Experts at Texas A&M; University tracked elephants roaming plains in Namibia for seven years to monitor their weather forecasting abilities. They believe the animals can hear low rumbles of thunder and the sound of heavy rain miles away to predict when wet weather is approaching. They think elephants’ forecasting abilities could be used to help conservationists monitor herds to keep them safe from poachers.
Environment Secretary Liz Truss tells farmers to start growing fruit and vegetables and remove 'blights on countryside'.
Environment Secretary Liz Truss tells farmers to start growing fruit and vegetables and remove 'blights on countryside'.
The woman with RAINBOW VISION: Artist sees 100 times more colours than the average person because of genetic condition
Concetta Antico, (pictured left) an artist in San Diego, California, has more receptors in in her eyes to absorb colour, enabling her to see – and paint – the world around her in a different way to most people. Two of her colourful creations are pictured right. The average person can see approximately one million colours, whereas tetrachromats have an extra cone class for colour vision that dramatically increases their range up to a potential 99 million. Antico's cones are structures in the eye that are designed to absorb particular wavelengths of light and transmit them to the brain.
'Forget Mars, we should live on the MOON': Chris Hadfield says the red planet is too big a leap for Nasa at the moment
EXCLUSIVE: Canadian Chris Hadfield (left) told MailOnline we should go back to the moon. The former astronaut says current plans to go to Mars (top right) are too ambitious. Instead we should be looking to live on the moon for 'generations'. He also responds to comments from Nasa chief Charles Bolden last week who said he had 'raised the bar' for astronauts. Hadfield does not think he put pressure on astronauts to engage more (Hadfield is shown during a spacewalk in 2001 bottom right). And he wants to see more cooperation in space in the future. Hadfield was speaking after the launch of his new book 'You Are Here: Around the World in 92 Minutes'.
The pocket-sized TOOLBOX: £50 survival kits provide all you need for different emergencies... including a zombie apocalypse
An inventor in Vancouver has designed multi-tool cylinders. Called VSSL Outdoor Utility Tools (left) they contain supplied for hikers and even those in the midst of a zombie apocalypse. These include matches (bottom right), ropes, razor blades, a first aid kit (top right) and much more. The cylinders come in four different forms, each with different tools. They are called supplies, shelter, first aid and zombie. Each costs about £50 ($80), although all four can be bought for £140 ($225).
There is a new selfie in town - and it's called the DONUT: Spinning headshots could soon be filling your Facebook news feeds
Forget your quest to take the perfect selfie, a new trend is set to sweep the internet that requires more than just a well-angled pout. Called the 'donut selfie', it involves using panoramic video shots of your head to create a seamless selfie that travels across different locations. The technique was created by ex-Microsoft employee from San Francisco, Karen Cheng, while she was experimenting with sweeping camera motions. The social media star has since released a video that shows the camera spinning around her head, with the scenery changing each time from her workplace, to a train station and even her bed.
Will we be using nuclear fusion power by 2025? Lockheed Martin announces major breakthrough 'that could solve world's energy crisis'
Nuclear fusion has been described as the 'holy grail' of energy, a source of power that could solve the world's impending fuel crisis. And we may be a step closer to achieving it after Lockheed Martin announced a 'breakthrough' in developing a power source based on the technology. In this top left image, neutrons released from plasma (seen here in purple) will transfer heat through reactor walls to drive a turbine. The Maryland-based company said the first reactors, small enough to fit on the back of a truck, could be ready for use in a decade. The bottom left image shows a more traditional fusion reactor design. The right image shows the magnetic coils inside the compact fusion experiment.
Hackers release 100,000 photos and videos intercepted from Snapchat, in huge trove that includes child pornography
Forget barbeques, this outdoor stove cooks an entire meal in just 10 minutes using nothing but SUNLIGHT
The gadget, known as the GoSun Stove, absorbs heat from the sun to reach temperatures of 290°C (554°F). Its Ohio-based creators claim it can safely cook hot dogs, eight egg omelettes, frozen foods, fish fillets, muffins, stirfrys and even raw meat. The device is 2ft (0.6 metres) long and 2.25 inches (5.7cm) in diameter and can handle more than three pounds (1.4kg) of food or fluid. The core to the technology of the GoSun Stove is the solar evacuated tube that acts as the stove's cooking chamber. When clouds interrupt, the food keeps on cooking with the heat stored inside the vacuum tube. A 'GoSun Sport' costs £175 ($280), while a 'GoSun Mini' costs £80 ($128).
