Ever since Darwin, scientists have suspected that the intelligence of an animal has something to do with the size of its brain. The encephalisation theory, for example, argues that the "extra" brain tissue of a larger brain allows more neurons to be devoted to cognitive tasks. However, until now there was no scientific evidence to support this theory, partly owing to the difficulties of quantifying neuron numbers for a large number of species.

Biodiversity loss is undeniable, but at what rate? Why? How does it affect us? And what can we do? The Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) has been answering these questions since its creation in 2012.

Humans, crocodiles and crows have something in common. They have all spread to every corner of the planet. If we travel from Barcelona to Australia, in spite of the enormous distance, we will find groups of animals that also live in our home, we will see for example owls, swallows, turkeys, crows and certainly humans, all these animals are so far away because they have been able to colonise the planet almost entirely. But what is it that they have been able to do so while other animal groups have been reduced to small areas of the planet?

The data scientist Víctor Granda from CREAF's new programming unit, the Ecosystem Modelling Facility (EMF), has developed a package of meteorological data and models for the R programming system, a computer language widely used in scientific research. This data package is called meteospain and contains all the meteorological information collected by AEMET, Meteocat, Meteo Galicia and Andalucía meteo stations in one place.

The Mediterranean forest suffers from a lack of management due to its peculiarities: low productivity, low economic profitability of its use, lack of incentives, lack of timber industry and different types of ownership, among others. This situation affects its biodiversity and the ecosystem services it provides. That is why science demands management aimed at guaranteeing challenges such as its survival, resilience and adaptation to climate change.