New Delhi, (IANS) A massive ash cloud from the Hayli Gubbi volcanic eruption in northern Ethiopia that drifted across the Arabian Sea and reached India on Monday night is now moving over parts of north India, prompting aviation authorities to issue safety guidelines for airlines. However, it is not expected to impact the air quality as the ash cloud is primarily at mid-levels of the atmosphere, experts said on Tuesday.
The eruption, which occurred on Sunday after the long-dormant volcano suddenly became active, released a thick plume that travelled across the Red Sea toward Yemen and Oman before advancing toward the Indian subcontinent.
By 11 p.m. on Monday, the ash plume had entered Indian airspace and was observed over Delhi, with movement expected towards Punjab and Haryana through the night and well into Tuesday.
The unusual atmospheric event led the Directorate General of Civil Aviation (DGCA) to issue a detailed advisory to airlines, urging them to strictly avoid designated volcanic ash–affected areas and flight levels.
Airlines have been asked to modify flight planning, routing, altitude selection, and fuel calculations in accordance with the latest Volcanic Ash Advisories (VAAs).
The DGCA’s guidance comes amid reports of rerouted and delayed flights as aircraft operators attempt to navigate safely around the affected zones.
Volcanic ash poses a serious risk to aviation, especially jet engines, as ash particles can melt inside engines and cause severe damage.
IndiaMetSky Weather posted an explanation of the phenomenon on X, noting that the plume currently contains sulphur dioxide (SO₂) with low to moderate concentrations of volcanic ash.
In its post, IndiaMetSky Weather wrote: “The Ash plume mostly consists of Sulphur Dioxide with low to moderate concentrations of Volcanic Ash. It’s now stretching from Oman–Arabian Sea region into plains of North & Central India. It will not impact AQI levels but it will impact SO₂ levels at #Hills of #Nepal, #Himalayas and adjoining Terai belt of #UttarPradesh as some of the material will bump into the hills and later move into China."
"Low chances of Ashfall over plains but some places may see something. NO IMPACT ON AQI LEVEL AT SURFACE LEVEL AT ANY PLACE IS EXPECTED," the post mentioned.
"Plume will slowly continue to drift over Delhi, Haryana and Rajasthan region. Once again this is at middle levels of the atmosphere so there will not be any impact on the surface apart from some delays & changes in flight routes and some particles might fall to the surface (low chances),” it added.
Meteorologists emphasise that the ash cloud is primarily at mid-levels of the atmosphere, meaning it is unlikely to affect surface air quality for most regions in India. However, hills across Nepal, the Himalayas, and Uttar Pradesh’s Terai belt may see higher sulphur dioxide levels as the plume interacts with mountainous terrain.The plume is expected to gradually drift westward and weaken, but authorities continue to monitor its movement closely. Passengers have been advised to check with airlines for updated flight schedules as temporary disruptions may continue until the plume disperses. Volcanic ash plume from Ethiopia moving over North India will not impact AQI: Experts | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
Image by Gerd Altmann from Pixabay | For Representational Purpose Only
Tanveer Singh: As the planet struggles under the weight of 40+ billion metric tons of CO₂ emissions in 2024 alone, and an ever-rising energy demand, the search for smarter, leaner solutions has never been more urgent. There enters the TinyML, where the power of AI meets ultra-low energy computing to drive sustainability at scale.
It may be shocking, but as you are reading this, billions of sensors are tracking the planet’s health – from the air we breathe to the energy we consume. Already, more than 14 billion IoT devices are being used to monitor climate change and are projected to reach a whopping 30 billion by the end of 2030. But the concerning part is that the energy consumed by these devices is around 200 terawatt-hours of electricity annually, which is roughly equivalent to the entire energy consumption of countries like Thailand. To meet this demand, energy is produced through the traditional method of burning fuel, which further emits millions of Carbon footprints annually, that is even more than the lifetime emissions of 4 cars, just to monitor climate change. And therein lies the irony.
Furthermore, the constant transmission of data through these sensors requires millions of dollars for their deployment and maintenance. Like a large-scale smart city as big as New York, IoT networks can cost over $10–15 million per year to operate. This is exactly where TinyML comes as the solution, offering a path that enables IoT devices to process data locally, reducing energy consumption by up to 90% and significantly lowering costs.
Tiny ML bridges the gap between artificial intelligence and embedded systems, allowing machine learning activities even in sensors as small as a grain of sand. It is based on the idea of machine learning that is focused on building machine learning models on low-power devices like microcontrollers, enabling the device to process data instantly and anywhere, without depending on external internet storage to compute it. One clear example is Alexa, which uses TinyML models to send instant responses to the device for processing instead of sending through the cloud (external storage ), which will take a longer time.
Additionally, TinyML improves privacy and data security by running locally and reduces overall operational cost by 50-60% as compared to large ML models working on external storage. Take the example of Google's TinyML image classification that runs directly on devices, keeping images private while cutting storage and cloud costs by over 50%. TinyML can be best understood as having a mini robot in your pocket that can solve problems instantly, instead of always asking a big computer far away for help. It is faster, saves energy, and keeps your information private. When this field is applied to the climate, its efficiency becomes a distinguished factor.
Besides being cost-effective and having higher efficiency, it also helps in tracking air quality to predict natural disasters and, hence, supports the fight against climate change. Tiny ML sensors enable the quick detection of forest fires through heat or smoke detection, and aid in local air and water quality checks, eliminating the need for cloud computing dependency. For instance, Arduino-based air quality sensors are used to measure air quality and provide data on the temperature and humidity of an area. These models can also be used in solar or wind farms to check the performance of the solar cells and windmills through the consumption of energy, which can further help in increasing the efficiency of the farms. For example, Google’s DeepMind AI was successfully used with wind farms in the U.S. to predict wind power output 36 hours in advance, boosting the value of wind energy by around 20%. Interestingly, these sensors can also aid in monitoring birds' and whales' calls or other animals to track migration patterns and population health, as well as because of their small size and working on low power, and hence, they can help researchers to get valuable data on ecosystems without disturbing the wildlife. Moreover, TinyML sensors used in smart grids help in improving energy utilization by constantly monitoring and managing the transport of electricity so that energy is not wasted. Besides this, these devices can help in measuring the water pressure, tidal patterns, and ground movement of an area, and the data from this can be used to detect disasters earlier. For instance, in Japan, Tiny ML sensors placed along coastlines measure tidal waves and ground vibration in real time, which helps authorities to issue faster tsunami and earthquake warnings.
