The fourth recorded global coral bleaching event has been declared by US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) in a timely reminder of the threats posed by climate change. Warnings about the likelihood of serious mass bleaching have persistently sounded since an El Niño weather phenomenon began in mid-2023. That event is noteworthy for its increased natural warming of oceans. But while El Niño comes and goes, one persistent change to the Pacific has been the warming of waters due to the rise of carbon emissions from human activities. The ocean is the biggest carbon absorber o ..read more

UK fossils dating to the Late Triassic (also known as the Rhaetian; 237–201 million years ago) period could be from the largest marine reptile ever. Ichthyotitan severnensis was discovered on the coast of southwest England. A new ancient jawbone was discovered about 10 km from where the same team discovered a similar jawbone. They believe the fossils represent the same, previously undescribed species. The creature is described in a paper published in the open access journal PLOS ONE. It would have been about 25 metres long – about twice the length of a bus. It doesn’t quite reach the wildly i ..read more

Beavers can chew on huge trees but their teeth don’t break, while humans eat lollies and have to head for the dentist. Now researchers say we can learn from that. Human teeth are coated in enamel – a complex crystalline substance  which acts as a protective barrier but can become susceptible to degradation from acids in food and drinks. Enamel is the hardest substance in the human body but is even harder in rodents, which also have an additional outer layer of acid-resistant iron-rich enamel. New high-resolution images of rodent incisors have revealed tiny pockets of iron-rich materials ..read more

Interspecies competition in ancient humans saw an evolutionary trend that is the complete opposite of almost all other vertebrates, according to a new study. For years, scientists assumed the main driver of the rise and fall of hominin species (which includes humans and our direct ancestors) was climate change. It is known, however, that interspecies competition is also at play as it is in most vertebrates. New research published in Nature Ecology & Evolution examines the rate at which new species of hominin emerged over 5 million years. This speciation in our lineage, they found, is unli ..read more

A study which claimed Tasmanian devil facial tumour transmission was slowing has been called into question by new research. Devil facial tumour disease (DFTD) wiped out about 70% of the iconic devils between 1996 and 2021, before reports began to emerge that its spread was slowing. DFTD is spread through the transfer of living cancer cells between animals. This occurs frequently as the marsupial predators are prone to fight over mates and food. The parasitic cancer quickly leads to large tumours on the face and neck, sometimes spreading to other parts of the body. It is caused by the transmis ..read more

Scientists have identified the fourth time that a rare, but crucial, biological process has occurred in nature – the formation of a tiny organelle in a eukaryotic cell. Known as ‘primary endosymbiosis,’ this process has been foundational for complex organisms (like humans). It describes how a single-celled organism is engulfed by a larger, more complex eukaryotic cell and evolves into a functional organelle. It’s the same process by which mitochondria and chloroplasts – the organelles responsible for converting energy in the cells of plants, animals and fungi – and another chloroplast-like st ..read more

The largest stellar black hole in the Milky Way galaxy has been found by the European Space Agency’s Gaia mission. And it is extraordinarily close to Earth. Named as Gaia BH3, it is 33 times the mass of our Sun, more than 50% bigger than the next biggest stellar black hole Cygnus X-1 which is 21 solar masses. Larger black holes exist in our galaxy, but none of these were formed by the collapse of a massive star’s core. For example, Sagittarius A* – the supermassive black hole at the centre of the Milky Way – is estimated to be about 4.2 million times that of the Sun. Astronomers have also fou ..read more

In a world increasingly awash with radio frequency technology and electromagnetic radio waves it may come as a surprise to learn that there have been relatively few long-term studies to discover if it is accumulating, and impacting on human health. Society is adopting ever evolving broadcast and mobile telecommunication technologies worldwide, and Radiofrequency Electromagnetic Fields (RF-EMF) exposures associated with these technologies are increasing. Traditional FM and AM radios have progressed into DAB (digital audio broadcasting) and internet radio technologies. Television broadcasting c ..read more

From Flinders University media Frogs are amphibians – the most endangered group of species on the planet. Two out of every five amphibian species are currently threatened with extinction, and this figure is rising. In a bid to help save a threatened Australian frog species – and potentially other amphibian species – scientists led by Flinders University experts have developed a new way to improve collection methods of wild frogs for breeding in captivity or to release at a new location. The study used virtual frog populations to test different approaches and find the safest conservation strat ..read more

A scientist from James Cook University says unusual ocean upwelling events could be putting some marine animals at risk of mass die-off. Climate change is likely pushing shifts in pressure systems and ocean currents that cause such events.   But rather than being a cause of animal deaths due to the general phenomenon of warming oceans, these upwelling ‘cells’ are instances of sudden surges of cold water being pushed to the surface from the bottom of the ocean. It’s a deadly brew, though, for certain species. As warming waters allow tropic species to fan out in the world’s oceans, a sudde ..read more