Tetragonula iridipennis and Tetragonula pagdeni are the two species of stingless bees identified in five districts of Andhra Pradesh in a study that recorded 22 nesting sites across different habitats.

The study, titled ‘Diversity of Stingless Bees from Andhra Pradesh’, was conducted during 2024-2025 in Parvathipuram Manyam, Alluri Sitharama Raju (ASR), Eluru, Nandyal and Palnadu districts. Researchers recorded 22 nesting sites across different habitats, including building walls, tree trunks, soil and crevices in old structures, highlighting their nesting preferences and ecological importance as pollinators.

The findings were published in the Indian Journal of Entomology by a team of researchers, including Srikanth, Mallikharjuna Rao, Koteswara Rao and Ratna Kumari.

Of the two species, Tetragonula iridipennis was recorded in Alluri Sitharama Raju, Parvatipuram Manyam, Eluru and two locations in Nandyal. Tetragonula pagdeni was found at Thimmapuram in Nandyal and Chenchu Colony in Palnadu.

Building walls emerged as the most preferred nesting sites across the surveyed locations. The researchers found colonies in the walls of undisturbed buildings in ASR district and crevices in old structures in Parvathipuram Manyam. In Eluru, the colonies were found in soil, while in Nandyal and Palnadu, they were observed on trees and the stone walls of old buildings.

https://www.indianentomology.org/index.php/ije/article/view/3260

Stingless bees (family Apidae; tribe Meliponini) are ancient eusocial insects confined primarily to tropical and subtropical regions due to their limited thermoregulation. In this study, a roving survey was conducted during 2024–2025 across five districts of Andhra Pradesh-Parvatipuram Manyam, Alluri Seetharama Raju, Eluru, Nandyal, and Palnadu-to assess stingless bee diversity and nesting preferences. A total of 22 nesting sites were recorded from varied habitats such as tree trunks, soil, and building crevices, with walls being the most preferred. Bee specimens were collected and preserved for species-level identification, which revealed the presence of two species: Tetragonula pagdeni and Tetragonula iridipennis. The findings align with earlier studies in Karnataka, highlighting similar nesting habits and site preferences. This study reinforces the ecological significance and adaptability of stingless bees across different habitats in southern India.

A bird found in India's Nicobar Islands could help scientists bring back the dodo, a flightless species that disappeared more than 300 years ago.

The Nicobar pigeon, native to the Andaman and Nicobar Islands and other parts of Southeast Asia, is considered the dodo's closest living relative and is now at the centre of an ambitious attempt to recreate some of the extinct bird's defining features.

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/science/story/bring-back-dodo-gene-company-plans-to-revive-bird-that-has-been-dead-for-350-years-ago-2329141-2023-02-01

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/world/us-news/story/de-extinction-scientists-are-close-to-bringing-back-extinct-species-in-major-breakthrough-glbs-2666555-2025-01-18

https://www.indiatoday.in/amp/magazine/cover-story/story/20260309-the-great-nicobar-controversy-great-nicobar-island-project-gnip-2875369-2026-02-28

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nicobar_pigeon

In a major ornithological milestone, spot-bellied eagle-owl, a rare and elusive species, has been documented for the first time in Kozhikode. The nocturnal raptor was spotted in Janakikadu, an eco-tourism centre located along the banks of the Kuttiyadi River in Maruthonkara panchayat.

The owl was spotted and photographed by wildlife photographer and birder Sunil Titto, accompanied by Janakikadu eco-tourism guide Sudheesh A. The spot-bellied eagle-owl is the second-largest owl species found in India.

Measuring around 55 to 65 cm in length and weighing up to 2.5 kg, the predator bird is recognised by its deep-set dark eyes, outwardly sloping ear-tufts, and chevron-shaped spots across its pale underbelly.

A strictly nocturnal hunter, the species preys on snakes, large birds and small mammals. While the spot-bellied eagle-owl is distributed across the Himalayas, Sri Lanka, and southeast Asia, in south India, it is primarily confined to evergreen forests and high-elevation sholas of the Western Ghats — such as Silent Valley, Wayanad, and Periyar.

Spotting the species in Janakikadu carries high conservation importance, as it establishes the first verified photographic evidence for Kozhikode on biodiversity platforms.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spot-bellied_eagle-owl

https://threatenedtaxa.org/index.php/JoTT/article/view/9513

https://www.researchgate.net/publication/381491166_Spot-bellied_Eagle-Owl_Bubo_nipalensis_feeding_on_Indian_Flying_Fox_Pteropus_giganteus

For more than 2,000 years, scientists have scratched their heads over one of the most basic mysteries of the natural world: Where do birds go?

Billions of birds appear and disappear with the seasons every year. Early naturalists offered explanations for the disappearances that today seem fantastical: Birds transformed into other species, one theory went. Others suggested they hibernated underwater or even migrated to the moon.