However, while these applications highlight the transformative impact of Tiny ML in tackling climate related problems, the integration also brings forth several challenges that need to be addressed to ensure reliability and scalability. First and foremost is the limitation of hardware, which is that there is limited storage, approximately in kilobytes or 1 to 5 megabytes, to store data compared to traditional models that have memory in gigabytes and terabytes. As a result, small models in TinyML will be less precise than the traditional models, which can be a huge challenge in models that work on reliability, for example, disaster management models. Furthermore, the harsh conditions like weather or wildlife can damage these devices, leading to malfunctioning and increasing the cost of maintenance.
Additionally, even though these devices are cost-effective, deploying billions of devices will still require huge funding, which can limit their production and scalability.
Despite these challenges, the future of TinyML is being shaped by the integration of emerging technologies, large-scale adoption, and the expanding market of AI. The combination of TinyML with the 5 G network, which provides 100 times faster speed than 4 G and the ability to connect over one million devices per square kilometer, can enable the creation of massive, interconnected sensors all over the cities that can provide faster and reliable data. Additionally, integrating it with federated learning- an ML technique that enables multiple devices to train a model together without sharing the raw data - can help in ensuring data privacy and increasing the accuracy of the models. Furthermore, Government and Research institutes are likely to adopt TinyML models in various tasks as they provide a scalable and cost-effective solution, especially in environments with limited resources. For instance, the U.S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) has explored TinyML to process sensor data directly on satellites, reducing the need for constant communication with Earth.
It won’t be an exaggeration to say that the Tiny ML models have the potential to shape the future of the world. By offering scalable as well as energy-efficient solutions, Tiny ML stands out as the best alternative to tackle the climate change problems. From reducing the CO2 emissions to providing faster processing of data and strengthening the privacy and accuracy of the data, the Tiny ML model can be a changemaker catalyst not only in the world of climate change but in other fields, too. Undoubtedly, Tiny ML paves the way for a future where artificial intelligence works in harmony with the planet.Tanveer Singh, a first-year student at Plaksha University, has been passionate about writing articles and poems since high school. From raising public awareness of new technologies to highlighting environmental and societal issues, he has explored a wide range of themes through his work and aspires to continue making an impact in this space for the long run. TinyML: The Small Technology Tackling the Biggest Climate Challenge | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
New Delhi, (IANS): Led by artificial intelligence (AI), Internet of Things (IoT) and neuro-technology, India witnessed 83,000 patents being filed by deep-tech startups in FY2023, marking an annual growth rate of 24.6 per cent which is highest since the last two decades, a Nasscom report showed on Friday.
The number of patents granted also witnessed significant growth, rising over 2 times between FY2019-FY2023.
This trend is expected to increase significantly with over 100K patents granted between March 15, 2023 and March 14 this year.
"The surge in patent filings within the last few years is a clear indication of India’s growing innovation prowess, particularly in areas like AI," said Debjani Ghosh, President, Nasscom.
To further enhance domestic patent activity, collaborations among key stakeholders are essential for fostering and increasing awareness of intellectual property rights, she added.
Over the past decade, the proportion of patents filed by residents (primary filers based in India) has doubled, climbing from 33.6 per cent of total filings in fiscal year 2019 to more than 50 per cent in fiscal year 2023.
"The filing of over 900 patents since 2008 by leading Indian deep-tech startups coupled with the submission of 32,000 Patent Cooperation Treaty (PCT) applications in India by other countries stood as a testament to this increasing focus," the report noted.
Amongst the top application areas, healthcare related patents primarily around medical imaging, diagnosing, report generation and testing saw the maximum applications, followed by automation/software development and retail/ecommerce.AI saw maximum patents filed in areas of image processing, NLP, and predictive modelling, while Gen AI, medical data processing and cognitive computing are the key emerging areas. Indian startups file 83,000 patents in FY23; AI, neurotechnology lead | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
Pink circles show the systems closest to tipping points. Some would have regional effects, such as loss of coral reefs. Others are global, such as the beginning of the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet. Global Tipping Points Report, CC BY-ND
As the planet warms, it risks crossing catastrophic tipping points: thresholds where Earth systems, such as ice sheets and rain forests, change irreversibly over human lifetimes.
Scientists have long warned that if global temperatures warmed more than 1.5 degrees Celsius (2.7 Fahrenheit) compared with before the Industrial Revolution, and stayed high, they would increase the risk of passing multiple tipping points. For each of these elements, like the Amazon rain forest or the Greenland ice sheet, hotter temperatures lead to melting ice or drier forests that leave the system more vulnerable to further changes.
Pink circles show the systems closest to tipping points. Some would have regional effects, such as loss of coral reefs. Others are global, such as the beginning of the collapse of the Greenland ice sheet. Global Tipping Points Report, CC BY-ND
The term “tipping point” is often used to illustrate these problems, but apocalyptic messages can leave people feeling helpless, wondering if it’s pointless to slam the brakes. As a geoscientist who has studied the ocean and climate for over a decade and recently spent a year on Capitol Hill working on bipartisan climate policy, I still see room for optimism.
It helps to understand what a tipping point is – and what’s known about when each might be reached.
Tipping points are not precise
A tipping point is a metaphor for runaway change. Small changes can push a system out of balance. Once past a threshold, the changes reinforce themselves, amplifying until the system transforms into something new.
The scientific reality of tipping points is more complicated than crossing a temperature line. Instead, different elements in the climate system have risks of tipping that increase with each fraction of a degree of warming.
For example, the beginning of a slow collapse of the Greenland ice sheet, which could raise global sea level by about 24 feet (7.4 meters), is one of the most likely tipping elements in a world more than 1.5 C warmer than preindustrial times. Some models place the critical threshold at 1.6 C (2.9 F). More recent simulations estimate runaway conditions at 2.7 C (4.9 F) of warming. Both simulations consider when summer melt will outpace winter snow, but predicting the future is not an exact science.
Gradients show science-based estimates from the Global Tipping Points Report of when some key global or regional climate tipping points are increasingly likely to be reached. Every fraction of a degree increases the likeliness, reflected in the warming color. Global Tipping Points Report 2025, CC BY-ND
Forecasts like these are generated using powerful climate models that simulate how air, oceans, land and ice interact. These virtual laboratories allow scientists to run experiments, increasing the temperature bit by bit to see when each element might tip.
