Every summer in the Faroe Islands hundreds of pilot whales and dolphins are slaughtered in drive hunts known as the "grind" that residents defend as a long-held tradition.

Physics researchers at the University of Bath in the UK discover a new physical effect relating to the interactions between light and twisted materials—an effect that is likely to have implications for emerging new nanotechnologies in communications, nanorobotics and ultra-thin optical components.

The ruler with a rulerEarlier this month, Russia’s Prime Minister, Mikhail Mishustin, marked the first day of the school year by visiting a sixth form maths class at one of his country’s top science-oriented schools.The class was studying a problem about business. “Why do you guys need to do business projects in [school]?” he asked. “Fundamental knowledge is needed here, right?”...

Dispersal, the process where animals reaching sexual maturity move away from family, is important for maintaining genetic diversity and is key to the long-term persistence of natural populations. For most animals, this involves having to make risky journeys into the unknown in the hope of finding new communities in which to settle and reproduce. However, many animal societies—including those of...

This is the full moon closest to the autumn equinox, the day when the lengths of day and night are equalThis week watch for the beautiful harvest moon to rise above the horizon on Tuesday. The harvest moon is defined as the full moon closest to the autumnal equinox.This year, the equinox falls on the 22 September, and the moment of full moon takes place on 21 September at 00.54 BST. The moon will...

Boris Johnson says he has a "six out of 10" chance of securing pledges before the COP26 conference.

Guardian Australia picture editor Carly Earl explains the dos and don’ts of taking pictures of tonight’s full moonWith the September 2021 full moon rising, also known as the harvest moon, many people will pull out their mobile phones to try and take an Instagram-worthy picture, but unfortunately the moon is really challenging to get a great photo of.Two reasons: it is very far away and unless...

A swarm of bees has killed 63 endangered African penguins on a beach outside Cape Town, the Southern African Foundation for the Conservation of Coastal Birds said on Sunday.

The Cumbre Vieja volcano erupted on Spain's Canary Islands on Sunday spewing out lava, ash and a huge column of smoke after days of increased seismic activity, sparking evacuations of people living nearby, authorities said.

Scientists in B.C. and Washington state are hopeful that three pregnancies discovered in the critically endangered southern resident orcas' J pod could help save the species. But other threats...

New drug combination shrunk tumours significantly in 46% of patients with treatment-resistant form of disease Thousands of women with ovarian cancer could benefit from a revolutionary drug combination after it was shown to shrink tumours in half of patients with an advanced form of the disease.The pair of drugs – which work together to block the signals cancer cells need to grow – could offer...

Fifty years ago, an ad-hoc group of environmentalists gathered in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood with a shared goal of stopping the U.S. from testing nuclear weapons off the western coast of Alaska. Today, Greenpeace is the most recognized environmental organization in the...

Four-person crew asked for the public’s help in reaching fundraising target of $200m for the children’s charity St JudeElon Musk surprised his first all-private crew of space tourists with a welcome home gift after their trailblazing trip to orbit ended on Saturday night: a $50m donation to the children’s charity St Jude. Related: ‘The point is ambition’: are we ready to follow Netflix...

Exclusive: NHS launching large trial of approach that could boost number of transplants and their success rateThousands of lives could be saved globally by giving patients a 10p statin before transplants, doctors have said, as the NHS launches the world’s largest clinical trial in organ donors.The medical breakthrough is predicted to dramatically increase the supply of organs for transplant....

The long-running series in which readers answer other readers’ questions on subjects ranging from trivial flights of fancy to profound scientific and philosophical conceptsI understand that tears flush away foreign objects from the eye. But what advantage does crying have when one is feeling sad (or happy)? Perhaps it is to signal an extreme of emotion, but then why would a solitary sad person...

CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. — Four space tourists safely ended their trailblazing trip to orbit Saturday with a splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast. Their SpaceX capsule parachuted into the ocean just before sunset, not far from where their chartered flight began three days earlier. The all-amateur crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut. The...

In late January, Elon Musk tweeted that he planned to give $100 million to promising carbon removal technologies, stirring the hopes of researchers and entrepreneurs. A few weeks later, Arin Crumley, a filmmaker who went on to develop electric skateboards, announced that a team was forming on Clubhouse, the audio app popular in Silicon Valley,…

Four space tourists safely ended their trailblazing trip to orbit Saturday with a splashdown in the Atlantic off the Florida coast.

As we engage again in social situations, the new etiquette rules are bewilderingThe other day, flogging tickets to the school summer fair – now the autumn fair due to last term’s endless self-isolation – another parent leaned across the trestle table and squeezed my arm.The sheer unexpectedness of it threw me. It felt as surprising as a slap. When did I last make physical contact with...

Commuters explain their reasons for not covering upCoronavirus – latest updatesSee all our coronavirus coverageThe “do as I say, not as I do” approach to political messaging was again displayed last week when Boris Johnson urged people to wear masks in enclosed spaces, shortly after leading a cabinet meeting of 27 maskless ministers and eight similarly uncovered observers.Studies suggest...

FDA emergency authorizations boost use of periodic antibody injections, or PrEP, to complement vaccinationsA proud sports mom, Shantay Brown longs to pack into a crowded stadium for her son’s Ohio State football games and scream her face off over the action on the field. Related: Doctors treating unvaccinated Covid patients are succumbing to compassion fatigue Continue...

SpaceX’s Dragon capsule carrying four 'amateur astronauts' parachutes safely into the Atlantic off the Florida coast after a three-day orbiting journey. The crew was the first to circle the world without a professional astronaut. The billionaire who paid undisclosed millions for the trip and his three guests wanted to show that ordinary people could blast into orbit by themselves, and SpaceX...