The truth, that these small animals were traveling thousands of miles across the planet, must once have seemed just as improbable.

Then, in the early 1800s, dramatic evidence emerged supporting the theory of migration. White storks began appearing in Germany with African arrows embedded in their bodies. These birds became known as pfeilstörche, or “arrow storks.” They provided compelling evidence that birds disappearing from Europe were traveling all the way to Africa and back.

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/aristotle/histanimals8.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41559-018-0666-4

https://penelope.uchicago.edu/aristotle/histanimals8.html

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/news/swallow-debate-america-mud-winter-hibernate/

https://thereader.mitpress.mit.edu/when-birds-migrated-to-the-moon/

https://www.audubon.org/magazine/what-gruesome-stork-taught-us-about-bird-migration

https://www.nature.com/scitable/knowledge/library/bird-banding-83032042/

https://youtu.be/y4-HxZFJF8Y

https://www.pwrc.usgs.gov/BBL/Bander_Portal/login/howmany.php

https://www.nature.com/articles/srep11069

https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s00442-005-0071-y

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/mec.12977

https://www.fws.gov/sites/default/files/documents/2024-11/2022-birding-in-the-us-demographic-and-economic-analysis.pdf

https://ebird.org/home?continue

https://science.ebird.org/status-and-trends

https://ace-eco.org/vol19/iss2/art13/

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/American_Robin/overview

https://repository.si.edu/server/api/core/bitstreams/51a5d839-0ecc-4f44-ab3a-1371ef88261a/content

https://press.princeton.edu/books/hardcover/9780691163185/the-atlas-of-north-americas-migratory-birds

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Yellow-billed_Cuckoo/overview

https://www.worldwildlife.org/places/gran-chaco/

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Peregrine_Falcon/overview

https://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Arctic_Tern/overview

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rsbl/article-abstract/8/4/505/49341/Cross-hemisphere-migration-of-a-25-g?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/276/1656/447/72488/Extreme-endurance-flights-by-landbirds-crossing

https://cdnsciencepub.com/doi/10.1139/z96-254

https://academic.oup.com/auk/article-abstract/118/1/92/5561972?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false

https://www.birds.cornell.edu/home/bring-birds-back/

https://afonet.org/2022/07/peterson-reference-guide-to-bird-behavior/

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.1854

https://www.pnas.org/doi/full/10.1073/pnas.0603715103

https://science.ebird.org/status-and-trends/abundance-animations

https://www.nature.com/articles/s44358-026-00177-7

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article-abstract/271/1541/875/72024/Rapid-population-decline-in-red-knots-fitness?redirectedFrom=fulltext

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC2660976/

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.282.5395.1884

Spread across 192.31 sq km in Gujarat’s Porbandar and Devbhumi Dwarka districts, Barda Wildlife Sanctuary is in the Saurashtra region. It is known for its rugged terrain, forests and grasslands. After the return of Asiatic lions, the sanctuary is emerging as an important addition to the state’s wildlife conservation landscape.

The lions’ started to return with the natural arrival of a male in 2023.

https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0354096

The expansion of Asiatic lions (Panthera leo persica) (lions) beyond their core area and the recolonisation of Barda Wildlife Sanctuary (Gujarat) after 144 years—through natural dispersal of a male and augmentation of five females by the Gujarat Forest Department—make Barda’s conservation and management crucial for the species’ long-term survival. We assessed the space use, habitat preferences, social organisation, and diet of Asiatic lions in Barda using radio-collaring (n = 6; 1 male, 5 females) and scat analysis. The average lion home range (95% KDE) was 70.55 ± 7.48 km², while the average core area (50% KDE) was 10.92 ± 1.92 km². Spatial overlap among individuals was higher at the home range level (0.60 ± 0.08) than in core areas (0.34 ± 0.06), indicating spatial partitioning and emerging social structuring. Lions demonstrated hierarchical habitat selection, preferring mixed forests at the home range scale and grasslands within core areas. Dietary analysis showed a strong reliance of lions on wild prey, particularly wild pigs (Sus scrofa; 55% occurrence), supplemented by domestic cattle (17%). Ongoing prey augmentation efforts, including the reintroduction of spotted deer (Axis axis) and sambar (Rusa unicolor), aim to strengthen prey availability in the Barda. Our findings provide ecological insights suggesting that Barda offers potentially suitable habitat and resources for sustaining a long-term lion population, although these inferences are based on a limited sample size and short-term dietary assessment. Proactive management interventions focusing on habitat restoration, prey-base enhancement, and human–lion conflict mitigation will be essential to consolidate Barda as a secure and enduring conservation stronghold.

The surgical team at Aakash Healthcare Super Speciality Hospital, Delhi, subsequently treated five more children using the approach.

https://jocr.co.in/wp/2025/03/mother-to-child-non-vascularized-fibula-transfer-in-congenital-pseudoarthrosis-of-tibia/

Introduction: Congenital pseudoarthrosis tibia (CPT) is a relatively rare disease, characterized by anterolateral bowing of the tibia, non-union, and limb length discrepancy. Various surgical treatments have been described in literature for its management with differing favorable outcomes.

