World

In the 1970s, British aquaculture businesses imported North American signal crayfish to stock farms, hoping to build a profitable new freshwater fishery. But the plan backfired: the hardy invaders escaped into rivers, multiplied rapidly and spread across England, Wales and Scotland. Today they dominate many waterways and carry crayfish plague, a disease that is usually…

Karan Gupta former Optum director jailed to 3 years in prison over $950,000 fraud scheme/Image: Getty Images An Indian-origin former director at healthcare company Optum has been sentenced to three years in prison for his role in a scheme that defrauded the company of more than $950,000.Karan Gupta, 48, based in California, was sentenced on…

​Representative Image of ancient human evolution showing the genetic connections between humans, Neanderthals, and Denisovans (AI-generated image) Modern humans already carry small amounts of Neanderthal and Denisovan DNA, evidence that our ancestors interbred with other human groups tens of thousands of years ago. Both lineages are known from ancient remains, including fossils from which scientists…

For years, one Honda engineer has stood out in a workplace where technical expertise usually gets more attention than appearance. Odate’s stiff, naturally curly hair falls across his face in a style that has prompted comparisons with famous anime characters, yet the look was never designed to attract attention. He adopted it largely to avoid…

Campbell and Margaret moved to Canna in 1938 after spending three years living on Barra. John Lorne Campbell and Margaret Fay Shaw had already spent years recording Gaelic songs, stories and traditions when they made the remote Isle of Canna their home in 1938. The Scottish folklorists continued that work from the island for more…

Dolly Parton to share name with the Atlantic’s next storm? (Photos: Dolly Parton – ANI, Representative image of storm – PTI) The death of country music icon Dolly Parton has created an unusual coincidence in the Atlantic: the next tropical storm to form there is set to be called Dolly. The timing is striking, but…

Savannah arrests are part of a growing list of alleged misuse cases involving automated license plate readers in Georgia. (Representational photo) Four former Savannah Police Department employees were arrested on Friday after an investigation into the alleged misuse of the Flock Safety license plate reader system.The former employees have been booked into the Chatham County…

A routine day at a construction site in Barberton, Ohio, turned into an unexpected animal rescue when workers discovered a tiny kitten trapped inside an excavator. The crew at River Reach Construction heard persistent meowing coming from a Komatsu machine and soon realised that the cries were coming from somewhere inside the heavy equipment. Supervisor…

Porous polymer coating reflects sunlight and releases heat, keeping surfaces cooler than the air As temperatures rise during hot weather, keeping buildings and other structures cool can require large amounts of energy. Air conditioners are a common way to deal with the heat, but they consume electricity and need access to cooling systems and, in…

Nimaya Williams, the North Carolina junior (Image Credit: Cumberland County Schools) For many high-school students, preparing for life after graduation can feel overwhelming. College applications, career choices, financial planning, and scholarship searches can all seem like separate challenges, especially for students who are still figuring out what they want their future to look like. For…

A 47-year-old California pastor has returned to college football nearly three decades after an injury ended his playing career, after his son showed him a video of a 60-year-old man playing the sport. Justin Buzzard, a pastor, husband and father of three, has made the San José City College Jaguars roster as a defensive end…

Gao was arrested while visiting family in China in August 2024, after travelling back from the US, where he and his family had immigrated. He has remained in custody for about two years since then. A family visit to China back in August 2024 ended with a three-year prison sentence for a US-based Chinese artist….

Representative Image of the Grand Canyon revealing two billion years of geological history and missing rock layers (AI-generated image) The Grand Canyon exposes roughly 2 billion years of Earth’s geological history, but more than half of that record is missing. Geologists call the enormous gap the Great Unconformity, a boundary where rocks representing more than…

Kevin Liu showcases a geometry-powered robot that moves without motors or controls, PC: Aaron Nathans At Princeton Engineering, a team led by Glaucio Paulino has answered a question few people ever think to ask: what makes a ketchup bottle cap snap open and stay open rather than flopping shut? The hinge on a typical flip-top…

The Ross Fire burns in Palo Pinto County, Texas. (Photo: AP) A fast-moving wildfire in north-central Texas has destroyed a family home and business property, burned buildings at a youth camp and forced evacuations across sparsely populated ranch country west of Fort Worth, while local ranchers opened barns for animals needing evacuation.The Ross Fire began…

Riya Velhal, Founder & President of StratScholar (Image Credit: StratScholar) For many high-school students, becoming interested in research is easier than figuring out how to actually begin. Finding a mentor, understanding research methods, and knowing how to publish or share completed work can be difficult without the right guidance. Riya Velhal, an Oregon high-school junior,…

A San Francisco woman has given a glimpse of what home cleaning could look like in the age of humanoid robots after hiring one for $30 an hour to work inside her apartment. Gianna Capezio booked a one-hour cleaning visit from San Francisco startup Tau Robotics, with the humanoid robot vacuuming, making her bed and…

Fire broke out on Tuesday at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex and was extinguished Six Chinese nationals were killed and nine others remain missing after a fire broke out at a gas chemical complex in Russia’s far eastern Amur region, according to the plant.The fire broke out on Tuesday at the Amur Gas Chemical Complex…

From golf fairways to a 225-acre public park: Kentucky’s former Fox Run Golf Course is getting a new life, with 70% of the property preserved as greenspace. A former golf course in Kentucky is being transformed into a sprawling 225-acre public park featuring hiking and biking trails, climbing structures, a dog park, interactive water features…