Apr 13th, 2026 - Two unrelated groups of nectar eaters, hummingbirds and sunbirds, evolved different techniques to slurp the sweet liquid from flowers. The tongue suctioning employed by sunbirds is unique among vertebrates. Humans are naturally able from birth to use mouth suction to draw in liquid, but it's not easy if you don't have lips to create an air-tight seal, and few animals besides mammals have lips. But a new study by current and former University of California, Berkeley biologists found that sunbirds, the African and Asian counterparts of the nectar-sipping hummingbirds of the Americas, do use ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - This article originally appeared on The Conversation North America's bee populations are in trouble, but don't blame the honey bees. While some people argue that an overabundance of managed honey bees – those raised to help pollinate crops and produce honey – is causing native bees to disappear, the evidence doesn't support the claim. What is true is that populations of many species of bees, including honey bees, are struggling. Half of all honey bee colonies die every winter in the United States, on average. Commercial beekeepers experienced their highest losses on record ... [Read More]

Apr 12th, 2026 - Set in the Eastern Cape of South Africa, Shamwari Private Game Reserve has sublime scenery as a backdrop to each game sighting. The Bushman's River flows through the Reserve, providing a riparian zone for waterbirds, hippos and a profusion of plant species. With five separate biomes, the panoramic ecosystem - ever-changing on a game drive or bush walk - displays a variety of trees, bushes, succulents and grasslands where an abundance of flowers peep through, adding splashes of colour. The Brunsvigia bosmaniae burst out of their bulbs into flower in Autumn, in a spectacular display. When the ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - It's an exciting time to be a space fan! The safe return of the Artemis II crew has marked a historic milestone – humans have travelled to the Moon for the first time since Apollo 17 in 1972. Though the mission didn't land on the lunar surface, its crew of four completed a breathtaking figure-of-eight flightpath around our nearest celestial neighbour and made it home safely. That success has now paved the way for Artemis III, which should make a lunar landing and see the first woman set foot on the Moon. Unfortunately, Artemis III won't launch until 2027, but you won't have to wait ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - World-first crystal tunes laser light to power ultra-precise, compact nuclear clocks which could guide submarines and deep-space probes 2-MIN READ Scientists in Xinjiang have created the world's first crystal that can produce the ultraviolet light needed for future thorium nuclear clocks , which could one day guide submarines and deep-space probes without GPS. The fluorinated borate compound could push laser light to a record 145.2 nanometres (nm) – a wavelength short enough to meet a key requirement for these ultra-precise, portable clocks being developed in the United States, China ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - You can now listen to Fox News articles! Archaeologists have uncovered ancient skeletons beneath a school site in France — all buried in an unusual seated position. The discovery was announced by Inrap, France's national institution for preventive archaeology, in a press release in March. The skeletons were found on the grounds of the Josephine Baker school complex in Dijon, roughly 195 miles southeast of Paris. The campus serves students from preschool through elementary school. The graves date to the Gallic period in France, a time when Celtic tribes known as the Gauls lived in the ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - The Artemis II astronauts concluded their record-breaking 10-day journey on Friday with a smooth splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. NASA's Artemis II mission, the first crewed flight around the moon in more than 50 years, has been a feast for the eyes. NASA astronauts Reid Wiseman, Christina Koch and Victor Glover and Canadian astronaut Jeremy Hansen concluded their 10-day mission Friday evening with a splash-down landing in the Pacific Ocean . The crew launched April 1 on the 10-day journey, which took them around the far side of the moon. They traveled farther from Earth than any humans had ... [Read More]

Apr 11th, 2026 - Energy storage breakthrough traps sunlight in a molecule Beyond the rather low efficiency of today's solar panels in converting the power of the sun into electricity, the transformational potential of solar energy is presently held back by battery storage technology. A new, molecular-scale breakthrough could unlock a new path to long-term solar energy storage for heating homes and providing hot water – without a conventional battery in the equation. How in the world would that work? To answer that, we need to take a quick dive into the world of electrochemistry. So grab your coffee and ... [Read More]