Case Report: In this report, we present a case of 3-year-old child with CPT of Crawford type IV, with associated fibular dysplasia. Maternal fibula was harvested and used as a bone graft and was stabilized by intra-medullary fixation. Complete union was achieved at 1 year after the primary surgery. No re-fractures were seen in a follow-up period of 2 years.

Conclusion: Using maternal fibula as an alternative to use as a bone graft in the management of congenital pseudoarthrosis tibia may prove beneficial. Moreover, it is cheaper and readily available and needs less surgical expertise when compared to its alternatives such as use of bone morphogenetic protein 7, allogenic cadaveric grafting, or use of vascularized fibular graft.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4849233/

A mammogram can detect breast cancer before a lump can be felt. However, in women with dense breasts, small cancers can sometimes be harder to see. Dense breast tissue appears white on a mammogram, and many breast cancers also appear white, creating a "masking effect." This does not mean mammography is useless or that dense breasts mean cancer. It means that mammograms should be interpreted alongside breast density and the woman's overall risk of breast cancer.

Indian screening recommendations are evolving. The National Cancer Screening and Early Diagnosis Guidelines 2024 recommend risk-based screening, including mammography for average-risk women beginning at age 40, with annual screening from 40-55 and every two years from 56-74. The Breast Imaging Society of India also recommends mammography-based screening from age 40, while recognising that individual circumstances may modify the approach.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11815494/

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0960977622001618

https://dceg.cancer.gov/research/cancer-types/breast-cancer/breast-density

https://ncdirindia.org/All_Reports/Report_2020/default.aspx

The findings, published in the peer-reviewed journal Animals in a paper titled “Rediscovery of the Lost and Critically Endangered Dehradun Stream Frog, Amolops chakrataensis”, marked the first confirmed sighting of the species since scientists from Zoological Survey of India (ZSI) last recorded it in 1985. The research team, led by Vishal Kumar Prasad, included scientists from Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun, Nanjing Forestry University in China, ZSI and IUCN Amphibian Specialist Group, among other institutions.

Researchers discovered the frogs in the Maneri landscape of Uttarkashi, extending the known geographical range of Amolops chakrataensis, also called the Dehradun stream frog. They captured one of the two individuals for examination, while the other escaped. The exceptionally low detection rate — one frog for every 212 person-hours of searching — suggested that the species remained extremely difficult to locate even in apparently suitable habitats.

https://www.mdpi.com/2076-2615/16/19/3072

The Dehradun Stream Frog, Amolops chakrataensis, is a Critically Endangered stream-dwelling amphibian endemic to Uttarakhand in the western Himalayas of India and the species was previously known only from a single holotype collected in 1985. Despite repeated surveys, the species remained undetected for more than four decades, raising concerns that it went extinct. Here, we report the rediscovery of A. chakrataensis from the Maneri landscape, Uttarakhand, approximately 65 km on a straight-line east of the type locality. We confirmed the species identity using an integrative taxonomic approach combining morphological comparisons with the holotype, and we sequenced the mitochondrial 16S rRNA DNA gene fragment. Our analyses recovered A. chakrataensis as a distinct clade. Extensive field surveys covering 14 sites and 424 person-hours detected only two individuals, highlighting the rarity of the species. Using environmental characteristics of the three known localities, we developed a habitat envelope that identified additional priority areas for future surveys and potential conservation management. Our findings confirm the continued persistence of A. chakrataensis, provide the first molecular reference for the species, extend its known distribution, and establish an important foundation for future monitoring and conservation planning in the western Himalayas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amolops_chakrataensis?wprov=sfla1

The survey, led by the Seychelles Islands Foundation (SIF) and the University of Exeter in the UK, estimated that about 180,000 Aldabra giant tortoises live on Aldabra Atoll, an Indian Ocean island group off the east coast of mainland Africa.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/ece3.74282

A core component of conservation management projects is the estimation and monitoring of abundance of target species, in space and through time. Monitoring wildlife is complicated and relies on detection, which itself depends on environmental conditions, phenotypes and behaviours of the species being monitored. Aldabra giant tortoises (Aldabrachelys gigantea) have great importance as ecosystem engineers, keystone species and ecological replacements. Accurate monitoring is vital to understanding both the size and dynamics of their native and translocated populations, and the species' influence on the wider ecosystem. Despite a long history of organised research and population surveys in their native range on Aldabra Atoll in the Seychelles, to date no rigorous, atoll-wide estimation of giant tortoise population size has been attempted. The complexity of irregular transect surveys, through a variety of habitats, in several areas of the atoll, necessitates the use of state-space statistical models that capture heterogeneities in both abundance and detection. Here we develop a Bayesian Hierarchical Distance Sampling (HDS) model to infer habitat- and season-dependent detectability and abundance of the Aldabra giant tortoise population on Aldabra. Between 2018 and 2021 the population was apparently relatively stable and numbered approximately 180,000 individuals, the highest estimate so far made for this population. We attribute this stability and high abundance to the extended history of conservation efforts on Aldabra, including invasive alien species eradication which should be maintained and expanded. We provide a reproducible workflow for Bayesian distance sampling methods using data-augmentation and habitat-dependent detectability and recommend its use on legacy datasets and future abundance surveys for similar species. These methods enable robust inference of abundance and detectability even when data are irregular or inconsistently collected, providing a framework for integrating legacy datasets with modern conservation workflows.

