Tokyo, Japan – Researchers from Tokyo Metropolitan University examined how the concept of biodiversity is taught in schools. In a survey of schoolteachers in Hachioji City, Tokyo Prefecture, they found that key topics were being covered extensively and evenly, though omissions of topics like mass extinctions stood out. Importantly, they discovered that personal experiences of nature strongly influenced what teachers chose to highlight. Their findings reveal the challenges of effectively teaching a core component of environmental science.

In the first international study of wildlife values, research led by Colorado State University found a distinct difference between Latin American views toward wildlife and those in the United States and Canada – and traced the divergence in views to European colonization centuries ago. The difference in values has important implications for wildlife management policies.

Blood tests to detect potential signs of prostate cancer likely reduce the risk of dying from prostate cancer, an updated Cochrane review finds. This is a shift from the previous version of the review, which did not find sufficient evidence that screening reduced prostate cancer deaths.

A major international study has found that contact with the natural world is linked to higher levels of life satisfaction – and we have our bodies to thank for unlocking this benefit.

The research analysed responses from 50,363 people aged 18 to 99, from across 58 nations, making it the largest multinational study of its kind ever carried out.

Led by Viren Swami, Professor of Social Psychology at Anglia Ruskin University (ARU), the study discovered that contact with nature helps people develop more positive body image, and it is this increased “body appreciation” that is responsible for greater life satisfaction.