Their nine core tipping elements include large-scale components of Earth’s climate, such as ice sheets, rain forests and ocean currents. They also simulated thresholds for smaller tipping elements that pack a large punch, including die-offs of coral reefs and widespread thawing of permafrost.
The world may have already passed one tipping point, according to the 2025 Global Tipping Points Report: Corals reefs are dying as marine temperatures rise. Healthy reefs are essential fish nurseries and habitat and also help protect coastlines from storm erosion. Once they die, their structures begin to disintegrate. Vardhan Patankar/Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA
Some tipping elements, such as the East Antarctic ice sheet, aren’t in immediate danger. The ice sheet’s stability is due to its massive size – nearly six times that of the Greenland ice sheet – making it much harder to push out of equilibrium. Model results vary, but they generally place its tipping threshold between 5 C (9 F) and 10 C (18 F) of warming.
Other elements, however, are closer to the edge.
Alarm bells sounding in forests and oceans
In the Amazon, self-perpetuating feedback loops threaten the stability of the Earth’s largest rain forest, an ecosystem that influences global climate. As temperatures rise, drought and wildfire activity increase, killing trees and releasing more carbon into the atmosphere, which in turn makes the forest hotter and drier still.
Rising temperatures also threaten biodiversity underwater.
The second Global Tipping Points Report, released Oct. 12, 2025, by a team of 160 scientists including Lenton, suggests tropical reefs may have passed a tipping point that will wipe out all but isolated patches.
Coral loss on the Great Barrier Reef. Australian Institute of Marine Science.
Corals rely on algae called zooxanthellae to thrive. Under heat stress, the algae leave their coral homes, draining reefs of nutrition and color. These mass bleaching events can kill corals, stripping the ecosystem of vital biodiversity that millions of people rely on for food and tourism.
Low-latitude reefs have the highest risk of tipping, with the upper threshold at just 1.5 C, the report found. Above this amount of warming, there is a 99% chance that these coral reefs tip past their breaking point.
Similar alarms are ringing for ocean currents, where freshwater ice melt is slowing down a major marine highway that circulates heat, known as the Atlantic Meridional Overturning Circulation, or AMOC.
The AMOC carries warm water northward from the tropics. In the North Atlantic, as sea ice forms, the surface gets colder and saltier, and this dense water sinks. The sinking action drives the return flow of cold, salty water southward, completing the circulation’s loop. But melting land ice from Greenland threatens the density-driven motor of this ocean conveyor belt by dilution: Fresher water doesn’t sink as easily.
The Amazon forest has been losing tree cover to logging, farming, ranching, wildfires and a changing climate. Pink shows areas with greater than 75% tree canopy loss from 2001 to 2024. Blue is tree cover gain from 2000 to 2020. Global Forest Watch, CC BY
Other changes driven by rising global temperatures, like melting permafrost, could be reversed. Permafrost, for example, could refreeze if temperatures drop again.
Risks are too high to ignore
Despite the uncertainty, tipping points are too risky to ignore. Rising temperatures put people and economies around the world at greater risk of dangerous conditions.
But there is still room for preventive actions – every fraction of a degree in warming that humans prevent reduces the risk of runaway climate conditions. Reducing greenhouse gas emissions slows warming and tipping point risks.
Tipping points highlight the stakes, but they also underscore the climate choices humanity can still make to stop the damage.
This article was updated to clarify permafrost discussion.
Tramping through coastal marshlands in eastern China, a strange looking deer roams freely in herds of hundreds; a remarkable recovery from where they had been just a few decades ago.
Described in ancient China as a beast with the antlers of a deer, hooves of an ox, face of a horse, and tail of a donkey, Père David’s deer was at one time the rarest of its kind on Earth.
Hunted to extinction in the wild 125 years ago, captive animals clung to life in a far away land, until in 1985, their descendants could return to a wiser China where a more eco-conscious population welcomed them home to the quiet marshlands.
In the early 20th century, the British nobleman and politician Herbrand Russell, 11th Duke of Bedford, acquired a few Père David’s deer from the Berlin Zoo and built up a large herd on his estate at Woburn Abbey.
In 1985 the duke’s great-grandson Robin Russell, 14th Duke of Bedford, donated 39 Père David’s deer to the Chinese government for a reintroduction program. They were placed in a park/reserve that once belonged exclusively for canned hunts conducted by the emperors in Beijing—the killing field had become a sanctuary.
A second re-introduction into China was conducted in 1986 where 36 Père David’s deer were chosen from five UK zoological gardens. From less than 100, these original animals have multiplied into 8,200 and seem—as if by a miracle—not be be suffering from low genetic diversity. They enjoy a 17% annual growth rate in the population.
Today, all of the deer that roam China are descended from Russel’s herd, and across China’s many elk sanctuaries like Tianezhou and Dafeng, dozens of square miles of pristine habitat are protected for this incredible animal. Plans are underway to reintroduce the deer to much more wild areas, where they will have to learn to avoid predators and battle the elements once again.
A Chinese-language moniker for the Père David’s deer translates to “the four dislikes” referring to the component appearance mentioned above. As is so often the case in Chinese society, this strangeness is paired with a legend.
The following was taken from Wikipedia,
According to Chinese legend, when the tyrant King Zhou of Shang ruled the land more than 3,000 years ago, a horse, a donkey, an ox and a deer went into a cave in the forest to meditate and on the day the King executed his minister Bigan, the animals awoke from their meditation and turned into humans.
They entered society, learned of the King’s heinous acts and wanted to take recourse against the King, who was powerful. So they transformed themselves into one creature that combined the speed of the horse, the strength of the ox, the donkey’s keen sense of direction and the nimble agility of the deer.
This new animal then galloped to the Kunlun Mountains to seek the advice of the Primeval Lord of Heaven. The Lord was astonished at the sight of a creature that had antlers of a deer, hooves of an ox, face of a horse and tail of a donkey.“It’s unlike any of four creatures!” he exclaimed. Upon learning of the animal’s quest, Lord gave his blessing and dispatched the creature to his disciple the sage Jiang Ziya, who was battling the King. Jiang Ziya rode the creature to victory over the King and helped found the Zhou dynasty. Miracle Recovery for World’s Rarest and Strangest Deer – Just 39 Became 8,200
New Delhi, (IANS): Qualcomm India is taking a leading role in shaping India’s digital future, emphasising its commitment to inclusive, sustainable, and globally competitive technology solutions, the tech giant said on Thursday.