'CT scan' of the universe: 3D animation reveals evolution of galaxies over 10.8 billion years
Researchers led by the Max Planck Institute of Astronomy in Germany have observed a 'pencil beam' of the universe's cosmic web (main). The resultant 3D map shows the distribution of matter in one region of space. This 'cosmic web' shows where matter is most densely concentrated. It shows regions before galaxies formed, and so predicts their formation. This is the first time the cosmic web has been mapped at such a vast distance - in this case 10.8 billion light-years from Earth. The researchers made the map using the Keck I telescope in Hawaii (inset). It could be used to help understand how the universe took shape.
Is this the most extreme case of head lice EVER? The video will certainly make your skin crawl...
A video shows a mother combing millions of squirming insects out of her daughter's hair, which experts have identified as head lice. Head lice, also known as pediculosis capitis, are tiny insects that live in human hair, which grow to the size of a sesame seed. They feed by biting the scalp and feeding on blood and multiply rapidly. Ms Dee Wright, founder of the Hairforce salons which offer a specialised ‘Lice Assasins’ service said this is one of the more extreme cases she has faced before in her salons. However, in extreme cases lice can form 'nests' in which they clump together, fighting for survival. The lice could be harming the child's health, she said, as lice carry bacteria.
Will.i.am finally unveils the Puls - just DON'T call it a smartwatch: Device contains SIM to make calls but it's only got a 5-hour battery life
The device, (pictured centre) which has a curved screen and Sim card reader built into the distinctive cuff design, was unveiled by Will.i.am (left) at Salesforce.com's Dreamforce event in San Francisco. Two years in the making, the Puls smartwatch boasts an array of apps and a voice-controlled personal assistant. It has 16GB of memory, 1GB of RAM, speakers, 3G and Wi-Fi connectivity as well as GPS for maps and a pedometer and accelerometer for fitness apps. The watch runs on an Android-based operating system using a Qualcomm Snapdragon processor and comes in four colours (shown right).Like Apple's Siri, Windows' Cortana and Google Now, Puls includes a voice-controlled assistant. Called AndeedA, it is described as the 'virtual personality and the soul of Puls' which can be used with popular apps such as Facebook and Twitter. Will.i.am said: 'Puls represents my passion for, and my mission to marry design and advanced technology ? to create a new breed of wearable device that leapfrogs what is currently on the market. It took two years to develop, with the rapper using his own money to fund the project.
Apple's iPhone 6 crowned fastest mobile on the market: Handset beats Samsung's Galaxy S5 in independent speed tests
Independent researchers at Which? magazine in London, tested the processing speeds and performance of the latest phones from Apple, Samsung, HTC and LG. Apple's iPhone 6 came out on top in the poll, ahead of the firm’s supersized iPhone 6 Plus and Samsung’s Galaxy S5 (all pictured). To put the phones through their paces, researchers used ‘Geekbench 3 software’ to calculate a phone’s speed.
Colouring in history: Digital artists 'paint' black and white photographs to bring people and places of the past back to life
There is something about black and white photography that can instantly transport you back in time. Their subjects often appear shrouded in mystery, with grey shading making them appear part of a shadowy world very different to the one we live in today. Now artists have begun drawing the dark veil back from these figures, to bring them out of the murky past and into vivid reality. Pictured is 'The March on Washington' that took place on 28 August 1963 in Washington D.C. as part of civil rights movement. Here Martin Luther King gave his famous 'I have a Dream' speech. These latest images have been put together by artists working with Italy-based printing firm, Pixartprinting, using basic Photoshop software alongside extensive research on the colour of historic objects.
How did this mysterious 'pyramid' form on comet 67P? Rosetta images reveal striking 80ft-structure on surface
The strange structure (right) was discovered by the European Space Agency's Rosetta probe (artist's impression bottom left) as it orbited comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko 297 million miles (478 million km) from Earth. At around 82ft-tall (25 metres), the structure is one of the larger boulders seen on the comet and could help scientists better understand how the comet formed. The 'pyramid' stood out among a group of boulders on the lower side of 67P/C-G's larger lobe – an area that has reminded scientists of the famous pyramids at Giza near Cairo in Egypt. Esa has now named the structure Cheops, after the largest of those pyramids, the Great Pyramid (top left), which was built as a tomb for the pharaoh Cheops around 2550 BC.
- Eclipse of the solar farms: Environment Secretary Liz Truss tells farmers 'no more handouts for ugly fields of glass...grow veg!'
