Month: April 2016

The Chernobyl exclusion zone is arguably a nature reserve

In the early hours of 26 April 1986, an experiment at Chernobyl designed to investigate the safety of the nuclear reactor went badly wrong. Radiation spilled into the environment and the population was evacuated. Thirty years on, though, wildlife is thriving. But is this really a sign that the environment can cope with nuclear disaster? Image: skpy

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21-million-year-old fossil is North America’s first monkey

The monkeys started it. About 3 million years ago, one of the most epic ecological struggles of all time – between the animals of North and South America – was at its peak. A new fossil suggests the struggle may have begun as early as 21 million years ago when a South American monkey swam to North America. Image: Kristen Grace

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The footprints of the dead have revealed new secrets

It is astonishing what we can learn from studying the prehistoric footprints left in caves by ancient humans – and not just using state-of-the-art scientific equipment. Now careful analysis of ancient footprints is also being performed by professional trackers from Namibia’s indigenous Ju/’hoansi-San population. Image: Andreas Pastoors et al

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