Planet Earth stories
Third-hand tobacco smoke threatens child health
Third-hand smoke is a problem even in the homes of non-smokers, say scientists researching the level of carcinogenic tobacco compounds found in house dust.
17 Jul 2014
Podcast: How an urban meadow is boosting biodiversity
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Helen Hoyle of the University of Sheffield and Jim Harris from Cranfield University describe what a strip of land in Luton, southeast England, is doing for urban biodiversity.
8 Jul 2014
Tags: Ecology, Insects, Microbes, Natural resources, Plants, Podcasts, Pollinators, Soils, Sustainability, UK
Litter now everywhere in the ocean
Litter is now found in even the most remote areas of the oceans, say scientists trying to understand how much rubbish is lying at the bottom of Europe's seas.
8 Jul 2014
Tags: Microplastics, Oceans, Pollution
Hot mud - Cold seeps
We're still learning about the amazing life around hot springs on the deep seabed - but other kinds of hydrothermal vent are even more mysterious. James Bell describes recent work on the unique animals that live there.
4 Jul 2014
Tags: Biodiversity, Ecology, Marine life, Oceans
Anti-depressants disrupt fish's brains
Drugs designed to ease the symptoms of mental health problems such as depression, obsessive compulsive disorder and post-traumatic stress can have major disruptive effects on aquatic animals' brains, say scientists.
3 Jul 2014
Animals we domesticated long ago pose disease risk
Animals we domesticated long ago, such as cats, dogs, pigs and cows, are those that have given us the most parasites, pathogens and other nasties, according to the latest study.
1 Jul 2014
Parasitic mite spreads lethal virus to honeybees
A parasitic mite has helped spread a particularly nasty strain of a virus to countless honeybees, helping to wipe out hundreds of colonies, according to the latest study.
27 Jun 2014
Podcast: Could injured dinosaurs help modern medicine?
This week in the Planet Earth podcast, Victoria Egerton, Bill Sellers and Phil Manning of the University of Manchester describe how the bones of a 72-million-year-old, 2·2m-tall 7·4m-long predatory dinosaur reveals intimate clues about how it lived and how it survived massive trauma.
24 Jun 2014
Tags: Dinosaurs, Disease, Palaeontology, Podcasts
Heather could be UK energy source
Harvesting energy from heather could cut greenhouse gas emissions and help the UK meet its bioenergy targets, according to new research.
24 Jun 2014
Tags: Climate, Farming, Mapping, Natural resources, Plants, Sustainability, UK
Getting ready for the next big one
Is one of the world's great cities due to be struck by a serious earthquake? Ekbal Hussain describes how scientists are working to make sure Istanbul is prepared for the dangers that may be on the way.
23 Jun 2014