Science

The female “vampire” with a sickle across her throat found in Pień, Poland PC: Mirosław Blicharski Vampires are one of the most famous mythological creatures in history. These blood-sucking creatures roam the night searching for people to feed upon.Perhaps it is the fascinating legends surrounding these creatures: their sharp fangs, their association with the night,…

What if one day you discover the world has no butterflies? Their velvety wings, dashing through the garden, a moving pop of colour in a world of darkness.Butterflies are not just there for aesthetic purposes. Their most important job is pollinating; a reduction in butterfly populations can mean a reduction in plant diversity, since wild…

Organic molecules on Mars have reached a new record of diversity, with seven never detected on the planet before. The Curiosity rover drilled the rock sample, nicknamed Mary Anning 3, in October 2020, and years of laboratory analysis have identified 21 carbon-containing molecules inside it, the most varied collection ever found on the Red Planet….

Sheep grazing can change the conditions that bats encounter when hunting for insects, with some species becoming more active while livestock are on the land and for a short time after they leave. A survey of 49 sheep-grazed pastures in southern Burgenland, Austria, recorded 20 of the region’s 24 bat species during the summer of…

A rare dinosaur fossil found in South Korea has been identified as a new species, the country’s first new dinosaur species in 15 years. The skeleton was found on the Aphae Islands off the country’s southwestern coast and dates to around 113 million years ago. Researchers named it Doolysaurus huhmin after Dooly, a South Korean…

Students earn Marine Sciences honour credits while gaining hands-on experience in oyster restoration and environmental conservation. Some children are born observant and intelligent. They are active with the happenings around them and always look for solution. Meet Bianca Bernhard, whose concern about deteriorating water quality led her to create the Martin Oyster Restoration Initiative, or…

German researchers have tested what happens to grassland invertebrates when land use is reduced. The team worked at 45 sites across three regions of Germany, where plots were mown only once a year, late in the growing season, with no fertilisation or grazing. Invertebrate abundance rose by 41% after one year and by 99% after…

This is the story of Ramya Manjunath Anche, a Bengaluru-born astronomer preparing to study something that has remained difficult for scientists to understand for decades. The subject is of the tiny particles of dust floating between stars. As a teenager fascinated by the 2003 Space Shuttle Columbia disaster, she has now grown up to lead…

The study found that darker and patterned surfaces could reduce seabird collisions at night (AI image). Researchers in Canada have found that changing the colour or pattern of a surface could help prevent seabirds from crashing into illuminated structures at night. In experiments conducted during 2024 and 2025 on Bon Portage Island in Nova Scotia,…

Grey seals at a popular German beach were more likely to stay farther from designated swimming areas when exposed to underwater sound signals, according to a study testing a new way to reduce encounters between marine wildlife and people. Researchers trialled an acoustic deterrent at Helgoland Dune, home to Germany’s largest grey seal colony, to…