- Dinosaurs breathed through their noses to cool their BRAINS – and assessed their surroundings using their heavy, moist sniffs
- 'Forget Mars, we should live on the MOON': Chris Hadfield says the red planet is too big a leap for Nasa at the moment
- The app that lets deaf people 'hear': Software turns smartphone into a real time speech translator
- Elephants, the weathermen of the animal kingdom: Mammals can spot storms from 150miles away
- The X-37B has landed! Top-secret space plane lands on California coast after almost TWO YEARS in orbit - and the government still refuses to reveal what it was doing
- What heaven's really like - by a leading brain surgeon who says he's been there: Read his testimony before you scoff...it might just shake your beliefs
- The once in a million year flypast of Mars: Nasa prepares to observe close encounter with 'dawn of man' comet as it passes just 87,000 miles from the red planet on Sunday
- Taking on the grocery store: Amazon launches fresh food delivery service in Brooklyn
- Alexander the Great-era tomb's chariot to HELL: Latest images of mystery mosaic shows Persephone being driven to the underworld
- Snapchat adverts are here: Firm says first sponsored posts to appear this weekend as it admits 'we need to make money'
- Let there be light! Cathedral swaps stained glass windows for SMARTPHONES to create laser ethereal show
- Not so dark after all! Dark matter particles may FINALLY have been found - and they are coming from the core of the SUN
- Are eco-friendly bulbs BAD for the environment? LEDs attract 50% more insects and could damage ecosystems
- Oculus THRIFT: Budget £25 virtual reality headset revealed - but you have to strap a smartphone to your face
- Minecraft's MEGACITY: Man spends two years crafting pixelated metropolis from 4.5 million blocks
- The world's thinnest tablet: Apple launches 0.2inch thick iPad Air 2 and retina iMac - and reveals you'll be able to use your iPhone as a credit card from Monday
- What heaven's really like - by a leading brain surgeon who says he's been there: Read his testimony before you scoff...it might just shake your beliefs
- The X-37B has landed! Top-secret space plane lands on California coast after almost TWO YEARS in orbit - and the government still refuses to reveal what it was doing
- Indian cancer patient forced to have his upper jaw removed gets entirely new set of teeth built by a 3D printer
- The pocket-sized TOOLBOX: £50 survival kits provide all you need for different emergencies... including a zombie apocalypse
- The once in a million year flypast of Mars: Nasa prepares to observe close encounter with 'dawn of man' comet as it passes just 87,000 miles from the red planet on Sunday
- Ascent of Asimo: From a clunky pair of legs to a football playing, disco dancing robot friend who can even pour you a drink
- The woman with RAINBOW VISION: Artist sees 100 times more colours than the average person because of genetic condition
- Is this proof that vegetative patients ARE aware of their surroundings? Brainwaves reveal 'fingerprint' of consciousness in people thought to be 'beyond hope'
- Alexander the Great-era tomb's chariot to HELL: Latest images of mystery mosaic shows Persephone being driven to the underworld
- Are eco-friendly bulbs BAD for the environment? LEDs attract 50% more insects and could damage ecosystems
- Minecraft's MEGACITY: Man spends two years crafting pixelated metropolis from 4.5 million blocks
- The Iron Man 3D printed prosthetic hand designed to make children feel like a superhero
- Elephants, the weathermen of the animal kingdom: Mammals can spot storms from 150miles away
- Not so dark after all! Dark matter particles may FINALLY have been found - and they are coming from the core of the SUN
- 'Forget Mars, we should live on the MOON': Chris Hadfield says the red planet is too big a leap for Nasa at the moment
- Snapchat adverts are here: Firm says first sponsored posts to appear this weekend as it admits 'we need to make money'
- Let there be light! Cathedral swaps stained glass windows for SMARTPHONES to create laser ethereal show
- MOST READ IN DETAIL
VIDEO GAMES
THIS WEEK'S TOP TEN VIDEO GAMES
The discovery of a terrifying sea monster? No, this writhing mass of tentacles caught off the Singapore coast is just a bizarre relative of the starfish
The Basket star (Gorgonocephalus caputmedusae) was caught off the coast of Singapore and continues to wave its arms out of water in the video shot by businessman and fisherman Jr Saim. The creature can live around 6,564 ft (2 km) below the waves, but typically favours life between 50 ft (15 metres) and 500 feet (152 metres) below sea level. It has five arms radiating from a central disk, like other members of the echinoderm phylum, which includes starfish, sea urchins and brittle stars. But they differ from starfish, for example, because each arm branches out into countless flexible others, which can be used by the creature to create a tangled mesh designed to ensnare plankton and even small crustaceans.