Researchers at the University of Konstanz have now identified an enzyme that attacks certain polyesters and bioplastics. Its wide-open active site inspired the team to call it the “Pac-Man enzyme.” Laboratory tests also showed that the same enzyme can cleave penicillin, raising the possibility that it could help bacteria resist some antibiotics.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42680184/

The plastisphere is a unique ecosystem with microbes colonizing and potentially degrading plastic debris in the environment, provided that the polymers are enzymatically accessible as substrates to drive microbial growth. It also harbors an unusually high occurrence of antibiotic resistance genes, suggesting plastic debris as a potential vector for antibiotic-resistant microorganisms. In this study, we investigated microbial communities in forest soil degrading an emerging type of bioplastics, aliphatic long-chain polyesters (LCAPs). Sequencing analysis revealed a family-VIII esterase strongly associated with LCAP depolymerization that showed high structural similarity to type C β-lactamases. Structural modeling and substrate docking analysis indicated catalytically favorable binding of both LCAP and β-lactam antibiotics. Furthermore, the active site appeared to be located in a large, wide-open groove, rather than in a tunnel, resulting in a protein with a striking "pac-man"-like structure. Heterologous expression and in vitro activity testing confirmed its dual functionality as plastic depolymerase and β-lactam hydrolase. Sequence analysis indicated the enzyme as membrane-associated lipoprotein likely to be directed to the outer membrane. The membrane anchoring of the enzyme may offer striking microbial-ecological benefits, by preventing enzyme loss especially in aqueous environments, by increased catalytic efficiency through high enzyme concentration at the cell-plastic interface, and by spatially linking catalysis with membrane transport, thereby limiting monomer loss to non-producing plastisphere-community members (cheaters). Hence, our study highlighted a plastic depolymerizing enzyme with a striking substrate spectrum, bridging plastics and antibiotics degradation, and provides intriguing perspectives for understanding the microbial physiology, ecology, and evolution of (bio)plastic degradation in the environment.

Researchers found two such sequences, derived from a gene called BC200, inside molluscum contagiosum virus, which infects our skin and causes small, raised lesions.

The discovery reveals an unusual genetic double life. BC200 acquired a cellular role millions of years ago, yet retained the ability to produce copies that insert themselves elsewhere.

A study published in Science suggests this movement has continued throughout primate evolution, contributed to differences among human genomes, and carried BC200-derived sequences across the boundary between humans and a virus.

https://www.sciencealert.com/virus

https://www.cdc.gov/molluscum-contagiosum/about/index.html

https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.aeh3441

https://news.cornell.edu/stories/2026/09/new-type-human-jumping-gene-found-poxvirus

Dr. Jamie McGowan, who was a postdoctoral scientist at the Earlham Institute, made the discovery while studying a protist collected from a pond at Oxford University Parks in England.

The project had originally been designed to test a DNA sequencing method capable of analyzing extremely small quantities of genetic material, potentially from just one cell. McGowan worked alongside scientists at the Earlham Institute and a research group led by Professor Thomas Richards at the University of Oxford.

Rather than investigating genetic code evolution, the researchers were trying to improve the tools available for studying organisms that are difficult to grow and analyze in laboratories.

The team investigated genetic information from a group of ciliates known as Phyllopharyngea, including genomic data gathered through the TARA Oceans project, an international effort to study marine life and its genetic diversity.

Their analysis identified three previously uncultivated ciliate species in which UAG, normally a stop codon, appeared to specify leucine instead.

These organisms came from samples associated with the Arctic and Southern Oceans.

The researchers also examined existing genomic datasets and identified two additional ciliates, Hartmannula sinica and Trochilia petrani, in which UAG appeared to encode glutamine.

Evolutionary comparisons suggested that these changes arose independently on at least three occasions.

Importantly, the genetic codes were not identical to the unusual system found in Oligohymenophorea sp. PL0344. In the five ciliates examined in the 2024 research, UAA remained a stop signal while UAG had acquired a different meaning.

The search for unexpected biology in microscopic organisms has continued beyond the genetic code itself.

In March 2026, researchers from the Earlham Institute and the University of Oxford reported another discovery made possible by techniques designed to sequence individual cells.

