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Born survivors: How cockroaches lost their sweet tooth in battle to evade sugary traps

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:37:39 GMT

It has been argued by scientists in the past that should all humans on Earth be destroyed in a nuclear explosion, cockroaches would inherit the planet, due to their hardy resistance to radiation.

Cockroaches quickly lose sweet tooth — to survive

Fri, 24 May 2013 06:37:39 GMT

People have been getting rid of cockroaches for decades by setting out bait mixed with poison. But in the late 1980s, in an apartment test kitchen in Florida, something went very wrong.

10% of British wildlife at risk of extinction as species show massive decline

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:51:14 GMT

Almost two thirds of British species have declined in the past 50 years and one in 10 faces the risk of extinction from our shores, according to an extensive new report into the state of Britain's nature.

British wildlife species in rapid decline with one in 10 at risk of extinction

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:51:14 GMT

British species in rapid decline with one in 10 at risk of extinction

Wed, 22 May 2013 08:51:14 GMT

200 mph winds, 12 miles of devastation: What makes a tornado?

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:22 GMT

A tornado, often known as a twister in the US, is a spinning column of air that joins a cloud (normally the moisture-rich cumulonimbus) and the ground.

Nature's killer fury: What makes a tornado?

Tue, 21 May 2013 10:30:22 GMT

A tornado, often known as a twister in the US, is a spinning column of air that joins a cloud (normally the moisture-rich cumulonimbus) and the ground.

Nature's lethal fury: What makes a tornado?

Tue, 21 May 2013 08:05:22 GMT

A tornado, often known as a twister in the US, is a spinning column of air that joins a cloud (normally the moisture-rich cumulonimbus) and the ground.

What a pong! After a seven year wait, the world's smelliest 'flower' blooms in Cornwall

Thu, 16 May 2013 16:34:14 GMT

Breaking into the flat of a long dead spinster whose cats have been left to fend for themselves would be a harrowing experience, but it would at least prepare the nostrils for a sniff of the Titan Arum.

Nature Studies: Cross the Atlantic in a ship? The beautiful Monarch can do better than that

Wed, 15 May 2013 23:00:54 GMT

Britain is pretty poorly off for butterflies, all things considered, with a measly 58 breeding species: cross the Channel and you’ll find nearly five times as many. So something that sets your average British butterfly-lover’s heart a-thumping is the occasional chance meeting with a rare migrant from elsewhere.

Campaigners warn against rise of the 'mega-farms': Could massive pig, fish and dairy units harm the environment?

Sun, 12 May 2013 08:07:00 GMT

Farming in the British Isles is on the verge of a dramatic step towards industrialisation with the establishment of "mega-farms" for salmon, pigs and cows, which opponents claim put the environment and human health at risk. The Government signalled its backing yesterday for large-scale farms ahead of an announcement this week of a timetable for plans for a 25,000-capacity pig farm in Derbyshire. A decision on a planned 1,000-cow dairy unit in Wales is also imminent.

Where there's Mucking, there's grass: For 50 years an old quarry was a giant rubbish dump. Now it's a thriving nature reserve

Sun, 12 May 2013 08:07:00 GMT

An Essex landfill site which once took 15 per cent of all London's rubbish has been ingeniously transformed into a nature reserve. The tip, full to a depth of 30 metres with the capital's garbage, was first covered with earth and then turned into grassland. Here, and in adjacent wetland and wooded areas, hundreds of rare species now thrive.

Britain's migratory birds stay away as climate change moves their wintering areas further north

Sat, 11 May 2013 07:52:38 GMT

Migratory waterbirds have shifted their wintering areas north-eastwards due to Europe's changing climate, scientists have revealed.

Marine biology: Appeal launched to find rare Madagascan fish

Thu, 09 May 2013 18:28:35 GMT

A worldwide appeal has been launched to find a mate for the last remaining males of a fish on the brink of extinction. The Mangarahara cichlid, from Madagascar, is believed to have vanished from the wild as a result of the building of dams on the Mangarahara River.

The moth that made mobile phone companies sit up and listen: Insect with sharpest hearing in the world could revolutionise technology

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:18:29 GMT

The greater wax moth has the best hearing of any animal in the world – a discovery which has the potential to revolutionise microphone technology in everything from mobile phones to hearing aids.

The moth that made mobile phone firms sit up and listen: Insect with sharpest hearing in the world could revolutionise technology

Wed, 08 May 2013 18:18:29 GMT

The greater wax moth has the best hearing of any animal in the world – a discovery which has the potential to revolutionise microphone technology in everything from mobile phones to hearing aids.

Nature Studies: The disappearing turtle dove

Wed, 08 May 2013 16:28:59 GMT

It’s a legendary creature, no doubt about that. For centuries, it was seen as the symbol of true love. Its springtime call is celebrated in the Bible. It features in one of our best-known Christmas carols. Yet the turtle dove is declining so rapidly that it may be gone from Britain, the latest analysis suggests, by 2021.

Cicada invasion on the way as insects with bulging red eyes crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground

Tue, 07 May 2013 09:57:32 GMT

This year heralds the invasion of billions of cicadas, with their distinctive black bodies and bulging red eyes set to overrun a 900-mile stretch of the US East Coast as the insects crawl out of the earth after 17 years underground.

How our fens were sacrificed for more farms

Sat, 04 May 2013 23:00:00 GMT

Very few parts of the British landscape have eluded great change in the past 1,000 years, but none of them have suffered a loss which can remotely compare to that of the fens of eastern England. These vast wetlands – at times desolate but always teeming with wildlife – once stretched from just above Cambridge to north Yorkshire.

Exclusive: Pesticides ban makes it a triple whammy for farmers

Thu, 02 May 2013 21:30:20 GMT

Britain’s long-suffering farmers will see their costs soar by £200m a year after the European Union voted this week to ban nerve-agent pesticides blamed for causing mass die-offs in bees, the National Farmers’ Union (NFU) has claimed.

Cuckoo opted for reverse migration after 4,000-mile trip from Congo

Thu, 02 May 2013 17:53:51 GMT

It was meant to be journey’s end; the culmination of the cuckoo’s 4,000-mile quest to hunt African caterpillars before returning to England to become the sound of the spring.

Nothing signifies spring quite like blossom mixed with birdsong

Wed, 01 May 2013 14:43:03 GMT

If we were looking, in the great tradition of modern advertising, for simple, instantly-graspable signifiers for the seasons, we would doubtless characterise summer by sunshine, autumn by falling leaves and winter by snow.

Badger flash mob targets Defra in protest against cull soundtracked by Brian May

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:21:26 GMT

A badger flash-mob protested today against a Government-led cull of the animals, outside the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).

'Badger' flash mob target Defra in protest again cull

Wed, 01 May 2013 13:21:26 GMT

A badger flash-mob protested today against a Government-led cull of the animals, outside the Department for Environment, Food, and Rural Affairs (Defra).

'Victory for bees' as European Union bans neonicotinoid pesticides blamed for destroying bee population

Mon, 29 Apr 2013 16:20:54 GMT

Environmentalists hailed a "victory for bees" today after the European Union voted for a ban on the nerve-agent pesticides blamed for the dramatic decline global bee populations.