The Barents Sea is a wild, dark, stormy old ocean. Who would want to be out there on a ship in January?

It's exactly a year since NERC launched a campaign to name our new polar research vessel. We take a look at what's happened since RRS Sir David Attenborough was picked.

The Antarctic isn't kind to drones - but it's not easy or cheap for people to work in either, so robots represent a huge scientific opportunity.

Marine scientists are a hardy bunch, but even they aren't keen on working amid 60ft waves in the depths of the Atlantic winter. Luckily next-generation ocean robots increasingly mean they don't have to.

Last year a new UK-made atmospheric science instrument flew for the first time on NASA's Global Hawk unmanned aircraft.

The first drone powered by solid hydrogen made its maiden flight in February – the fruit of a long-term collaboration between the private sector and scientists at the Scottish Association for Marine Science (SAMS).

Mapping what lives in the British countryside means spending hours tramping through bogs, up and down hills and through some of our most rugged landscapes. Tom Marshall found out how drones are helping.

Science and industry are working hand in hand at the new Marine Robotics Innovation Centre. The result, reports Sue Nelson, is an exciting new future for marine robotics in the UK.