Philippa Kaur

Trade tariffs imposed by the administration of US President Donald Trump, along with retaliatory tariffs, could divert demand for soya-bean exports from the United States to South America. This could exacerbate deforestation in threatened biomes such as the Amazon and the Cerrado savannah.
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Half a century of caddisfly casings (Trichoptera) with microplastic from natural history collectionsTiny particles of plastic are everywhere today, but a discovery in a museum collection proves that this isn’t a new phenomenon. While combing through drawers of caddisfly specimens, researchers found evidence of microplastic particles being used as a building material by caddisfly larvae as far back as the 1970s and 1980s. This shows that microplastics were present in rural freshwater streams long before scientists started studying them in earnest.Subscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday. More

Finspan Designers: David Gordon & Michael O’Connell; Artists: Ana María Martínez, Catalina Martínez & Mesa Schumacher Stonemaier Games (2025)
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“This century-old cactus that stands on the uninhabited Isla Espíritu Santo, in the Gulf of California, Mexico, is like my very own field technician: the device that we’ve attached to it automatically collects data from tagged magnificent frigatebirds (Fregata magnificens) whenever they come within a 500-metre range. Every month, my team and I come by boat to retrieve the data, as I am doing in this picture with my student Joel Lopez (I’m on the right).In this project, we tagged 30 individual birds with GPS data-loggers, including 10 that live in the local mangrove trees, which host around 500 breeding pairs. Catching these birds is tricky, so we do it at night when they’re less active; we can dazzle an individual with a light and avoid disturbing others.The GPS tracking revealed that frigatebirds cross the Baja California Peninsula up to three times per day, an unusual behaviour for a seabird. On average, foraging trips last 14 hours and birds fly about 30 kilometres from the colony, with males venturing farther than females. One male even reached Clipperton Island in the Pacific Ocean, more than 1,500 km away, returning after a few days. Then he did it again exactly one year later.

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Download the Nature Podcast 26 March 2025In this episode:00:46 Newly discovered molecule shows potent antibiotic activityResearchers have identified a new molecule with antibiotic activity against a range of disease-causing bacteria, including those resistant to existing drugs. The new molecule — isolated from soil samples taken from a laboratory technician’s garden — is called lariocidin due to its lasso-shaped structure. The team say that in addition to its potent antibiotic activity, the molecule also shows low toxicity towards human cells, making it a promising molecule in the fight against drug-resistant infections.Research Article: Jangra et al.Nature News: New antibiotic that kills drug-resistant bacteria discovered in technician’s garden09:36 Research HighlightsA reduction in ships’ sulfur emissions linked to a steep drop in thunderclouds, and the epic sea-voyage that let iguanas reach Fiji.Research Highlight: Ship-pollution cuts have an electrifying effect: less lightning at seaResearch Highlight: Iguanas reached Fiji by floating 8,000 kilometres across the sea13:54 Assessing the nuances of humans’ biodiversity impactsA huge study analysing data from thousands of research articles has shown that the human impacts on biodiversity are large but are in some cases context dependent. The new study reveals that at larger scales, communities of living things are becoming more similar due to human influence, but at the smaller scale they are becoming more different. “These are generally unwanted effects on biodiversity,” says study author Florian Altermatt, “this is one more very strong argument that stopping and reducing these pressures to halt and reverse biodiversity declines is needed.”Research article: Keck et al.21:45 Briefing ChatHow a proposed green-energy facility in Chile could increase light pollution at one of the world’s most powerful telescopes, and how a calving Antarctic iceberg revealed an unseen aquatic ecosystem.Nature: Light pollution threatens fleet of world-class telescopes in Atacama DesertScientific American: Stunning Antarctic Sea Creatures Discovered after Iceberg Breaks AwaySubscribe to Nature Briefing, an unmissable daily round-up of science news, opinion and analysis free in your inbox every weekday.Never miss an episode. Subscribe to the Nature Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube Music or your favourite podcast app. An RSS feed for the Nature Podcast is available too. More