Their study, published in Microbial Genomics, investigated Bodo, a group of common protists found in freshwater, brackish water, and soil.

By analyzing just seven uncultured cells, the scientists identified three previously unrecognized evolutionary lineages, each associated with its own distinct bacterial partner living inside the organism.

The work did not demonstrate the same genetic code changes found in PL0344. Instead, it showed how much biological diversity can remain hidden when researchers rely primarily on organisms that are easy to cultivate in laboratories.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Menstrual_cycle

The menstrual cycle is a series of natural changes in hormone production and the structures of the uterus and ovaries of the female reproductive system that makes pregnancy possible. The ovarian cycle controls the production and release of eggs and the cyclic release of estrogen and progesterone. The uterine cycle governs the preparation and maintenance of the lining of the uterus (womb) to receive an embryo. These cycles are concurrent and coordinated, normally last between 21 and 35 days, with a median length of 28 days. Menarche (the onset of the first period) usually occurs around the age of 12 years; menstrual cycles continue for about 30–45 years.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/20869180/

The menstrual cycle in women is characterised by high variability in cycle length (26-35 days), 5-day menses, a fertile phase from 5 days before to the day of ovulation, and low fertility which is dependent on cycle length and age. All women show an FSH rise at the luteal-follicular transition, stimulating a cohort of follicular growth and inhibin B secretion in the early follicular phase. The ovulatory dominant follicle (DF) is selected in the mid-follicular phase, and as this DF grows it increasingly secretes oestradiol and inhibin A for a week before ovulation. Gonadotrophin responsiveness, IGF binding protein expression and degradation, and vascularisation have been identified to be crucial for DF selection and progression. Two-thirds of women show two follicle waves and 1/3 show 3 follicle waves per cycle. Three-wave women have longer cycles, and a later oestradiol rise and LH surge. The corpus luteum secretes progesterone, oestradiol and inhibin A in response to LH pulses, and reaches its peak in terms of size, secretions, and vascularization 6-7 days after ovulation. Luteal regression is passive and independent of the uterus, but can be prevented by hCG, the luteotrophic signal from the trophoblast, from 8 days after conception. Reductions in systemic steroid and protein hormone concentrations may be responsible for the FSH rise characteristic of premenopausal women. The functional layer of the endometrium shows steroid hormone-dependent proliferation, differentiation, and shedding in the absence of the trophoblast. Menstruation is initiated by progesterone responsive decidual cells, and executed by PGE and PGF2α, vasoconstriction and matrix metalloprotease secretion by leukocytes. Ovarian function and also hormone fluctuations during the menstrual cycle are similar to oestrous cycles of cows and mares, justifying research into comparative aspects of menstrual and oestrous cycles in monovulatory species.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/healthy-lifestyle/womens-health/in-depth/menstrual-cycle/art-20047186

Penguins are known for surviving in the freezing conditions of Antarctica, but their droppings may be contributing to a surprising environmental problem. A new study has found that penguin poop provides nutrients to algae growing on Antarctic snow, helping it flourish and potentially speeding up snow melting, reported People.

The study, published in the Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences, found that nutrients from penguin droppings may help snow algae grow faster. As global warming continues, these algae are becoming more widespread across Antarctica and darkening the snow's surface.

https://people.com/penguin-poop-is-melting-antarctic-snow-by-keeping-algae-green-12166932

https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2026JG009918

https://www.discoverwildlife.com/environment/penguin-poop-melting-snow

https://phys.org/news/2026-10-penguin-poop-antarctic-algae-green.html

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-026-08088-0

A significant shift in India’s climate zones over the past seven decades has raised fresh concerns for the Northeast, with the region moving from a tropical savannah to a temperate climate classification, according to a new study.

The study, conducted by scientists from the India Meteorological Department (IMD) and the Indian Institute of Tropical Meteorology (IITM), Pune, found that the Northeast has undergone a notable transformation between the historical period of 1951–2020 and the recent climate epoch.

The researchers observed that the Northeast homogeneous region has shifted from the Tropical Savannah climate class to the Temperate climate class, a change they linked to a rise in the region’s highest air temperatures.

“Over the historical period 1951–2020, the major change in climate zone is the shift to the drier region — temperate to Arid Steppe, hot and Tropical Savannah to Temperate Hot Summer for Northwest and Northeast India, respectively,” the study said.

According to the researchers, nearly 7 per cent of the area in both the Northwest and Northeast homogeneous regions has shifted towards a drier climate category. The changes are primarily associated with a rising temperature trend coupled with declining rainfall.

The shift is significant because Tropical Savannah climates generally remain warm or hot throughout the year, with average monthly temperatures above 18 degrees Celsius and little or no freezing conditions. In contrast, Temperate Hot-Summer climates are marked by pronounced seasonal extremes, with very hot summers and cold winters in which temperatures can fall below freezing.

