At 86, Mervin Raudabaugh had a decision to make over 261 acres of Pennsylvania farmland he had spent decades working. The land had caught the attention of data-centre developers, who reportedly put forward offers exceeding $15 million, including one estimate of about $60,000 an acre. On paper, it was the kind of figure that could…
Representative Image (AI-generated) For more than two decades, the soil between rows of grapevines in a Spanish vineyard has remained covered with spontaneous vegetation instead of being repeatedly tilled. The unusual approach was associated with a striking difference beneath the vines: soil managed with long-term vegetation cover contained more than twice as much organic matter…
Woolston Eyes in Cheshire recorded 35 breeding pairs of black-necked grebes in 2025 (Photos: RSPB) A former dumping ground for dredged material from the Manchester Ship Canal has been transformed into a wetland. The wetlland has now become the most important breeding site in the UK for the rare black-necked grebe.According to the Royal Society…
Solar panels are usually associated with electricity, but a study in China has found that they can also change the summer conditions inside sea cucumber ponds. Researchers examined ponds fitted with photovoltaic panels and found that the shade reduced the amount of light reaching the water and lowered its temperature. The cooler conditions were linked…
There are moments when pursuing an idea can feel lonely, particularly when other people cannot see what you see. Barbara McClintock understood that feeling well. The American geneticist spent years investigating patterns in corn genetics that initially challenged the scientific thinking of her time. Her words are not simply about refusing to listen to criticism….
chum salmon Representative image In the early 1990s, fewer than 1,000 threatened summer-run chum salmon made it back to the Big Quilcene River on Washington’s Olympic Peninsula each year. Decades of logging, road building and habitat degradation had left the river choked with sediment, its gravel spawning beds buried and its side channels disconnected. Today,…
Nearly 400 years ago, people living in Osaka had no refrigerators, supermarkets or modern food supply chains. Yet an unusual scientific discovery suggests that their diets were far more varied than expected. Researchers analysing hardened dental plaque from eight people buried at the Umeda cemetery in Osaka identified 38 dietary proteins from 17 types of…
The launch of Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope was posted by @NASARoman on X. Nasa has launched its Nancy Grace Roman Space Telescope on a mission to investigate dark matter and dark energy, study black holes and search for planets beyond our solar system. The agency expects Roman’s surveys to uncover roughly 100,000 new exoplanets.The…
Far out in the Atlantic, the concrete base of a floating wind turbine has been given an unusual second role. Instead of serving only as the underwater support for renewable energy equipment, parts of the structure are now carrying ropes, nets and collectors designed to grow marine species. Commercial divers attached equipment for oysters, clams,…
On Española, one of the smaller islands in the Galápagos, the landscape is being reshaped by animals that spend much of their time moving slowly through it. Giant tortoises push through grasses, knock down vegetation and leave broad paths behind them as they travel. Their effect is easy to miss if viewed as ordinary grazing….