Why the dawn chorus sounds different from place to place
Zeno Swijtink/Shutterstock Each May, nature lovers get out of bed early to experience the seasonal wonder of birds singing, as the sun rises above the horizon to take part in International Dawn Chorus Day. In Europe you may hear blackbirds, chiffchaffs and nightingales. In the US, cardinals, chickadees and blue jays. In East Africa, morning […]
Michaelina Wautier review: an astoundingly skilled painter returned to her rightful place in the spotlight
The first modern mention of the Flemish painter Michaelina Wautier (1614–1689) introduces an artist who defies expectation. Referring to her monumental Triumph of Bacchus (1655–59), Gustav Glück, the first art historian to serve as curator of Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum, wrote in 1903 that “even in an age of female emancipation, one would hardly wish to […]
The story of birds: a new history from their dinosaur origins – extract of Steve Brusatte’s new book
The following is an edited extract from The Story of Birds: A New History From Their Dinosaur Origins To the Present I will never forget my first dinosaur wing. I was a college student, on my first international expedition, preparing to venture into the mountains of Tibet in search of Jurassic dinosaurs. Our team assembled […]
There’s a reason we don’t have birds the size of elephants: the mysterious story of how dinosaurs evolved – expert Q&A
Exactly how did birds evolve from dinosaurs? It’s a mystery that has been with us for more than 150 years, and palaeontologists are still hunting for pieces of the puzzle today. Among them is the University of Edinburgh’s Professor Steve Brusatte, whose latest book, The Story of Birds, tells the whole fascinating story. We caught […]
Peatlands are vital for tackling climate change, yet scientists still haven’t found them all
A peat bog in Tierra del Fuego National Park, Argentina. Ororu/Shutterstock Push a metal corer into a peatland and you pull up something remarkable: a dark, dense, sponge-like material made of partly decomposed plants. This peat is rich in carbon. In some places, that peat has been building up for thousands of years. Peatlands are […]
These £500 plug-in solar panels are about to go on sale: here’s what an expert says you need to know
Millions of panels are installed across Germany. Ingrid Balabanova/Shutterstock Plug-in solar panels are expected to officially go on sale in the UK in the next few months for around £500. But there are quite a few obstacles for the government and householders to overcome before this becomes the easy-to-use option that is popular in other […]
Council elections take place for some Palestinians – but continuing mass displacement makes Gaza poll farcical
There was an election, of sorts, in Gaza at the weekend. It was a very limited vote – only people registered to vote in the central Gaza city of Deir al-Balah were able to cast a ballot. This made up a total electorate of 70,000 people, and of them, only 23% actually voted. Hamas did […]
In England and its colonies, accused witches weren’t burnt – but wives who defied their husbands were
I recently appeared on the BBC radio show Woman’s Hour to discuss my research on homicides committed by women. Just before my segment, singer-songwriter Katherine Priddy spoke about her song Matches, inspired by the feminist phrase “women, not witches”. It reframes witch trials as the persecution of women rather than the pursuit of the supernatural. […]
Table tennis robot defeats some of world’s best players – why this has major implications for robotics
A table tennis robot has outperformed elite players in recent evaluations. The robot, called Ace, marks a significant step toward artificial intelligence (AI) systems that can operate in fast, uncertain, real-world environments. In the tests, the autonomous robot won three out of five matches against elite players – competitive athletes with over ten years’ experience […]
Scientists have found a safer way to hunt for the next pandemic virus
Coronaviruses with their telltale spike proteins. Jezper/Shutterstock.com The world is full of animal viruses, and we’re pretty sure that one of them will cause the next pandemic. To prevent pandemics, we need to predict which of the vast number of animal viruses are most likely to infect humans. A new study, published in Nature, sets […]