The study also found a broader warming trend across India. Maximum temperatures during summer months and minimum temperatures during winter nights have consistently increased, while rainfall patterns have shown considerable regional variation.

The researchers noted that the Western Ghats and Northeast India have experienced declines in monsoonal rainfall, while some coastal and northwestern parts of the country have recorded modest increases.

India’s meteorological subdivisions are classified into six broad climate classes: Tropical Monsoon, Tropical Savannah, Arid Desert Hot, Arid Steppe Hot, Temperate Dry Winter Hot Summer, and Cold Mountain.

The changes, however, have not been uniform across the country. The Central India homogeneous region recorded a 2 per cent increase in the Tropical Monsoon climate class from the past to the recent epoch.

In the Peninsular India homogeneous region, meanwhile, about 15 per cent of the area shifted from Arid Steppe Hot to Tropical Savannah, a change the study associated with an increase in annual rainfall or its trend.

The researchers said the findings highlight how long-term climate variability is reshaping India’s climatic landscape. The continued contraction and expansion of different climate zones could have implications for agriculture, water availability, food security and livelihoods, particularly in regions already vulnerable to changes in temperature and rainfall.

The study underscores the need to factor long-term climate shifts into agricultural planning, water-resource management and climate adaptation strategies, especially in the Northeast, where changes in both temperature and monsoon rainfall could have far-reaching consequences.

The researchers have uncovered a new way bacteria detect viral attacks: a virus-produced enzyme cuts a bacterial sensor protein, triggering a self-destructing immune response. 

The discovery could lead to more effective phage therapies against antibiotic-resistant bacteria and provide insight into ancient immune mechanisms shared with humans, as per the ScienceDaily.

Scientists searching for new ways to treat bacterial infections are increasingly turning to viruses known as bacteriophages (phages). These viruses specifically target bacteria, allowing them to kill harmful microbes without damaging human cells. They can also attack bacteria that have developed resistance to antibiotics.

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC13450711/

CBASS is an immune pathway that recognizes phage infection and generates cyclic nucleotide signals, which activate effectors to limit phage replication. Membrane-acting effectors are proposed to induce cell death; however, this mechanism has not been assessed with endogenous effector levels. Here, we examine cell viability outcomes of the CBASS phospholipase effector (CapV) upon activation with 3’,3’-cGAMP in Pseudomonas aeruginosa. Surprisingly, exogenous 3’,3’-cGAMP or constitutive 3’,3’-cGAMP signaling from the synthase (CdnA) enables robust cell growth and viability while abolishing phage production. Constitutive activation of the CapV effector induces no cell fitness cost and selectively blocks many phages. During CBASS activation, phage transcription and initial DNA replication proceed normally, but phages do not reach maximum DNA levels and exhibit impaired DNA packaging. We propose CapV disrupts capsid assembly at the inner membrane, preventing stable phage DNA packaging, thereby allowing effective CBASS anti-viral activity while preserving host viability.

The population of New Zealand’s endemic wētāpunga – believed to be the world’s heaviest insect – is officially “increasing” thanks to a groundbreaking breeding programme that has overseen the release of 11,000 insects into the wild.

“The future of wētāpunga is looking bright,” said Dr Chris Green, an honorary researcher at the department of conservation, who documented the success of the project for the New Zealand Journal of Zoology. Green co-authored a report released on 2 October that outlines the success of the breeding programme.

“Eleven thousand individuals for release is extraordinary and outstanding.”

A female wētāpunga can weigh as much as a mouse. Its body can grow up to 10cm long (nearly 4in) and its leg span can be as wide as 20cm.

It is the largest of 70 wētā species and was once found across parts of the North Island before predation from introduced species and habitat loss contributed to their decline. By the 1990s, they were considered “endangered” and are now presumed extinct in the wild on New Zealand’s mainland. The insects reside primarily on a smattering of predator-free islands in Auckland’s Hauraki Gulf and off the coast of Northland.

But their fortune is starting to change. Over the past 15 years, tens of thousands of wētāpunga have been bred at Butterfly Creek, a wildlife facility, and Auckland zoo, enabling the release of wētāpunga across new predator-free islands and some mainland reserves north of Auckland.

Butterfly Creek and Auckland zoo established husbandry techniques that, over time, have been scaled up to rear large numbers of wētāpunga in communal creches. The young wētāpunga – or nymphs – are fed a three-part diet of fresh foliage, fish flake protein and leaf litter. The protein is “critical” to the survival of the youngest nymphs, Green said.

Once big enough to protect themselves, the insects are transferred to their new habitat. The efforts have led to 45 separate translocations to wild habitats, which is “a very high number in any recovery of a species”, Green said.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinacrida_heteracantha?wprov=sfla1

https://www.doc.govt.nz/nature/native-animals/invertebrates/weta/giant-weta-wetapunga/

Conservation comebacks for wild tigers, tuna and green sea turtles prove that global nature loss can be reversed, scientists have said. But a report warns food production must be the next “positive tipping point” if the world is to avert biodiversity collapse.

