Monday, May 04, 2026

How coffee might help your body fight the effects of ageing

By Marta Iraola Iribarren

Published on 01/05/2026 - EURONEWS

Scientists have identified a mechanism through which coffee compounds can help the body against age-related decline.

Coffee protects the body from ageing by binding to the NR4A1 receptor, a protein linked to stress regulation, inflammation, and cellular repair, a new study has found.

While research has associated coffee consumption with longer life and lower risk of chronic disease, exactly how those benefits occur has until now remained unclear, the study noted.

Researchers at Texas A&M College of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences (VMBS) in the United States found that compounds in coffee bind to a receptor in the body known as NR4A1 , a protein linked to ageing, stress response, and disease

“Coffee has well-known health-promoting properties,” said Stephen Safe, from VMBS.

“What we’ve shown is that some of those effects may be linked to how coffee compounds interact with this receptor, which is involved in protecting the body from stress-induced damage.”

NR4A1 is a nuclear receptor that helps regulate gene activity in response to stress and damage in the body.

The reseachers described it as a “nutrient sensor”, a receptor that responds to compounds found in the diet and plays a role in maintaining health as the body ages.

The protein NR4A1 helps manage inflammation, energy levels, and tissue repair; all key factors in preventing conditions such as cancer and cognitive decline.

In their study, the researchers found that specific coffee compounds, particularly polyphenols and polyhydroxylated constituents, bind to the receptor, influencing its activity.

The team also found that these compounds could influence disease protection, including reducing cellular damage and slowing cancer cell growth.

When NR4A1 was removed from cells, those protective effects disappeared, supporting the receptor’s role in mediating coffee’s impact.

“If you damage almost any tissue, NR4A1 responds to bring that damage down,” Safe said. “If you take that receptor away, the damage is worse.”

Despite these findings, the researchers warn that coffee’s health benefits are not limited to one pathway.

“There’s still a lot of work to be done,” Safe said. “We’ve made the connection, but we need to better understand how important that connection is.”

The mechanisms behind the health effects of coffee are being widely investigated. A recent study found that moderate caffeinated coffee intake was associated with reduced anxiety, and improved vigilance and attention. Caffeine was also linked to a reduced risk of inflammation.

The research also found that decaffeinated coffee also saw consumers experience an improvement in learning and memory, suggesting that components other than caffeine, such as polyphenols, are responsible for these cognitive benefits

Dune-esque, record-breaking solar city puts Türkiye first place in the renewables race

By Rebecca Ann Hughes

Published on 04/05/2026 - EURONEWS

Experts say the nation is fast becoming a renewable pioneer for the region.

Türkiye is making impressive strides in its energy transition as it prepares to host the COP31 climate change conference this November.

The country is now home to one of the biggest solar facilities in the world as well as one of Europe's largest battery storage pipelines.

Although coal remains Türkiye’s largest source of power, the nation is on its way to becoming a renewable pioneer for the region, experts say.

Türkiye outranks EU for battery storage

A new report by energy think tank Ember reveals that Türkiye has quietly built one of Europe's largest battery storage pipelines, surpassing any EU country.

Since 2022, the country has required new wind and solar projects to be paired with equivalent battery capacity. This mandate triggered a record-breaking 221 GW of applications within months, with 33 GW already approved.

While the EU’s top storage markets, such as Germany and Italy, sit at 12–13 GW, Türkiye has created a pipeline equivalent to 83 per cent of its current wind and solar capacity.

"By mandating storage with renewables, Türkiye hasn't just increased its targets; it has created a massive investment signal that outstrips its European peers,” Ufuk Alparslan, the report’s author, says.

“If delivered, Türkiye’s battery pipeline will be the backbone of a new, clean regional energy hub.”

Türkiye’s sci-fi-esque solar facility impresses internet users

The report highlights that Türkiye has emerged as a significant model within its region in 2025.

Wind and solar reached a combined 22 per cent share of electricity generation, making Türkiye the undisputed leader among 16 countries in the Middle East, Caucasus and Central Asia.

It is the only country in this broader region where wind and solar have surpassed a 20 per cent share of electricity generation.

Türkiye is home to the largest solar energy facility in Europe. Kalyon Karapınar SPP has around 3.5 million solar panels spanning an area of approximately 20 million square metres, equivalent to the size of 2,600 football fields.

The Central Control Building was designed by Bilgin Architects. The giant rectangular prism is clad on the exterior with reflective silver panels, while inside there is a lush courtyard oasis open to the sky.

Images of the sci-fi-esque facility have impressed internet users, with one Reddit commenter suggesting it could feature in a new James Bond film and another calling it a “masterpiece”.

The project, which has been producing energy since 2023, generates nearly three billion kilowatt-hours of electricity annually, providing clean energy for the equivalent of a city of two million people.

