Science & Earth

The Wildlife Trust of South and West Wales is recruiting long-term volunteers to live on Skomer Island and help count its puffin colony, with free accommodation and travel expenses offered and roles running across spring to autumn.

The National Trust has sunk three decommissioned barges in the Blackwater Estuary and will cover them with about 8,000 cubic metres of sediment to create a 0.55-hectare island intended as bird habitat.

A Science paper, reported in The Guardian, used a model that adjusts for deaths from external causes and, based on historical twin data from Denmark and Sweden, suggests genetics may account for about 50% of variation in human lifespan.

Bruce Friedrich argues in his book Meat that cultivated and plant‑based proteins, if they reach taste and price parity and receive government and private support, could replace much industrial meat by mid‑century.

Volunteer citizen scientists are collecting and measuring plastic litter in Australian waterways, from synthetic turf in Melbourne to remote beach clean-ups in Arnhem Land, and national projects such as Ausmap have engaged over 10,000 people.

Scottish Royal Marine Reserves and Dutch Korps Mariniers found a climber near the summit of Ben Nevis on 24 January during a blizzard and brought him down, handing him to emergency services as a precaution.

The article reports the EPA under President Trump has launched 66 actions to roll back or weaken environmental rules, and experts say those moves could threaten air and water quality and contribute to global heating.

Three decommissioned Thames lighters were sunk and filled with sediment in the Blackwater Estuary off Essex to form a new island intended as habitat for shorebirds, the National Trust says.

The UK and the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration signed a Letter of Intent to deepen cooperation on sustainable transport and green finance under the Thailand–UK PACT programme, which includes up to £6m of support. The LOI supports expansion of Low-Emission Zones and collaboration on road safety and climate finance.

A study of 770 adult polar bears (1,188 captures) in Svalbard from 1995–2019 found body condition index declined until about 2000 and increased afterwards, and statistical models including sea‑ice metrics and the Arctic Oscillation did not show the expected negative effect of warming or habitat loss.

Greensand Future will reuse the almost‑depleted Nini oilfield and the Siri platform to inject captured CO2 beneath the seabed, aiming to store about 400,000 tonnes this year and potentially up to eight million tonnes annually by 2030.

Researchers measured 770 adult polar bears in Svalbard between 1992 and 2019 and found body condition increased even as regional sea ice declined; the study was published in Scientific Reports.

A new study reports that ditches and canals are widespread hotspots of methane and nitrous oxide and describes management options — such as reduced nutrient inputs, vegetation buffers, dredging and floating plants — that can lower emissions.

Floods in Mozambique have flooded more than 150,000 homes and killed at least 22 people, while aid agencies say donor funding is far short of the $187 million the UN says is required for the response.

Researchers from the British Antarctic Survey and the Korea Polar Research Institute are drilling about 1,000 metres into the Thwaites Glacier to observe how warm ocean water and large under-ice waves affect the ice; scientists say the glacier's collapse could raise global sea levels by about 65 centimetres.

The UK Government named North Lanarkshire its latest AI Growth Zone, and proposals involving Chapelhall-based DataVita with AI firm CoreWeave are reported to include up to £8.2 billion of investment and up to 7,000 jobs, subject to the full statutory planning process.

Water bills in England and Wales will increase by an average of £33 a year from April, about 5.4%, while industry groups say the funds will support a £104 billion investment programme and expanded social tariff support for around 2.5 million households.

Researchers say human-caused climate change increased the intensity of recent torrential rains across parts of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, which led to more than 100 deaths and displaced over 300,000 people.

A severe flood warning described as 'danger to life' was issued at Iford Bridge Home Park near Christchurch after River Stour levels rose during Storm Chandra, and residents were told to evacuate while emergency teams assisted.

A study in German forests found that predator scents, especially from lynx, caused red and roe deer to visit sapling plots less and spend less time browsing, which led to reduced damage; researchers say similar but likely weaker effects could occur where predators have long been absent, such as the UK.

Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome can read long DNA sequences, including non-coding regions, and predict how subtle mutations affect biological processes; the article reports it could be used to design synthetic DNA to switch genes on or off in specific tissues.

Google DeepMind's AlphaGenome is a sequence-to-function AI that can analyse up to one million letters of DNA and predict how genetic variants affect gene regulation and expression. The model has been described in Nature and made available for non-commercial research, and roughly 3,000 researchers have used it.

A Hague court found the Dutch government discriminated against people on Bonaire by failing to prepare climate adaptation measures, and ordered a concrete adaptation plan plus a national carbon budget and interim emission targets to be set within six months.

The article reports that Bryan Kohberger is being held in Idaho’s maximum security prison and spends most of each day confined to his cell; it also notes that the families of the four students killed in November 2022 have filed a civil lawsuit against Washington State University.

Heavy rain triggered a landslide in Pasirlangu, West Java, that authorities say has killed 38 people and left 27 missing; rescuers are continuing cautious search operations amid unstable conditions.

Storm Chandra has been absorbed into a larger low-pressure system and fog and ice will clear for many, but further Atlantic lows will bring rain this week and Yellow Warnings are in place for parts of southwest England and Northern Ireland.

The Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists moved the Doomsday Clock to 85 seconds to midnight, four seconds closer than a year earlier, citing nuclear tensions, AI and other disruptive technologies, climate change and biosecurity. The board said international cooperation is weakening.

The Environment Agency has announced £30 million for Coastal Adaptation Pilots, allocating £18 million to projects in the East Riding of Yorkshire, Norfolk and Suffolk and £12 million to Regional Flood and Coastal Committees; the pilots are due to start in April 2026.

The National Trust has sunk three decommissioned Thames lighters in the Blackwater Estuary and is using up to 8,000 cubic metres of sediment to build a 0.55-hectare island intended as habitat for wading and seabirds.

Excavations at the Xigou site in central China found advanced stone tools dated to about 160,000–72,000 years ago, including a reported hafted (composite) tool that the study describes as the earliest such evidence in East Asia.