Beetles under climate stress lay larger male eggs: Wolbachia infection drives adaptive reproduction strategy in response to rising temperature and CO₂
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 11-Jul-2025 02:10 ET (11-Jul-2025 06:10 GMT/UTC)
The azuki bean beetle is a common pest of stored beans and peas. Researchers at Kyushu University have found that when beetles infected with Wolbachia bacteria are exposed to elevated temperature and carbon dioxide they tend to produce larger eggs to enhance the survivability of their offspring. Interestingly, these larger eggs gave rise only to male larvae.
The environmental impact of nine pesticides, commonly used in grape cultivation, may have been significantly underestimated, suggesting current pesticide risk assessment criteria need updating.
Severe weather events, such as heavy rainfall, are becoming increasingly commonare on the rise worldwide. Reliable assessments of these events can save lives and protect property. Researchers at the Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have presented developed a new method that uses artificial intelligence (AI) to convert low-resolution global weather data into high-resolution precipitation maps. The method is fast, efficient, and independent of location. Their findings have been published in npj Climate and Atmospheric Science: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41612-025-01103-y
Adding lime to agricultural soils can remove CO2 from the atmosphere, rather than cause CO2 emissions, claims new research. The findings, based on over 100 years of data from the Mississippi River basin and detailed computer modelling, run counter to international guidelines on reducing agricultural emissions.
How molten carbon crystallizes into either graphite or diamond is relevant to planetary science, materials manufacturing and nuclear fusion research. A new study uses computer simulations to study how molten carbon crystallizes into either graphite or diamond at temperatures and pressures similar to Earth’s interior, challenging the conventional understanding of diamond formation.