At the India Mobile Congress (IMC) 2025, the company showcased a wide range of innovations, from Edge AI and 6G to smart homes, connected devices, and advanced compute platforms -- highlighting how its technologies are driving India’s digital transformation.
The company presented its vision for an intelligent and connected India through three pillars -- Personal AI, Physical AI, and Industrial AI -- reflecting Qualcomm’s focus on providing scalable, secure, and India-first solutions across consumer, enterprise, and infrastructure domains.
Qualcomm has been a long-time partner in India’s technology journey, supporting the country from 3G to 5G, while actively preparing for 6G through early-stage research, strategic partnerships, and local R&D investments.
At IMC 2025, Qualcomm highlighted the power of Edge AI combined with 5G as the twin pillars of India’s digital future.
Its platforms are enabling real-time, low-latency intelligence across industries, including automotive, industrial IoT, mobile devices, and compute solutions.
Demonstrations included on-device generative AI for smartphones and industrial devices, AI-powered surveillance, intelligent wearables like smartwatches and earbuds, and connected vehicles, all delivering seamless, multimodal experiences.
Savi Soin, Senior Vice President and President of Qualcomm India, said, “IMC 2025 reflects India’s strong digital momentum. Qualcomm is proud to lead with technologies that are cutting-edge and India-first, from Edge AI and 6G to smart homes and secure video solutions.”
The company also announced key collaborations with Indian partners to expand its ecosystem.
To nurture the next generation of AI talent in India, Qualcomm launched the Qualcomm AI Upskilling Programme: Technical Foundation, aimed at students, developers, and professionals. The program covers AI and ML fundamentals, Edge AI, generative AI, and practical experience with Qualcomm’s AI Hub, helping participants build on-device AI applications.
Through these initiatives, Qualcomm India is reinforcing its role as a digital transformation partner for the nation.By supporting Make in India, advancing 6G, enabling AI upskilling, and working closely with partners and policymakers, Qualcomm is contributing to an inclusive, innovative, and globally competitive digital future for India. Qualcomm drives digital future with AI, 6G and 'Make in India' initiatives | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
New Delhi, (IANS) Canadian researchers have found that scanning the tiny blood vessels in the eyes may help predict a person's risk of developing heart disease and how fast they're biologically ageing.
The study, published in the journal Science Advances, suggests that retinal scans could one day serve as a noninvasive window into the body's overall vascular health and biological ageing status, offering new opportunities for early detection and intervention.
"By connecting retinal scans, genetics, and blood biomarkers, we have uncovered molecular pathways that help explain how aging affects the vascular system," said Marie Pigeyre, Associate Professor at McMaster University’s Department of Medicine in Canada.
"The eye provides a unique, noninvasive view into the body's circulatory system. Changes in the retinal blood vessels often mirror changes occurring throughout the body's small vessels," added Pigeyre.
To conduct the study, the team combined retinal scans, genetic data, and blood sample analyses from over 74,000 participants.
People with simpler, less branched blood vessels were found to be at increased risk of cardiovascular diseases and showed signs of biological ageing, such as higher inflammation and shorter lifespan.
Currently, assessing age-related diseases like heart disease, stroke, and dementia requires multiple tests. The hope is that retinal scans alone could eventually be used as a quick, accessible way to assess ageing and cardiovascular risk. However, more research is needed.
The team also reviewed blood biomarkers and genetic data and identified potential biological causes behind changes in the eye's blood vessels. This helped them identify specific proteins that may drive ageing and disease -- MMP12 and IgG-Fc receptor IIb.
A plug-in carbon monoxide detector – credit Fastily CC 4.0. BY-SA
It’s invisible, it’s lethal, and it’s been with us for decades, but carbon monoxide poisoning can now be fought with the first-ever antidote that rapidly removes the toxic molecule from the bloodstream.
Carbon monoxide or CO, poisoning accounts for 50,000 emergency room visits in the US each year and causes about 1,500 deaths, each one being lamented as a shameful waste and tragic oversight.
Currently, the only treatments for CO poisoning are oxygen-based therapies, which help the body eliminate the toxic gas. However, even with treatment, nearly half of survivors suffer long-term heart and brain damage. This has created an urgent need for faster, more effective interventions.
In a study published by University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) in PNAS, the research team developed a new engineered protein-based therapy called RcoM-HBD-CCC, which acts like a sponge to soak up carbon monoxide from the blood.
RcoM (short for “regulator of metabolism”) is a natural protein isolated from the bacterium Paraburkholderia xenovorans which uses it to sense minute levels of carbon monoxide in its environment.
The researchers engineered a version that is highly selective, grabbing CO without interfering with oxygen or other important molecules in the bloodstream like nitric oxide, which is vital for the regulation of blood pressure.
In tests on mice, the new therapy worked quickly to remove CO from red blood cells and was safely flushed out of the body through urine.
CO is known commonly as the “silent killer,” because this odorless, invisible gas, typically released from combustion sources, including stovetops, propane heaters, car exhausts, and firewood, poisons in a gradual manner that isn’t immediately obvious to the victim.
In healthy bodies, oxygen inhaled from the air binds to the protein hemoglobin on the surface of red blood cells, which then ferry the oxygen to all the tissues of the body. CO however, competes with oxygen for hemoglobin. It enters the bloodstream and binds to hemoglobin with a 200 to 400-fold greater affinity than oxygen. That means CO hogs most of the hemoglobin seats, so not enough oxygen molecules can get a ride to the tissues that need them.
Currently, the only available treatments for carbon monoxide poisoning involve giving 100% pure oxygen, sometimes under pressure in a hyperbaric chamber.
All too often, patients are not transported, diagnosed, and treated in time to reverse the effects of CO poisoning, which can cause lasting cardiac and neurological injuries or even death.
Infused in the bloodstream, scavenger hemoproteins like RcoM-HBD-CCC rapidly bind to carbon monoxide molecules, reducing the time it takes to clear half of the carbon monoxide in the blood to less than a minute, compared to more than hour with pure oxygen therapy and five hours without any treatment.
A potential drawback the researchers were aware of is that so-called “scavengers” like RcoM also have an affinity for oxygen, and so may uptake the nitric oxide mentioned earlier. This can cause wild and potentially unsafe changes in blood pressure, but RcoM-HBD-CCC caused no such side effects.
