LATEST
Squid go into space – for the sake of humanity
15:39 13 May 2011
Some of our most intelligent invertebrates are blasting off on the next shuttle flight. Their mission: to reveal whether good bacteria go bad in space
Unsociable methane comes in from the cold
14:20 13 May 2011 | 1 comment
Methane's unwillingness to bond with other molecules has been overcome, making the abundant molecule far more attractive as a chemical building block
US fighting machine going green
19:00 12 May 2011
From biofuelled fighter jets to roll-up solar blankets, the US navy is on a mission to stop using fossil fuels
DNA chip test will track down illegal fish
16:43 12 May 2011
Relatively cheap, reliable genetic tests could soon give the authorities the means to identify fish caught from unsustainable sources
Alien life may huddle under hydrogen blankets
10:13 12 May 2011 | 5 comments
Earth-sized worlds far from the warmth of their stars could maintain liquid water and life if they are well wrapped by hydrogen in their atmospheres
Renewables may supply 80 per cent of our energy by 2050
15:33 11 May 2011 | 1 comment
A bullish report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change suggests an optimistic vision of the future – with the right government support
Time to put weather forecasters on the spot
13:29 11 May 2011 | 5 comments
The reliability of weather forecasts is surprisingly hard to measure. The BBC's Weather Test will make amends, says Roger Harrabin
Know where the wind blows to boost power grid capacity
11:46 11 May 2011
Cooler cables can carry more power – with a dynamic model that shows what the wind is doing, power companies could send more juice down the line
Gas drilling contaminates drinking water
17:16 10 May 2011 | 2 comments
Wells located within 1 kilometre of an active shale-gas drilling site contain elevated levels of methane
Fighting ocean acidification the fish tank way
13:28 10 May 2011
People use quicklime to balance the pH of their fish tanks. Could governments do something similar to correct the pH of our acidifying oceans?
CLIMATE CHANGE
Casting a critical eye on climate models
Today's climate models are more sophisticated than ever – but they're still limited by our knowledge of the Earth. So how well do they really work?
ANIMALS
Plagues of lemmings driven by winter breeding
Lemming outbreaks are caused by the rodents' ability to breed throughout the long Arctic winters