‘Potential to be a pioneer for the entire region’

Despite its progress on solar, Türkiye still trails behind many European peers, ranking 15th in Europe for wind generation and 16th for total renewables generation. The country will still need to triple its current solar and wind capacity to reach its 120 GW target for 2035, a tall order.

Coal remains Türkiye’s primary power source at 34 per cent, with two-thirds of that production relying on imports.

Although production growth has begun to slow, it has yet to peak. While no new coal plants have been commissioned during the last three years, a 2025 purchase guarantee for domestic coal risks driving up coal generation in 2026, according to Ember.

However, its investments in renewables bode well for the future.

"Türkiye has a unique opportunity to turn its regional leadership in renewables into a global advantage," Alparslan says.

"By accelerating its storage projects and modernising its grid, Türkiye can finally break its coal dependency. Ahead of COP31, the country is proving it has the potential to move from the 'middle of the pack' in Europe to a pioneer for the entire region.

A new Haber–Bosch moment: Europe must rethink its fertiliser production

Copyright Jan Woitas/dpa via AP

By Magnolia Tovar, Head of the 'Technologies and Impact' division at the think tank ‘Future Cleantech Architects’, and a trained chemical engineer

Published on 04/05/2026 - EURONEWS

Europe must reinvent fertiliser production to cut agriculture's reliance on fossil fuels and protect jobs in industrial regions, writes Magnolia Tovar, a chemical engineer and expert at a climate innovation think tank, in an opinion piece for Euronews.

Half of the world's population is alive thanks to synthetic fertilisers. At the heart of modern agriculture lies ammonia. It is the key ingredient used to produce nitrogen fertilizers which sustain crop yields across the globe.
Developed in the early 20th century by German scientists, Fritz Haber and Carl Bosch, the industrial synthesis of ammonia transformed food systems and supported unprecedented population growth worldwide. It also helped turn Europe into a global leader in scientific and industrial innovation.
Today, however, the same process that once gave Europe an edge is now exposing it to growing economic, geopolitical, and environmental risks.

The modern food system remains dependent on fossil fuels

Ammonia production relies heavily on natural gas, primarily as feedstock to produce hydrogen. As a result, the modern food system remains dependent on fossil fuels. When gas prices rise, fertiliser production becomes significantly more expensive, undermining the competitiveness of European industry and increasing costs across the agricultural value chain.
Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine, this vulnerability has become impossible to ignore. In 2022, European gas prices surged more than tenfold, rising from historically low levels to record highs. Fertiliser plants across the continent, including industrial leaders like BASF, were severely affected by this shock. At the peak of the crisis, as much as 70 % of Europe's ammonia production capacity was offline.
The conflict in the Middle East has once again highlighted the risks of relying on gas imports and fossil-delivered exports to sustain our food system: roughly one-third of global fertilizer exports pass through the Strait of Hormuz, a critical gateway that proves highly vulnerable to disruption.

Europe's agriculture under pressure

Europe's rapidly eroding manufacturing base now carries strategic consequences. It increases reliance on fertiliser imports from countries like Algeria, China, Egypt, Russia, and the United States.
This creates a paradox: while European policymakers seek to reduce reliance on imported fossil fuels for important sectors like buildings or road transport, the continent risks becoming increasingly dependent on imported nutrients (produced elsewhere using the same fossil fuels).
Europe has been here before. Prior to the invention of the Haber-Bosch process, European agriculture relied heavily on nitrate imports from Chile, creating supply vulnerabilities that shaped geopolitical strategy. Today, the vulnerability is returning – this time it is driven by dependence on fossil fuels imports. Maintaining Europe's industrial leadership therefore requires a new wave of innovation.
There is also a climate imperative. Global ammonia production emits roughly 450 million tonnes of CO₂ each year – comparable to twice Spain's annual emissions. Cutting these emissions matters not only for climate targets, but also for the long-term resilience of food production.

Fertilisers produced using clean electricity

Europe has begun exploring low-carbon ammonia production using hydrogen generated from renewable electricity. Yet this pathway requires major new infrastructure for hydrogen production, transport and storage. That is expensive and risks being too slow.
More promising technologies could change the equation entirely. Emerging processes aim to produce nitrogen-based fertilisers using nitrogen from air, water, and electricity. This can eliminate reliance on fossil gas and potentially bypass hydrogen altogether. The technical details differ, but the goal is the same: to use clean electricity to produce fertilizers in a way that is more reliable, less polluting, and ultimately cheaper.
If these technologies succeed at scale, they could allow fertiliser production in more locations, especially in regions outside Europe where the renewable energy potential is even higher. Smaller and more flexible plants could complement existing large facilities, making supply chains more resilient and creating new industrial opportunities.
Relate

