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BBC News - Science & Environment

Plastic pollution: Flip-flop tide engulfs 'paradise' island

Thu, 16 May 2019 13:07:35 GMT

Up to a million shoes are among the tide of plastic debris washed up on an Australian island say scientists.

Could high-flying drones power your home one day?

Thu, 02 May 2019 23:29:40 GMT

How kites and drones could generate electricity to supplement conventional wind turbines.

Nature's emergency: Where we are in five graphics

Sat, 04 May 2019 23:06:11 GMT

Water, air pollution and deforestation are pushing the natural world to the brink.

Will India energy pledges lead to CO2 rise?

Fri, 17 May 2019 07:32:32 GMT

India's political parties promise free electricity to farmers and ambitious infrastructure projects.

Butterfly temperature research 'could boost survival chances'

Tue, 14 May 2019 07:23:12 GMT

Conservationists hope the results will help them understand how butterflies survive in a warming climate.

Confused about climate change? Talk to our chat bot

Wed, 17 Apr 2019 15:49:00 GMT

BBC News launches a chat bot to help users learn about climate change in weekly conversations.

Greenpeace activists inside boxes block BP headquarters

Mon, 20 May 2019 18:50:09 GMT

Those inside the containers have enough food and water to last them for a week, it is claimed.

Antarctic revealed in sharper 3D view

Wed, 15 May 2019 11:52:43 GMT

The European satellite measuring the shape of the White Continent is now working at higher resolution.

The elite soldiers protecting the Amazon rainforest

Thu, 09 May 2019 23:27:30 GMT

The Amazon is at risk from mining in French Guiana and it is the French Foreign Legion's job to protect it.

Mars: The box seeking to answer the biggest question

Fri, 17 May 2019 17:00:34 GMT

Europe prepares to send technology to Mars to look for evidence that there is life on the planet.

Spain alarmed by French bear's attacks on sheep

Fri, 17 May 2019 11:23:27 GMT

France released two brown bears in the Pyrenees - but one has now killed eight sheep in Spain.

Wood wide web: Trees' social networks are mapped

Wed, 15 May 2019 17:00:23 GMT

Research has shown that beneath every forest and wood there is a complex underground web of roots and fungi, connecting trees and plants to one another.

Climate change: Half world's biggest airlines don't offer carbon offsetting

Thu, 09 May 2019 11:54:09 GMT

Half the world's biggest airlines are not giving flyers the opportunity to offset the CO2 from their flights.

Artificial life form given 'synthetic DNA'

Thu, 16 May 2019 13:23:52 GMT

UK scientists have created an artificial version of the stomach bug E. coli that is based on an entirely synthetic form of DNA.

Straws: UK government to bring in new controls on plastic

Wed, 22 May 2019 00:10:13 GMT

In a bid to limit ocean pollution, the government will introduce new controls on plastic next year.

Glimpsing a world beyond human extinction

Mon, 29 Apr 2019 23:17:38 GMT

Writer and explorer Robert MacFarlane explores the "underland" beneath our feet.

The effects of air pollution on human health

Tue, 21 May 2019 23:34:40 GMT

People with lung conditions describe the impact air pollution has on their health.

How a new diet for gassy cows is helping the environment

Mon, 20 May 2019 23:09:40 GMT

Colombian farmers are piloting a way of raising cows that's better for the environment.

How do you learn to drive on Mars?

Fri, 10 May 2019 21:56:23 GMT

Engineers are making sure their joint European-Russian rover will perform as expected on the Red Planet.

Jeff Bezos unveils Moon lander concept

Fri, 10 May 2019 05:56:01 GMT

Blue Origins claims that the lunar lander will be able to take humans to the Moon's south pole by 2024.

Medieval manuscript code 'unlocked' by Bristol academic

Thu, 16 May 2019 01:04:51 GMT

The document stumped Alan Turing and the FBI before being "deciphered" by a research assistant.

Single mum's Nasa internship funded by strangers

Fri, 17 May 2019 09:22:18 GMT

A single mother almost missed out on a coveted Nasa internship until strangers stepped in to help.

Compassionate conservation is 'seriously flawed'

Sat, 18 May 2019 00:29:16 GMT

The idea that you cannot kill any animal is "fatally flawed" as a conservation concept, scientists argue.

Biodiversity heroes: The teenagers saving Madagascar's wildlife

Fri, 03 May 2019 04:08:13 GMT

This quiet, teen revolution could pave the way to Madagascar's sustainable future.

Antarctic instability 'is spreading'

Thu, 16 May 2019 10:35:38 GMT

Almost a quarter of the West Antarctic Ice Sheet is now unstable, according to a new study.

Crickets have hit the high street - can they save the planet?

Fri, 17 May 2019 07:30:10 GMT

A London food chain is now including insects on its menu but can eating insects help save the planet?

Israel probes Golan Heights mass vulture poisoning

Fri, 10 May 2019 14:55:27 GMT

The killings wipe out half the vulture population in the Israeli-occupied territory.

Endangered kakapo parrot gets pioneering brain surgery

Fri, 10 May 2019 13:09:56 GMT

The procedure is a world-first amid efforts to save the species, native to New Zealand.

