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An evolutionary biologist's take on death, fear and suicide... Somewhat depressing - but interesting read. "Worldwide, deaths from suicide now outnumber deaths from war and homicide together"

An evolutionary biologist's take on death, fear and suicide... Somewhat depressing - but interesting read. "Worldwide, deaths from suicide now outnumber deaths from war and homicide together"

When Stephen Fry goes in search of the rare kakapo - "the old night parrot of New Zealand" - he finds himself privy to an unusual mating ritual which is "one of the funniest things he has ever seen".

Ms Kiilerich said she regretted any offence the video may have caused, but the intent had been to tell "a nice and sweet story about a grown-up woman who lives in a free society and accepts the consequences of her actions".

no freedom of speech for evolutionary biology...

One of India's main tiger parks - Panna National Park - has admitted it no longer has any tigers. The report says wildlife authorities failed to see the impending disaster despite repeated warnings, and lost most of Panna's big cats to poaching. While this controversy rages, there have been reports that another national park in Madhya Pradesh, Sanjay National Park, which was included in the tiger project three years ago, also has no tigers left.

"We could then relate the scores back to the specific purrs," explained Dr McComb. "The key thing (that made the purrs more unpleasant and difficult to ignore) was the relative level of this embedded high-frequency sound."

A film by Yann Arthus-Bertrand about life, the universe and everything... it takes one and a half hour, but take the time to watch it for free on you-tube... it's fantastic. Beautiful footage, scientifically correct (as far as I can tell), keep watching through the pessimistic patch, there's an optimistic turn the last 15 minutes, and it's worth it.

"Bumblebees play a key role in maintaining food supplies - we rely on their ability to pollinate crops and we have to do all we can to provide suitable habitat and to sustain the diversity of bee species.

This week, evolutionary biologist, atheist and author Richard Dawkins talks about death, being good and the point of life.More from Five Minutes With...

Henry's owners are baffled as to where he finds his socksThe owners of a cat with a passion for socks are leafleting their neighbours in the Loughborough area to see if they are missing any.Henry, who is now a year old, has taken at least 57 socks although it is still unclear whether he gets them from washing lines or people's houses. He is often seen on a wall near his home with the hosiery in his mouth. But owner Louise Brandon said they had so far been unable to reunite the stolen socks with their owners. She said: "People must be going and replacing the socks because now we're getting new ones. "But no, there just seems to this endless supply of neighbourhood socks coming in and we don't know where they're coming from. So it's a bit embarrassing." Her four-year-old daughter Eloise added: "He steals socks every day."

a flickr set from copenhagen zoo

a flickr set from copenhagen zoo

The fictional Don Quixote fought windmills in Castilla-La Mancha - but in March they were one of the main sources of Spain's electricity. Wind power usually supplies around 12% of Spain's power, but fierce winds in the area during March helped the farms generate up to 40% of supplies. Steve Kingstone reports from Castilla La Mancha.

Some of the city's residents depend on weekly water rationsMexico City officials have shut down a main pipeline providing fresh water to millions of residents because reserves have fallen to record low levels.The closure, due to last 36 hours, will affect five million people, or a quarter of the city's population. Unusually low rainfall last year and major leakage are blamed for leaving reservoirs less than half full. Hundreds of water trucks have been deployed in the areas worst affected by the cuts. The local government says it will carry out emergency repairs to the water supply network. More than 50% of the water carried by the pipeline leaks out before it reaches its destination. This is the third time the capital has faced such a drastic form of water rationing this year, the BBC's Stephen Gibbs in Mexico City reports. It has been deliberately timed to coincide with Easter weekend, when many residents, or at least those who can afford to, leave the city, our correspondent says. Mexico City was once a floating city, built on a spectacular chain of volcanic lakes, and flooding used to be its main environmental threat. But since the lakes were finally drained in the 1960s, the city has been struggling with its water supply, our correspondent says.

But for now, with the rebel group deeply implanted in the forests and mountains of DR Congo, those weapons are also used to extort taxes and minerals from local diggers and traders, reaping profits worth millions of dollars a year.

One childcare expert said hundreds of children may have been drugged in the care system across the UK throughout the 70s and 80s, potentially subjecting them to the same health risks as those learnt about by the BBC.

Police suspicions were based on traces of identical female DNA they found at 40 crime scenes but swabs used to collect DNA samples were contaminated by an innocent woman working in a factory in Bavaria.

The lights go out in Sydney as cities around the world prepare to switch off. Millions of people worldwide are being urged to switch off lights for an hour, in what is described as the biggest climate change protest ever attempted.The initiative, Earth Hour, was begun in Sydney two years ago by green campaigners keen to cut energy use. Correspondents say the aim is to create a huge wave of public pressure to influence a meeting in Copenhagen later this year to seek a new climate treaty. Critics describe the event as a symbolic and meaningless gesture. The switch-off is expected to take place in more than 3,400 towns and cities across 88 countries, at 2030 in each local time zone. Earth Hour was launched in 2007 as a solo event in Sydney, Australia, with more than two million people involved. Last year's event claimed the participation of 370 cities. This time Sydney was one of the first places to switch off. The BBC's Nick Bryant described a city where skyscrapers were hard to make out against the night sky. Locations taking part this time include Edinburgh Castle in Scotland, the Bird's Nest Stadium in Beijing and the Egyptian Pyramids. Fast-food giant MacDonald's has pledged to dim its "golden arches" at 500 locations, while celebrities such as actress Cate Blanchett and Archbishop Desmond Tutu have promised support. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon backed the initiative in a video posted this month on the event's YouTube channel. "Earth Hour is a way for the citizens of the world to send a clear message," he said. "They want action on climate change." People are invited to provide blogs and short video clips on how they spend their time.

(link to article in Danish) We have had gay marriage for 20 years (registered partnerships) and today we also got a law allowing adoption by gay parents - following the example of Sweden. It's only a symbolic victory for gay rights because most of the foreign countries supplying children for adoption will not give them to gay couples anyway, but in principle, they now have the right to adopt. - reminds me of a scene in 'life of Brian' where one of the characters who is a man is granted the RIGHT to bear children... - anyways, I've seen some interesting articles in the debate both for and against, both by adoptees and adopting parents... about whether the child's needs are the focus or the gay parents' needs. I think as some have pointed out that some actual data on how adopted children thrive in different families would help focus the debate on whether there are problems and find out what the problems are and how to sort them out. One of the adoptees pointed out that there is a high risk of suicide and mental illness among adopted children of other ethnicity more than among those adopted by ethnically similar parents. I didn't realize that. She also said that because homosexuality is illegal and considered amoral in most of the birth countries of adopted children, they would have a much harder time going back to visit their biological parents or just get to know their birth-culture. Apparently it was already legal to adopt your registered partner's biological children, since there were 158 such adoptions last year.