Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project gets £707k of lottery funding

A project to help one of Europe's most endangered bat species has been awarded £707,000 of National Lottery funding. The Devon Greater Horseshoe Bat Project will restore habitats, protect 11 "priority roosts" and work with landowners. Devon is the species stronghold, with a third of the UK's 6,500 bats found in the county, project organisers have said. Funding has come from the Heritage Lottery Fund. 'Population crash' The project is being...

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Neutrino 'flip' wins physics Nobel Prize

The discovery that neutrinos switch between different "flavours" has won the 2015 Nobel Prize in physics. Neutrinos are ubiquitous subatomic particles with almost no mass and which rarely interact with anything else, making them very difficult to study. Takaaki Kajita and Arthur McDonald led two teams which made key observations of the particles inside big underground instruments in Japan and Canada. They were named on Tuesday morning at...

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New 'hog-nosed rat' discovered in Indonesia

A team of scientists have discovered a new species of rat in Indonesia. The species, which has been named Hyorhinomys stuempkei - hog-nosed rat - has "distinct and unique features uncommon to other rats", they said. Five of the rodents were discovered on Sulawesi island earlier in January by researchers from Australia, Indonesia and the US. Museum Victoria's mammal curator Kevin Rowe said the species was "previously undocumented". "We were on...

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Wild mammals 'have returned' to Chernobyl

Removing humans from what is now the exclusion zone around the damaged Chernobyl nuclear reactor has allowed wildlife to return, researchers say. They say a long-term census of mammals in the area has shown that wildlife numbers are likely to be "much higher than they were before the accident". Professor Jim Smith of the University of Portsmouth led the study, published in the journal Current Biology. He stressed that this "does not...

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Plant uses raindrops to eat ants

A carnivorous pitcher plant uses power from falling raindrops to fling ants to their doom, biologists have discovered. The team, from the University of Bristol, found that raindrops kick off very fast vibrations in the lid of the plant's jug-shaped leaves. This propels ants from the lid into the pitcher trap below, where they drown and are consumed by digestive juices. The findings, published in the journal PNAS, are based on high-speed...

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Cacti facing extinction, study warns

Almost one-third of cactus species are under threat as a result of over-harvesting and illegal trade in the plants, a global study has concluded. Conservationists voiced concern, saying the level of threat to cacti was much greater than previously thought. The plants are a vital component of arid ecosystems, providing a source of food and water for many animals. The results of the assessment by the International Union for Conservation of...

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London Film Festival to open with focus on women in film

Final preparations are under way for the opening of the London Film Festival which, this year, puts the focus on the role of women in film. Carey Mulligan, Meryl Streep and Helena Bonham Carter will be among the stars on the red carpet later for the gala screening of period drama Suffragette. Some 240 feature films from 72 countries will screen over 12 days. Festival director Clare Stewart declared the 2015 programme as "the year of the strong...

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Rihanna opens up about Chris Brown assault

Pop star Rihanna says she feels she has been "punished over and over" by the attention surrounding her assault at the hands of ex-boyfriend Chris Brown. The singer has opened up about the repercussions of the 2009 incident in an interview with Vanity Fair. Pictures of her bruised face surfaced after the assault in Brown's car. Asked about becoming "a poster child for victims of domestic abuse", she said she felt forced to relive the...

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Anti-Renoir protesters picket Boston art gallery

Protesters have demonstrated outside a Boston art gallery that is showing work by Pierre-Auguste Renoir, complaining that he "sucks at painting". The group held placards bearing slogans like "God hates Renoir" and "Aesthetic terrorism" at the Museum of Fine Arts. The protest was organised by the "Renoir Sucks At Painting movement", who say the French impressionist's work does not deserve to be on show. They claim it will be "the first of...

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Bill Cosby sued by model over alleged sexual assault

A 25-year-old model has sued US comedian Bill Cosby, alleging he sexually assaulted her at the Playboy Mansion in Los Angeles in 2008. Chloe Goins claims Mr Cosby drugged and molested her when she was 17. The civil lawsuit accuses Mr Cosby of "childhood sexual abuse" and demands damages of at least $75,000 (£49,000). Ms Goins is also seeking a jury trial. Mr Cosby, 78, is facing a series of sexual assault accusations dating back decades....

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