9 h. ago African Union joins calls to end use of Mercator map that shrinks continent’s size

Member states back Correct the Map campaign that urges governments and organisations to use more accurate mapThe African Union has backed a campaign to end the use by governments and international organisations of the 16th-century Mercator map of the world in favour of one that more accurately displays Africa’s size.Created by the cartographer Gerardus Mercator for navigation, the projection distorts continent sizes, enlarging areas near the poles like North America and Greenland while shrinking Africa and South America. “It might seem to be just a map, but in reality, it is not,” the African Union Commission deputy chair, Selma Malika Haddadi, told Reuters, saying the Mercator fostered a false impression that Africa was “marginal”, despite being the world’s second-largest continent by area, with more than 1 billion people. The union has 55 member states. Continue reading...

Politics

18 h. ago Magic mushrooms: how scientists discovered fungi are the secret ingredient for restoring the world’s forests

Healthy fungal networks help trees and plants grow, making them key to successful reforestation. The only problem? Almost nothing is known about this subterranean ecologyEven in midsummer, the ancient hazelwoods on the Hebridean island of Seil are cool and quiet. Countless slanted stems of hazel support a thick canopy, which blots out the sun and blankets everything below in a sort of “fairytale darkness”, says Bethan Manley, a biologist at the Wellcome Sanger Institute.Moss and lichen coat branches threaded with honeysuckle, forming a great dome above you, adds David Satori, a researcher at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. Continue reading...

Events

37 h. ago Africa is much bigger than you think. Here’s how you’ve been misled

A world map drawn in the 1500s is to blame

Politics

53 h. ago Hidden key revealed van stashed with dodgy cigarettes and vapes behind shop

Officers found a key hidden in a secret compartment within a shop which unveiled over £10,000 worth of illicit gear

Politics

5 d. ago Mapped: What parts of Ukraine does Russia control as Trump suggests land swap for peace?

Donald Trump’s administration says it believes Ukraine’s hopes of forcing Russia out of occupied territory are ‘unrealistic’

Politics

7 d. ago Mapped: France’s largest wildfire in 75 years could ‘reignite at any time’

The inferno devastated an area of southern France the size of Paris after erupting on Tuesday afternoon

Events

8 d. ago Tourists evacuated as France continues to battle biggest wildfire since 1949

The fire has already swept through an area one-and-a-half times bigger than Paris

Events

9 d. ago Mapped: Wildfires in France and Spain as huge blazes break out in 40C European heatwave

Mediterranean countries are a growing wildfire hotspot, with scientists warning that climate change is driving increasingly hot and dry summers

Events

9 d. ago Secret government docs reveal 'utter devastation' if Hiroshima bomb was dropped on London

A blast the size of Hiroshima would render London a flattened wasteland, killing 50,000 people and leaving 400,000 homeless, according to secret government maps

Politics

1 week ago Wildfires mapped: Where will be affected by smoky conditions this week?

Blazes burning across Canada are sending air quality plummeting in Detroit, Chicago, New York and other major U.S. cities

Events

1 week ago Is this London's most prolific shoplifter? Romanian mum of three, 20, who police say stole £300,000 of Boots cosmetics by hiding them in the secret pockets of her voluminous skirt

Bianca Mirica, 20, admitted 30 charges of theft from branches of Boots across London between December 2023 and May 2024. In just six months, she stole £120,000.

Economics

4 w. ago World's oldest map shows secrets from 3,000 years ago with Babylon at centre

The Babylonian map is known as the Imago Mundi and holds the title of the oldest known map in the world as it shows the world as the ancient Babylonians knew it

Politics