A North Korean defector who fled the country aged 13 has described the horror of seeing bodies in the streets and eating insects to survive because of mass starvation in the secretive state. Yeonmi Park said cold, darkness and starvation were part of everyday life in the pariah kingdom where she grew up and blamed … Read more
A hiker shared shared skin-crawling footage showing the ‘worst swarm of midges he has seen in 20 years’. Dr Alan Mackie, from Edinburgh, was camping at Gleann an t-Slugain, Aberdeenshire, when he was set upon by the mass of midges. The footage, taken on Friday morning shows Alan’s tent besieged by thousands of the blood-sucking mites. … Read more
Water-repellent surfaces that mimic insects’ wings could be used to develop PPE that is resistant to coronavirus-laden saliva droplets Analysis of insect structures reveals a previously undiscovered nanostructure Scientists hope this could be used to create water repellent coatings Would be useful in developing PPE which is impervious to saliva droplets By Joe Pinkstone For Mailonline … Read more
Why are killer bees so angry? Study finds insects’ aggression comes from genetics of European insects which mixed with African honey bees Killer bees get their aggression from Western European bee genetics Researchers measured the defense response of 116 colonies with these bees They found that the most defensive were related to South African honey bees … Read more
Grasshoppers are gorging themselves on the equivalent of ‘junk food’ as rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere make plants less nutritious, a study has found. Experts studying a grassland preserve in Kansas discovered that its grasshopper numbers have fallen by more than 30 per cent over the last two decades. Increasing levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide … Read more
Research has linked being green-fingered to everything from higher vitamin D levels to lower blood pressure. And last month, a study in the journal Neurology listed gardening as one of a handful of activities that could lower the risk of dementia in old age. This is thought to be down to the combination of physical … Read more