The behavioural cue of ‘flexible self-protection’ is a way to establish whether an animal feels pain, scientists say
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Do insects feel pain? Crickets certainly seem to, according to new research which finds they stroke and groom a sore antenna in much the same way as a dog nurses its hurt paw.
Associate Prof Thomas White, an entomologist from the University of Sydney, said the experience of pain was a “longer, drawn-out, ouchy feeling”, that differed from a hardwired nerve response.
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Breaking Waves: Ocean News
05/12/2026 - 18:01
05/12/2026 - 08:36
South Florida fires that burnt through 45 sq km (11,000 acres) of land over the weekend spread on Monday as emergency crews worked to contain them.
Florida Forest Service said 'the growing fires were producing smoky conditions with reduced visibility'. No serious injuries or property damage have been reported.
Dry conditions have led to wildfires in other parts the country, including fires that destroyed dozens of homes in southern Georgia last month
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05/12/2026 - 07:00
Ethylene oxide (EtO) is about 60 times more carcinogenic than believed in 2006, research finds
A new Trump administration plan to rescind 2024 regulations for toxic ethylene oxide (EtO) pollution more broadly aims to limit the Environmental Protection Agency’s authority to strengthen public health protections around hazardous emissions and could result in more of the toxin being released into the air.
Recent research has found EtO is about 60 times more carcinogenic than thought when the last regulations were developed in 2006. In 2024, the Biden EPA passed a rule that strengthened the regulations to reflect the updated science, and required the nation’s EtO emitters to collectively cut their emissions by about 90%.
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05/12/2026 - 05:56
Sports carmaker extends lifespan of petrol-engined Emira, made in Norfolk, to continue to cater for US market
The boss of the luxury sports carmaker Lotus has called for government support for its UK factory as the Chinese-owned company insisted it will not abandon its British roots.
Lotus said it had extended the lifespan of the £80,000 Emira petrol-engined sports car, made by 900 employees in its factory in Norfolk, in order for the brand to continue to serve the US market.
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05/12/2026 - 05:00
It is the most extracted solid material on Earth – but this extraction can threaten ecosystems and livelihoods
Malé is one of the world’s most overcrowded cities, but it faces double pressure. As well as a growing population, the capital of the Maldives is also threatened by rising sea levels. Owing to climate breakdown, its living space is shrinking.
So the justification for a land reclamation project seemed clear. Take sand from elsewhere in the archipelago and use it to build up the land available for Malé’s people. What could go wrong? After all, it’s only sand, right?
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05/12/2026 - 04:59
With some long-awaited sanity on housing and taxes, including CGT and negative gearing changes, it’s one of the most important for good – but will still leave some out in the cold
Federal budget 2026 LIVE updates: Australia government budget announcement and speech – latest news
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This year’s budget is an odd affair. So much had been leaked and dropped to the media that there are barely any surprises. But that does not mean it does not live up to the billing of being ambitious – basically killing off the capital gains tax 50% discount is a huge deal.
The lack of changes on gas tax, an absence of increased assistance for the unemployed and renters, and cuts to the NDIS, however, show that this is still a government where ambition is not in surplus.
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05/12/2026 - 04:00
Cockrow Bridge in Surrey will open in the coming weeks to provide wildlife, including lizards and insects, with the ability to move between fragmented habitats
When James Herd moved near to Wisley Common 17 years ago, the heathland nature reserve was teeming with wildlife. “I’d take the dog around the common in spring and summer, and every few hundred metres I’d hear the rustle of a lizard in the undergrowth – and I’d see adders,” he says.
But over the past decade, the Surrey Wildlife Trust’s director of reserves management, who oversees the internationally important habitat, has seen that wildlife become depleted.
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05/11/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 12 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00200-6
Deep differences: expanding the marine social sciences and humanities into the deep ocean
05/10/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 11 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00202-4
Offshore wind farms reshape ocean stratification and productivity differently in the North Sea and the Baltic Sea
05/08/2026 - 23:00
npj Ocean Sustainability, Published online: 09 May 2026; doi:10.1038/s44183-026-00206-0
A persistent gap remains in climate governance: ocean dynamics, despite shaping the pace and expression of climate risk, are still weakly integrated into its core mechanisms. COP30 brought this limitation into focus. Its final decision text omitted the ocean entirely, even as record ocean heat content, intensifying marine heatwaves and accelerating sea-level rise defined the physical reality of 2024–2025. This omission is striking given that COP30 simultaneously delivered the strongest ocean-related initiatives ever presented at a UN climate conference. This reflects not a lack of ambition, but a structural weakness: the UNFCCC system lacks the mechanisms needed to integrate ocean science into core decision-making, including standardized indicators, systematic reporting and institutional continuity. Addressing this requires embedding ocean indicators into reporting and Global Stocktake processes, strengthening coordination across climate and ocean policy, and anchoring emerging initiatives within the UNFCCC framework.
