March of the super-ants - Colonies of up to 5 million have been swarming all over Europe. Now they're in Britain and, as the heatwave reaches a peak, arriving in ever larger numbers: DAVID LEAFE
Elsewhere they turn their attention to electrical cables, chomping through them – causing phone networks to go down and lights to flicker before power fails altogether.
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Daily Mail
07-08-2025
- Daily Mail
Female gorillas can overpower males despite being HALF their size, study reveals
They're one of our closest relatives in the animal kingdom. Now, a study reveals that in gorilla communities, girls have the power. Scientists analysed four social groups of wild gorillas in Uganda over three decades, and found females can overpower males, despite extreme differences in size and strength. Even though they weigh half as much as males, and have smaller teeth, females won one in four conflicts and overpowered a quarter of non–alpha males. 'Our results showed that females were more likely to outrank younger and older adult males, which are still so much larger than adult females,' senior author Martha Robbins, director of the Bwindi mountain gorilla research project, said. 'This suggests that other mechanisms influence female–male power relationships besides basic size and strength.' The team was led by researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology. The team pointed out that female gorillas can choose which males to reproduce with – which could give them leverage and boost the amount of power they yield in a group. Another possible explanation for their findings is that non–alpha males are willing to yield to females in competitive interactions as a way to remain in the group. The findings could pour cold water on the idea that the patriarchy was inherited from our ancestors. The term refers to the idea that men have more power, dominance and privilege in society than women. It's long been believed that gender imbalances have existed throughout our evolutionary history. But the team said their findings indicate human patriarchy could be a cultural construct rather than a legacy from our primate ancestors. 'This work…may assist in disrupting historically normalised narratives presenting human patriarchy as an apparent and immediate consequence of evolution,' the study reads. The notion of a universal patriarchy was first challenged around 50 years ago, when experts discovered that females had power over males in spotted hyenas and some species of lemur. The researchers said their findings add to this work, showing that power relationships are not as strictly male–biased as previously thought. They published their discovery in the journal Current Biology. In recent years songs about the patriarchy have made it into the charts, including 'Respect' by Aretha Franklin and 'The Man' by Taylor Swift, which were written to address gender imbalances in society. At feminist marches, placards with the words 'f*** the patriarchy' can also commonly be seen. However, earlier this year it emerged that some young men now believe they are the oppressed sex. A survey of 1,000 UK men aged 16 and over revealed that nearly a third said feminism has negatively affected men, while nearly half agreed with the statement 'we have gone so far in the promotion of equality for women that we now discriminate against men'. DO MEN THINK THEY'RE SMARTER THAN WOMEN? A new study has revealed men think they are smarter than their peers, even when compared to women whose grades prove they are just as smart. Researchers at Arizona State University (ASU) made the discovery after asking college students enrolled in a 250 strong biology course about their intelligence. Specifically, students were asked to estimate their own intelligence compared to everyone in the class as well as the student they worked most closely with. Experts were surprised to find that women were far more likely to underestimate their own intelligence than men. When comparing a female and a male student, both with a grade point average of 3.3, the male student is likely to say he is smarter than 66 percent of the class. A female student is likely to say she is smarter than only 54 percent of the class. In addition, when asked whether they are smarter than the person they worked most with in class, the pattern continued. Male students are 3.2 times more likely than females to say they are smarter than the person they are working with, regardless of whether their class partners are men or women.