New fertiliser tech could protect jobs in industrial regions

This also matters for jobs. Europe's chemical industry supports hundreds of thousands of skilled workers, many of them in industrial regions that feel threatened by the energy transition. A new generation of fertiliser technologies could uplift and modernise this industrial base rather than simply see this industry migrating abroad.
As a first step, policymakers should support pilot plants and demonstration projects so that emerging technologies can move from the lab to commercial scale. Early deployment will not be cheap. But it is clear now more than ever that dependence on gas – with its recurring price shocks – is no longer viable. As renewable electricity expands and new production methods mature, costs are likely to fall. Europe already has strong capabilities in electrochemistry, engineering and industrial manufacturing. It is time to use them.
With fertilisers, Europe's energy and food sovereignty are closely intertwined. By investing in innovation in fertiliser production, Europe can reduce exposure to volatile gas markets, strengthen its industrial base, and build a more resilient food system. It can also help drive the global transition to cleaner industrial processes.
Europe's next Haber-Bosch moment is within reach.
Magnolia Tovar, Head of the 'Technologies and Impact' division at 'Future Cleantech Architects', is a chemical engineer with over 25 years experience in industrial decarbonisation and the energy transition across more than 20 countries.

The Kautilyan Spy As A Model For Modern Espionage – OpEd

May 4, 2026
By Ishmeet Kaur and Anushka Padmanabh Antrolikar

Espionage has always occupied a powerful place in the public imagination. Its appeal lies not only in intrigue and secrecy, but in its central role in shaping political outcomes. Contemporary cinema often draws on this fascination, but its deeper roots lie in a long intellectual tradition of statecraft. Dhurandhar, a spy-action film written and directed by Aditya Dhar, reflects this continuity. While it presents a contemporary account of espionage, it also echoes principles articulated centuries ago in the Arthashastra by Kautilya.

At its core, the film centres on espionage- the systematic training of individuals to infiltrate hostile territories and extract intelligence in service of the state. This raises a broader question: why does espionage continue to resonate so strongly? The answer lies in its historical depth. The practices depicted on screen are not new; they draw from a structured and enduring tradition of intelligence thinking. To understand this, one must move beyond contemporary narratives to the political and intellectual milieu of ancient Magadha, where Kautilya developed a systematic theory of espionage and governance.

Long before the architecture of modern intelligence took shape, Indian soil had already produced a formidable mind in covert strategy and statecraft– Kautilya. He was a master strategist and realist of extraordinary insight; he is widely credited with orchestrating the fall of the Nanda dynasty and laying the foundations of the Maurya Empire under Chandragupta Maurya. His political treatise, the Arthashastra, constitutes a vast repository of knowledge on governance, statecraft, diplomacy, and social order. Within this framework, Kautilya reconceptualises kingship not as dominance but as responsibility centred on the protection and stability of the state. Central to this vision is the institutionalisation of espionage through extensive network of gūḍha-puruṣa (गूढपुरुष). These includes agents such as kāpaṭika (कापटिक, fraudulent student), udāsthita (उदास्थित, ascetic), gṛhapatika (गृहपतिक, householder), vaidehaka (वैदेहक, merchant), along with specialsied operatives like tīkṣṇa (तीक्ष्ण, assassins) and rasada (रसद, poisoners), each trained in deception, manipulation, and intelligence-gathering to serve the interest of the state.

In this sense, the Kautilyan framework does not purely belong to the past but offers a conceptual vocabulary through which the art of espionage continues to be imagined and reinterpreted through a new lens. In its modern cinematic portrayal of espionage, Dhurandhar presents spies not as one-dimensional operatives but as composite figures who embody multiple layers of strategy, deception, and psychological depth. The film’s effectiveness is therefore not entirely the function of cinematic craft; rather, it appears to draw, perhaps unconsciously, from a much older reservoir of strategic thought rooted in the Indian subcontinent where a spy is envisioned not simply as an agent of action but as a carefully cultivated instrument of statecraft.

Set in the volatile landscape of Layari, Pakistan, the story follows Hamza, portrayed as an Indian spy on a covert mission, who infiltrates hostile territory and embeds himself in the town’s social and political fabric. His objective is clear: to dismantle the authority of the local goon/strongman Rehman Baloch, not through the pursuit of overt force or warfare, but rather through calculated intelligence, deception, and psychological manoeuvring. In doing so, Hamza’s character begins to mirror the sophisticated espionage framework articulated by Kautilya in the Arthashastra where the destabilization of adversarial structures is achieved through covert means rather than direct confrontation.

The typology and organization of Kautilya’s spies finds a striking resemblance in Hamza’s methods. He operates as a sanchāra (संचार), a wandering agent who moves across regions, gathering intelligence while maintaining fluidity of identity; an approach that enables deep infiltration into unfamiliar socio-political terrains.

Simultaneously, he embodies the qualities of a tīkṣṇa (तीक्ष्ण), a sharp and decisive operative willing to undertake high-risk missions, even at the cost of personal safety, reflecting the Kautilyan view of an ‘assassin spies’ for dangerous and decisive interventions. His adept use of disguise, manipulation, and strategic alliances further aligns him with the kapātika (कपाटिक), the deceptive agent skilled in embedding himself within enemy structures and gaining trust.

