EnvironmentFirst new penguin species in a century was hiding among gentoos
DNA analysis by researchers from UC Berkeley and Chile has identified the gentoo penguins of the Kerguelen Islands as a separate species, Pygoscelis kerguelensis.
Categories
World
Environment
EnvironmentChina's AI weather models are fast, but extreme rain still beats them
Chinese AI forecasting models such as Fengniao, Pangu-Weather, Fuxi and the CMA's Mazu warning system predict in minutes, but experts say they still miss sudden local downpours where data is thin.
AgrotechCamera-guided sprayer cut post-emergence herbicide use by up to 83% in a weed trial
Researchers tested Ecorobotix's ARA sprayer, which treats a 2.4-inch square only where it sees a weed, and found strong residual programmes plus targeted spraying saved 64% to 83% of post-emergence herbicide with little crop injury.
World
Argentina's Supreme Court backs lifting of limits on foreign land purchases
Upholding President Javier Milei's move, the ruling lets foreign people, companies or states buy rural land without a cap; foreigners were previously limited to 15 percent of the country's land.
OpinionDemeke Mekonnen: count early-childhood nutrition in the Human Development Index
Ethiopia's former deputy prime minister argues that nutrition in the first 1,000 days of life should be built into the way the UN measures development, using survey data countries already collect.
CookingFrom seven dishes to twenty: Kashmir's six-century-old wedding feast, wazwan
Brought from Central Asia in the 14th century, the royal mutton feast now runs to about 20 dishes, though the wooden mallets and slow wood fires have not changed.
VegetablesE. coli survives longer in onion soils treated with poultry litter, study finds
A two-year field study in Georgia found that poultry-based soil amendments and extreme weather affect how long E. coli persists in soils used to grow sweet onions.
EnvironmentMaharashtra sets aside Rs 6,728 crore for rural jobs as drought hits 265 tehsils
With three-quarters of the state's tehsils declared drought-hit, the government will fund village employment on water conservation, irrigation and farm infrastructure, and weighs water supply cuts.
AgribusinessTight margins drain US farm cash: a Farm Credit lender's four trends to watch
After two lean years many US grain farms have burned through the working capital built in better times, a Farm Credit Mid-America lender says, as strong land values prop up balance sheets but not cash flow.
HealthJapan performs first commercial heart surgery using iPS stem-cell heart muscle
A team led by surgeon Yoshiki Sawa placed a sheet of heart-muscle cells made from iPS cells on the heart of a woman in her fifties; 75 more patients are planned by 2033.
Health
Can mouthwash raise blood pressure? What the research and a Yale cardiologist say
Yale cardiologist Dr Joyce Oen-Hsiao says systolic pressure rose with strong antibacterial mouthwash used twice a day or more, but once-a-day use is no cause for worry.
CropsPoor yields, not prices, squeezed Irish tillage margins in 2026, Teagasc says
Teagasc's first look at harvest 2026 finds drought-hit yields did most damage to tillage margins, even though Irish grain prices rose about 20 euro a tonne.
Environment
Cambodia protects 315 hectares of wetland for the critically endangered Siamese crocodile
At least 40 wild Siamese crocodiles live in the Cardamom Mountains wetland; Fauna and Flora, running a breeding centre since 2011, has released 246 crocodiles into rivers.