Author: OMN AI

Great white sharks in the Mediterranean Sea face a growing threat of extinction, researchers warn. Illegal fishing contributes heavily to their decline, putting one of the ocean’s top predators at risk. US scientists, collaborating with the UK-based Blue Marine Foundation, conducted research revealing that some of the most threatened shark species are being sold openly in North African fish markets. Great whites belong to more than 20 Mediterranean shark species protected under international law, making it illegal to fish or trade them. Despite these protections, researchers monitoring ports along the North African Mediterranean coast documented at least 40 great white…

Rough play may look chaotic, but research shows it plays a vital evolutionary role.Across species, rough-and-tumble play helps animals learn social rules and emotional control. Ethologist Gordon Burghardt witnessed this firsthand decades ago.A lion cub and a neighbor’s dog quickly understood each other’s playful signals. Despite millions of years of separation, both animals used shared cues to avoid real conflict.This surprised researchers at a time when animal play was dismissed as unscientific. Studies now show play follows consistent rules across mammals and birds.Players restrain force, take turns winning, and stop when one signals discomfort. Neuroscientist Sergio Pellis says children follow…

A year of reckoning awaits the world’s oceans. After tidal shifts in 2025, 2026 will test whether promises to protect distant seas turn into action. From the High Seas Treaty and deep-sea mining to international ocean summits and EU marine policy, this year could define the future of our blue planet. Euronews reviews the challenges and opportunities that lie ahead. High hopes for the high seas On 17 January 2026, the high seas will gain a legal framework that finally curbs decades of lawlessness. The High Seas Treaty, formally known as the BBNJ Agreement, comes into force. It promises to…

Barn owls have successfully bred at a new nest box at Hengistbury Head in Dorset.The birds were first spotted in March at the reserve managed by Bournemouth Christchurch and Poole Council. Despite dry summer conditions, the pair raised a single chick.The council said the outcome showed habitat restoration efforts are working. A licensed expert ringed and weighed the chick in July.Cameras monitored it until it successfully fledged. The breeding forms part of a wider recovery plan led by Dorset Council and BCP.Barn owls are a priority species under the local nature recovery strategy. Earlier this year, Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole…

Ben Martill often watches deer roam outside his window. “In the past few years, there have been loads of them,” he says. But Ben does not live in a forest. He lives in a block of flats on a busy road in Horsham, West Sussex. Deer now appear on the main streets and traffic islands at night. “There are herds running up Crawley Road,” he adds. “Loads congregate at night on the traffic island of the bypass.” Ben, 33, works as a gardener. Some of his customers have faced deer breaking fences and stripping tree bark. He has also had…

Across the French Alps, abandoned ski resorts are becoming a new and unsettling landscape.As rising temperatures push snowfall higher up the mountains, hundreds of slopes have closed for good. The Céüze 2000 resort shut in 2018 after 85 years of operation.Staff expected a temporary closure, leaving rotas and maps behind. Six years later, the buildings remain frozen in time.Céüze is now one of at least 186 French ski resorts that have permanently closed. Unreliable snow made the resort financially impossible to run.Opening costs reached €450,000 per season, far exceeding income. Artificial snow was considered but dismissed as a short-term fix.Local…

From napping while flying to taking four-second catnaps to survive parenting, animals have evolved astonishing ways to sleep. Every animal with a brain needs sleep – and even some without brains sleep. Humans sleep, birds sleep, whales sleep, even jellyfish sleep. “Sleep is universal, even though it is very risky,” says Paul-Antoine Libourel of the Neuroscience Research Center in Lyon, France. When animals fall asleep, predators can strike. Yet the need for sleep forces every creature to rest, even in dangerous situations. Animals in extreme environments sleep in unusual ways: they steal seconds for parenting, doze during long migrations, or…

Dr Kate McLean-MacKenzie, a designer and researcher at the University of Kent, is mapping how cities smell.She believes scent is a missing sense in how people record and share their experiences. For more than a decade, she has led “smell walks” in cities around the world.Participants document what they smell, how strong it is, and the memories it triggers. The results become visual maps and cultural stories rather than scientific measurements.Cities mapped include Paris, Glasgow, Amsterdam, Kolkata and Kyiv. McLean-MacKenzie says smells reveal hidden narratives about daily life and place.One participant even described stale beer on New York pavements as…

For the first time in over five centuries, a wild beaver has been spotted living freely in Norfolk, England. The animal was captured on a wildlife camera on the River Wensum at Pensthorpe, a nature reserve near Fakenham, as it moved logs to build a lodge—its above-ground burrow. Nearby evidence, including gnawed tree stumps and wood chips, confirmed the beaver’s activity and presence in the area. A Landmark Moment for Wildlife “This discovery is an exciting moment for Pensthorpe,” said Richard Spowage, the reserve manager. “The fact that it has chosen our land to establish a territory reflects the work…

India’s rapid solar expansion attracts global praise. Yet beneath the success, a serious environmental problem is emerging. In just over a decade, India became the world’s third-largest solar power producer. Renewable energy now drives national climate strategy. Solar panels cover vast parks and rooftops in cities, towns, and villages. Large utility-scale projects supply most solar electricity. Millions of rooftop systems also feed power into the grid. Government data show nearly 2.4 million households adopted solar under subsidy programmes. Solar growth reduced reliance on coal-fired power. Thermal and other non-renewables still supply over half of installed capacity. Solar now provides more…