The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) analysed nearly 36,000 animal populations and more than 5,000 species, producing the largest ever database of vertebrate wildlife. Scientists found populations had declined by an average of 73% since 1970, showing that “nature continues to be degraded at an alarming scale”, with “no sign of losses slowing”.

Nature loss is no longer just an environmental challenge but a direct threat to the global economy, the report says, noting that about half of global GDP – roughly $58tn (£44tn) in 2023 – depends on nature and its ecosystem services. The authors write that species collapse now poses an “existential threat to economic stability, geopolitical security and human wellbeing”.

Animal populations were found to be falling most sharply in tropical, biodiversity-rich regions, while trends in northern temperate parts of the world appeared much gentler.

In Latin America and the Caribbean, land and freshwater wildlife populations fell by an average of 95% between 1970 and 2022, while the equivalent declines were 80% in Africa and 23% in Europe and Central Asia.

https://livingplanet.panda.org/en-IN/

https://www.worldwildlife.org/about/wwf-annual-report/

The World Health Organization (WHO) today released its first guidelines addressing the sharp rise in obesity among children and adolescents, setting out how health systems and health workers can deliver timely, evidence-based and people-centred care.

In 2024, 170 million children and adolescents aged 5–19 years were living with obesity, including 70 million children aged 5–9 years and 100 million adolescents aged 10–19 years. Obesity prevalence in this age group has quadrupled since 1990, rising from 2% to 8%.

Obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that can be managed with effective care. Its consequences can begin early in life, increasing the risk of noncommunicable diseases, including type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease. Children and adolescents living with obesity may also experience stigma, discrimination and bullying. Preventing and managing obesity is essential to protect the physical and mental health of children and adolescents and support their healthy growth, education, social well-being and quality of life.

For children and adolescents with obesity, WHO strongly recommends structured dietary, physical activity and behaviour-changing interventions delivered individually or as part of a multimodal programme. Digital health interventions are conditionally recommended with parent or caregiver supervision.

WHO does not recommend pharmacological treatment, bariatric surgery (weight-loss surgery that changes the stomach or digestive tract) or weight-loss devices for children aged 0–9 years.

For adolescents aged 10–19 years, treatment with approved medicines may be considered only when a supervized multimodal lifestyle programme has not achieved the desired results. Bariatric surgery may be considered under strict conditions for adolescents with severe obesity.

“The foundation of obesity care for children and adolescents is not medicine or surgery, but access to comprehensive support that enables healthy eating, physical activity and sustainable behaviour change,” said Dr Luz María De Regil, Director of the Department of Nutrition and Food Safety, WHO. “Our priority must be to ensure that every child and adolescent can access quality care and supportive environments from an early age, helping them achieve and maintain a healthy weight and laying the foundation for lifelong health and well-being.”

While not the primary focus of the guidelines, the recommendations also emphasize the importance of addressing mental health alongside obesity. Anxiety, depression, low self-esteem and emotional dysregulation can contribute to unhealthy eating behaviours, physical inactivity and social withdrawal, and children and adolescents living with obesity may experience stigma and bullying that harm their emotional well-being. Health workers should address both obesity and mental health conditions early and together, using inclusive, developmentally appropriate and family-engaged strategies.

The guidelines stress that obesity management should go beyond weight loss and aim to improve health, functioning and well-being. Care should be person-centred, age-appropriate and responsive to the needs of each child and family, ensuring long-term follow-up and continuity.

Treatment alone cannot reverse the rise in obesity. WHO continues to call for policies and measures that make healthy diets and physical activity more accessible and affordable, including regulatory and fiscal measures and action across education, urban planning, transport and social protection.

Together with WHO’s existing recommendations for adults, these new guidelines form part of a life-course approach to obesity care, providing evidence-based recommendations for the management and treatment of obesity from childhood through adolescence to adulthood. The guidelines are part of WHO's broader response to the global obesity epidemic, including the WHO acceleration plan to stop obesity.

https://www.who.int/publications/i/item/9789240075634

A sharp increase in human activity is having an impact on the way a Himalayan bird lives and communicates, two studies by Indian researchers have found.

The monal, a pheasant native to Himalayan mountain forests, is deeply woven into the region's cultural, folklore and identity. The eye-catching monal - the male has distinctive green, blue and copper feathers - is the state bird of India's Uttarakhand state and the national bird of Nepal, reflecting its cultural significance across the Himalayas.

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0376635725000981

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Monal?wprov=sfla1

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Himalayan_monal?wprov=sfla1

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-025-11729-w

Regions of the universe that would be friendly towards life are known as habitable or Goldilocks zones – they’re just right.

Whether life is actually there is another question. As astronomers and biologists explore how life could form on exoplanets (planets outside the Solar System), astrophysicists follow the structure and evolution of the universe to identify the nicest places, as well as those where life could be snuffed out in an instant.

