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Exterior shot of the Natural History Museum in London on a sunny day

Million-year-old skull could change evolution timeline

A digital reconstruction of a million-year-old skull suggests humans may have diverged from our ancient ancestors 400,000 years earlier than previously thought and in Asia not Africa, a new study said this morning.

News Lens • 26 Sep

Moose Emil nibbles on a branch as he walks around in Saint Poelten, Austria

Moose captured in Austria and sent to Czechia border

A young male elk known as Emil has been captured in Austria and taken to the border with the neighbouring Czechia after spending the summer roaming across central Europe.

News Lens • 23 Sep

A view of the exterior of the Pompidou Centre in Paris

Pompidou Centre in Paris to close for 5-year renovation

Paris's Pompidou Centre, which houses one of the world's most significant modern art collections in one of the most celebrated modern buildings on the planet, is to shut to visitors today for a major five-year overhaul estimated to cost almost half a billion euros.

News Lens • 22 Sep

Sister Bernadette (right), 88, and Sister Rita (left) take a morning snack after the mass outside the convent chapel of the Goldenstein castle

'Finally back home': Rebel nuns reclaim Austrian convent

Three rebel nuns in their 80s have taken back their Austrian convent after fleeing from their care home, with supporters flocking to the nunnery yesterday in a show of solidarity.

News Lens • 21 Sep

Tomoki Kojima explains his team's findings at the Ig Nobel prize ceremony

Painting zebra stripes on cows among Ig Nobel winners

Painting zebra stripes on cows to fend off flies, lizards' favourite pizza toppings and how booze helps you speak another language: these were some of the winners at the Ig Nobel prizes, which celebrate the sillier side of science.

News Lens • 19 Sep

Gilded Wooden Mask from the coffin of Amenemope

Egypt says stolen pharaoh's bracelet melted down for gold

Egyptian police said they arrested a museum employee and three alleged accomplices after a priceless ancient gold bracelet was stolen from Cairo's Egyptian Museum, sold for about €3,400 and then melted down.

News Lens • 18 Sep

The image showcases a close-up of a piranha swimming gracefully through the water, its sharp features and sleek body in clear focus. The fish's menacing teeth are visible, subtly hinting at its predatory nature, while its streamlined form allows for smoot

Sri Lanka to ban predatory pet fish to protect ecosystems

Sri Lanka will ban four species of predatory ornamental fish including piranhas that have escaped into rivers and lakes, devastating native species and threatening fragile freshwater ecosystems, the fisheries minister has said.

News Lens • 17 Sep

A man holds a handful of freshly picked olives

Olive oil from Cyprus seeks to energise soccer players

Soccer players are lining up for a fiery kick - not on the pitch, but in the form of a searing shot of olive oil from Cyprus.

News Lens • 16 Sep

Photo shows one of the docked boats belonging to the Global Samud flotilla which is sailing to Gaza

Watch: Life on board aid flotilla bound for Gaza

The aid flotilla bound for Gaza is preparing to set sail again this weekend, after reported drone attacks and poor weather delayed its progress.

Ireland • 15 Sep

Scrutiny on Thai zoo grows after keeper killed by lions

A Thai zoo has temporarily closed its predator zone after lions mauled a zookeeper to death, wildlife officials have said, as scrutiny on the park's animal treatment intensified.

News Lens • 12 Sep

Elderly people perform exercise in a Tokyo park in Japan

Japan centenarians reach record high at nearly 100,000

The number of people aged 100 or older in Japan has hit a record high of nearly 100,000, with almost 90% of them women, ministry data showed.

News Lens • 12 Sep

Albania appoints 'corruption-free' AI-generated minister

Albanian Prime Minister Edi Rama has said he has appointed the world's first AI-generated government minister to oversee public tenders, promising its artificial intelligence would make it "corruption-free".

News Lens • 11 Sep

A koala in the Wildlife Retreat at Taronga Zoo in Sydney

Australia approves chlamydia vaccine for koalas

Australian regulators have approved a chlamydia vaccine for koalas, researchers said, as they seek to stamp out a sexually transmitted disease responsible for about half of all deaths of the fluffy marsupial in the wild.