“Unlike other protein-based treatments, we found the compound caused only minimal changes in blood pressure, which was an exciting finding and raised the potential for this new molecule to have clinical applications,” said study corresponding author Mark T. Gladwin, MD, Dean of UMSOM.
“This has the potential to become a rapid, intravenous antidote for carbon monoxide that could be given in the emergency department or even in the field by first-responders.”Future studies will likely include more pre-clinical research to determine the safe and effective dosage range for RcoM-HBD-CCC in treating carbon monoxide poisoning. It could also form the basis for new research in other fields, including as an oxygen delivery therapy or blood substitute. This could include hemorrhagic shock, acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), severe anemias, and the preservation of organs for transplantation. First Antidote for Carbon Monoxide Poisoning 'Cleans' Blood in Minutes
Language enables us to connect with each other and coordinate to achieve incredible feats. Our ability to communicate abstract concepts is often seen as a defining feature of our species, and one that separates us from the rest of life on Earth.
This is because while the ability to pair an arbitrary sound with a specific meaning is widespread in human language, it is rarely seen in other animal communication systems. Several recent studies have shown that birds, chimpanzees, dolphins, and elephants also do it. But how such a capacity emerges remains a mystery.
While language is characterised by the widespread use of sounds that have a learned association with the item they refer to, humans and animals also produce instinctive sounds. For example, a scream made in response to pain. Over 150 years ago, naturalist Charles Darwin suggested the use of these instinctive sounds in a new context could be an important step in the development of language-like communication.
In our new study, published today in Nature Ecology and Evolution, we describe the first example of an animal vocalisation that contains both instinctive and learned features – similar to the stepping stone Darwin envisioned.
A unique call towards a unique threat
Birds have a variety of enemies, but brood parasites are unique.
Brood parasites, such as cuckoos, are birds that reproduce by laying their egg in the nest of another species and manipulating the unsuspecting host to incubate their egg and raise their offspring. The first thing a baby cuckoo does after it hatches is heave the other baby birds out of the nest, claiming the effort of its unsuspecting foster parents all to itself.
The high cost of brood parasitism makes it an excellent study system to explore how evolution works in the wild.
For example, our past work has shown that in Australia, the superb fairy-wren has evolved a unique call it makes when it sees a cuckoo. When other fairy-wrens hear this alarm call, they quickly come in and attack the cuckoo.
During these earlier experiments, we couldn’t help but notice other species were responding to this call and making a very similar call themselves. What’s more, discussions with collaborators who were working in countries as far away as China, India and Sweden suggested the birds there were also making a very similar call – and also only towards cuckoos.
Birds from around the world use the same call
First, we explored online wildlife media databases to see if there were other examples of this call towards brood parasites. We found 21 species that produce this call towards their brood parasites, including cuckoos and parasitic finches. Some of these birds were closely related and lived nearby each other, but others shared a last common ancestor over 50 million years ago and live on different continents.
For example, this is a superb fairy-wren responding to a shining bronze-cuckoo in Australia.
Superb fairy-wren responding to a shining bronze-cuckoo.
William Feeney, CC BY169 KB(download)
And this is a tawny-flanked prinia responding to a cuckoo finch in Zambia.
Tawny-flanked prinia responding to a cuckoo finch.
William Feeney, CC BY160 KB(download)
As vocalisations exist to communicate information, we suspected this call either functioned to attract the attention of their own or other species.
To compare these possibilities, we used a known database of the world’s brood parasites and hosts. If this call exists to communicate information within a species, we expected the species that produce it should be more cooperative, because more birds are better at defending their nest.
We did not find this. Instead, we found that species that produce this call exist in areas with more brood parasites and hosts, suggesting it exists to enable cooperation across different species that are targeted by brood parasites.
Communicating across species to defend against a common threat
To test whether these calls were produced uniquely towards cuckoos in multiple species, we conducted experiments in Australia.
When we presented superb fairy-wrens or white-browed scrubwrens with a taxidermied cuckoo, they made this call and tried to attack it. By contrast, when they were presented with other taxidermied models, such as a predator, this call was very rarely produced.
When we presented the fairy-wrens and scrubwrens with recordings of the call, they responded strongly. This suggests both species produce the call almost exclusively towards cuckoos, and when they hear it they respond predictably.
If this call is something like a “universal word” for a brood parasite across birds, we should expect different species to respond equally to hearing it – even when it is produced by a species they have never seen before. We found exactly this: when we played calls from Australia to birds in China (and vice-versa) they responded the same.
This suggests different species from all around the world use this call because it provides specific information about the presence of a brood parasite.
Superb fairy-wrens attacking a taxidermied shining bronze-cuckoo. William Feeney, CC BY
Insights into the origins of language
Our study suggests that over 20 species of birds from all around the world that are separated by over 50 million years of evolution use the same call when they see their respective brood parasite species.
This is fascinating in and of itself. But while these birds know how to respond to the call, our past work has shown that birds that have never seen a cuckoo do not produce this call, but they do after watching others produce it when there is a cuckoo nearby.
In other words, while the response to the call is instinctive, producing the call itself is learned.
Whereas vocalisations are normally either instinctive or learned, this is the first example of an animal vocalisation across species that has both instinctive and learned components. This is important, because it appears to represent a midpoint between the types of vocalisations that are common in animal communication systems and human language.
So, Darwin may have been right about language all along.
GNN has reported previously on how versatile bamboo is for construction and craft, so it maybe shouldn’t be a surprise that researchers in China have found a way to turn this miracle plant into plastic.
While many biodegradable materials have already been developed for replacing lighter, flexible plastic, durable or rigid plastic replacements are few. The kinds of plastic used for tools, car interiors, and appliance exteriors have few if any biodegradable replacements.
Enter Dawei Zhao at Shenyang University of Chemical Technology in China’s far northeast, who has developed a method for turning cellulose from bamboo into a rigid yet biodegradable plastic that outperforms not only alternative biodegradable options, but plastic itself for mechanical strength and thermo-mechanical properties.
“Bamboo’s rapid growth makes it a highly renewable resource, providing a sustainable alternative to traditional timber sources, but its current applications are still largely limited to more traditional woven products,” Zhao told New Scientist.
