Science

Woodhouse’s toad (Anaxyrus woodhousii) (Representational photo, Instagram/Tom Mathies) A rare Woodhouse’s toad has returned to the Springs Preserve in Las Vegas for the first time in nearly 65 years, giving conservationists fresh hope that wildlife is returning to a restored habitat where the species once lived naturally.The male toad was captured on a trail camera…

Scientists have uncovered plastic pollution in one of Earth’s most isolated environments, challenging the long-held belief that the deep ocean remains largely untouched by human activity. Analysing animals living more than 2,000 metres beneath the sea, researchers discovered that 92% contained microplastics, offering some of the clearest evidence yet that plastic waste has reached even…

The sea anemone Nematostella vectensis. In the enlarged section, the nematosomes—which are key to the immune system of these invertebrates—are highlighted. (Credit: HHU/Nida Kaya) A simple sea anemone (a small plant with white, red, blue or purple flowers that are shaped like cups and have dark centres) can distinguish helpful bacteria from harmful invaders despite…

Albert Einstein (Image: Wikipedia) Some people move through the world treating almost everything as ordinary. Others notice something remarkable in the same ordinary details. A line widely credited to Albert Einstein names that exact split. “There are two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as…

Zoe Kissane says the birds often ate at seed spills around agricultural operations (Supplied: Murdoch Univeristy) Scientists tracking endangered Carnaby’s black cockatoos across Western Australia’s Wheatbelt over three breeding seasons found worrying levels of chemical contamination in the birds’ food. Four out of five seed samples tested positive for pesticides, with some containing chemical levels…

Black-and-white warbler (Mniotilta varia) is less likely to be seen when pollution level rises. Smoke from Canada’s record-breaking wildfires in recent years have done more than reduce air quality across parts of the United States. A new study suggests the wildfires made many birds harder for people to spot in New York State during the…

More than 2,200 years before satellites, GPS and space missions revealed the Earth’s true size, an ancient Greek scholar calculated the planet’s circumference using nothing more than a stick, sunlight and basic geometry. Around 240 BCE, Eratosthenes, the chief librarian of the Library of Alexandria, carried out one of history’s most brilliant scientific experiments. By…

This might be the closest humans have come to finding another planet that can support life. In a shocking discovery, astronomers have detected an atmosphere around an Earth-like, rocky planet about 48 light-years away.The planet, called LHS 1140 b, is orbiting in the habitable zone around its star meaning that it is at the right…

Pythagoras (Image: Wikipedia) Humans depend entirely on the natural world, and yet the relationship has always been tangled with contradiction, admiration for animals sitting right alongside routine cruelty toward them. A line attributed to Pythagoras names that contradiction directly. “As long as Man continues to be the ruthless destroyer of lower living beings, he will…

Scientists have uncovered how Posidonia oceanica adapted to the dim light of the seabed. In the Mediterranean Sea, vast underwater meadows of seagrass grow in places where sunlight is weak. Yet these plants continue to photosynthesise efficiently, produce oxygen, store carbon and suppor marine life.A new study has revealed how one of these seagrasses has…