BBC News

BBC News - Science & Environment

Global plastic talks collapse as countries remain deeply divided

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:57:06 GMT

The latest round of UN-led talks have ended in deadlock, with disputes over plastic production and recycling.

Ship footage captures sound of Titan sub imploding

Thu, 22 May 2025 21:58:22 GMT

Support ship video shows the wife of Oceangate CEO Stockton Rush hearing the sound of the implosion.

Scientists make 'superfood' that could save honeybees

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:03:02 GMT

We rely on honeybees to pollinate our crops and a new food could protect them from growing threats.

Russian volcano erupts for first time in more than 500 years

Sun, 03 Aug 2025 09:05:37 GMT

The eruption of a volcano in Russia's Kamchatka peninsula may be linked to a massive earthquake last week, experts say.

‘Public enemy number one’: The battle against an eight-toothed beetle threatening UK forests

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 00:35:20 GMT

Forest Research said the UK is the first country to eradicate the beetle after five-year battle.

Planes are having their GPS hacked. Could new clocks keep them safe?

Mon, 03 Mar 2025 00:39:34 GMT

How a new atomic clock might be the way to tackle attacks on plane GPS systems

BBC Inside Science

Thu, 21 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT

The science of extraterrestrial solar panels and whether they can power our energy needs.

Mission begins to save snails threatened by own beauty

Mon, 04 Aug 2025 00:46:34 GMT

Researchers in Cuba and the UK are working together to reveal the biological secrets of the beautiful but endangered Polymita snail.

Thousands of river pollution tests cancelled because of staff shortages

Thu, 24 Jul 2025 03:12:14 GMT

Testing programmes affected include those monitoring the impact of drought.

Tories pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:26:44 GMT

The government warns Kemi Badenoch's plans would "only accelerate the worsening climate crisis".

BBC Inside Science

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Cuts of $500 million to vaccines research have been announced by the US government.

Tories pledge to get all oil and gas out of North Sea

Sun, 31 Aug 2025 15:26:44 GMT

The government warns Kemi Badenoch's plans would "only accelerate the worsening climate crisis".

The fate of the Sycamore Gap tree has shed light on a deeper concern

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 00:04:28 GMT

The felling has prompted calls for stricter legal protections for other trees and drawn attention to wider issues

Why plane turbulence is becoming more frequent - and more severe

Tue, 29 Jul 2025 23:00:12 GMT

Flights are getting bumpier, thanks in part to climate change. But new studies are looking into innovative potential ways to turbulence-proof wings - using AI and owls

Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025 – the best pictures so far

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 23:31:42 GMT

The photo taken by Bidyut Kalita, is among several highly commended in this year's Wildlife Photographer of the Year.

Oceangate's Titan whistleblower: 'People were sold a lie'

Wed, 06 Aug 2025 05:35:42 GMT

A former Oceangate employee says he told US authorities about safety concerns with the sub before it imploded.

Scientists make 'superfood' that could save honeybees

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 15:03:02 GMT

We rely on honeybees to pollinate our crops and a new food could protect them from growing threats.

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.

Will there be a drought where I live?

Wed, 20 Aug 2025 19:10:59 GMT

We take a look at river, reservoir and groundwater levels after a particularly dry few months.

Hot, dry summers bring new 'firewave' risk to UK cities, scientists warn

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 00:04:14 GMT

Rising temperatures are increasing the chances of multiple wildfires at the same time, researchers say.

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.

Unique 1.5m year-old ice to be melted to unlock mystery

Fri, 18 Jul 2025 00:18:22 GMT

BBC News went inside -23C freezers to see the ice that could "revolutionise" our knowledge of climate change.

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?

Military drills spark hundreds of wildfires in UK

Sat, 30 Aug 2025 00:55:53 GMT

Live explosives on army training sites in the UK countryside mean many wildfires cannot be tackled.

Southern European butterfly spotted in UK for first time

Fri, 08 Aug 2025 01:06:28 GMT

Experts have tracked the Southern Small White's expansion northwards through Europe over decades.

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.

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.

Why did Russian mega earthquake not cause more tsunami damage?

Wed, 30 Jul 2025 16:09:03 GMT

The earthquake was one of the strongest ever recorded, but its tsunami was not as bad as feared.

