Environment

Climate change poses the greatest threat to medium sized predators such as foxes as it forces them to spend more time hunting for food, British researchers found. Medium-sized carnivores which generally weigh between one and ten kilograms, are more vulnerable because they spend the most time foraging. As the climate affects their prey they must spend more time hunting to survive, scientists said. And they found failing to diversify their prey could put the species at greater risk of climate...

Antibiotic-resistant bacteria began with farmers pumping livestock with penicillin six decades ago, according to new research. Low doses given to animals to boost their growth from the 1950s in the US and Europe fuelled the evolution and spread of the superbugs, say scientists. Bacteria that can pass on genes resistant to ampicillin - one of the most commonly used antibiotics today - emerged years before human use, the study showed. The discovery comes weeks after the World Health Organisation called...

The Yorkshire retailer had to withdraw its Morrisons Traditional Chicken & Mushroom Pie because some may actually contain fish and mustard. This could pose a health risk to anyone who is allergic to these ingredients which are not labelled on the packs. The 400g pies affected have a use by date of 4th December. The supermarket said: Morrisons is recalling the above product because it may contain mustard and fish that are not declared on the label. "This means the...

The world's deepest living fish has been discovered living in the darkness more than eight kilometres below the surface. Named the Mariana snailfish, the translucent, scaleless fish exist at such depths that the water pressure is the equivalent of an elephant standing on your thumb. They are the top predator in their dark world, living off tiny crustaceans and shrimp at depths nearly as far down as Mount Everest is high. Researchers recover a trap after it landed on the...

A homeless charity has branded a business responsible for a security system that barks at people in a doorway and threatens to call the cops as 'sad'. The bizarre alarm system is triggered when passersby step into the sheltered doorway of an office block in Glasgow. When set-off, a loud voice blares through the speakers, saying: "You have been detected in an unauthorised area, please leave the area or the police will be called - CCTV is recording". A pressure...

Litter on Britain's beaches is up 10 per cent in just one year to its worst ever levels, prompting calls for a tax on waste. More than 700 bits or rubbish were found, on average, on every 100 metres cleaned as conservationists accused many people of treating our shores as a "big dustbin." A shock report shows that litter levels recorded in an annual survey were at record levels, with food and drink waste accounting for one in five pieces...

The landing site for Julius Caesar's invasion of Britain more than 2,000 years ago has been identified for the first time - in Kent. His ships arrived at Pegwell Bay on the Isle of Thanet at the north east point of the county, a spot never previously suspected because it was separated from the mainland. But the location matches Caesar's own personal account with three clues about the landscape being consistent with the amazing discovery. These were its visibility from...

These moving pictures show the release of five orphaned rhino calves back into the South African wild -- thanks to the help of kindhearted Scottish volunteers. The calves were all victims of poaching –- their mothers murdered for their horns -- and were rescued by charity Rhino Revolution. Through the UK arm of the charity, passionate Scots volunteers have been banding together to fundraise for the project. Five orphan rhino's that have been dehorned. These moving pictures show the release...

New species can develop in as little as two generations and the findings would have left Charles Darwin excited , researchers revealed. Scientists say the arrival 36 years ago of a strange bird to a remote island in the Galapagos provides direct genetic evidence of their claims. The newcomer, which belonged to one species, mated with a member of another species on the small island of Daphne Major in the Pacific Ocean. This produced a new species, known as the...