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India has conducted its first-ever survey of snow leopards, estimating that there are 718 of these big cats living in the country's mountainous regions. This accounts for approximately 10 to 15 percent of the global population. The survey, which took place between 2019 and 2023, was led by the Wildlife Trust of India. In other news, a synthetic material that imitates leaf structure has been developed, which could potentially hide objects from cameras in green areas. Additionally, a piece of mammoth ivory with carved holes found in Germany is believed to be a tool for making ropes, dating back 37,000 years and representing the earliest known evidence of rope-making. [Extracted from the article]

SPERM change how they swim in response to different conditions in the vaginal tract, a finding that may help improve fertility treatments. The tails beat fastest when the environment most resembled the area upstream of the vaginal tract, when sperm approach the egg. Farin Yazdan Parast at Monash University in Melbourne, Australia, and her colleagues looked at how bull sperm cells, which resemble human ones, move their tails while swimming through a mucus-like liquid, similar to that in the vagina. [Extracted from the article]

Surprising seismic activity on Mars The most powerful quake we have recorded on Mars was produced by tectonic forces from within its crust, not a meteor impact. The magnitude-4.7 quake was detected by NASA's InSight lander in 2022 and hints Mars is more seismically active than we thought (Geophysical Research Letters, doi.org/gsv8cs). Keep servers warm to save energy Data centres could save up to 56 per cent of the energy used on cooling by running at 41°C (106°F) rather than at 22°C (72°F), without significantly affecting performance (Cell Reports Physical Science, doi.org/ kz9v). [Extracted from the article]