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An analysis of 25 years of humpback whale data has found that only 7% of males successfully fathered offspring. The study focused on a population on a breeding ground off the coast of New Caledonia in the South Pacific. Humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) in Oceania and throughout the Southern Hemisphere were devastated by intensive commercial […]

An analysis of ancient kangaroo fossils from World Heritage caves in South Australia reveals that the prehistoric beasts had a more varied diet than previously thought. Such an adaptable palate would have made the now extinct kangaroos resilient to climate change. The findings shed new light on our understanding of how most of Australia’s megafauna […]

Grapefruit, and some other varieties of citrus fruit, are off the menu for a lot of people using common medications. But a new study might help to develop safe varieties. Grapefruits, as well as pomelos and bitter oranges, contain compounds that interfere with the action of a number of different drugs prescribed for conditions like […]

A global survey has found that 24% of freshwater fauna is under threat of extinction. “Freshwater ecosystems are highly biodiverse and important for livelihoods and economic development, but are under substantial stress,” write the authors of the study which appears in Nature. More than 10% of all known species live in freshwater habitats. These ecosystems […]

Researchers have developed a new pest control method known as the Toxic Male Technique (TMT), which works by genetically engineering male insects to produce venom proteins in their semen.  Males transfer the insecticidal proteins when they mate with females, significantly reducing the females’ lifespans. The approach could be used to reduce the threat of disease-carrying […]

A pair of 430-million-year-old mollusc fossils have stunned palaeontologists with their spikes which resemble the hairstyles of “emo” and punk musicians. They’ve named the new fossil species Punk ferox and Emo vorticaudum. The newly discovered molluscs were found in deposits in Herefordshire in England’s West Midlands. The deposits date to the middle of the Silurian […]

Anaemia in pregnancy is linked to a higher risk of negative outcomes such as preterm delivery, low birth weight, and postpartum depression. To prevent this, the World Health Organization (WHO) recommends a daily dose of 30-60mg of iron taken orally. But a new randomised controlled trial has found that an iron infusion in the third […]

Astronomers have used a trick of gravity and the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to picture 44 individual stars in a galaxy 6.5 billion light-years away. The galaxy, dubbed the Dragon Arc, hails from a time when the Universe was half its current age. The observation, which uses a technique called gravitational lensing, marks the […]

Palaeontologists have identified a new species of ichthyosaur from a partial skeleton found on New Zealand’s South Island. Ichthyosaurs are marine reptiles that evolved about 250 million years ago. Though they resemble dolphins, they have a completely different evolutionary lineage. They swam the oceans while dinosaurs ruled on land, dying out about 94 million years […]

A new study examining the diets of early humans suggests that the popular “palaeo” diet might not be an accurate representation of what ancient hunter-gatherers ate. In fact, finds the study, ancient humans did enjoy carbs. The palaeo diet is one of the most popular eating trends around the world. Advocates say it’s about consuming […]

The carbon on the Earth – and therefore, in us – probably spent some time outside the Milky Way galaxy before forming our planet, according to a new study. The study, published in The Astrophysical Journal Letters, finds that after being made inside stars, carbon atoms spend some time circling the galaxy in giant currents. […]

Air pollution from large-scale mining and smelting at the height of the Roman Empire would have caused widespread cognitive declines, new research has found. The study examined measurements of lead pollution in 3 Arctic ice cores dating from 500 BCE to 600 CE, an era spanning the rise of the Roman Republic through to the […]

The oldest-known fossil evidence of a predator-prey arms race has been discovered in shells dating back to the early Cambrian. The species, Lapworthella fasciculata, was a small, shelled animal distantly related to brachiopods. It lived in an ocean covering what is now South Australia and was hunted by a mysterious predator that could punch holes […]

Pluto and Charon sitting in a tree,K-I-S-S-I-N-G! New research challenges decades of assumptions about how Pluto and its largest moon Charon formed on the fringes of our solar system. The new theory could shed light on how other planetary bodies form and evolve. Scientists have long believed that Pluto’s unusually large moon formed in a […]

Zinc-ion batteries, which use abundant zinc in their electrodes, promise to be safer, cheaper, and more sustainable alternatives to modern batteries. This is particularly the case for aqueous zinc-ion batteries, which use water in their electrolytes. But it’s still difficult to make rechargeable zinc-ion batteries as powerful or as long-lasting as their competitors. A team […]

Scientists have found that today’s chimpanzees select stones to use as tools in a similar way to human ancestors who lived about 2.5 million years ago. The research, published in the Journal of Human Evolution, compares modern chimpanzee tools to those of the Oldowan hominins. Oldowan is the name given to the type of ancient […]

New research using organoids has found that brain cells in space remain healthy, but mature faster than they would on Earth. Numerous studies have outlined the effect microgravity, or limited gravity, on muscles, bones, the immune system and cognitive function. But until now, no studies have specifically looked into how space impacts brain cells. To […]

Doctors hope a newly developed AI tool which almost instantly analyses the placenta after birth might improve neonatal and maternal care and reduce infections in home care, or remote regions, and hospitals and clinics which don’t have pathology services. A team from Northwestern Medicine and Penn State in the US has developed a computer program […]

Travelling to the ends of the Earth is an extreme experience thanks to the environment… and the language. Bernadette Hince has crafted Cold Words: A Polar Dictionary to capture this unique vocabulary. Cold Words took 35 years to write and defines about 3,000 words or phrases, many of them for the first time. The definitions […]

An Australian-led scientific breakthrough to increase oil yield from plants will help advance the production and use of biofuels, such as sustainable aviation fuel. The Biomass Oil Project has been developed over a decade by scientists from Australia’s national science agency, CSIRO, and the technology has been acquired by Australian agricultural company Nufarm.   Oils from plants […]

Scientists have known for a while that the scale patterns found on the skin of a crocodile’s face and jaws doesn’t form due to genetic mechanisms. Instead, they’re produced by mechanical processes. Now, a new Nature study has described that process, finding that the scales self-organise through compressive folding. This occurs because the skin grows […]

Bed bugs are notoriously difficult to remove once they’ve moved in – and they’re getting more difficult, thanks to their evolving resistance to insecticides. A team of researchers has mapped the genomes of bed bug strains, aiming to find out why a “superstrain” has become 20,000 times more resistant to treatment. The study is published […]

Spending your spare time watching lorikeets or rosellas? Here are some fascinating things we learned about parrots in 2024. Parrots squawk with accents A study has found that, like people, parrots have different dialects – and they’re shifting as their environment changes. Read more Kākāpō changed colour to escape largest ever eagles Genetic analysis has revealed […]

A mineral found in abundance in outback South Australia is being researched as part of the process which might help humans colonise other planets. Named for the English town of Epsom, epsomite is found where lakes or volcanic activity have occurred. It’s common name is familiar – Epsom salts.  Epsomite forms fibrous, needle-like crystals that are […]