The film foregrounds the nuanced skill of disguise as Hamza assumes multiple roles such as camaraderie among his fellow gang members, bodyguard of Rehman Baloch and that of a husband strategically navigating intricate human relationships to establish his network in a more subtle yet resilient manner. This layered performance of identity reflects the Kautilyan emphasis on veṣa-dhāraṇa (वेषधारण), the deliberate adoption of disguised as suited to context, enabling spies to penetrate diverse social spaces without suspicion. His association with the Mohammad Aalam also known as the sodawala, who operates under the guise of a local vendor in Karachi’s Layari, function as a covert node of communication; a discreet meeting point where encoded messages are exchanged. This dynamic closely parallels with Kautilya’s conception of clandestine communication through saṃjñā (संज्ञा, coded signs) and gūḍha-lekhya (गूढलेख्य, secret writing), aṅgavidyayā (अङ्गविद्यया, communication through gestures and bodily signs), ensuring intelligence flows without detection. Much like the spies (gūḍha-puruṣa) described by Kautilya in the Arthashastra, who infiltrate society as merchants, ascetics, or householders, Hamza leverages proximity, trust, and familiarity as instruments of statecraft. His actions also echo the Kautilyan insistence on multi-layered espionage networks, where information is not only gathered but circulated, verified, and operationalised through interconnected agents.

Yet, the parallels extend beyond typology in the very institution of statecraft. Kautilya’s spies were not passive informants but were active instruments in reshaping politics. Hamza, similarly, does not observe the existing orders in Layari; by cultivating trust, embedding himself within circles of power, he embodies Kautilya’s emphasis on proximity to authority as a decisive tool of influence. In the Arthashastra, espionage is inseparable from political engineering; in Dhurandhar, this principle is cinematically reimagined. At the same time, Kautilya’s framework is anchored in a broader ethical vision of dharma, within which artha, derived from the root arth (to seek, to aim) is pursued not merely as a material gain, but as a means towards a stable and just order.

In contemporary terms, Dhurandhar brings espionage into public discourse, but it also reveals something more enduring: the persistence of Kautilya’s strategic imagination. The film’s depiction of surveillance, deception, and infiltration reflects principles articulated centuries ago in the Arthashastra. This convergence points to a deeper continuity in strategic thought. It is not a new concept; India has engaged with the practice of espionage for centuries. What is required, therefore, is a more conscious recognition of this intellectual legacy, one that moves beyond cinematic representation to acknowledge and highlight India’s long-standing contributions to the theory and practice of statecraft.

About the authors: Ishmeet Kaur, Post Graduate Scholar, School of Hindu Studies, Nalanda University.

Anushka Padmanabh Antrolikar, Post Graduate Scholar, School of International Relations and Peace Studies, Nalanda University.

After Rome: Genomic Insights From Southern Germany On The Formation Of Central European Societies

Anthropological analysis of a skeleton from the early medieval site at Altheim near Landshut at the State Collection for Anthropology Munich (SAM) (photo/©: Harbeck/SAM)

May 4, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Many of today’s villages and towns in Central Europe trace their origins to settlements that emerged after the collapse of the Western Roman Empire, often on former Roman territory or in the immediate vicinity of the Limes, the former imperial frontier. Since the nineteenth century this period was often associated with the idea of large migrating groups of Germanic peoples. However, historical research has long since moved away from the concept of a unified Germanic identity and large-scale migration events.

An international research team led by anthropologist and population geneticist Professor Dr. Joachim Burger from the Institute of Organismic and Molecular Evolution at Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz (JGU) has now analysed genomes of individuals from the former Roman frontier zone between 400 and 700 AD in southern Germany. Their results provide unexpectedly detailed insights into a period of major transformation. The findings have been published in the journal Nature.

The interdisciplinary study involved around sixty researchers from a range of European institutions, including JGU, the University of Tübingen, the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, the University of Freiburg in Germany, the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History, and several other institutions. The researchers come from fields such as population genetics, bioinformatics, anthropology, history and archaeology. The study focused on genomes from skeletal remains found in so called row grave cemeteries, burial sites that became widespread from the mid fifth century across northern Gaul, western and southern Germany, and as far as Hungary.
Two population groups in the Roman frontier region

In total the team analysed 258 genomes from present day Bavaria and Hesse and compared them with a reference dataset of around 2,900 ancient, early medieval and modern genomes from northern and southern Germany. The results show that even in the late Roman period, before the collapse of Roman rule, individuals were buried in cemeteries in what is now southern Germany whose genetic ancestry originated in northern Europe, for example at sites such as Altheim near Landshut and Büttelborn near Darmstadt. This is a surprising finding. At first glance it appears to confirm the established idea of a large-scale Germanic migration, but further analyses lead to a different interpretation.

