BBC Science & Environment
The swan sanctuary wetland fighting climate change
The global campaign to restore the "soggy secret weapon" that can combat against climate change.
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Dispatches
Curious stories and events from around the world.
← Latest dispatchesTuesday, 10 November 2026
Monday, 9 November 2026
Smithsonian Magazine
Neolithic Cannibalism Wasn't an Act of Desperation. Almost 1,000 Skeletal Fragments From Caves in Southern Spain Show How Eating Human Flesh Was a Continual Practice
More than five decades after hordes of prehistoric bones were unearthed from three caves in Granada, new forensic techniques show how communities continued to consume their dead across distinct cultural eras
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Smithsonian Magazine
Humans May Have Been Getting High on Weed 2,800 Years Ago. Cannabis Seeds and Hair With Traces of THC Were Found in an Ancient Tomb
A tomb discovered in Siberia and associated with Scythians—a nomadic, horse-riding people that once roamed the Eurasian steppe—might provide the earliest direct evidence of cannabis use
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Smithsonian Magazine
The Panama Canal Has an Unusual Ecosystem, Flowing From Fresh Water to Salt Water and Serving as a Home to Crocodiles, Manatees and Sea Squirts. New Intruders Pose a Growing Threat to the Waterway
The species that occupy this artificial channel are transforming, thanks to a shifting environment and invading marine creatures. The Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute is tracking what happens next
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Saturday, 7 November 2026
BBC Science & Environment
One of the year's most prolific meteor showers visible in the night sky throughout November
The Leonid meteor shower, known for its bright and fast meteors continues through November.
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Friday, 6 November 2026
Smithsonian Magazine
Where Did Stonehenge's Mysterious, Six-Ton Altar Stone Really Come From? Geologists Rule Out the Scottish Hypothesis as the Search Deepens
A comprehensive investigation of the sandstone megalith’s "geological fingerprint" suggests it did not originate in northeast Scotland, as a surprising study concluded in 2024, sending scientists back into the field to track down the…
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Smithsonian Magazine
Stolen During the Nazi Occupation of Orléans, France, This Painting Was Rediscovered After 86 Years With Help From Wild West-Inspired 'Wanted' Posters
The Musée des Beaux-Arts d'Orléans is on a mission to retrieve hundreds of missing artworks from its collections. It recently tracked down a 17th-century painting by Dutch artist Willem Cornelisz Duyster right before it went to auction in…
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Smithsonian Magazine
This Wooden Wardrobe in Pompeii Remained Sealed for Nearly 2,000 Years. Archaeologists Just Opened It for the First Time
The ancient cabinet held a pair of tweezers, a perfume bottle, an incense burner and ceramic vessels. But the most impressive find was a necklace sporting at least 24 amulets shaped like deities, plants and body parts
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Smithsonian Magazine
For Centuries, Cave Visitors Walked Right by 280 Ice Age Engravings. The Newly Discovered Rock Art Is Rewriting Catalonia's Prehistory
Prior to the discovery, rock art in northeastern Spain was "very scarce," one archaeologist says. The drawings show dozens of animals, as well as more abstract shapes, which are distinct from other Paleolithic styles
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Smithsonian Magazine
Strange Gas in Mars' Atmosphere Hints the Red Planet Is Still Volcanically Active—and Points to Places to Search for Alien Life
Cracks along a giant Martian volcano, possibly above a magma chamber, might be spewing magmatic gases into the atmosphere, according to a new study. The fissures might host environments akin to Earth's hydrothermal vents, where life on…
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Smithsonian Magazine
Michelangelo Used These Custom, Multi-Headed Brushes While Painting 'The Last Judgment' to Replicate His Intricate Sculpting Techniques
While restoring the Sistine Chapel, researchers discovered wavy groupings of brushstrokes which indicated that the artist used the special brushes to create a distinct crosshatching pattern
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BBC Science & Environment
US rockets firm eyes up mothballed Highland spaceport
Colorado-based Leap is looking at the spaceport near Tongue as its first launch site outside of the US.
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Smithsonian Magazine
The Real Story Behind the 504 Sit-In for Disability Rights, the Longest Peaceful Occupation of a Federal Building in American History
Organizers like Judy Heumann pressured officials to implement the first federal legislation protecting disabled Americans from civil rights violations. "Being Heumann," a new film by director Siân Heder, dramatizes the 26-day demonstration
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Smithsonian Magazine
Fossil Footprints in Brazil Hint at a Cougar-Size Mammal That Walked Among Dinosaurs. It's Another Sign That Some Early Beasts Grew to Impressive Sizes After All
Don’t think of all Mesozoic mammals as meek and tiny—alongside the terrible lizards, some were giants in their own right
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Wednesday, 4 November 2026
BBC Science & Environment
Typhoons batter East Asia as El Niño makes Pacific 'burn with fever'
Even for countries where typhoons are a way of life, the last few months have brought unusually wild weather.
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Tuesday, 3 November 2026
BBC Science & Environment
Scientists detect signals at the smallest scale ever explored
Researchers have detected signals from the smallest distances ever probed.
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Sunday, 1 November 2026
BBC Science & Environment
'Rok' solid recognition for Slovenian space scientist
Two men from the Armagh Planetarium and Observatory have had asteroids named in their honour in recognition of their work.
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