Jess Hernandez, 13 years old, fell down an old sewage shaft in the first week of April, and was swept away into a labyrinth of tunnels beneath Los Angeles. Few thought that he would survive for long, however, 12 hours after he was carried away, the boy was found filthy but alive in a drain… Read more »

Astronauts travelling to Mars or beyond may be able to feed themselves on plants irrigated with their own urine, which is 95 per cent water. The remaining 5 per cent is composed of nutrients such as nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus. A research team led by Federico Maggi at the University of Sydney in Australia, using… Read more »

“Mermaiding” craze down underThere is a “Mermaiding” craze in Australia, which involves donning a mermaid tail purchased on the internet and swimming with it on. However, “Mermaiding” has been criticised by Royal Life Saving WA, whose spokesperson warned that “Safety has to come first, the same as in every aquatic sport. A recent study found… Read more »

The closure of the Forth and Clyde canal to boaters because of safety concerns about two lift bridges exposed the worrying state of canal infrastructure in Scotland, more than five years after the demise of British Waterways. While responsibility for canals in England and Wales was given to the charitable body Canal and River Trust… Read more »

Scientists from Britain and the United States have developed an enzyme that breaks down a common plastic that pollutes the oceans. The discovery could reduce the time that it takes for plastic to decompose from centuries to days. One of the most common plastics is polyethylene terephthalate (PET), which can be recycled into items such… Read more »

Many remarkably shaped icebergs, some resembling castles, pyramids and archways pass close to the eastern shore of Labrador and Newfoundland in what is called Iceberg Alley. More than 2,000 icebergs a year float by this coastline, refrigerated by the cold water of the Labrador Current. Spring and early summer are the best times to observe… Read more »

Lithium is an essential element for batteries that are increasingly used for storing electricity generated by renewable energy and to power electric cars and other rechargeable batteries used for powering electric gadgets and much else. The world’s largest lithium reserves are in the “lithium triangle”, covering Argentina, Bolivia and Chile. Production is greatest at a… Read more »

Happisburgh, a village of about 600 homes, on the Norfolk coast, centuries ago lay inland whilst another settlement was near to the sea. However, as the coast eroded, Whimpwell disappeared and now Happisburgh teeters on the edge of the sea, with bungalows on cliff tops occasionally collapsing. Farther down the Norfolk coast, the village of… Read more »

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS), which has a sponsorship deal with Sea Life, said that it was concerned about mortality rates, particularly among the aquarium’s sharks and rays. Of the 2,293 animals held at the aquarium in 2015-16, more than a third, 812, had died. Among sharks and rays a fifth had died, about double… Read more »

Holidaymakers on Turkey’s Mediterranean coast encountered a dangerous creature this summer: a 50cm poisonous species named the “killer fish”. Fisherman in Bodrum report a surge in the number of silver-checked toadfish, a cousin of the dangerous delicacy, the pufferfish. The creature carries a substance 1,250 times more toxic than cyanide in its liver, ovaries and… Read more »