All the stars celebrating Easter Sunday: From the Beckhams' sweet throwback snaps and bunny ears to Rochelle Humes' Maldives trip and Perrie Edwards' buttercup photo shoot
Rochelle Humes, 36, and husband Marvin, 40, flew out to the Maldives with their kids for a sun-soaked Easter trip, while TOWIE's Ferne McCann celebrated in Mauritius.
The Bees Are Disappearing Again
"Honeybee colonies are under siege across much of North America..." reported the New York Times last week. [Alternate URL here.] Last winter beekeepers across America "began reporting massive beehive collapses. More than half of the roughly 2.8 million colonies collapsed, costing the industry about $600 million in economic losses..."
America's Department of Agriculture says "sublethal exposure" to pesticides remains one of the biggest factors threatening honeybees, according to the article — but it's one of several threats. "Parasites, loss of habitat, climate change and pesticides threaten to wipe out as much as 70% or more of the nation's honeybee colonies this year, potentially the most devastating loss that the nation has ever seen."
Some years are worse than others, but there has been a steady decline over time. Scientists have named the phenomenon colony collapse disorder: Bees simply disappear after they fly out to forage for pollen and nectar. Illness disables their radar, preventing them from finding their way home. The queen and her brood, if they survive, remain defenseless.
The precise causes remain unknown.
Bee colonies have become even more vulnerable because of the increase in extreme weather conditions, including droughts, heat waves, monster hurricanes, explosive wildfires and floods that have damaged or destroyed the bees and the vegetation they pollinate. If that isn't bad enough, parasites — and other creatures researchers refer to as "biotic" threats that prey on bees — proliferate when there is damage to ecosystems.
All that means that the U.S. beekeeping industry has contracted by about 2.9% over the past five years, according to data collected by IBISWorld, a research firm. Annual loss rates have been increasing among all beekeepers over the past decade with the most significant colony collapses in commercial operations happening during the past five years.
The article notes that "compounding the troubles for the bee industry are recent federal cuts" proposed by DOGE to America's Department of Agriculture, "where researchers were studying ways to protect the nation's honeybees." And while federal policies like tariffs could make farming more expensive, "Beekeepers also often depend on immigrants to manage their hives and to help produce commercial honey..."
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Woman spends FOUR days waiting for a 'critical' 30-minute operation - as new Channel 4 documentary warns NHS A&Es are at breaking point
Filmmakers went behind-the-scenes at Lancashire's Royal Blackburn Hospital and filmed patients in need of vital surgery - routinely bumped off the emergency list and rescheduled for the following day.
Coachella 2025 weekend two WORST dressed: Cynthia Erivo leads the list with bizarre lace frock
Weekend two of Coachella is underway, and, as usual, stars and influencers alike are making a splash with some truly bizarre looks.
The Apprentice winner Dean Franklin 'faces huge fine in rogue trader probe' after air-con firm is accused of missing key licence
He recently became Lord Sugar's new business partner after winning The Apprentice 2025.
The rich and Rat City: Locals in Birmingham's bin hell claim they are forced to live in a dump... while wealthy neighbours had their rubbish picked up LAST WEEK
It is like walking through a post-apocalyptic wasteland.
Easter BINNIES! As rubbish bags continue to pile high in Birmingham SEVEN council workers are seen emptying one car full of litter as strikes continue
Staff were based at several mobile refuse collection vans at Birmingham Central Mosque Car Park on Sunday to help clear the overflowing streets of waste.
Snake wrapped around bird's beak is so insane people think it's AI - can you see what is really going on?
A mind-blowing photo of a snake wrapping around a bird's beak mid-flight is going viral - and the internet can't decide if it's a real moment or some slick AI-generated art.
Tranquil Disney-like scene takes a horrible twist as trail cam shows black bear pounce on Bambi
A recent Trailcampro YouTube video captures a rare, chilling moment as a black bear hunts a newborn whitetail fawn, highlighting predator-prey interactions.
Tricky-looking brainteaser is really easy... can you spot the pattern in equations and solve it in 50 seconds?
A baffling mindtwister requires outside-of-the-box thinking and keen pattern-identifying skills to get to the bottom of it.
