Freshwater ecosystems have spent years under growing pressure from pollution, changing weather patterns and rising temperatures. Rivers and lakes in many parts of the world have been losing dissolved oxygen, placing fish, aquatic plants and countless smaller organisms under increasing strain. That broader pattern has often been presented as one of the more difficult environmental…

For centuries, one of the most extraordinary living giants in Asia stood unnoticed among the remote mountains of Taiwan. Hidden within rugged forests and protected by difficult terrain, the colossal tree escaped scientific documentation despite its immense size. Now, after years of painstaking exploration, researchers have finally located and measured what is recognised as the…