Environment

Scientists in the Netherlands have mimicked the way parasitoid wasps lay eggs to design a new tool for keyhole surgery. Currently tools used in these procedures are prone to clogging because they use suction. The new device avoids this by using friction. The team, at Delft University of Technology, have a working prototype and hope

A sound engineer who decided to set up a live stream camera in a bird box has said he finds it “bizarre” it has had more than 41m views online. John Chadwick, from Loughborough in Leicestershire, bought the bird box during lockdown and set up the camera in March before a family of blue tits

A team of scientists from the Natural History Museum has unearthed tens of thousands of fossils during a three-day excavation at what’s been described as one of the most important Jurassic sites ever found in the UK. The fossils, thought to be from around 167 million years ago, were originally identified by two hobby palaeontologists

Businessman Dennis Tito paid $20 million to fly with the Russians to the International Space Station in 2001. He was on board for eight days and 20 years later still says that it was the best experience of his life. Sir Richard Branson flew to the edge of space on 11 July and tech-billionaire Jeff

Birds on the Farne Islands, including puffins, have changed their behaviour after 18 months with no visitors. The islands, off the coast of Northumberland, have been home to nothing but the seabirds since the Covid pandemic began and it’s made some reconsider their surroundings. Arctic terns are now nesting elsewhere and the seagulls have become

Sir Richard Branson has flown to an altitude of nearly 90km (56 miles) above the Earth in his Virgin Galactic rocket plane. It makes him the first of the space tourism entrepreneurs to enjoy a successful flight to space. The billionaire described the moment as “an experience of a lifetime”. Read more: Billionaire Branson rockets

Lithium is the main component of the batteries that electric cars use and will become increasingly important as the UK heads away from diesel vehicles. Cornish Lithium, a company based in Cornwall, is testing different technologies to extract the metal. Lucy Crane, the chief geologist at Cornish Lithium, explains how it works.

A rare visit by a European Roller has prompted hundreds of birdwatchers to flock to Suffolk. The colourful bird, mostly seen in Southern Europe, is thought by experts to have overshot its usual feeding grounds. The bird, spotted in Lackford near Bury St Edmunds, is about the size of a crow and usually feeds on

Tracey Kruger looks after thousands of sheep on her property in Victoria, Australia. Her work includes rescuing some lambs that have been abandoned by their mothers, and nursing them back to health. She started sharing their stories on social media and people all over the world found joy in her videos – particularly the pictures

Archaeologists have been revealing the ethnic diversity of the crew on the Mary Rose using remains from the warship. The ship sank in 1545, but the wreck, 19,000 artefacts and the remains of 179 crew members were recovered in 1982. Cardiff University has been analysing the bones to find out their origins and they believe

A Welsh photographer has said he was left “euphoric” after five years waiting to capture pictures of waves glowing with bioluminescence. Bioluminescence is the light that some living creatures, such as plankton, emit from their cells. Gareth Mon Jones, from Llangefni on Anglesey, was one of several photographers to snap the dazzling display at Penmon

Chinese astronauts have successfully docked with the new Tiangong space station as part of their country’s first crewed mission in nearly five years. The three men will spend three months in orbit – China’s longest crewed space mission to date. Read more: First crew blasts off to new China space station

China has launched three astronauts into orbit to begin occupation of the country’s new space station. This was the moment as the Shenzhou-12 capsule successfully took off atop its Long March 2F rocket. It will be China’s longest crewed space mission to date and the first in nearly five years. Read more: First crew blasts

A new study led by the University of Exeter and the Center for Whale Research suggests killer whales may socialise with each other based on age and gender, with younger whales and females more sociable than other groups. The research used drone cameras to study one pod of southern resident killer whales off the US

Growing up in Vietnam, Thai witnessed a mother and baby pangolin being caught and killed by neighbours in his village. Since then he has dedicated his life to stopping poaching and educating the Vietnamese public about the importance of pangolin conservation. His partnerships with the government, scientists, veterinarians and fellow activists has meant that over

A long-snouted seahorse has been photographed off the coast of Plymouth, south west UK. Also known as a spiny seahorse, the protected marine animal can be found in shallow waters among seagrass meadows, though a licence is needed to look for them. Diver Mark Parry from the Ocean Conservation Trust recounts his sighting.