Science

Can democracy be taught? Brazil is about to find out

Brazil has just made civic education compulsory in schools. Whether it takes hold will depend less on the law than on what happens in the classroom.

New tool will help gardeners move away from thirsty English classics to drought-resistant plants

Garden Climate Assessment Tool will allow users to predict a plant’s response to the projected climate in a given location “In the 20th century, we could pretty much grow the same things…

Brazil publishes first global ‘roadmap’ for phasing out fossil fuels

Cop30 host sets out steps to break link with coal, oil and gas as it aims to move focus from negotiating to implementing All countries can start to break their dependence on fossil fuels…

North America’s most widely distributed game bird is under threat

For the first time since 1937, no open permits to hunt ruffed grouse in Ohio have been issued due to falling numbers Every November, hundreds of hunters descend on four designated…

Payment scheme in Botswana pays communities to coexist with wildlife

A new payments scheme rewards two rural communities on the edge of Botswana’s Okavango Delta for living alongside wildlife. Residents have installed cameras around their villages and earn…

'Quite a light show': NASA astronaut snaps atmospheric fireball as Russian rocket explodes over West Africa

An American astronaut on board the ISS recently snapped a spectacular "fireball" streaking across the nighttime sky over West Africa. The striking "light show" shows a Russian rocket being…

Mars-bound astronauts could face years of heart scarring, rat study hints

Rats that were exposed to radiation similar to what Mars-bound astronauts might face showed higher levels of scar tissue in their hearts, indicating they were more vulnerable to heart…

Global biodiversity summit ends with shortfall of funding for Africa, despite 30×30 push

African countries left the United Nations biodiversity conference in Yerevan, Armenia, with an unresolved funding gap for conservation. International funding for protected and conserved…

5,300-year-old kidney stone the size of a grape found in Bronze Age man's burial near Black Sea

Researchers identified a 5,300-year-old kidney stone in the burial of a Bronze Age cattle herder in Russia.

The RSPO closed the case on First Resources. Indonesian forests kept falling for palm oil (commentary)

The Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) — as the name suggests — sets itself up as the arbiter of what is sustainable in the palm oil industry. For that to work, it has to do two…

US couple sentenced for helping finance trade in rhino horn, puma bones, other wildlife parts

A federal court in the U.S. has sentenced two residents of the state of California for their roles as financial facilitators in a scheme trafficking wildlife body parts between the U.S. and…

Vibrating mattress helps clear Alzheimer’s protein from the brain

Lying on a vibrating mattress for 40 minutes, combined with taking two pills that release nitric oxide into the body, enhanced the clearance of an Alzheimer's-related protein via the…

Boiling frog syndrome is often called a myth – but is it?

There is a popular metaphor that says frogs will boil to death if their environment warms so slowly they don’t notice. Scientifically, it is considered a myth, but columnist James Woodford…

Goldman Prize Honors Young Activist for Stopping Fracking in Colombia’s Magdalena River Towns

Happy Eco News Goldman Prize Honors Young Activist for Stopping Fracking in Colombia’s Magdalena River Towns Afro-Colombian activist Yuvelis Morales Blanco earned the 2026 Goldman…

How Wildlife Conservation Filmmaking Turns Powerful Stories into Real-World Action

Happy Eco News How Wildlife Conservation Filmmaking Turns Powerful Stories into Real-World Action Wildlife conservation filmmaking helps Fin and Fur Films turn stories into action. See how…

How North Korea became a world leader in state-sponsored hacking

North Korea has long been mentioned in connection with major cyber-attacks.

Cofán Rangers Protecting the Amazon Guard 450,000 Hectares of Ecuadorian Rainforest

Happy Eco News Cofán Rangers Protecting the Amazon Guard 450,000 Hectares of Ecuadorian Rainforest Cofán rangers protecting the Amazon safeguard 450,000 hectares of Ecuadorian rainforest…

Uncertainty surrounds controversial resort in Zanzibar forest reserve as work stalls

In March 2026, contractors built a wall along the edge of the Ngezi-Vumawimbi Forest Reserve on Pemba Island, Zanzibar, marking the boundary of what appears to be the site of the planned…

PM2.5 or PM10? The Pollutant Behind India's AQI Can Change What You Need to Know About the Air You Breathe

Scientists detect signals from the zeptoverse - the smallest scale of nature ever explored

Researchers have detected signals from the smallest distances ever probed.

UK ministers told not to engage formally with Indian mega-zoo after lobbying

Guardian and Mongabay reveal approaches to officials and MPs on behalf of Vantara zoo ahead of UK-chaired Cites meeting on endangered animal imports British government ministers were told…

Do not ‘engage formally’: UK officials advised against billionaire-run zoo ahead of CITES meeting

LONDON — British officials explicitly advised government ministers to not engage formally with Vantara, the controversial zoo founded and led by Indian billionaire Anant Ambani, according…

APOD: 2026 November 3 – Comet PanSTARRs and Rainbow Meteor

APOD Science APOD APOD: 2026 November 3 –… Today’s APOD Archive Submissions Index Search Calendar RSS Education About Discuss APOD Astronomy Picture of the Day Discover the cosmos! Each day…

The Pacific’s Busy Storm Season

Super Typhoon In-fa developed an unusually large eye, and the remnants of Typhoon Champi transitioned into an extratropical storm that targeted Alaska.