Climate change 'may curb growth in UK flying'

Fri, 10 May 2019 23:40:14 GMT

The UK may need to review expansion of aviation to meet CO2 targets, the government admits.

We cannot evict birds with netting, say MPs

Mon, 13 May 2019 16:49:17 GMT

A petition signed by 350,000 people calls for "netting" of trees and hedges to be a criminal offence.

Mariana Trench: Deepest-ever sub dive finds plastic bag

Mon, 13 May 2019 16:32:26 GMT

An American explorer finds plastic waste on the seafloor while breaking the record for the deepest ever dive.

Bedbugs survived the dinosaur extinction event

Thu, 16 May 2019 15:04:47 GMT

The much-maligned bedbug has been around for 115 million years - since dinosaurs ruled the Earth.

Brazil's Vale warns another mining dam at risk of collapse

Fri, 17 May 2019 10:10:47 GMT

A mining dam could collapse as early as next week, months after a similar disaster killed 230 people.

Scientists: Why we should appreciate wasps

Mon, 20 May 2019 05:55:09 GMT

Wasps are seen as 'bothersome and pointless' and not given the attention they deserve - researchers.

Gravitational waves hunt now in overdrive

Thu, 02 May 2019 14:17:18 GMT

The LIGO-VIRGO instruments tasked with detecting gravitational waves triggered five times in April.

What's it like to be bitten by a bedbug?

Fri, 17 May 2019 23:05:33 GMT

The blood-sucking parasites have been around for at least 115 million years, according to a recent study.

Faroe Islands 'close down' as tourists fly in to repair them

Sun, 12 May 2019 23:06:33 GMT

The Faroe Islands declared themselves shut down as foreign volunteers came to take part in sustainable tourism.

Jakobshavn Isbrae: Mighty Greenland glacier slams on brakes

Tue, 14 May 2019 10:10:09 GMT

Jakobshavn Isbrae - the likely originator of the Titanic iceberg - goes into an unexpected quiet mode.

Washington becomes first US state to legalise human composting

Tue, 21 May 2019 21:41:58 GMT

Under the new law, people can choose to have their body turned into soil after their death.

Driverless cars: Cambridge University model cars 'talk' to avoid jams

Tue, 21 May 2019 17:14:47 GMT

Researchers say it shows driverless cars working together could improve traffic flow by at least 35%.

Olive tree killer disease still poses risk to Europe

Wed, 15 May 2019 09:08:14 GMT

A disease posing a "very serious threat" to the EU's olive industry still poses a real threat to southern European producers, say experts.

Five things we've learned from nature crisis study

Mon, 06 May 2019 13:30:16 GMT

The UN's global assessment of nature has some hard hitting lessons for the world.

Europe 'takes too much of Earth resources'

Fri, 10 May 2019 11:12:57 GMT

Europeans are emitting too much carbon and using too much food and timber, a report says.

Antarctica: Thousands of emperor penguin chicks wiped out

Wed, 24 Apr 2019 23:01:03 GMT

The second largest emperor penguin colony in Antarctica disappears, satellite images show.

Climate change: How frogs could vanish from ponds

Fri, 10 May 2019 05:13:36 GMT

Climate change is having an impact on British wildlife, say scientists mapping a deadly frog disease.

Aeolus: Wind-mapping space laser is losing power

Mon, 13 May 2019 15:16:01 GMT

Europe's Aeolus spacecraft is gathering fantastic new data on global winds - but it's also got a problem.

Climate change: Bafta calls for more environment plot lines on TV

Wed, 15 May 2019 04:15:48 GMT

New research by Bafta found references to "climate change" lag far behind "beer" or "sex" in UK TV shows.

Climate change: Global sea level rise could be bigger than expected

Mon, 20 May 2019 22:17:56 GMT

Researchers say sea levels may rise by 2m by the end of this century, double current predictions.

Climate change: Scientists test radical ways to fix Earth's climate

Fri, 10 May 2019 05:00:11 GMT

Researchers plan for new centre to explore refreezing the poles, sucking out CO2 and ocean greening.

Is there a problem with salmon farming?

Mon, 20 May 2019 19:10:21 GMT

Marine biologist and diver David Ainsley is concerned about the effect fish farms have on marine life.

Construction industry 'not reporting full carbon impact'

Tue, 14 May 2019 16:51:55 GMT

The boss of Skanska tells 5 Live that companies only calculate carbon emissions.

Chang'e-4: Chinese rover 'confirms' Moon crater theory

Wed, 15 May 2019 17:43:19 GMT

The Chinese Chang'e-4 rover may have confirmed a longstanding idea about the origin of a vast crater on the Moon's far side.

Autonomous boat makes oyster run

Thu, 09 May 2019 12:42:08 GMT

A shellfish consignment is carried across the busy North Sea by an Uncrewed Surface Vessel.

Snakebites: Like having my hand smashed by a hammer'

Thu, 16 May 2019 00:15:09 GMT

The bites are a "hidden" health crisis causing a death every four minutes, says World Health Organization