Biodiversity

Humanity's increasingly permanent mark on the planet has spurred a new geological age in earth's history: the Anthropocene. Learn how we got to this point — and what our footprint means to the future of the planet.  EMMA MARRIS Nature is everywhere — we just need to learn to see it https://...

Terrible by name … Phyllobates terribilis. Lwp Kommunikáció/Flickr, CC BY-SA Simon Cotton, University of Birmingham When asked to name a poison, people may well think of cyanide, arsenic or strychnine. But these are not the most toxic substances known. More poisonous than these, but still no...

Diners in France recently got more than they bargained for when poppy seed baguettes were found to contain a dose of opium that could take postprandial napping to a new extreme. Other than narcotics, there are a host of surprises lurking in everyday foodstuffs that you might not be aware of. Here ar...

Fruit ripening is all about plants getting animals to eat the seeds that are inside their fruits. When the animals have finished eating, they move around and drop the seeds in a different place when they do a poo. This helps the plants get their seeds to somewhere new where they can grow into a new...

Evolution allows animals to adapt to their environments by favouring those who have an advantage that helps them survive. If they survive long enough to have babies they pass that advantage onto their children through their genes. That process is what we call adaptation. Animals have adapted to liv...