Ecuador has been pushing out sounds resembling

If Hollywood wanted to make a movie about a horrifying plant invasion, giant hogweeds would make a great candidate for the lead role – they are absolutely massive, incredibly toxic, and readily spread wherever their seeds take root. Listed as a noxious weed in at least eight states, last week the giant hogweed (Heracleum mantegazzianum)

A lobster caught off the coast of Grand Manan Island, Canada has had a lucky escape from the seafood markets, thanks to a genetic quirk that has given it a unique colouration. Rather than the typical dark blue, orange, or green, the crustacean – appropriately named Lucky – is delicately tinted pastel blue and pink.

Ever since humanity split into dog and cat people, we’ve been arguing over which one of our beloved companions is a smarter species. This latest study mightn’t be the last word on the matter, but for those who think more neurons means more intelligence, it looks as if dogs stand out among carnivores for having

For the second time in barely more than a year, an Indonesian villager has been swallowed whole by a python. Wa Tiba, 54, left her home on Muna island to visit her cornfield Thursday night, according to the Jakarta Post. The field was about a half mile from her house, surrounded by cliffs, caves and

A sloth’s life seems pretty sweet, right? You get to hang out in trees all day, munching on food, sleeping all the time, and moving real slow to blend in with your surroundings. For a sloth, Sunday is every day. Laziness is just the sloth way. While this might sound luxurious, scientists have revealed that all

A growing number of mammals are switching to a nocturnal cycle and sleeping during the day, primarily to avoid contact with human beings, according to a new study. The research looked at 62 different species across the world, and noted that when humans were around, animals spent more time being active at night and less

Once upon a time, 99 million years ago, some tiny frogs in what is now Myanmar ended up having a pretty bad day – trapped in a golden sticky mess of tree sap. Over the years, that sap hardened, and today those frogs are the oldest we’ve ever found preserved in amber. The four fossils

A type of chlorophyll discovered just a few years ago is pushing the limits of photosynthesis and the role this new pigment plays. Fresh research led by Imperial College London has identified a unique mix of biochemistry that not only has interesting applications for life here on Earth, but life on other planets as well.

A towering thundershower shot up off the coast of Gulf Shores, Alabama, on 17 July 2016. Rick Geiss was sitting on the beach in front of his condominium at Crystal Shores West when he snapped a photo with his iPhone. This week, he shared it with meteorologist Jacob Dunne of the Mobile NBC affiliate, who

Scientists have collected the most detailed recordings of narwhals to date, displaying a charming range of click, squeak, and buzz vocalisations that will help researchers understand these ‘sea unicorns’ like never before. This information could help scientists predict how the East Greenland narwhals might be affected by an increase in human-made sounds in their waters,

If Hawaii’s Kīlauea volcano were to offer an apology for its chaos and destruction, it just might come in the form of a beautiful green mineral called olivine. Over the past months we’ve reported on devastating lava flows and bone-shattering boulders. Now it’s raining gems – a rare event that has geologists enthralled and the

They were first discovered on a beach in Santiago, Chile in 2013. And these gargantuan viruses are a far cry from your garden variety, sub-microscopic virus. Not only are the members of the Pandoravirus family stupidly huge, these microbes also have more genes than any virus has business carrying. Now, the discovery of three new

In life it often pays to keep a close eye on competitors and rivals. Historian Doris Kearns Goodwin’s book, Team of Rivals, tells how US president Abraham Lincoln persuaded each of his political rivals to join his cabinet, thereby turning them into his allies. But the formation of alliances with potential competitors is not unique

[ad_1] At the end of last year, scientists discovered a small octopus city – dubbed Octlantis – a find that suggests members of the gloomy octopus species (Octopus tetricus) are perhaps not the isolated and solitary creatures we thought they were.   Octlantis features dens made out of piles of sand and shells, and is home

One of the best-known regions of the brain, the cerebellum accounts for just 10 percent of the organ’s total volume, but contains more than 50 percent of its neurons. Despite all that processing power, it’s been assumed that the cerebellum functions largely outside the realm of conscious awareness, instead coordinating physical activities like standing and

Welcome to the age of the urban rat. There are about 2 million New York City rats, a 2014 estimate suggested, which would mean the rodents in New York outnumber the humans in Philadelphia. Do not discount the power of gnawing teeth in aggregate — Cornell University scientists once calculated rats cause $19 billion in damage annually. Rats and other