According to Dr. Jens Blöcher, population geneticist at JGU and one of the two first authors of the study, people from northern regions had already moved south in small groups long before the end of the Western Roman Empire and had gradually adopted Roman ways of life. Many of them appear to have lived separately from the rest of the population, likely as agricultural workers, and tended to marry within their own groups, thereby maintaining the genetic signatures of their ancestry.

The other first author, Dr. Leonardo Vallini, also a population geneticist at JGU, adds that Roman administrative practices may have contributed to this separation. Land was often allocated to incoming groups under specific conditions, including restrictions on marriage, in order to manage integration and maintain control.

For the first time the research team also genetically characterised the population of a Roman military settlement. This population was highly diverse genetically, reflecting centuries of movement and exchange across Europe and even from Asia.
After the end of the Western Roman Empire the two population groups merged rapidly

Joachim Burger, senior author of the study, describes the period after around 470 AD as a turning point. With the collapse of Roman state structures insecurity increased and with it population mobility. People who had previously lived in cities or military settlements moved into rural areas, where they encountered groups with northern European ancestry. These groups formed new communities and began to bury their dead together in shared row grave cemeteries. Burger notes that there is continuity of population components from late antiquity, but also a clear process of merging between previously separated groups.

The old image of a large-scale Germanic migration is no longer supported

The new findings suggest a pattern of regional mobility and gradual integration. According to Professor Dr. Steffen Patzold, medieval historian at the University of Tübingen, the results – based on entirely new scientific data – confirm that the traditional view of large, coordinated migrations of Germanic peoples is inaccurate. Instead, the genomic data point to movements of smaller groups, families, or even individuals. Patzold emphasizes that the evidence indicates these movements were not mass migrations, but rather the result of smaller-scale relocations. The study was initiated jointly by Patzold together with his Tübingen colleagues, Professor Dr. Mischa Meier and Professor Dr. Sebastian Schmidt-Hofner.
The origins of European family structures

From the genomic data the researchers were able to reconstruct family relationships and show how new family structures emerged during this period of demographic change. According to Joachim Burger, the rapid formation of families across the two groups suggests a shared cultural framework, which he identifies as the late Roman cultural sphere. Long before the political end of the Roman Empire, both groups were already culturally connected through life within the imperial system.

The reconstructed family trees also provide detailed insights into household structures of the time. Households were mainly composed of nuclear families rather than extended clans. Marriages were monogamous, close kin marriages were avoided, and descent was traced through both maternal and paternal lines. According to Steffen Patzold, these patterns correspond closely to late antique written sources and demonstrate the lasting influence of late Roman social norms into the early medieval period.
Genetic foundations of southern Germany

From the seventh century onwards, these processes resulted in a population that is genetically very similar to that of present-day southern Germany. The northern ancestry component became increasingly prominent while both original groups contributed to the genetic structure of the region. According to Joachim Burger, this development shows how the upheavals of late antiquity gradually formed the basis of the population structure of central Europe that can still be observed today.

The study was funded by the German Research Foundation within the research group Migration and Mobility in Late Antiquity and the Early Middle Ages at the University of Tübingen and by the Swiss National Science Foundation. The collaboration included Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz, the University of Fribourg in Switzerland, the University of Freiburg in Germany, the Bavarian State Collections of Natural History, the Bavarian State Office for the Preservation of Monuments, the Hesse State Office for Monument Preservation, the Musée de l Homme and the French National Centre for Scientific Research in Paris, as well as additional partners in Germany, England, Spain, Italy, Austria, Serbia and Switzerland.

Iran Faces New Threat As Fall Armyworm Targets Crops

Larvae feed on corn leaves, highlighting the threat invasive crop pests pose to food security. Copyright: CABI

May 4, 2026
By Hazem Badr

The war in the Middle East is threatening to increase the risk of another belligerent threat—a devastating crop pest that could further undermine food security, scientists warn

The invasive fall armyworm feeds off more than 80 crops, but is most likely to attack maize, cutting yields by up to 60 per cent, according to the agricultural research organisation CABI (the parent organisation of SciDev.Net).

Native to the tropics of Latin America and fond of high temperatures, the insect has spread to Africa, Asia and Australia and was recently discovered in western Iran.

Now scientists are warning that disruptions to maritime and air travel in the conflict-stricken Gulf region could delay the response needed to contain the pest, with supply chains for agricultural inputs through the Strait of Hormuz cut off.

Asadollah Hosseini-Chegeni, a researcher from the department of plant protection at Iran’s Lorestan University, told SciDev.Net: “Ongoing conflict can significantly disrupt surveillance systems, coordination, and timely intervention.”

He warned that limited access to certain areas and reduced monitoring capacity could result in underreporting of outbreaks.

“These constraints highlight the importance of strengthening basic surveillance even under challenging conditions,” he said.