Top doctor reveals the biggest medical myth we've all fallen for... and it's cost us billions
This long-believed medical myth spawned the $8.4billion diet market, produced generations of cardiologists advising against certain foods and fueled a $47 billion statin market.
I contracted a rare disease that's been linked to the Covid vaccine and lost my ability to speak
Vanessa Abraham, a 45-year-old mother, had spent over 15 years helping children overcome speech obstacles and teaching them how to talk when one day, she lost her own voice
I have rare brain condition that means I'm 'severed' like characters from hit Apple TV show
In the show Severance, people get brain surgery to split their memories between work and their personal life. But there's a real-life brain condition that's similar to this fictional procedure.
Celebrity Big Brother's Daley Thompson, 66, ruffles feathers after he calls Chris Hughes, 32, and JoJo Siwa's friendship 'performative'
Before Danny was evicted from the iconic house, he warned TOWIE 's Ella Rae Wise , 24, that people were 'pairing up for air time' - a comment believed to be directed at Chris, 32, and JoJo, 21.
Is There a Greener Way to Produce Iron?
"Using electrochemistry, University of Oregon researchers have developed a way to make iron metal for steel production without burning fossil fuels..." the University of Oregon wrote last year. "Decarbonizing this step would do roughly as much to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as converting every gas-guzzling vehicle on the roads to electric... If scaled up, the process could help decarbonize one of the largest and most emissions-intensive industries worldwide," replacing carbon-spewing industrial blast furnaces.
Paul Kempler, their research assistant chemistry professor, added "The reason we got excited about this chemistry, is that our reactants are two things that are very cheap: saltwater and iron oxide." And this week he announced that "We actually have a chemical principle, a sort of guiding design rule, that will teach us how to identify low-cost iron oxides that we could use in these reactors."
"Those reactions conveniently also produce chlorine, a commercially valuable byproduct," writes SciTechDaily, in a new follow-up report this week:
In their latest study, the researchers focused on improving the process by identifying which types of iron oxides make the reaction more cost-effective, an essential step toward scaling the method for industrial use.... In lab tests, the difference was striking: "With the really porous particles, we can make iron really quickly on a small area," Goldman said. "The dense particles just can't achieve the same rate, so we're limited in how much iron we can make per square meter of electrodes...."
To take their process beyond the lab, Kempler's lab is working with researchers in other fields. A collaboration with civil engineers at Oregon State University is helping them better understand what's needed for the product to work in real-world applications. And collaboration with an electrode manufacturing company is helping them address the logistical and scientific challenges of scaling up an electrochemical process. "I think what this work shows is that technology can meet the needs of an industrial society without being environmentally devastating," Goldman said.
"We haven't solved all the problems yet, of course, but I think it's an example that serves as a nucleation point for a different way of thinking about what solutions look like. We can continue to have industry and technology and medicine, and we can do it in a way that's clean — and that's awesome!"
Read more of this story at Slashdot.
Israel sacks deputy commander after it admits 'professional failures' over the killings of 15 Gaza aid workers by IDF troops
An Israeli investigation into the killings of 15 Palestinian medics last month in Gaza by Israeli forces said Sunday it found a chain of 'professional failures'
The eye-watering secrets of Jeff Bezos's no expense spared Venice wedding extravaganza: Sources tell ALISON BOSHOFF the lowdown on everything from the all-star guest list (featuring Donald Trump) to Lauren Sanchez's dress designer
The world's second richest man has chosen Italy's historic 'Floating City', Venice, for his wedding in June to his pneumatic second wife.
Popular '80s star from famous acting dynasty is unrecognizable as he rides his motorcycle...can you guess who?
This star of the 1980s and beyond was spotted earlier this week while taking his motorcycle out for a spin with other enthusiasts around Los Angeles.
Entire town outside Yellowstone is up for sale for a rock bottom price
An entire town just outside of Yellowstone National Park has gone up for sale for a shockingly low amount in a rare opportunity less than an hour from the park's entrance.
Fleet of 75 firefighters tackle huge Birmingham factory inferno
The fire service initially sent eight fire engines to the scene on Warwick Road, Sparkhill, at 7.15am, but quickly increased the level of support upon realising the scale of the blaze.