2026

Meet the ‘Turtle Women’ of Amazon: 7 Indigenous women are bringing vulnerable river turtles back from the brink after releasing 208 baby turtles into the wild |

Santanu1 week ago06 mins

Seven Indigenous Siekopai women in Ecuador’s Amazon are using ancestral knowledge, modern technology and community-led conservation to give vulnerable river turtles a better chance of survival. Known as the Tari Nomiowa’i, or “Turtle Women”, the group patrols the banks of the Aguarico River in search of charapa turtle nests, carefully collects eggs threatened by flooding,…

Your AI may soon be able to pay for things through UPI without asking every single time: Here is how India plans to control it

Santanu1 week ago03 mins

India’s digital payment journey has evolved from passwords, PINs and OTPs to fingerprints and facial authentication, making transactions faster and more seamless. Now, with AI, the next step could be completely hands-free payments, where systems recognise users, assess transactions and authenticate payments almost invisibly.The country may allow AI agents to make small UPI payments without…

A fungus turns beetles into zombies and makes them die on flowers; scientists say the timing helps infect the next generation |

Santanu1 week ago04 mins

A fungus infecting goldenrod soldier beetles can alter their behaviour before death and cause changes to their bodies afterwards. Researchers investigating Eryniopsis lampyridarum found infected Chauliognathus pensylvanicus beetles clamped their mandibles tightly onto flower heads shortly before dying. Between 15 and 22 hours after death, the fungus caused the beetles to raise their hardened forewings…

Scientists turned discarded crab shells into a biodegradable zinc battery that stayed 99.7% efficient after 1,000 charging cycles |

Santanu1 week ago06 mins

A crab shell left behind after a meal might seem destined for the bin, but scientists have found a very different use for it. Engineers at the University of Maryland have turned material derived from discarded crustacean shells into part of a zinc battery, using chitosan to make its electrolyte. The unusual ingredient is tied…

In 2018, scientists began removing about 285,000 fish from Wisconsin’s McDermott Lake; 4 years later yellow perch were up 788%, but walleye recruitment was still zero

Santanu1 week ago04 mins

Both McDermott Lake and Sandy Beach Lake had previously supported natural walleye recruitment. Scientists removed about 285,000 warm-water fish from a Wisconsin lake over four years in an attempt to help its declining walleye population recover. The large-scale experiment reduced several fish species and was followed by a sharp rise in yellow perch. However, it…

In 1998, researchers built 12 reefs off Miami Beach using limestone, concrete and concrete mixed with waste tyre chips; divers later counted 97,826 fish from 146 species

Santanu1 week ago04 mins

A hybrid artificial reef structure (Representational photo from a 2023 study- University of Miami) In 1998, researchers put 12 artificial reefs off Miami Beach to see how different materials would affect marine life. Over the next three years, divers recorded 97,826 fish from 146 species around the reefs. The study was published in the journal…

In 2025, scientists discovered a new “zombie” fungus in British caves; it appears to manipulate spiders before killing them |

Santanu1 week ago05 mins

A new species of fungus capable of manipulating spiders before killing them has been formally identified in caves and disused buildings across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Wales, marking one of the first confirmed cases of such behavioural control found in a temperate climate. Named Gibellula attenboroughii in honour of the broadcaster Sir…

A California reservoir forecasting system could add enough usable water to save $100 million to $200 million a year without building a new reservoir, a study estimates

Santanu1 week ago04 mins

Representative Image (AI-generated) California’s water problem is often framed around the need for more storage, new infrastructure and expensive construction. But a new study suggests that part of the answer may already be sitting behind the state’s existing dams. By using better weather and water forecasts to decide when reservoirs should release or retain water,…

In 1992, Nasa put live frogs and their eggs aboard the Space Shuttle; the eggs were fertilised and developed in microgravity |

Santanu1 week ago05 mins

For a developing frog embryo, gravity is more than the force that keeps it on the ground. It can provide a reference for how the egg is oriented as development begins, helping establish the direction in which the embryo will form. Nasa wanted to find out what would happen if that reference disappeared. During a…

In 1816, a Barbados-born doctor used dogs and cats to test blood transfusion; his forgotten experiments showed why animal blood could not replace human blood |

Santanu1 week ago06 mins

Human blood was used in an attempt to revive exsanguinated dogs. Image Credit: National Library of Medicine In 1816, a young doctor from Barbados carried out blood transfusion experiments that challenged a dangerous medical assumption and helped point the field towards a safer future. ‘John Henry Leacock’ used dogs and cats to investigate whether blood…

Underwater sensors caught a rare event off Cornwall: one porpoise became trapped in a net while two animals exchanged possible distress calls

Sea otters returned to a polluted California estuary in 1984; eelgrass expanded 600%, while marsh-edge erosion later slowed by 69% on average

Brazil restored a former cattle landscape with native trees; decades later, lowland tapirs returned after disappearing for 100 years |

Quote of the day by Isaac Newton: “Truth is ever to be found in simplicity, and not in the multiplicity and confusion of things” |

A Scottish river project set out to revive oysters that once covered an area the size of Edinburgh; now, 60,000 have been returned |

In 2015, Canada sank a 113-metre retired warship off British Columbia; five years later, monitoring had recorded more than 170 marine species on the wreck

Human hair, receipts, fishing nets, and eggshells were among 17 waste materials tested to create stronger, lower-carbon cement building products |

Meet Franklin Howley-Dumit Serulle, the amateur naturalist whose online insect photo helped reveal a new hoverfly species |

Meet Naidely Valeria Vidaurre-Quesada, the scientist who helped uncover a ghost shark species hiding in Costa Rica’s dark waters |

From 2012 to 2022, nearly 30,000 commercial vessel arrivals brought 430 sq km of submerged hull surface to Alaska; biofouling habitat grew 50%, increasing invasive-species risk

Meet the ‘Turtle Women’ of Amazon: 7 Indigenous women are bringing vulnerable river turtles back from the brink after releasing 208 baby turtles into the wild |

Your AI may soon be able to pay for things through UPI without asking every single time: Here is how India plans to control it

A fungus turns beetles into zombies and makes them die on flowers; scientists say the timing helps infect the next generation |

Scientists turned discarded crab shells into a biodegradable zinc battery that stayed 99.7% efficient after 1,000 charging cycles |

In 2018, scientists began removing about 285,000 fish from Wisconsin’s McDermott Lake; 4 years later yellow perch were up 788%, but walleye recruitment was still zero

In 1998, researchers built 12 reefs off Miami Beach using limestone, concrete and concrete mixed with waste tyre chips; divers later counted 97,826 fish from 146 species

In 2025, scientists discovered a new “zombie” fungus in British caves; it appears to manipulate spiders before killing them |

A California reservoir forecasting system could add enough usable water to save $100 million to $200 million a year without building a new reservoir, a study estimates

In 1992, Nasa put live frogs and their eggs aboard the Space Shuttle; the eggs were fertilised and developed in microgravity |

In 1816, a Barbados-born doctor used dogs and cats to test blood transfusion; his forgotten experiments showed why animal blood could not replace human blood |