Nature

This ‘last of the Mohicans’ was male, and therefore all the descendants, which are now only found in botanical gardens, are also male. Scientists are trying to revive the species through natural reproduction, but in this case there is a problem: no female plants for pollination have been found.

To make the search more efficient, researchers are using drones, flying them over the Ngoye forest, which has not yet been 100 per cent studied. The drones are equipped with multispectral cameras to scan thousands of acres of forest. The drones have recently captured over 15,000 images of the vegetation, and that’s just the beginning.

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Data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the virus has spread to 33 dairy herds in 8 states and has also infected a farm worker.

The FDA says pasteurisation is likely to deactivate bird flu, but the agency has already begun destroying milk from infected cows.

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In the Atacama Desert, where it seems impossible to live, researchers have discovered a hidden world full of diverse microbial communities. The Atacama Desert is one of the driest regions of the planet, but this has not proved to be an obstacle for many microbial species.

The scientists focused their attention on the Yungai Valley, where they took soil samples. DNA analysis showed that there are three groups of bacteria in the soil: Actinobacteria, Firmicutes and Proteobacteria, and they are distributed unevenly and at different depths.

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As it turned out, this variety appeared 350-600 millennia ago as a result of natural crossing of Coffea eugenioides and Coffea canephora. This happened without (and even before) human intervention.

Although wild coffee plants grow in Ethiopia, it is believed that their first roasting and preparation began in Yemen in the 15th century. According to legend, an Indian monk named Budan secretly smuggled 7 raw coffee beans back to his homeland in the 17th century, helping to spread coffee around the world.

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Scientists looked at plastic and its substitutes used in different fields. It turned out that in 15 out of 16 cases, plastic products are more favourable in terms of the amount of carbon dioxide emissions produced throughout the life cycle of the product.

The results of the scientific work point to the environmental benefits of plastic packaging compared to other options. However, optimising the use of plastic, increasing recycling rates and taking steps to extend the life of plastic products to minimise the negative impact of the plastic itself on the Earth are required.

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