Science

A restored wetland area surrounded by our Natural Water Sanctuary. (Picture source: Suntory) For years, many rice fields in Japan have been left unused as fewer people continued farming and rural communities grew older. Without regular care, many of these fields became covered with weeds. The frogs, dragonflies and other small animals that once lived…

Image Credit: Alex Ingle/Schmidt Ocean Institute. In January 2025, a massive event occurred at the Antarctic that changed what we know about life in the extreme cold. An iceberg the size of Chicago, named ‘A-84,’ broke away from Antarctica’s George VI Ice Shelf. As this massive block of ice, roughly 19 miles long and 11…

Deep inside the mountains of Peru, scientists have discovered two tiny frog species that were completely unknown until now. They were found in a special type of mountain forest called an elfin forest. These forests are cold, wet and often covered in thick mist. They grow high in the mountains, where the trees stay short…

Cities in the Netherlands are experimenting with a greener approach to urban surfaces by using grass-filled permeable paving blocks in places where conventional sealed concrete or asphalt might otherwise be used. These specially designed blocks contain open spaces where grass can grow, while gaps in the surface allow rainwater to pass through rather than immediately…

Deep within the Ecuadorian Amazon rainforest, scientists discovered a fungus with an extraordinary ability that could offer new clues in the fight against plastic pollution. Known as Pestalotiopsis microspora, the fungus can break down polyester polyurethane, a widely used type of plastic, and use it as a source of carbon. Even more remarkably, laboratory research…

Traditional solar panels have transformed renewable energy, but they come with one major limitation, they are rigid, heavy and designed to sit on flat surfaces such as rooftops or solar farms. That makes them difficult to install on curved buildings, lightweight structures or unconventional designs. Researchers in the United States are now working on a…

Less than a day after arriving aboard the International Space Station (ISS), Nasa astronaut Anil Menon offered a glimpse into his first hours in orbit, sharing a message that was as much about the people who helped him get there as it was about the view from space.Posting on X (formerly twitter) from the orbiting…

As climate change drives temperatures higher, farmers are facing a growing challenge: protecting crops from extreme heat without reducing the sunlight they need to grow. Conventional shade nets can lower temperatures, but they also block visible light, limiting photosynthesis and potentially affecting yields. Researchers and engineers in Japan believe they have found a better solution….

It seems like a contradiction. Mercury is the closest planet to the Sun, so it would be natural to assume it is also the hottest. In reality, that title belongs to Venus, where surface temperatures are hot enough to melt lead. The difference isn’t about distance from the Sun but about what happens after sunlight…

Air filters trap biological particles along with ordinary dust and pollution, allowing laboratory sequencing to reveal environmental DNA Every breath you take carries an invisible record of the living world, and scientists have discovered a way to read it using ordinary air filters.By studying the tiny particles trapped inside standard air-quality monitoring equipment, researchers can…