Indonesia earthquake: how scrap tyres could stop buildings collapsing

Aug 16, 2018 20:16 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

At the time of writing, 436 people have died following an earthquake in the Indonesian island of Lombok. A further 2,500 people have been hospitalised with serious injuries and over 270,000 people have been...

Hothouse Earth: our planet has been here before – here's what it looked like

Aug 14, 2018 14:01 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Even if carbon emissions are reduced to hold temperature rises at the 2C guardrail of the Paris Agreement, changes already afoot in the environment such as melting permafrost and forest die-back could accelerate warming...

Rohingya crisis: a year since it shocked the world, what's changed?

Aug 14, 2018 13:53 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

This August marks a full year since one of the 21st centurys worst refugee crises gripped the worlds attention. In 2017, an unprecedented number of Rohingya Muslim refugees began fleeing Myanmars Rakhine state for...

Woody plants on the march: trees and shrubs are encroaching across Africa

Aug 14, 2018 13:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Forests are being cleared by humans at an alarming rate. Since 2000, roughly 20% of Africas forests have been wiped out. This deforestation has serious consequences, among them a loss of biodiversity and the potential to...

How roadblocks, not just minerals, fund rebels and conflict in the Congo

Aug 14, 2018 13:52 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature Politics

For over a decade its been widely recognised that rebel financing in the Democratic Republic of Congo is firmly linked to mining. First discovered by the Belgians in 1904, the Congolese soil harbours a huge amount of...

What elephants' unique brain structures suggest about their mental abilities

Aug 13, 2018 15:29 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

Conservationists have designated August 12 as World Elephant Day to raise awareness about conserving these majestic animals. Elephants have many engaging features, from their incredibly dexterous trunks to their memory...

Evolution is getting a rethink after scientists take a closer look at Earth's first animals

Aug 13, 2018 15:27 pm UTC| Insights & Views Nature

When did animals originate? In research published in the journal Palaeontology, we show that this question is answered by Cambrian period fossils of a frond-like sea creature called Stromatoveris psygmoglena. The...