Children ‘more likely to confide in pets than siblings’ From the BBC By Sean Coughlan Education correspondent Children who are facing adversity, such as illness or parents splitting up, are more likely to confide in their pet than brothers or sisters, according to research. Matt Cassels at Cambridge University says far … Continue reading
The hitchhiking snakes of the Caribbean BBC By Rob Crossan Aruba For a long time no-one could understand how Aruba’s boa constrictors spread across the island so quickly. Then they realised – the snakes could easily travel miles by hiding under car bonnets and hitching a lift. This might be the … Continue reading
Anti Poaching CSI Kenya opens anti-poaching forensic laboratory From the BBC The Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS) has opened a forensic laboratory to boost the fight against poaching. The information gathered should help in prosecuting suspected poachers as cases can collapse because of weak evidence. The laboratory will build … Continue reading
Russia: Ice crystals cause ‘triple sunrise’ over city By News from Elsewhere… …media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Residents in a Russian city have witnessed an optical illusion in the dawn sky, which created a triple sunrise. People in the western city of Chelyabinsk saw what … Continue reading
$7 million could save Madagascar’s lemurs Jeremy Hance mongabay.com Last year, scientists released an emergency three-year plan that they argued could, quite literally, save the world’s lemurs from mass extinction. Costing just $7.6 million, the plan focused on setting up better protections and conservation programs in 30 lemur hotspots. However, … Continue reading
Revolutionary Australian beehive invention. Jeremy Story Carter ABC Australia Stuart Anderson and his son Cedar’s method of collecting honey does not disturb the hive, but allows the honey to flow out through a channel system straight out of a tap, changing the way honey has been collected for millennia, forever. … Continue reading
By News from Elsewhere… …as found by BBC Monitoring Denmark: Scientists find new ‘pretty’ fungus species Hirticlavula elegans was found in the forests of northern Denmark, and at 1mm in height it’s quite tricky to spot without a magnifying glass, one researcher tells the Videnskab news website. “It is very, … Continue reading
In the Vallee de Mai on Praslin Island in the republic of the Seychelles is a tree which has attributes that have a remarkable resemblance to human sex organs. Some call it the Sex Tree. The fruit is the world’s largest nut and is known as the Coco de … Continue reading
From the BBC Obama push to expand Alaskan refuge US President Barack Obama is to propose setting aside the majority of Alaska’s national wildlife refuge as a wilderness area. This would halt the possibility of fossil fuel exploration in the refuge’s potentially oil-rich coastal plain. The proposal drew an angry … Continue reading
News from Elsewhere… … media reports from around the world, found by BBC Monitoring Japan: Feral cat adoption planned to save seabirds Cat lovers are being asked to help save seabirds in Japan by giving new homes to feral kittens, it’s reported. About 90% of the streaked shearwater seabird … Continue reading