His method takes cellulose from bamboo and subjects it to zinc chloride and a simple acid to break up the complex polysaccharide bonds that hold this plant fiber together. Next they add ethanol into the soup of smaller molecules, and from that derive a plastic for use in injection, molding, and machining manufacturing techniques.
One major drawback is the bamboo plastic’s inflexibility, which limits its incorporation into the full gamut of products that petroleum-based plastics can fulfil. On the other hand, however, these are often the plastics that remain in the ecosystem longest, and are the hardest to recycle. Therefore replacing them still represents a valuable contribution to reducing the overall plastic burden in the environment and waste streams.
More than 1.2 billion birds streamed south in one night during their Fall migration in late September—the largest single-night total ever recorded by the American live radar project.
Called BirdCast, a collaboration led by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology, the platform uses the same weather radar technology behind daily forecasts to track migrating birds.
On its live migration map, BirdCast tracked more than 1.2 billion birds streaming toward their wintering grounds after sunset on September 25—the largest single-night total recorded since the project began mapping live migrations in 2018.
“These numbers are almost inconceivable,” said Andrew Farnsworth, a visiting scientist at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology and longtime BirdCast researcher. “They’re enormous… even for people that study migration regularly. The scale of how many organisms that this represents, is just mind blowing.”
The surge surpasses the previous milestone of one billion birds, first observed during the migration in October 2023. Both included well over one hundred species flying toward warmer weather, including songbirds and shorebirds.
Farnsworth said this seemingly rare night captured about 10% of the continent’s birds in flight at the same time. On an average fall night during peak migration, about 400 million birds are detected in flight at the same time above the United States, but on this night, the number was three times that.
“It’s really unbelievable,” he said.
While astonishing to both birders and scientists, Farnsworth said this event was not random. It resulted from a combination of ideal migrating conditions coinciding with the peak of fall migration.
The weather that night was perfect for travel, he explained in a media release. It featured calm winds—including tail winds that helped push the birds along their migratory paths across much of the center of the country and the Mississippi River valley.
Farnsworth said this record-breaking migration—documented by radar technology that was never intended to track birds—is a chance to not only to marvel at the immense magnitude of bird migration but also a chance to remind the public that the data is freely available and accessible in real time.
The technology at BirdCast.org allows anyone to view forecast maps that predict the number of birds migrating while live migration maps show migration happening in real time. Both tools let people know when birds are moving nearby, so they can take necessary precautions to protect them.
“BirdCast gives the ability for more people to engage in and participate in this incredible spectacle,” Farnsworth said, whose Cornell Lab partners with three US universities in the project: Purdue, Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and Massachusetts Amherst.
It’s also a timely reminder that you can help make birds’ journeys safer. Every year, more than one billion birds die in collisions with windows in the United States.
The large-scale enrichment technology testing campaign at Global Laser Enrichment's Test Loop facility in Wilmington, North Carolina, has demonstrated the commercial viability of laser enrichment.
Global Laser Enrichment (GLE) began the large-scale demonstration testing of the SILEX laser enrichment process in May. The extensive performance data it has collected provides confidence that the process can be commercially deployed, the company said. The demonstration programme will now continue through the rest of 2025, producing hundreds of kilograms of low-enriched uranium (LEU), while continuing towards building a domestic manufacturing base and supply chain to support deployment of US domestic enrichment capacity.
"We believe the enrichment activities conducted over the past five months position GLE to be the next American uranium enrichment solution," GLE CEO Stephen Long said, adding that, with 20% of US electricity supply coming from nuclear energy, this will "allow America to end its dangerous dependency on a fragile, foreign government-owned uranium fuel supply chain."
GLE is a joint venture of Australian company Silex Systems (51%) and Cameco Corporation (49%), and is the exclusive global licensee of the SILEX laser-based uranium enrichment technology invented by Silex Systems. Earlier this year, it completed the submission of an application to the US Nuclear Regulatory Commission for the Paducah Laser Enrichment Facility (PLEF) in Kentucky, where it plans to deploy the technology commercially, re-enriching depleted uranium tails from legacy Department of Energy gaseous diffusion plant operations.
The project is underpinned by a long-term agreement signed in 2016 for the sale to GLE of some 200,000 tonnes from the US Department of Energy's depleted uranium hexafluoride inventory, from which PLEF is expected to produce up to 6 million separative work units of LEU annually, delivering a domestic, single-site solution for uranium, conversion and enrichment, GLE completes landmark laser technology demonstration
New Delhi, (IANS): Worldwide spending on artificial intelligence (AI) is expected to be nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025, up nearly 50 per cent up from $987,904 in 2024, a report said on Monday.
Further, the overall global AI spending is likely to top $2 trillion in 2026, led by AI integration into products such as smartphones and PCs, as well as infrastructure, according to a business and technology insights company Gartner, Inc report.
Mirroring last year's spending graph, generative AI integration in smartphones would lead the spending at $298,189 this year as well, followed by AI services ($282,556), AI-optimised servers ($267,534), AI processing semiconductor ($209,192), AI application software ($172,029) and AI infrastructure Software ($126,177).
"The forecast assumes continued investment in AI infrastructure expansion, as major hyperscalers continue to increase investments in data centres with AI-optimised hardware and GPUs to scale their services," said John-David Lovelock, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner.
"The AI investment landscape is also expanding beyond traditional U.S. tech giants, including Chinese companies and new AI cloud providers. Furthermore, venture capital investment in AI providers is providing additional tailwinds for AI spending," he added.
According to the report, the AI spending would reach $2.02 trillion in 2026 following a similar growth trajectory.
In 2026, spending on Generative AI integration in smartphones is likely to be at $393,297. Meanwhile, the spending on AI Services would reach $324,669, and for AI-optimised servers, it would go around $329,528
Similarly, AI processing semiconductor ($267,934), AI application software ($269,703) and AI infrastructure software ($229,885) will also put weight in spending on AI.
The other segments, attracting AI spending, would be AI PCs by ARM and x86, AI-optimised IaaS, and GenAI Models.Gartner providers equip tech leaders and their teams with role-based best practices, industry insights and strategic views into emerging trends and market changes to achieve their mission-critical priorities and build the successful organisations of tomorrow. Worldwide spending on AI is expected to be nearly $1.5 trillion in 2025: Report | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
A jaguar on the Piquiri river – credit, Charles J. Sharp from Sharp Photography CC 4.0. BY-SA via Wikimedia
Imagine sitting in southern Texas and knowing that in less than a day you could drive to se the world’s third largest cat.