News Lens • 10 Sep

Swedish group wants music artists paid for AI training

A Swedish organisation representing musicians said it signed the "world's first collective AI licence for music", aiming to compensate artists for use of their work in training artificial intelligence.

News Lens • 09 Sep

Super Mario collector Kikai posing for photographs ahead of the 40th anniversary of the Nintendo mascot

40 years of 'Mario' games that have grown up with fans

Surrounded by thousands of objects bearing the likeness of Nintendo's moustachioed plumber, 40-year-old Kikai reflects that his "life would be totally different without Mario" who also marks four decades this week.

News Lens • 09 Sep

The moon is seen as it is nearly completely shrouded by the shadow of the earth as it heads into a total Lunar eclipse known as the "blood moon" from the Samburu National Reserveon

'Blood Moon' rises as Kenya looks to stars for tourism

Under the Kenyan stars, tourists and tribal dancers looked up at the rust red "blood Moon" as the east African country launched a new tourism initiative promoting the country's night skies.

News Lens • 08 Sep

A tapestry featuring Saint of the Catholic Church Carlo Acutis hangs from a balcony of St. Peter's Basilica in between three statues

Pope declares 'God's influencer' first millennial saint

The canonisation of the first Catholic saint of the millennial generation, Carlo Acutis, and an Italian Catholic activist Pier Giorgio Frassati is set to take place in St Peter's Square at the Vatican.

Europe • 08 Sep

A man holding a cross arrives with other members of the LGBTQ+ community holding a crucifix in rainbow colours

Vatican receives first LGBTQ pilgrimage

In a first for the Vatican, more than a thousand LGBTQ Catholics and their supporters are this weekend holding a pilgrimage, in what they are promoting as an important sign of diversity in the Church.

News Lens • 06 Sep

'God's Influencer' to become first millennial saint

An Italian teenager dubbed 'God's Influencer' for his efforts to spread the Catholic faith online will become the first millennial saint on Sunday at a canonisation attended by thousands of pilgrims.

News Lens • 06 Sep

Close-up of a woman's eye with a dilated pupil

100 micrograms of LSD could keep anxiety at bay - study

A 100 microgram dose of a pharmaceutical version of the hallucinogenic drug LSD could help stave off the symptoms of severe anxiety for weeks, a study suggests.

News Lens • 05 Sep

A member of the Argentine Federal Police stands outside the house that was raided after a photo showing a 17th century masterwork allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector

Couple held as Argentina searches for Nazi-looted artwork

Argentine police are investigating a deceased Nazi's daughter and son-in-law after a 17th century painting stolen from a Dutch Jewish art collector was recently spotted in a property ad before promptly disappearing

News Lens • 02 Sep

Earlier this year the iceberg known as A23a was more than twice the size of the greater London area

World's biggest iceberg could disappear 'in coming weeks'

Nearly 40 years after breaking off Antarctica, a colossal iceberg ranked among the oldest and largest ever recorded is finally crumbling apart in warmer waters, and could disappear within weeks

News Lens • 04 Sep

Mushrooms playing instruments using electrical currents

Fun guys: Musicians using mushrooms to make melodies

Two musicians in England have been plugging mushrooms and plants into sensors, which translate their electrical language into musical notes, in a bid to make new music.

News Lens • 02 Sep

People ride past a portrait of the late communist leader Mao Zedong on Tiananmen Square

China parade inspires military-themed haircuts for kids

A hair salon in Beijing has been offering patriotic and military-themed haircuts and styles to children in the weeks leading up to China's largest military parade to date to mark the 80th anniversary of the end of World War Two.

News Lens • 29 Aug

Nazi-looted masterwork spotted in Argentina property ad

A 17th century masterwork allegedly stolen by the Nazis from a Dutch Jewish art collector re-emerged this week in pictures of a house for sale in Argentina, only to disappear again.

newslens • 27 Aug