Contraceptives used to control grey squirrels

And other stories from the stranger side of life

A squirrel with its lunch

Scientists are using oral contraceptives to control grey squirrel populations in the UK, the BBC reported. Grey squirrels, which are accused by the government of “untold damage” to woodland ecosystems and native red squirrel populations, are lured into feeding boxes only they can access, using pots containing hazelnut spread, which are spiked with contraceptives. Grey squirrels have driven the UK’s native red squirrel to the verge of extinction across much of the country.

Asparagus prediction turns out to be wrong

Building blocks of life found in Milky Way

The likelihood of life on other planets has been raised after the building blocks of life were found floating near the centre of the Milky Way. Experts have discovered that organic molecules, known as nitriles, are common in interstellar clouds, boosting the theory that similar life-sparking particles “hitchhiked a ride to Earth,” said The Telegraph. The scientists said their findings raised the prospect of life evolving “in other places in the galaxy under favourable Earth-like planetary environments”.

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