That is absolutely the reality in Mexico today, following a second national jaguar population census which found this charismatic cat is actually increasing in numbers across the country, reaching around 5,300 animals.
Gerardo Ceballos and colleagues conducted the first census in 2010, hoping to grasp more or less the gravity of the risk of extinction faced by the jaguar. They were estimating they’d find around 1,000 in the whole of Mexico.
But rather than the risk of extinction, their results conveyed a different narrative. They found four-times as many cats as they expected.
“It was a great surprise, terrific news,” Ceballos said. “Obviously 4,000 means the species is still in danger of extinction, but 4,000 is a lot better than 1,000.”
Then in 2025, Ceballos completed a second survey, employing over 50 national and local research institutions and community leaders, who together set up 920 motion-activated camera traps.
Staggered again, the count showed that in 15 years, jaguar numbers had increased 30%. It turns out that even though the twenty-teens saw hundreds of thousands of acres of forest cleared, there were almost as many jaguars in Mexico as there are cheetahs on the entire African continent.
“The fact that the country has managed to maintain and increase its population over the last 14 years is extraordinary,” Ceballos told the Guardian. “For me it’s great news for the country. Mexico and the world need good news.”
The populations came in as follows: the Yucatán peninsula region had the most (1,699), followed by the south Pacific area (1,541), north-east and central Mexico (813), the north Pacific (733) and the central Pacific coast (540).
The jaguar is a compact, muscular predator, with exceptionally strong jaws that allow it to pierce the shells of turtles and the hides of crocodilians. They’re good tree climbers, avid swimmers, and will even hunt in the water. Like tigers, it employs a stalk and ambush hunting strategy, and is considered peerless in terms of its catch rate.
In short, and by comparison, the jaguar is maybe the most versatile and adaptable of any of the big cats.
This gives the animal an advantage in the gradually shrinking forests of Mexico.Ceballos told the Guardian that the spotted hunter would face multiple threats, including from the continued construction of new highways across Mexico, as well as habitat loss and zoonic diseases being passed to them via livestock which they occasional poach. Researchers Blown Away After Finding Jaguar Population up 30% Across Mexico
A pearl-bordered fritillary – credit, Devon Wildlife Trust
Two years ago, the UK government gave roughly $15 million to its own conservation organ called Natural England for the purpose of preventing species decline.
Now, its report card has arrived, and its A+ work has seen the recovery of 150 struggling or declining species.
Natural England used the money to fund 63 projects involving 78 different partners across the country.
For the nature lover, the list of wild beneficiaries of the work will gladden the heart. Standout achievements include a breakthrough for the iconic lady’s slipper orchid, with the first known case of natural propagation in the wild after over 30 years of dedicated work to collect seeds.
686 acres of vital nesting islands were created or enhanced for seabirds such as common tern, little tern and Sandwich tern. 56,000 plugs of food plants were laid for butterflies, such as marsh violet for the small pearl-bordered fritillary, and devil’s bit scabious for marsh fritillary, at the new sites.
A grant-funded breeding and supervised release program saw the first wild hatching of a red-billed chough in Kent for the first time in over 200 years. 633 new breeding areas (nest boxes and similar structures) were created through the program for otter, dormouse, bats, willow tits, and other birds.
Wetland habitat creation to benefit water vole – credit, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
A huge focus as well fell on habitat creation or restoration, including over 642 acres of flower-rich grassland meadows, 1,000 acres of floodplain grasslands, 874 acres of broadleaf woodland, and 240 acres of marsh.
215 ponds and streams were dug or restored which became the new haunts of water voles and the rare Eurasian bittern.
Volunteers were a huge part of these various grant-funded projects. 100,000 hours of volunteer work were donated by members of the public during the 2 years of operations, a component which Natural England said would form a vital backbone if these achievements are to be sustained and built upon.
Volunteers planting marsh violet – credit, Neil Harris, National Trust images
“This and a feeling of real engagement with an amazing natural environment has been a huge psychological boost for me,” said Steve, a volunteer with the ‘White Cliffs and White Chalk’ National Trust project.
The Labrador usually lets Hank sleep late—but not on this particular day. Something was wrong. Very wrong.
The service dog named Tommy had been with Hank Ford since he was a pup, and he knew his owner was at risk. He started nudging Hank with his nose, then pawing at him, and jumping on his body.
Get up. Get up. Get up.
Hank figured the dog needed to go outside a little earlier than normal. But when Hank stood up, he was light-headed and woozy, starting to sense that something was wrong too. He opened the door to let the dog outside, but Tommy didn’t budge.
54-year-old Hank kept feeling worse. He decided to check his vital signs with a blood pressure cuff and was startled by the results.
His pulse was a staggering 171 beats per minute.
The military veteran who had served for more than 20 years, called his local veterans hospital, but they thought his vital readings were obviously wrong, that he simply misused the machine.
Hank and Tommy both knew better, so the resident of Fort Lufton, Colorado, drove himself to the hospital, and the diagnosis arrived a few minutes later.
“They were freaking out about it,” Hank recalled, when doctors confirmed his vital signs. “It was good that Tommy woke me up.
“Something about the way he woke me up: He hasn’t done it before and he hasn’t done it since,” Hank told GNN. “Doctors said, more than likely, it would have been a stroke and it would have been a (big) one.”
What he was experiencing is AFib—an irregular heartbeat characterized by a rapid rhythm. The upper chambers of the heart beat out of sync with the lower chambers, and the condition can lead to reduced blood flow and cause strokes—or even death.
This recent event was not the only time Tommy helped save Hank’s life.
Service dog Tommy working at the golf course – Credit: Hank Ford
Years ago, Hank was in a self-described dark spot. He had spent decades of his selfless military service in high-stress situations, a hero in harm’s way. Desert Shield. Desert Storm. Bosnia. Operation Iraqi Freedom.
Then, when he left the military, he worked for years at a federal penitentiary, adding even more layers of stress.
All those experiences and memories weren’t easily forgotten. Hank had a significant case of PTSD (Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder). He didn’t like dealing with people or going out in public. He slept a lot and stayed at home, sheltering himself from the outside world.
His doctors encouraged him to pursue a service dog. And when his hunting dogs— also Labradors—passed away, Hank reached out to the Wounded Warrior Project for a service dog. That organization helped connect him with Dogs Inc, a nonprofit that provides guide dogs, service dogs, and therapy dogs, free of charge, to people in need.
