EU will limit the use of palm oil as car fuel but won’t stop it
The European Union will make only minor tweaks to “renewable” energy policies that are actually increasing greenhouse gas emissions and driving deforestation
Europeans now burn more palm oil in their cars than they eat
Palm oil consumption in the EU jumped by 7 per cent in 2017 because it is increasingly used as a biofuel – driving the destruction of orangutans’ habitat
Chimp evolution was shaped by sex with their bonobo relatives
Some chimpanzee populations gained useful DNA from interbreeding with bonobos, and one may even have become more gentle and “bonobo-like” in its brain structure and behaviour
Ape ‘midwives’ spotted helping female bonobos give birth
When female bonobos went into labour, other females gathered around to keep them safe, swatting away flies and even seemingly trying to catch the baby as it emerged
Bonobos barely use their opposable thumbs when climbing trees
Apes and humans are famed for their opposable thumbs, but our close cousins the bonobos regularly swing through trees without using their thumbs
We thought gorillas only walked on their knuckles. We were wrong
Modern gorillas can walk in a variety of styles, not just the famous “knuckle-walking”, suggesting our common ancestor was similarly resourceful
People are slaughtering orangutans and wiping them out
The population of Bornean orangutans fell by almost half in just 16 years, and it was not a sad by-product of deforestation: many apes were killed deliberately
Ebola vaccine promising in chimps but may never be used
A promising oral vaccine could help protect Africa’s big apes from the deadly Ebola virus, but a ban on captive ape research means it may never see the light of day
Chimps and bonobos interbred and exchanged genes
Humans are not the only great apes to have had an ancient fling with related species. New evidence shows that chimps carry genes from bonobos
We need a new secular approach to dignity
Like it or not, the scientific view of humanity is a bleak one. But there is a way round it: breaking the link between what we are and how we are treated