A study conducted by Chegeni and his team confirmed the presence of fall armyworm in Lorestan province, in the west of the country, but data on any damage caused to crops remains lacking.

The study, published in the June issue of the journal Asia Pacific Entomology, used genetic testing to identify larvae samples collected in maizefields.

Abdul Rehman, deputy director of project implementation at CABI, advises farmers to use locally available biopesticides, such as Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria and neem extracts, to protect their yields.

“Containment is viable via early scouting and biocontrol if acted on now,” he told SciDev.Net, highlighting the importance of training for farmers and agricultural extensions workers through programmes such as those offered by CABI.
Risk of spread

The discovery highlights the continued spread of fall armyworm and raises questions about its transmission routes and regional risks, according to Chegeni.

While such measures might be deprioritised under the weight of war, doing so could have serious consequences. Maize crop losses could reach up to 20-40 per cent, as has been the case in Africa, Rehman suggests.

He says rapid outbreaks are most likely in Iran’s warm, irrigated rice and maize-growing areas, such as the southwestern province of Khuzestan, where the pest could thrive. Studies have found optimal growth temperatures for fall armyworm larvae are between 25 and 35 degrees Celsius.

Mountainous Lorestan is unsuitable for the permanent settlement of the pest due to its harsh winter, but could be a starting point for outbreaks elsewhere, Rehman warns.
Rice and maize

The insect found in Lorestan has a genetic lineage associated with rice crops, meaning Iran’s 730,000 hectares of rice fields could be at risk, according to Rehman. However, field data indicates that maize is still the crop most targeted and damaged by fall armyworm.

“In Africa, rice is only occasionally affected despite the fact that it is claimed all the time that the rice strain is present, while in Asia, most damage is found on maize, not rice,” said Rehman.

He added that the damage could also extend beyond maize and rice crops, to wheat and barley in Syria and Lebanon, as well as sugarcane and vegetables.

Thaer Yasseen, regional plant protection officer for the Near East and North Africa at the FAO, told SciDev.Net: that while there is regional concern about the pest, it hasn’t reached “panic levels”.

“The emergence of the insect in a number of countries in the region in recent years has made it no longer a surprise to agricultural institutions, which now have tools for early detection, practical experience in identifying and dealing with the infestation, and developing an effective response protocol,” Yaseen said.

Such interventions, if deployed early, reduce the likelihood of widespread losses.

In the longer-term, Chegeni warns that climate change could expand the areas suitable for the pest to settle and increase its chances of surviving through the winter, potentially causing it to spread permanently across the Middle East.

However, Yasseen stresses that the level of risk is linked to the speed of response, efficiency of monitoring, and local climatic conditions, with widespread outbreaks likely to flare up rapidly under the right conditions if intervention is delayed.

“The danger is real, but it is containable, provided that monitoring continues, control tools are integrated, and effective agricultural coordination is maintained,” he added.

This article was produced by the SciDev.Net’s Middle East and North Africa desk.

New Study Uses Local News To Assess Wildlife Poaching In Romania

Bear caught in a snare in Covasna County. Photo credit: Silviu Chiriac (National Agency for Environment and Protected Areas, Vrancea County Environmental Directorate).

May 4, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Graceful, brown-eyed, and a staple of local folklore, the roe deer is one of Romania’s most iconic forest dwellers. But behind the serene image of these animals lies a hidden crisis: a new study reveals the roe deer is the most frequently poached mammal in the country, a finding made possible by turning to an unlikely source of scientific data: the local news.

Because Romania lacks a centralised official database for monitoring illegal hunting and fishing, researchers from the University of Bucharest analysed over 1,100 media reports from 2007 to 2024 to uncover the patterns of wildlife crime. The study, published in the journal Nature Conservation, found that ungulates and aquatic species are the primary targets of poachers, often driven by the lucrative trade in meat and animal products.

“We initially planned to map the scale of poaching in Romania using the data you would expect authorities to keep, things like police files, court records, and hunting inspectorate reports,” said lead researcher Andra Claudia Neagu, a doctoral student at the University of Bucharest. “What we ran into was a gap no one really talks about, since there is no centralised database for poaching in this country. That forced us to rethink the question. Where were these stories actually being told? The answer was the press.”

The research identifies the roe deer as the most reported victim of illegal hunting, appearing in over 22 per cent of analysed articles, followed closely by the wild boar at 16 per cent. Fish and aquatic species also face high risks, making up nearly 34 per cent of poaching reports, with the highest concentration of incidents occurring in Tulcea County, home to the ecologically rich Danube Delta.

“A poaching incident in a forest outside a small village rarely makes it into a national statistic, but it often ends up in a local news brief,” the research team explained. “On their own, these are footnotes. Put enough of them together and patterns emerge: where, which species, which season, which methods. What official records cannot capture, the local press often does.”