Incinerator broke air pollution limits 916 times

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 12:48:19 GMT

The Environment Agency are currently considering enforcement action against the operator, Viridor.

New dinosaur named after record-breaking sailor

Fri, 22 Aug 2025 10:45:09 GMT

The medium-sized herbivore once roamed the floodplains of what is now the Island's south-west coast.

What are the risks of bombing Iran's nuclear sites?

Sun, 22 Jun 2025 09:49:16 GMT

Destroying Iran's stores of enriched uranium would bring danger for people nearby but not trigger another Chernobyl.

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

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.

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.

Spain and Portugal wildfires drive worst EU season on record

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 03:13:48 GMT

Wildfires have scorched southern Europe and new research suggests climate change played a major role.

New checks to stop waste tyres being sent to furnaces

Thu, 07 Aug 2025 05:04:49 GMT

Campaigners warn the move will not close all the recycling loopholes being exploited by criminals.

Kew Gardens' Palm House will close for five years for major makeover

Tue, 15 Jul 2025 23:01:44 GMT

The 175-year-old glass house will begin a £50m renovation in 2027.

Recent droughts are 'slow-moving global catastrophe' - UN report

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 12:31:51 GMT

It says drought has compounded poverty, hunger, and energy insecurity worldwide.

Climate change pushing winemakers to blend wines from different years

Sun, 24 Aug 2025 23:38:54 GMT

Non-vintage still wine is now increasingly being made in response to more challenging weather.

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?

'Communities' of strange, extreme life seen for first time in deep ocean

Thu, 31 Jul 2025 00:02:31 GMT

A Chinese-led research team captures pictures of life at depths of more than 9km in the northwest Pacific Ocean.

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.

India sends its first astronaut into space in 41 years

Wed, 25 Jun 2025 06:38:38 GMT

Group Captain Shubhanshu Shukla has become only the second Indian to travel to 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.

This burger was made from cow cells in a lab. Should it really be served in restaurants?

Tue, 24 Jun 2025 23:02:55 GMT

Lab-grown beef, chicken and even quail are served in restaurants in some countries around the world - and now some cultivated meats could soon be sold in the UK too

BBC Inside Science

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT

What’s the evidence behind rat infestation warnings? And farewell to wet wipe island

Summer 2025 'almost certainly' UK's hottest on record

Tue, 26 Aug 2025 14:21:10 GMT

Provisional figures from the Met Office show that the UK is on course for its hottest summer on record with just a few days of the season remaining.

BBC Inside Science

Thu, 14 Aug 2025 16:00:00 GMT

Fashion meets science. An expert panel discuss the clothing of the future.

'Punk rock' dinosaur with metre-long spikes discovered

Wed, 27 Aug 2025 15:08:21 GMT

The animal has come as a surprise to experts, who now have to rethink how these armoured dinosaurs evolved

Ancient Egyptian history may be rewritten by DNA bone test

Wed, 02 Jul 2025 15:01:49 GMT

A DNA bone test on a man who lived 4,500 years ago sheds new light on the rise of Ancient Egypt.

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.

Work begins to create artificial human DNA from scratch

Thu, 26 Jun 2025 00:09:45 GMT

Scientists start a controversial project to create the building blocks of human life, in what is thought to be a world first.

'Our hot homes are making our children sick'

Thu, 28 Aug 2025 05:05:56 GMT

Some five million children - over half of those in England - are living in homes at risk of overheating.

Huge Roman 'jigsaw' reveals 2,000-year-old wall paintings

Thu, 19 Jun 2025 05:23:43 GMT

Thousands of fragments of plaster are pieced together to reveal frescos from a Roman London villa.

Why scientists hope seabed mud could reveal Antarctic Ocean secrets

Mon, 18 Aug 2025 23:21:37 GMT

How long tubes of mud - drilled out of the Antarctic seafloor - could reveal how the frozen continent is changing.

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.

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.

Global plastic talks collapse as countries remain deeply divided

Fri, 15 Aug 2025 11:57:06 GMT

The latest round of UN-led talks have ended in deadlock, with disputes over plastic production and recycling.

Tiny creatures gorge, get fat, and help fight global warming

Fri, 04 Jul 2025 23:10:52 GMT

Scientists find out how the epic deep sea migration of a tiny animal is storing planet-warming carbon.