A global meta-analysis led by Dr Zareena Khan and Professor Gemma Harvey from Queen Mary University of London analysed data from 64 studies covering 61 species of wild animals across freshwater and terrestrial environments.

The researchers found that animal activity altered geomorphic processes by an average of 136 percent in freshwater ecosystems and 66 percent in terrestrial environments.

A team at Helmholtz Munich and the Technical University of Munich (TUM) has developed a new microscopy technique that can distinguish lipid species in living cells – in particular cholesterol and sphingomyelin – and map them without the need for chemical labeling. By combining mid-infrared illumination with optoacoustic detection, the method reads the lipids’ natural spectral fingerprints, eliminating the need for specific fluorescent tags, which are laborious to develop and may interfere with lipid function. The team reports its results in the journal Nature Methods.