BBC News
BBC News - Science & Environment
Fossil fuel emissions rise again - but renewables boom offers hope for climate
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 03:16:15 GMT
Carbon emissions from burning fossil fuels are forecast to reach a new high in 2025 but could soon peak.
UK's first small nuclear power station to be built in north Wales
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 15:09:17 GMT
Three small modular reactors are confirmed for the site, with the potential for up to eight.
Pictured: Winning entries for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025
Tue, 14 Oct 2025 23:04:11 GMT
South African photographer Wim van den Heever takes the main prize for his shot
Australia's rainforests are releasing more carbon than they absorb, warn scientists
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 06:28:19 GMT
Australia's rainforests are the first in the world to make the "concerning" switch, say scientists.
Antarctic glacier's rapid retreat sparks scientific 'whodunnit'
Mon, 03 Nov 2025 16:00:06 GMT
A new study suggests that changes to Hektoria Glacier are unprecedented - but not all scientists agree.
COP30: Trump and many leaders are skipping it, so does the summit still have a point?
Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:09:19 GMT
The US president is notably absent from these UN climate talks, as are other world leaders, all of which prompts questions about the purpose of COP today.
Red Tractor ad banned for misleading environmental claims
Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:40:44 GMT
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint by environment charity River Action.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT
The UK government plans to phase out animal experiments. What are the alternatives?
Physics Nobel awarded to three scientists for work on quantum computing
Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:59:52 GMT
The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
Melting glaciers threaten to wipe out European villages - is the steep cost to protect them worth it?
Sat, 02 Aug 2025 23:06:56 GMT
Switzerland spends almost $500m a year on protective structures. Is it worth it - or, as some suggest, should people move away from the mountain villages at risk?
Thousands take to streets of Glasgow to highlight 'climate emergency'
Sat, 15 Nov 2025 19:19:48 GMT
Demonstrators marched through the city centre on a day of global action to coincide with the COP30 climate talks in Brazil.
Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life
Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:06:04 GMT
The bald, subterranean rats are the world's longest-lived rodent.
How lifting the Amazon's soya bean ban could threaten the rainforest
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 15:47:07 GMT
The Amazon rainforest could face a renewed surge of deforestation as efforts grow to overturn a long-standing ban that has protected it.
Nasa to put nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 - US media
Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:36:24 GMT
The reactor would provide power for humans on the Moon but there are questions about feasibility.
From Hollywood to horticulture: Cate Blanchett on a mission to save seeds
Sun, 19 Oct 2025 23:42:05 GMT
The Hollywood actor teams up with Kew’s Millenium Seed Bank as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
'It's harder to be a parent than a space shuttle commander', trailblazing Nasa pilot tells BBC
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 02:34:44 GMT
The BBC speaks to astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a Nasa spacecraft.
Brazil creates new Indigenous territories during protest-hit COP30
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:50:22 GMT
President Lula's government recognises 10 new Indigenous lands in an effort to protect their culture and environment.
Nasa Apollo missions: Stories of the last Moon men
Fri, 08 Aug 2025 21:31:57 GMT
Of the 24 Nasa astronauts who travelled to the Moon in the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, just five remain.
Foul skies, fading light: How air pollution is stealing India's sunshine
Mon, 13 Oct 2025 23:06:44 GMT
India’s sunshine hours have fallen over the past 30 years due to clouds, aerosols and local weather.
The before and after images showing glaciers vanishing before our eyes
Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:28:17 GMT
They are melting like never seen before, changing landscapes around the world beyond recognition.
SpaceX Starship test fails after Texas launch
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 02:27:56 GMT
Officials at Elon Musk's company said the upper stage was lost, minutes after it launched.
Rocket launch challenges Elon Musk's space dominance
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:12:27 GMT
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company blasts its first rocket into orbit in a challenge to Elon Musk.
These robots can clean, exercise - and care for you in old age. Would you trust them to?
Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:04:09 GMT
It sounds like something from a sci-fi film - but some scientists believe this clever new tech could help alleviate strains on the UK care system
Move over açaí - the Amazon has more 'superfoods' to offer
Sun, 16 Nov 2025 08:31:12 GMT
Açaí is everywhere, but Brazil hopes more of its fruits rich in antioxidants and fibre will soon be enjoyed around the world.
Inside the lab analysing the world's oldest ice
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:58:34 GMT
The BBC's Science Editor Rebecca Morelle goes behind the scenes with the team discovering what the melting of ice from over a million years ago can tell us.
Most countries fail to submit new climate pledges ahead of summit
Tue, 28 Oct 2025 11:08:57 GMT
The UN's review of national climate plans shows the world is well off track to limit warming
The truth about life on other planets - and what it means for humans
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:11:47 GMT
Could discoveries of alien life ever change the human psyche in how we view ourselves and each other?
Environment prize nominees 'heroes of our time', says William
Sat, 04 Oct 2025 21:04:44 GMT
Fifteen projects are shortlisted for a chance of winning the top £1m prizes at next month's environmental awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
Soviet-era spacecraft 'likely' to have re-entered Earth's atmosphere
Sat, 10 May 2025 15:32:19 GMT
The spacecraft, which launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus, circled Earth for over five decades.