The study also highlighted a darker side of human-wildlife conflict: protected species like the brown bear and grey wolf are frequently targeted when they venture too close to human settlements. Researchers found that the poaching of these large carnivores is often fueled by a low tolerance among local communities and a lack of social acceptance.

Understanding the “why” behind these crimes is critical for reform. Neagu’s team found that poaching ranges from trophy hunting for status to subsistence fishing by families with few legal ways to earn a living.

“It changes almost everything, because there is no single ‘poacher’,” the team said. “Trophy poaching needs stronger enforcement and real consequences. Subsistence poaching needs alternatives that break the dependence on an illegal catch. And casual poaching needs education far more than punishment. Treating these three as the same problem is one of the reasons anti-poaching policies so often fail.”

As technology advances, the team sees both new threats and new opportunities. While poachers use increasingly sophisticated trapping and online sales channels, researchers believe artificial intelligence could be a game-changer for conservation by scanning public platforms for evidence of illegal activities.

“Poachers adapt just as fast as we do,” Neagu and her colleagues noted. “Some of the cases that made it into our dataset only came to light because someone online spotted an image, perhaps a trophy photo, and reported it. A tool trained to scan public platforms for exactly that kind of content could flag dozens more cases that slip through today.”

Ultimately, the study suggests that the most powerful tool for change is a shift in community mindset. Hotspots identified in the research, such as Tulcea for fishing and Bacau for ungulates, requires more public engagement.

“The biggest barrier to tackling it in Romania isn’t missing technology or weak laws. It is a quiet social tolerance,” the research team said. “If we had to pick one thing, it would be breaking the silence around poaching. If you care about wildlife, share what you know with the people around you. The more normal it becomes to treat poaching as a real problem, the less cover it has, and that is where real change starts.”

Research on the study, titled “Wildlife at risk: A media-based analysis of wildlife poaching in Romania,” was led by Andra Claudia Neagu, Steluta Manolache, and Laurentiu Rozylowicz.

Less Hunger, More Environmental Problems?

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people do not have adequate access to high-quality food. Changing this while also minimizing negative impacts on the environment is a challenge. Photo: Matin Qaim/University of Bonn

May 4, 2026
By Eurasia Review

In sub-Saharan Africa, many people are undernourished or malnourished. A new study by the Universities of Bonn and Ghana shows how rising incomes and urbanization are influencing dietary patterns of local populations. According to this, the wealthier segments in African countries are increasingly eating like people in Western industrialized countries. Although this improves their supply of important nutrients, it also has a greater negative impact on the environment. The study also looks at how this environmental damage can be minimized. It has been published in the journal ‘Sustainable Production and Consumption.’

One-third of the greenhouse gases emitted worldwide are attributable to food production and consumption. What we eat and drink therefore makes a significant contribution to global warming. Especially in Western industrialized countries, the typical dietary patterns are putting the climate and the environment at risk. “However, the environmental impacts are much lower in countries south of the Sahara,” emphasizes Prof. Dr. Matin Qaim from the Center for Development Research (ZEF) at the University of Bonn.

This is mainly due to two points, as the current study shows: Firstly, many people in Africa simply eat less because they cannot afford it. Secondly, animal-sourced foods such as meat, eggs, and milk are included in their diet relatively rarely. The production of these products is particularly harmful to the environment. At the same time, however, animal products are a rich source of protein and other nutrients. If they are consumed in greater quantities, this can therefore have a positive influence on nutritional status.

Nutritional data from 18,000 households evaluated

The researchers based their analysis on nutritional data from nearly 18,000 households in Ghana, Ethiopia, and Nigeria. This also included information on household income and on whether they lived in an urban or rural area. “We carried out what is known as a life cycle assessment for each food item consumed,” explains Qaim’s colleague Dr. Juliana Minetto Gellert Paris, the lead author of the study.

In doing so, efforts were made to determine as precisely as possible what impact the production of a food item has on the environment: How much land is required for cultivation? How much fertilizer is used? What proportion of it spoils because it does not reach the market quickly enough? How long are the transport routes, and how much fuel is required for this? “Using all of these factors, it is possible to calculate, for example, what quantity of greenhouse gases is generated during the production of one liter of milk or one kilo of maize or cassava flour,” says Gellert Paris.

High-income earners consume similar foods to those in the West

Until now, analyses of this kind have existed almost exclusively for industrialized countries. However, cereals produced in Ghana have different impacts on the environment than cereals from Germany. The production conditions differ significantly, so the same environmental effects cannot be assumed. Nevertheless, reliable figures have largely been lacking for sub-Saharan Africa until now. The current study changes this. It thus offers an in-depth insight into the environmental footprint of the dietary patterns in this region for the first time.

