Using self-developed drones and advanced sensors, researchers can now see both under the snow and into the ground. The scientists' goal is to reduce societal risk and environmental encroachment.
Red foxes and birds regularly cross between human-dominated and natural ecosystems. For this reason, they may be heralds of spreading antibiotic resistance into ecosystems unexposed to antibiotic pressures, a study done in Italy showed. Results indicated that the share of K. pneumoniae isolates resistant to third-generation cephalosporins—a key group of hospital antibiotics—was about five times higher in wildlife than in isolates from human hospital patients. This shows that studying wildlife resistance can be an effective tool to monitor antimicrobial resistance in natural environments, the researchers said, and called for improved wastewater management, a reduction of antibiotic pollution of water, and a restriction of clinically important antibiotics to human medicine.
When lightning strikes a paddock, it does more than scorch grass and scare the cows. The electrical discharge breaks apart nitrogen molecules in the atmosphere, converting them into a form that falls to Earth in rain and becomes available to plants. It is a natural process, primordial and efficient, which has been fixing nitrogen into soils long before humans began to farm them.
What happens inside the lungs before COVID-19 symptoms appear? Research in mink offers a rare window into the early stages of the disease. These insights matter for both animal and human health. Researchers and veterinary pathologists from Wageningen Bioveterinary Research (WBVR, part of Wageningen University & Research), together with Royal GD and Utrecht University, followed the course of SARS-CoV-2 infection in mink.
Conflicts of interest and unclear responsibilities are hampering efforts to recover lost and illegally discarded fishing gear in the Baltic Sea. Despite EU and regional measures, progress on tackling "ghost gear" pollution has stalled, according to a new study published in Maritime Studies. The authors, including RIFS researcher Ben Boteler, call for stronger cross-sectoral coordination and clearer mandates.
Researchers at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev have developed a new approach to secure optical communication that hides information in the physical structure of light, making it difficult for unauthorized parties to intercept or decode. The study addresses a growing challenge: advances in quantum computing are expected to weaken many of today's encryption methods. While most security solutions rely on complex mathematical algorithms, this research adds protection earlier in the process—during the transmission of the signal itself.
Prescribed burning, when combined with tree retention, can effectively support natural regeneration in managed boreal forests, new research shows. The study demonstrates that post-fire seedling establishment remains strong across key commercial species, Scots pine and birch, suggesting that integrating these practices may help reconcile biodiversity goals with sustainable forest management.
Economic instability—including job loss, food insecurity, eviction and homelessness—is strongly associated with higher rates of violence among California adults, according to a new statewide survey led by the University of California San Diego. The findings come from the 2025 California Violence Experiences Survey (CalVEX). The new report provides a comprehensive picture of how violence is experienced across the state, including forms of violence that often go unreported in official data.
Walk across a mudflat at low tide and you might notice small, neat mounds of sediment scattered across the surface.
Sequencing the DNA of all complex life in the UK and Ireland could generate up to almost £3 billion for the economy across agriculture, conservation, and research over the next 30 years, according to a new report.