COP30: Trump and many leaders are skipping it, so does the summit still have a point?
Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:09:19 GMT
The US president is notably absent from these UN climate talks, as are other world leaders, all of which prompts questions about the purpose of COP today.
Brazil creates new Indigenous territories during protest-hit COP30
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 16:50:22 GMT
President Lula's government recognises 10 new Indigenous lands in an effort to protect their culture and environment.
Dame Jane Goodall revolutionised our understanding of our closest primate cousins
Wed, 01 Oct 2025 20:53:35 GMT
The conservationist, who died aged 91 on Wednesday, challenged how we relate to the natural world.
Britain's energy bills problem - and why firms are paid huge sums to stop producing power
Wed, 29 Oct 2025 09:14:11 GMT
Could the government's radical plan to change the way the UK distributes electricity really bring down bills - or just lead to a postcode lottery?
Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 01:10:54 GMT
Brazilian farmers want to end a ban on planting soya on cleared land, which critics say would spur deforestation.
So long, plastic wet wipes - but should we be flushing the new ones?
Tue, 18 Nov 2025 00:26:16 GMT
Water companies say wet wipes containing plastic are one of the main causes of blockages in their pipes.
Floods trap people in cars in Spain's Catalonia region
Sun, 12 Oct 2025 21:27:27 GMT
The highest red alert is declared in one coastal province, as residents are urged to stay indoors.
Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 01:10:54 GMT
Brazilian farmers want to end a ban on planting soya on cleared land, which critics say would spur deforestation.
Astronauts Butch and Suni finally back on Earth
Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:14:48 GMT
Dolphins circled their capsule after it landed off the coast of Florida.
Move over açaí - the Amazon has more 'superfoods' to offer
Sun, 16 Nov 2025 08:31:12 GMT
Açaí is everywhere, but Brazil hopes more of its fruits rich in antioxidants and fibre will soon be enjoyed around the world.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 06 Nov 2025 17:00:00 GMT
New evidence that the expansion of the universe is slowing. And the Godfather of AI.
Future of space travel: Could robots really replace human astronauts?
Tue, 31 Dec 2024 01:46:51 GMT
Advances in technology raise questions about the need to send people to space - and the risks and cost
Thousands march outside COP30 summit in call for action
Sat, 15 Nov 2025 17:09:03 GMT
This is the first time since 2021 that protesters have been allowed to demonstrate outside the UN talks.
Landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions in tatters after US pressure
Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:31:07 GMT
President Trump intervened in the talks calling the deal a "green scam".
Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 astronaut, dies aged 97
Sat, 09 Aug 2025 07:01:11 GMT
The commander of Apollo 13 famously rescued his men from near certain death in space.
SpaceX pulls off Starship rocket launch in much-needed comeback
Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:00:47 GMT
The Starship rocket is critical to the company's hopes of one day carrying people to the Moon and Mars.
From seabirds to sea turtles: the fatal toll of plastic revealed
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 20:00:14 GMT
A new study pinpoints the deadly thresholds of plastic ingestion for marine life.
Why scientists are counting tiny marine creatures, from Space
Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:59:32 GMT
Differences in seawater colour could reveal how tiny Antarctic creatures are faring in a warming world.
Ratmageddon: Why rats are overrunning our cities
Fri, 26 Sep 2025 06:55:02 GMT
Rats are multiplying at speed in urban areas. So, what's really behind the boom - and is it now unstoppable?
Our dogs' diversity can be traced back to the Stone Age
Thu, 13 Nov 2025 19:00:29 GMT
A new study suggests their physical transformation began much earlier than we previously thought.
Bats are seeking sanctuary in churches - but they're making an unholy mess
Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:34:03 GMT
A new study estimates that about half of all churches in England have bats living in them.
First kiss dates back 21 million years, say scientists
Wed, 19 Nov 2025 00:08:59 GMT
A new study looks at how the mouth-on-mouth smooch came into being, and concludes that Neanderthals also kissed.
Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:07:12 GMT
Bennu contains minerals and thousands of organic molecules, including the chemical components that make up DNA.
Life on Mars? 'Leopard-spot' rocks could be biggest clue yet
Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:00:16 GMT
Unusual mudstones found on the Red Planet are potentially associated with ancient Martian microbes.
Move over açaí - the Amazon has more 'superfoods' to offer
Sun, 16 Nov 2025 08:31:12 GMT
Açaí is everywhere, but Brazil hopes more of its fruits rich in antioxidants and fibre will soon be enjoyed around the world.
'How growing a sunflower helped me fight anorexia'
Fri, 10 Oct 2025 05:04:46 GMT
'Green social prescribing' schemes are being used by NHS doctors to improve patients' mental health.
New study on moons of Uranus raises chance of life
Mon, 11 Nov 2024 16:00:05 GMT
The planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the sterile worlds scientists have long thought.
Green turtle bounces back from brink in conservation 'win'
Fri, 10 Oct 2025 08:01:28 GMT
Once endangered due to hunting, it is making a strong recovery thanks to global conservation efforts.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 30 Oct 2025 17:00:00 GMT
The science of what makes hurricanes so deadly.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 23 Oct 2025 16:00:00 GMT
The bionic microchip implant which allows registered blind people to see again.
