Science/Nature

[ad_1] Taylor Swift's hit Love Story shook the ground more than any other tune during her first three nights at Wembley, followed closely by Shake it Off, according to seismologists who set up monitors at the stadium.Love Story on the opening Friday 21 June concert produced the strongest ground shaking - around the equivalent to a harmless earthquake of magnitude 0.8.Reaction to Swift’s boyfriend, Travis Kelce’s surprise appearance on stage

[ad_1] 10 minutes agoBy Malcolm Prior, @NewsMPrior, BBC News, rural affairs correspondentGetty ImagesThe Met Police's wildlife crime unit was at the forefront of the fight against the £17bn global wildlife crime tradeCriminal gangs will find it easier to smuggle endangered species and illegal wildlife products into the UK after a leading police unit was effectively axed, global conservation groups warn.The Metropolitan Police’s wildlife crime unit – which has been at the forefront of

[ad_1] A never-seen-before space image of the interior structure of a storm cloud has been released by the European and Japanese space agencies.Their Earthcare satellite used a Doppler radar to capture the view.The data reveals the density of ice, snow, and rain in the cloud, as well as the speed with which these particles are falling to Earth.The novel Earthcare mission was launched in May to better understand how clouds

[ad_1] 9 minutes agoBy Helen Briggs, @hbriggs, BBC environment correspondentGettyAn orphaned three-month-old baby Bornean elephant "Joe" The world’s smallest elephant is in danger of dying out as numbers reach just 1,000 in the wild, but there's hope it can be saved.The conservation body, the IUCN, which compiles the 'red list' tally of threatened species, says the Bornean elephant has lost almost all its habitat to deforestation.The diminutive elephant, which stands at three feet

[ad_1] Nasa has selected Elon Musk's SpaceX company to bring down the International Space Station at the end of its life.The California-based company will build a vehicle capable of pushing the 430-tonne orbiting platform into the Pacific Ocean early in the next decade.A contract for the work, valued at up to $843m (£668m), was announced on Wednesday.The first elements of the space station were launched in 1998, with continuous crewed

[ad_1] NasaAstronauts Suni Williams (left) and Butch Wilmore were supposed to have stayed on the space station for eight daysThe two astronauts testing out Boeing’s new Starliner spacecraft were supposed to begin making their way back to Earth on Wednesday night but instead they will stay on the International Space Station (ISS).The vessel's return to Earth had already been delayed due to issues with some of its thrusters and leaks

[ad_1] Luke Chambers Sleeping cuckoos, by Yorkshire-based Luke Chambers, has won this year's Royal Entomological Society Insect Week photography competition. Chambers' photo shows two cuckoo bees resting on a blade of grass. “Finding any sleeping invertebrate is always brilliant - but two so close together, well that's like winning the photography lottery," he said.Tim JonasTim Jonas's picture of caddis-fly larvae came second.Head judge, broadcaster, photographer and Falmouth University senior lecturer

[ad_1] 11 minutes agoBy Rosie Mercer, BBC NewsGetty ImagesThe actor Michael Sheen described what he discovered as "extraordinary"Michael Sheen was relaxing at his Los Angeles home when something caught his eye on Wikipedia.It was a single line about a man named Douglas Gowan, who had discovered dangerously high levels of a toxic chemical escaping a landfill near farmland in south Wales.Disturbed and intrigued, the Hollywood star reached out to Douglas, who by

[ad_1] 40 minutes agoBy Victoria Gill, @vic_gill, Science correspondent, BBC NewsElodie FreymannThe researchers observed the chimps to see what they sought out to eatWild chimpanzees eat plants that have pain-relieving and anti-bacterial properties to heal themselves, according to scientists.They described their “detective work” in the forests of Uganda - observing animals that appeared injured or sick to work out whether they were self-medicating with plants.When an injured animal sought out something specific from

[ad_1] 31 minutes agoBy Tim Dodd, BBC News, EnglandPA MediaClean air zones charge drivers of the most polluting vehicles to enter certain areasEngland's clean air zones had raised more than £150m for local authorities by the end of last year, a BBC investigation has found.Clean air zones (CAZs) are designed to cut pollution by charging drivers a fee to enter certain areas, and have not been without controversy.Since 2021 CAZs have begun