Reports

England's nature reserves, national parks and protected areas are failing in four out of five key quality benchmarks, a major year-long government-sponsored review has concurred. Around £1.1bn is needed to help rebuild nature in England. A 14-member team of wildlife experts has warned that England's wildlife protection areas are not effective enough at preserving species due to poor management, small size, ease of reach by the wider public (especially in urban areas) and lack of inter...

Protected birds were illegally targeted during the night after hundreds of raptors and a flock of 22 spoonbills, among other protected birds, flew into Malta to roost on Tuesday, BirdLife Malta has reported. The 22 spoonbills roosted close to the Salina Bird Sanctuary, a known hotspot of illegal hunting and trapping activity. After dusk they left the area, followed by a team of BirdLife's Raptor Camp who lost sight of them in the dark. In the morning, only nine of the spoonbills headed south...

Scientists have long tried to understand how the ancient Egyptians erected their giant pyramids. Now, a Norwegian architect and researcher says he has the answer to this ancient, unsolved puzzle. Ole J Bryn, an architect and associate professor the Norwegian University of Science and Technology's (NTNU) Faculty of Architecture and Fine Art, believes researchers were needlessly preoccupied with the weight of the stones. In the bargain, they overlooked two problems: How did the Egyptians know...

An Indian court has defended sting operations as a means to expose corruption. The Delhi High Court on Friday quashed criminal proceedings against two journalists who unearthed a sensational scam involving Members of Parliament (MPs) in 2005. Hearing the petition of journalists Aniruddha Bahal and Suhasini Raj, Justice Shiv Narayan Dhingra observed that “charging the petitioner under offence of the Prevention of Corruption Act would amount to travesty of justice”. Justice Dhingra said every...

The controversy over the 'Zandu Balm' song in the film Dabangg and the subsequent rapprochement between the ointment manufacturer and the film producer is a classic example of a farce being played out in full public glare. It was a farce all right. But such a poor one that it couldn't even make one laugh. The contending parties of course have started sleeping together. Happily so. Dabangg has been one of the biggest hits in recent times. Its first weekend box office collections of Rs 48 crore...

The Union Ministry of Environment and Forests has overlooked the violation of the country’s Forest Conservation Act (FCA) by the Dhamra port in Orissa. The port is a joint venture between TATA Steel and L&T. The area in question adjoins critical habitat for endangered olive ridley turtles and other wildlife. The revelations by Greenpeace India will put pressure on Minister Jairam Ramesh to explain why he ignored these violations, while recently denying clearance for UK-based Vedanta to mine in...

Men who are looking for short-term companionship are more interested in a woman's body than those looking for a long-term relationship, who focus on a woman's face, researchers have found. A woman's body provides cues about her state of fertility while her face gives insight into her long-term reproductive value, according to previous research. So the new findings from the study by researchers at the University of Texas, US, suggest that men seeking a short-term relationship have psychological...

Climate change in the past was not directly responsible for the extinction of the spotted hyena in southern Europe, but it was certainly a factor in its disappearance, scientists have concurred. A team from the National Museum of Natural Sciences (CSIC) led by Sara Varela analysed the impact of climate change on spotted hyena survival in Europe 10,000 years ago. Climate change played an important role, but Varela and her team say studies are still needed to look at the influence of human...

The Commonwealth Games in New Delhi will be an "appealing target" for Pakistan-based terror group Lashkar-e-Toiba (LeT) because of its political and economic significance for India, a top US counter-terrorism official has warned. The warning came at a time when India's Home Minister P Chidambaram informed the Prime Minister's Office in an internal mail that the Home Ministry would not take responsibility for any untoward incident during the event, sources told news portal rediff.com. "We are...

A group of Peruvian archaeologists has discovered two temples dating back more than four thousand years in a landfill spot the jungles in the north of the country. It is probably the oldest known temple building in Peru. The temples were found near the village of Jaén, Cajamarca, in northern Peru. The excavation sites, locally known as Monte Grande and San Isidro, were previously used for agriculture and even as a garbage dump. The complex was in all likelihood built around 2,000 BC. From the...