BBC News
04-08-2025
- BBC News
Invasive species spotted in Tees estuary oyster pots
An invasive species has been spotted in an oyster pot being used by a conservation group to monitor river Tees Rivers Trust had set up an oyster nursery in the Tees estuary to help restore marine habitats and bring back spawning fish to the the latest pot inspection a leathery sea squirt was spotted and reported before being disposed manager Judy Power said "it was an important reminder to look for invasive species in all habitats". Ms Power said: "There was one species this month that we were less pleased to see - a leathery sea squirt."We have reported it and got rid of it."Leathery sea squirt, or styela clava, pose a threat to oyster and mussel farming by out-competing shellfish for food and space. However, she said there were positive finds during the inspection including the "amazing growth" of the oysters and other marine life."Apart from the oysters, we found six fish, including a scorpionfish and butterfish, the tiniest baby scallop we've ever seen, a little, long clawed porcelain crab which we rarely see and lots of squat lobsters and prawns," Ms Powers said. Seagrass and oysters were once present in the estuary but were lost due to a combination of over exploitation and deteriorating water quality.A single oyster can filter 150 litres of water a day through its gills helping to remove contaminants while seagrass can absorb carbon from water and provide small fish with valuable feeding believe the two species would form a coastal defence, with oyster reefs and seagrass meadows helping to keep sediment stable and prevent coastal the longer term, conservationists hope to use stones, gravel and broken scallop shells - known as "cultch" - to line the river bed and provide the right habitat for oysters. Follow BBC Tees on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
Reuters
31-07-2025
- Reuters
Trump's lightning reactor build program ignites nuclear sector
July 31 - In a flurry of executive orders, President Trump has mandated the Department of Energy (DOE) to authorise and develop three pilot small modular reactors (SMRs) in a bid to accelerate nuclear power deployment and meet soaring demand from AI. The Trump administration wants the pilot reactors to achieve "criticality" by July 4, 2026, requiring completion of design, licensing and testing within a year. Trump also directed the Department of Defense (DOD) to commission its own pilot reactor within three years. SMRs promise lower upfront capital costs and shorter construction times than conventional large reactors, but first of a kind (FOAK) designs have taken years to gain regulatory approval and investors have been wary of development and construction risks. Soaring demand from Big Tech has catalysed interest in nuclear power and developers say small reactors can be built in line with rising demand from data centers. Trump's executive orders also directed the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (NRC) to process licence approvals for new reactors within 18 months and establish a process for "high-volume licensing of micro reactors and modular reactors, including allowing for standardized applications." The DOE and DOD will seek to source private funding for the construction and operation of nuclear fuel recycling, reprocessing, and fabrication capabilities, the White House said. The government aims to increase U.S. nuclear capacity from about 100 GW today to 400 GW by 2050 and only three large reactors have entered commercial operation this century. CHART: Annual US nuclear power installations DOE authorization of SMR designs will help unlock private funding, provide a fast-track licensing approach and help establish the required supply chains and talent pipeline, a DOE spokesperson told Reuters Events. The executive orders provide a "much-needed catalyst" for SMR deployment in the civilian sector by "circumventing some of the structural and regulatory bottlenecks that have historically slowed down progress,' James Walker, CEO of micro reactor developer Nano Nuclear Energy, said. The federal actions will effectively guarantee initial customers and testing grounds for new reactors, unlock procurement pathways and create viable use cases, Walker said. Faster deployment The DOE closed its application window for reactor developers on June 21 and applications will be assessed based on criteria including technological readiness, siting evaluations, financial viability and a detailed plan for achieving criticality. The DOE is seeking designs that have a "reasonable chance' of achieving criticality by July 2026, the DOE spokesperson said. To speed up the process, the department is streamlining its authorization process and eliminating or expediting its environmental reviews for permits and approvals, the spokesperson noted. CHART: Small modular reactor projects by country Developing projects on DOE and DOD land should shorten approval and deployment timelines. The DOE-owned Idaho National Laboratory (INL) is one potential location for the test reactors, as well as Sandia National Labs which has sites in New Mexico and California, as well as numerous DOD sites. Shifting the deployment of FOAK reactors onto lands under DOE or DOD control will help to remove obstacles to development, Walker said. FOAK reactors 'often languish due to lack of customers and high regulatory uncertainty,' Walker said. The executive orders require the NRC to expedite the approval process for designs that the DOE or DOD have demonstrated have the ability to function safely. Download exclusive insights from the Reuters Events: SMR & Advanced Reactor 2025 conference in May. Applicants will be responsible for all design, manufacturing, construction, operating and decommissioning costs. While the projects will not receive federal funding, the DOE will provide federal resources as part of the application process, the DOE spokesperson noted. The executive orders could see multiple FOAK reactors deployed by the end of the decade and these reactors will each generate operational data, workforce expertise and bolster public confidence to catalyze the commercial market, Walker said. 'Difficult' deadline Developers of micro reactors or SMRs that have high technology readiness and a clear pathway to manufacturing will benefit most from the federal development initiatives, Walker said. Companies like BWX, Holtec, Westinghouse and NuScale are developing SMRs based on existing light water reactor (LWR) technology but a number of advanced reactor developers and micro reactor developers are also seeking to deploy rapidly in the coming years and signing early commercial arrangements with large offtakers including tech groups. Trump's orders could "ensure we get more near term deployment of known technologies' but might not help 'more exotic or 4th generation [nuclear] tech," Patrick O'Brien, Director, Government Affairs and Communications at Holtec International, told Reuters Events. Holtec is one of a small group of developers seeking to win DOE funds for SMRs based on LWR technology, allocated through a separate funding round. For exclusive nuclear insights, sign up to our newsletter. Micro reactors would be more likely to achieve the criticality deadline of July 2026 on federal sites, due to their smaller size, O'Brien said. Building a whole advanced reactor system in a year would be 'extremely difficult' because of supply chain constraints, Walker warned. Instead, the DOE could adjust its definition of criticality to specify that only fuel assembly rather than the entire reactor must reach criticality by the July 2026 deadline, he said.
