Eating royal poop improves parenting in naked mole-rats

Oct 16, 2018 15:03 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Have you ever seen a picture of a mother dog caring for an unusual baby, like a kitten? This sort of animal adoption story is an example of a phenomenon known as alloparenting: care provided to offspring that are not...

Sulawesi tsunami: how social media (and a lullaby) can save lives in future disasters

Oct 16, 2018 14:56 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Social media use is widespread in Indonesia, so people filming everyday scenes can sometimes inadvertently capture extraordinary environmental events. Of the viral videos to emerge of the recent earthquake and tsunami in...

In red and black, the genetics of ladybug spots

Oct 16, 2018 14:42 pm UTC| Nature

What is the difference between black ladybugs with red spots and red ladybugs with black spots? Children like adults have once asked themselves this question. So do scientists. Since the 1920s, there has been a growing...

Yes, a tsunami could hit Sydney – causing flooding and dangerous currents

Oct 16, 2018 14:38 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Sulawesis recent tsunami is a striking reminder of the devastating, deadly effects that the sudden arrival of a large volume of water can have. Published today, our new research shows what might happen if a tsunami hit...

How catching malaria gave me a new perspective on saving gorillas

Oct 16, 2018 13:40 pm UTC| Nature

Conservationists are in a desperate fight to save the last of the worlds gorillas. Numbers of some subspecies are so low that organisations are literally saving the species one gorilla at a time. A perhaps unlikely foe...

Green light for Tasmanian wilderness tourism development defied expert advice

Oct 16, 2018 13:38 pm UTC| Nature

The Commonwealth governments decision to wave through a controversial tourism development in the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area was made in defiance of strident opposition from the expert statutory advisory body...

Would a better tsunami warning system have saved lives in Sulawesi?

Oct 09, 2018 15:28 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

The death toll from the magnitude 7.5 earthquake and resulting tsunami that struck near Palu, Indonesia, on Friday evening continues to rise, with several regions yet to be reached by rescue teams. But the size and...