You can stand under my AIR-brella: Hi-tech umbrella creates an invisible ‘force field’ above you to blow rain away
A Chinese inventor is seeking funding for his Air Umbrella gadget. It is a replacement for regular umbrellas, using air instead of fabric. The sceptre-like device blows out air at the top to make a 'force field'. This protects the person or people underneath from rain. Air is drawn in by the top of the device and fired out again at the sides. Prices start at £55 ($88) but it won't be available until December 2015.
Want to know exactly what type of spider is invading your home? There's an app for that
Mummy's MRI scan reveals 2,500-year-old Siberian princess died from acute breast cancer - and smoked cannabis to dull the pain
The remains (top)were dug from a permafrost burial chamber on the high Ukok Plateau in 1993. A scan of her remains, (bottom right), showed asymmetry in her mammary glands, hinting at cancer. Dr Andrey Letyagin (bottom left) who worked on the study said: 'I am quite sure in the diagnosis - she had cancer. She was extremely emaciated. Given her rather high rank in society and the information scientists obtained studying mummies of elite Pazyryks, I do not have any other explanation of her state. Only cancer could have such impact.' Her actual cause of death may have been from a secondary factor - possibly an injury from her fall from which she initially survived, but was probably bedridden.
The hottest six months in history? April to September 2014 were the warmest since records began, Nasa claims
Washington DC-based Nasa says April to September (data shown) was the hottest middle period of a year on record. Their findings were backed up by the National Climatic Data Center. April, May, June and August were hotter than they have ever been. July, meanwhile, was the fourth warmest it has been since 1880. It is the hottest middle six months of a year since record began. The temperatures were based on global averages across land and sea. And it's likely that 2014 will rank as the hottest year on record.
Clouds as you've never seen them before: Incredible pictures taken by astronaut on International Space Station show different cloud formations from above
Alexander Gerst, middle, really has his head above the clouds. The German astronaut is currently aboard the International Space Station where he uses his down time to take stunning pictures of cloud formations. In the top left image you really get a sense of where Mr Gerst is taking his pictures from; bottom left, the clouds form a zigzag pattern; top right a country is seen through a keyhole in the sky and bottom, day and night provide a perfect contrast.
A 21st century paper plane: £30 gadget transforms your folded creations into smartphone-controlled aircraft
A former pilot from Israel has created a gadget for paper planes. It attaches to the front (shown) and, using a propeller (bottom left), allows the plane to be steered. The gadget is controlled by an app (right) that can be used to tilt and turn. A rudder lets the user turn the paper plane in the air. Called PowerUp 3 the gadget, which charges with a USB cable (top left), is available now for £30 ($49.99).
Bizarre Siberian craters 'may solve the mystery of the Bermuda Triangle': Experts claim underground gas explosions caused the deep holes to appear
Earlier this year mysterious craters appeared in Siberia (shown top left and bottom left). And now scientists claim an underground gas explosion was to blame. They examined the largest crater and found evidence of gas hydrates. The theory could also explain why planes and boasts have vanished in the region known as the Bermuda Triangle (illustrated on the right). This is a hypothesised region where ships have gone missing on the west of the North Atlantic Ocean, although many say its existence is a myth.
Turn your chinwag into CHARGE: Jaw strap harvests energy from eating and talking - and could one day power your mobile
Tesla unveils 'the D': Smart dual-motor Model S can be 'summoned' remotely - and goes from 0 to 60 in just 3.2 seconds
During an event at Hawthorne Airport in Los Angeles, Mr Musk (pictured top right) announced that the 'D' (pictured bottom left and right) stands for 'dual motor.' The current Model S is a rear-wheel-drive car with one motor. The 'D' will have two motors - one powering the front wheels and one powering the rear wheels. The dual motor version of the P85 sedan will have a top speed of 155 mph (249 km/h), compared with the current 130 mph (209 km/h). It will accelerate from 0 to 60mph (96km/h) in 3.2 seconds, akin to sports cars. The updated Model S will steer itself back if it wanders from its lane, and brake automatically if it is about to hit something (in-car system pictured top left).
GADGET REVIEWS
iPhone woes mount as Apple pulls iOS 8 software update after users report major bugs that cause iPhone 6 to lose signal and data service
Are spiders getting bigger? Warm summer has caused arachnids to grow larger, say experts
SMARTPHONES? IT'S YOUR CALL
The ultimate non-iPhone smartphone guide...
