Late historian's 3D map of Notre Dame can help France restore it to impressive detail

Digitally recording historical sites could serve as insurance in the case of disaster.

Photo credit: Dan Kitwood / Getty Images
  • Notre Dame, France's famous medieval cathedral, was severely damaged by a fire on Monday.
  • Fortunately, at least two recent projects have taken detailed 3D scans of the cathedral, which could help in restoration efforts.
  • As laser-scanning and digital imaging technology gets cheaper, some suggest we should digitally record historical sites in the event they get damaged, or worse.
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Culture & Religion

Five Hawks Down: watch the tragic migration of six Californian raptors

Tracking project establishes northern Argentina is wintering ground of Swainson's hawks

Image: @TrackingTalons / Ruland Kolen
  • Watch these six dots move across the map and be moved yourself: this is a story about coming of age, discovery, hardship, death and survival.
  • Each dot is a tag attached to the talon of a Swainson's Hawk. We follow them on their very first migration, from northern California all the way down to Argentina.
  • After one year, only one is still alive.
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World’s largest bee, thought to be extinct, found in Indonesia

The Megachile pluto is about four times the size of a honeybee.

Clay Bolt
  • The giant bee was first discovered in 1859, but since has only officially sighted once.
  • An international team of researchers set out to rediscover the bee in January.
  • Determining exactly when a species is extinct is difficult, especially for small animals like insects.
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Surprising Science

Lack of basic research hiding behind 'clean meat' hype

Despite tens of millions of dollars pouring into new technologies, a 'clean' burger remains elusive.

  • Tens of millions of dollars are funding projects to create a consumer-ready lab-grown burger.
  • Despite the hype, experts warn that a lot more research needs to be conducted.
  • Mainstream adoption of plant-based foods, however, is making lab-grown meat a welcome possibility.
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Surprising Science

The culprit in millions of bat deaths since 2006? A 'vampire' fungus.

White-nose syndrome is nearly as lethal to bats as the Black Plague was for humans.

Photo by Igam Ogam on Unsplash
  • White-nose syndrome has killed at least 6.7 million bats, though this estimate was made in 2012, and the current figure is almost certainly much higher.
  • Bats serve a crucial role in our ecosystem and economy, and white-nose syndrome is already pushing many species to the brink of extinction.
  • Researchers and scientists are working hard to develop novel methods to cure white-nose syndrome; a few methods have shown promise, but none have yet been deployed in the field.
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Surprising Science