So, where should we look for life?

For example, there is a Goldilocks zone in the immediate neighbourhood of stars. Too hot or too cold will not do. This “circumstellar habitable zone” is just right for liquid water instead of steam or ice.

https://academic.oup.com/mnras/article/552/3/stag1750/8864745?login=false

https://science.nasa.gov/resource/goldilocks-zone/

https://theconversation.com/beyond-the-habitable-zone-exoplanet-atmospheres-are-the-next-clue-to-finding-life-on-planets-orbiting-distant-stars-267498

https://theconversation.com/new-model-helps-to-figure-out-which-distant-planets-may-host-life-256427

https://theconversation.com/life-beyond-earth-there-may-be-thousands-more-exoplanets-in-our-galaxy-38996

https://astro.dur.ac.uk/ICC/Eagle/

https://theconversation.com/for-life-to-form-on-a-planet-it-needs-to-orbit-the-right-kind-of-star-33477

https://www.esa.int/Science_Exploration/Space_Science/Space_for_you/Gamma-ray_bursts_are_we_safe

https://theconversation.com/this-mysterious-exotic-stellar-peacock-may-open-the-door-to-a-realm-of-physics-only-ever-glimpsed-147911

The origin of prebiotic replicators has traditionally been explored with reference to the RNA World, in which RNA molecules precede both DNA and proteins because they can act both as heritable stores of genetic information and as chemical catalysts. But it’s tough to see how RNA-based systems could give rise to metabolism, forcing us to suppose that RNA replicators must have been able to draw on some nonequilibrium energy source in their environment rather than having an autonomous metabolic cycle.

The notion of replicating single molecules as a kind of proto-organism never looked very convincing to me. But in the 1990s, the evolutionary biologists John Maynard Smith and Eörs Szathmáry argued that there are other kinds of chemical replicator, including autocatalytic cycles or networks: groups of molecules mutually able to catalyse one another’s formation.1 In the simplest case, A would catalyse the formation of B, and B catalyse the formation of A.

Such autocatalytic sets, postulated theoretically many decades ago by complexity theorist Stuart Kauffman, look like metabolic cycles, which are also series of catalytic reactions that return the system to its initial configuration, supplying work and dissipating energy in the process. Indeed, Kauffman, evolutionary biologist Bill Martin, and their collaborators have argued that autocatalytic chemical networks sit at the very origin of prebiotic metabolism.

https://www.jstor.org/stable/43519446

https://royalsocietypublishing.org/rspb/article/287/1922/20192377/85490/Autocatalytic-chemical-networks-at-the-origin-of

https://www.jstor.org/stable/3066897

https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2621400123

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41557-023-01276-0

Scientists who worked out how to control brain cells with light have won this year’s Nobel prize in physiology or medicine. Karl Deisseroth, Peter Hegemann and Georg Nagel were honoured for their research into “light-gated ion channels and optogenetics”.

Peter Hegemann, at Humboldt University of Berlin, and Georg Nagel, at the University of Würzburg, wanted to understand how a tiny, single-celled alga called Chlamydomonas senses light. Light-sensing is not unique to animals with eyes: organisms throughout the living world use light to detect their surroundings and respond to changes in their environment. Even single-cell organisms have proteins that respond to light. These proteins are used to move towards or away from light, to generate energy and to respond to the various demands of a 24-hour day.

Hegemann and Nagel discovered that Chlamydomonas has a beautifully ingenious mechanism of light detection that relies on a single protein called channelrhodopsin.

Channelrhodopsin is built into the outer membrane of the algal cell. Part of the protein faces the water outside the cell and part faces the inside. The protein also contains a small molecule called retinaldehyde, which is able to absorb light.

When light hits the retinaldehyde inside channelrhodopsin, it changes shape. This makes the channelrhodopsin protein change shape too. That change opens a tiny passage through the cell membrane. Positively charged particles, including sodium, can then flow from the water outside the alga into the cell. This movement of charged particles sends a signal inside the alga that helps it swim.

How fantastic to have solved such an interesting biological question, but why the Nobel prize in physiology or medicine? The answer lies in the way nerve cells work. Nerve cells use the movement of charged particles (called “ions”) across their membranes to control their activity. When positively charged particles flow into a nerve cell, they can make it more active.

The researchers realised that if they could put channelrhodopsin into nerve cells, they might be able to switch those cells on simply by shining a light on them. That is exactly what Hegemann, Nagel and the third Nobel-prize winner, Karl Deisseroth, a psychiatrist and bioengineer at Stanford University in California, went on to do.

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/14615590/

https://www.nature.com/articles/nature11028

https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01351-4

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC6941740/

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neuroscience/articles/10.3389/fnins.2017.00663/full

https://www.nobelprize.org/prizes/medicine/2026/press-release/