For many people in sub-Saharan Africa, meat, eggs, and milk are a luxury that they can rarely afford. This does not apply to high-income earners, however, as shown by the data: On average, their diets are similar to those of people in Western industrialized countries – with significantly more animal products, but also much more highly processed foods. Their consumption of soda, fruit juices, coffee, and tea was also considerably higher than that of poorer respondents. “A similar trend can be observed among those who live in urban areas,” says Qaim, who is also a member of the Transdisciplinary Research Area (TRA) ‘Sustainable Futures’ and the Cluster of Excellence ‘PhenoRob.’ “This even applies to those who do not earn quite as much.”

Calling for people to give up meat would be both arrogant and cynical

Rising incomes and urbanization are thus causing a change in dietary patterns in sub-Saharan Africa. “Up to a certain level, this is positive,” explains Gellert Paris: “The increased consumption of animal products, in particular, leads to a better supply of important nutrients.” However, this only applies up to a certain point: Too much meat harms not only the environment but also human health.

Around 1.3 billion people currently live in countries south of the Sahara. There are likely to be twice as many in 2050. “Supplying them all with high-quality foods is an urgent goal,” highlights the researcher. “Even if this should require the increased production of animal-sourced products. Given still high levels of undernutrition, it would be both arrogant and cynical to expect the people there to become vegetarians for the benefit of the environment.”

More negative environmental impacts

Overall, it is to be expected that the negative environmental impacts of food systems in sub-Saharan Africa will increase. Nevertheless, the researchers believe that these impacts can be limited – such as by increasing crop yields in agriculture. The less land is needed to produce a certain amount of food, the lower the environmental damage. It is also important to minimize losses. At present, some of the produce spoils before it ends up on a plate – for instance, due to a lack of ways to refrigerate the goods.

“Thanks to technological advancements, the environmental consequences can at least be reduced,” says Qaim. “Alongside this, however, policymakers should attempt to prevent our current Western lifestyle from spreading to African countries through education campaigns. After all, we are certainly not a good role model when it comes to sustainability.”

The Underestimated Role Of Rivers As A Source Of Greenhouse Gases

Farming along a river in Kenya. Higher nutrient input into rivers drives the accumulation of greenhouse gases worldwide. (Ricky Mwanake, KIT)

May 4, 2026
By Eurasia Review

Rivers worldwide are under severe stress: They are warming, losing oxygen and as a result emitting increasing amounts of greenhouse gases. Researchers at Karlsruhe Institute of Technology (KIT) have now quantified these global trends over a period of more than two decades. Their results show that rising temperatures and anthropogenic land use are fundamentally transforming river systems, with serious consequences for the climate. The findings have been published in Global Change Biology.

Rivers are habitats, sources of water, and shapers of entire cultural landscapes. Accordingly, the local impacts are severe when agriculture and industry place pressure on river systems. “Rivers also play a key role in the global climate system,” said Dr. Ralf Kiese of the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMKIFU) at KIT’s Campus Alpin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. “We are increasingly observing that rivers are becoming a significant source of greenhouse gases.” This is mainly due to biogeochemical decomposition processes involving microorganisms: Organic carbon and nutrients entering rivers from farming or wastewater are converted into carbon dioxide, nitrous oxide, and methane – greenhouse gases with an adverse effect on the atmosphere.

Machine Learning Complements Missing Data

For a first-time global quantification of these trends, the researchers combined measurement data with satellite maps and machine learning. Their study is based on water parameter measurements from more than 1,000 river monitoring sites. They linked these measurements with globally available satellite information on vegetation, radiation, and topography. Based on this combined data, computations using machine learning models revealed how these environmental factors affect water temperatures, oxygen levels, and increasing greenhouse gas concentrations. The researchers then applied the resulting relationship data to more than 5,000 additional catchments worldwide to reconstruct, for the first time, consistent time series from 2002 to 2022, even for regions where no measurement data was available.

The evaluations revealed definite global trends: Rivers are warming, losing oxygen, and becoming increasingly saturated with greenhouse gases. “On average, the oxygen content is decreasing by 0.058 milligrams per liter and decade, much faster than in lakes and oceans. At the same time, the emissions of carbon dioxide, methane and nitrous oxide are rising,“ said Dr. Ricky Mwanake of IMKIFU, who was mainly responsible for the computations. “Overall, we estimate that the additional anthropogenic emissions from rivers during the study period from 2002 to 2022 amounted to approximately 1.5 billion metric tons of CO₂ equivalent. These additional emissions weren’t accounted for in the existing global greenhouse gas budgets.”

Climate Change and Land Use Are Emission Drivers

Rapid changes are particularly evident in regions with expanding agricultural land use and urbanization, where rising water temperatures coincide with increased inputs of nutrients and organic carbon. This accelerates microbial processes and creates hotspots in which the adverse factors reinforce each other, leading to the accumulation of greenhouse gases in the water. As a result, rivers can become major emitters of greenhouse gases. “If we succeed in protecting rivers better by reducing inputs of harmful substances, this effect can be reversed,” said Mwanake. “This means that protecting rivers is nothing less than active climate protection.”

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