Not long afterward, Hank and Tommy were united and the impact was immediate.
“We bonded fast,” Hank said. “I have had some good connections with dogs, but nothing like what we have…
“He would key the clues I was putting out really quickly. If you stress out, he will come out and look at you and put his chin on you and be like, ‘Hey, are you okay?’ It was a calming presence. And it was really quick. I was ready to have a dog again, but wasn’t expecting what I got.”
Hank received a new best friend and a new path forward.
Life started looking a whole lot better. And when Hank’s heart was on the verge of a potentially-fatal malfunction and he was stabilized in the hospital, his wife brought the dog in to see him. Tommy crawled right up onto Hank’s bed and laid across his body.
The dog stayed there for hours, just inches away from the beating heart of the man he had helped to heal years ago. So perhaps it’s no surprise that he was the crucial first responder and hero when Hank’s heart spun wildly out of rhythm.
Sydney, Aug, 12, 2026 (IANS): Australian scientists have made a breakthrough in combating Staphylococcus aureus, commonly known as golden staph -- a superbug that causes more than a million deaths worldwide each year.
The world-first initiative has demonstrated that real-time genome sequencing during severe infections allows doctors to quickly identify resistance mutations, and personalise treatment, Xinhua news agency reported.
It will also help curb the spread of antibiotic resistance, said researchers from the Melbourne-based Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute).
Collaborating with seven local hospitals, scientists from the Doherty Institute said that traditionally, hospital laboratories identify bacteria using standard tests that reveal only the species type, offering limited insight into antibiotic resistance or genetic changes.
In contrast, genome sequencing provides a comprehensive genetic profile, uncovering mutations that can influence how bacteria respond to treatment.
Previously, research into bacterial evolution was typically carried out retrospectively, often years after patients had completed treatment.
In contrast, this new method enables clinicians to monitor bacterial changes in real-time, providing immediate and actionable insights for patient care, according to the study published in Nature Communications.
Comparing golden staph samples from patients at the start of infection and at treatment failure, researchers found that in a third of cases, the bacteria developed mutations making standard antibiotics ineffective, said lead author Stefano Giulieri at the Doherty Institute and the University of Melbourne.
"In one case, after initially controlling a golden staph infection, the patient returned to the hospital two months after stopping antibiotics," Giulieri said.
Giulieri added that resistance increased 80-fold within two months, but genomic insights enabled clinicians to successfully adapt treatment and cure the infection.These findings represent a major step toward targeted therapy for bacterial infections and open the door to future clinical trials that could make this approach standard practice in hospitals worldwide, said the researchers. Scientists develop real-time genome sequencing to combat deadly superbug | MorungExpress | morungexpress.com
Alice the pony and Marat the foal at the Minnesota Zoo – released
A story of resilience and maternal instinct comes now from Minnesota, where a foal belonging to Asia’s last remaining wild horse species is thriving thanks to an unexpected hero: a domesticated horse named Alice.
Having lost her own offspring, Alice decided to put Marat, the months old Przewalski’s horse foal, between her heart and her hooves.
Born May 17th at the Minnesota Zoo, the male foal is the result of a decades-long commitment to saving the endangered Przewalski’s horse, which over the last 15 years has progressed remarkably well.
Just days after his birth, the foal became critically ill and was transferred to the University of Minnesota’s Veterinary Medical Center. While he made a full recovery, the temporary separation led his mother, Nady, to reject him—a behavior not uncommon among wild horses after separation.
Enter Alice, a gentle Pony of the Americas mare from Brush Poppin Ranch in southeastern Minnesota. Just days earlier, Alice had lost her own newborn filly. Her owners, Sylvia and Jeff Passow, hoped her nurturing temperament and milk supply might help another foal in need.
Within hours of hearing about the orphaned wild foal, the Passows made the drive to the Minnesota Zoo. From their first meeting, Alice accepted Marat as her own, nuzzling him gently and allowing him to nurse. The two have formed a heartwarming bond, and Alice will remain by his side for the next several months as he continues to grow.
Just a few thousand of Marat’s species exist in the wild and zoos around the world – released
“This is the kind of story that reminds us of what conservation is all about: collaboration, compassion, and hope,” said Randy Kochevar, Chief Animal Care, Health, Conservation and Behavior Officer at the Minnesota Zoo. “Thanks to the Passows’ generosity and Alice’s instinct, this endangered foal now has a second chance.”
Przewalski’s horses are the world’s last truly wild horse species, never domesticated and genetically distinct from other horses. Once declared extinct in the wild by the 1960s, the species survived only through a small number of individuals in zoos.
Through decades of careful breeding, international cooperation, and scientific breakthroughs, including recent genetic research and cloning efforts, populations have been reestablished on the steppes of Mongolia and China. Fewer than 2,000 Przewalski’s horses exist today, making each foal born in human care critical to the species’ survival.
The Minnesota Zoo has long played a leading role in this global effort. Since opening in 1978, the Zoo has welcomed more than 50 foals as part of the Association of Zoos and Aquariums’ Species Survival Plan (SSP), which coordinates breeding to maintain genetic diversity.
In 2024, the Zoo contributed to a landmark genetic study aimed at strengthening future conservation efforts for the species.Along with Mongolia and China, this year GNN reported that 150 animals have been transported to the steppes of Kazakhstan, another of the horse’s former pastures. Released at the Altyn Dala Reserve in Kazakhstan’s Kostanay region, it’s hoped they will naturally breed and spread out, eventually becoming prey for the Turanian tiger, an extinct local subspecies Kazakhstan is also attempting to reintroduce. Rare Wild Baby Horse Is Adopted by a Domestic Pony That Just Lost Her Own Foal
Pere David’s deer at the Jiangsu Dafeng Elk National Nature Reserve – credit, 
BirdCast
A jaguar on the Piquiri river – credit, Charles J. Sharp from Sharp Photography CC 4.0. BY-SA via Wikimedia
A pearl-bordered fritillary – credit, Devon Wildlife Trust
Wetland habitat creation to benefit water vole – credit, Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust
Volunteers planting marsh violet – credit, Neil Harris, National Trust images
Alice the pony and Marat the foal at the Minnesota Zoo – released
Just a few thousand of Marat’s species exist in the wild and zoos around the world – released
