Planet Earth stories
Podcast: The effects of metal pollution on fish
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Jamie Stevens and Josie Paris of the University of Exeter explain how some fish have adapted to heavily polluted rivers in southwest England.
11 Nov 2014
Microscope hack could offer cheap disease testing
A new solution to measure cell movement could save scientists hundreds of thousands of pounds, says the researcher who developed the method to save himself time and money in the lab.
10 Nov 2014
Tags: Disease
The science of sustainable drainage
As the floods that struck Britain in early 2014 made all too clear, heavy rain can be bad news for homes, businesses and the environment. Tom Marshall found out how the British Geological Survey is helping housebuilders control flooding while saving money.
7 Nov 2014
Tags: Environmental change, Hazards, Health, Natural resources, Pollution, UK, Water, Weather
Hungarian red mud spill did little long-term damage
The after effects of the 2010 red mud spill that threatened to poison great swathes of the Hungarian countryside have turned out to be far less harmful than scientists originally feared.
3 Nov 2014
Tags: Pollution
Podcast: Common parasite hampers bees' homing ability
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Stephan Wolf of Queen Mary, University of London, and Jason Lim of Rothamsted Research explain why some honeybees may be struggling to make it back to the hive after foraging trips.
28 Oct 2014
Tags: Bees, Biology, Disease, Food, Insects, Natural resources, Podcasts, Pollinators, UK
Trout in hot water
Understanding the effects of climate change on ecosystems is a complex business. Eoin O'Gorman describes how trout living in geothermally-heated Icelandic streams are helping.
20 Oct 2014
Podcast: Robots to map marine life in key fishing areas
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Russell Wynn and Maaten Furlong of NERC's National Oceanography Centre tell us about a just-launched fleet of marine robots that will map ocean life in key fishing grounds off the southwest tip of Britain, in a trial heralded as the start of a new era of robotic research at sea.
14 Oct 2014
Tags: Fish, Mapping, Marine life, Natural resources, Oceans, Podcasts, Technology, UK
Scientists probe leak risk from seabed CO2 stores
A UK-led international research team has carried out the first experiment to recreate what would happen if CO2 started leaking after being stored deep under the sea floor. Their findings add weight to the idea that this could be a viable way to cut our impact on the climate.
1 Oct 2014
Tags: Environmental change, Marine life, Oceans, Pollution, Technology, UK
Podcast: How plastic pollution may harm marine life
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Tamara Galloway, Matt Cole and Ceri Lewis of the University of Exeter talk about their research on the effects of fragments of plastics from food packaging, drinks bottles, and even facial scrubs, on marine wildlife.
30 Sep 2014
Tags: Birds, Marine life, Microplastics, Oceans, Podcasts, Pollution, UK
Out of the laboratory and into the Amazon
Working in the field always makes research more challenging, and doing atmospheric science deep in the rainforest is especially tricky. Ben Langford describes how mosquito repellent, gaffer tape and children's balloons helped keep his project on track.
19 Sep 2014
Tags: Atmosphere, Climate, Forests