Talk time: 9.5hr (7hr playback, 55hr music)
Spec: 3.7in (800x480 pixels) AMOLED screen, 16GB, 1.4GHz Windows Mango, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: This combination works wonderfully. It's a pleasure to use and Nokia's Drive GPS app is impressive. We've rated these iPhone alternatives from Ace down to Five - and the Nokia is at the head of the pack.
Talk time: 8.5hr
Spec: Android Ice Cream Sandwich OS, 1.2GHz dual-core processor, 4.65in (720x1,280) AMOLED screen, 5MP camera, 1080p video, 16GB memory
Verdict: It's got a beautiful screen, intuitive operating system and cool features like face-recognition security, but battery life doesn't quite match the hype.
Talk time: 6hr 50min
Spec: Windows Phone 7.5 Mango, 1.5GHz, 4.7in (480x800) screen, 16GB, 8MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: The Titan is slim, light and has the largest screen on any Windows device. Shame they didn't give it better screen resolution.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 1 GHz, 4.3in (800x480) screen, 8MP camera, 1080p HD video, 8GB memory
Verdict: The sharp lines and thin bezel give a professional look while the monochrome interface screams class. One for the fashionistas.
Talk time: 5hr 20min
Spec: BlackBerry 7 OS, 1 GHz, 2.45in (480x360) screen, 5MP camera, VGA video, 8GB memory
Verdict: Beautifully made and with a battery life most handsets would kill for, but the OS is limiting and even with its touch screen it can't compete.
Talk time: 7hr 35min
Spec: Android 2.3.4 Gingerbread, 1.4GHz, 4.2in (854x480) screen, 1GB internal, 8GB MicroSD memory (included), 8.1MP camera, 720p HD video
Verdict: Motorola take note, this is how you do slim and sexy. The camera is let down by a poor menu and awful shutter button, but Sony's social media widget 'Timescale' is a time-saving stroke of genius.
Talk time: 10hr
Spec: Android 2.3.5 Gingerbread, dual-core 1.2 GHz processor, 4.3in Super AMOLED (540x960) screen, 8MP camera, Full HD video, 16GB
Verdict: Light and impossibly thin, but even with its rigid Kevlar frame it feels limp and lopsided in the hand. Shame, as the screen is exceptional and the interface is bursting with neat tricks including the ability to resize the icons you use most.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread, 800MHz processor, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 512 MB internal memory, 2GB microSD card (included)
Verdict: Never going to induce envy but if you want smartphone functionality without budget busting it's hard to fault. Navigation is intuitive; battery life excellent.
Talk time: 4hr
Spec: Android 2.3 Gingerbread OS, 3.5in (800x480) screen, 5MP camera, 800MHz processor, 512MB memory, 2GB microUSB card, GPS
Verdict: The Vivacity is essentially the San Francisco II with iPhone looks, and while it lacks the fluidity of its more expensive cousins, you can get app-happy on a budget.
Talk time: 4hr 30min
Spec: Android 2.2 Froyo, 2.8in (240x320) screen, 2MP camera, 130MB memory, 2GB microSD card
Verdict: It might be cheap, small and pocketable but as a smartphone it's cramped, slow and the minuscule memory limits the number of apps.
Here comes the suns! Photographer travels through every time zone to capture 24 sunsets in ONE DAY
Brighton photographer Simon Roberts chased the sun around the plane to capture a picture of a sunset in all 24 time zones (collection pictured). In a plane with a pilot and co-pilot he travelled around the North Pole, which meant they could travel at a reasonable speed to keep pace with the sun. In one day he took a picture of the sun setting in all 24 times zones. They had to fly non-stop with only two opportunities to refuel. The feat was commissioned by the company Citizen Watch.
Nature's most disgusting defence mechanism? Baby spiders are filmed 'exploding' from their mother during an attack
The spiderlings' defence mechanism was filmed (screengrab pictured) by Mathew Duncan, of Chula Vista, California, when he captured two adult spiders in a jar. One spider is shown to scuttle aggressively towards the female before seemingly grabbing hold of her. But before the fight begins, the female (pictured bottom centre) appears to eject her babies (pictured scattered around the tub) from her back, showering them across the jar. In fact, the spiderlings (shown in red circles) jump off their mother's back as she is attacked. The spiders are probably a species of Pardosa, such as a wolf spider (shown inset).
All around the world... and beyond
British photographers Fiona Rogers and Anup Shah captured apes in Indonesia and Borneo - and highlighted how human our evolutionary cousins are.