Beavers aid the removal of harmful pollutants from streams and creeks, a recent study from the University of Rhode Island has concluded, while a trial in Devon has showed the animals can help make water up to three times cleaner. Beaver dams help remove up to 45 percent of harmful nitrogen from waterways. Less nitrogen…
Science
Water Harvesting Breakthrough
Scientists in the US have invented a water harvester that uses sunlight to pull litres of water out of the air each day even in dry, arid conditions. The solar-powered harvester was constructed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) using a special metal-organic framework produced at the University of California, Berkeley. The prototype was…
Science
NASA discover new solar system
In a hotly anticipated press conference, a team of NASA Scientists revealed the discovery of 7 Earth-sized planets orbiting a nearby dwarf star. This is the first time so many planets have been found around a single star and a massive leap forward in the search for life elsewhere in the universe. At a live…
Travel
The beauty of the Scottish Highlands
Hurtling through the Highlands. Loch Ness to my left, a cliff side to my right. I was in the back of a van full of complete strangers, the day after a 12 hour car-crash of a train journey. The previous night’s hostel bed was less stable than the post-Brexit pound. I was excited, but unsure…
Science
2016 saw record breaking climate change
Year on year climate change attracts greater attention as its impact is felt more frequently and the need for action intensifies. 2016 was no different. So let’s have a look back at the hottest stories our planet had to offer in the past year. 2016 was the warmest year on record; the third year in…
Science
UK universities fail to reach emissions targets
New results have found that three quarters of British universities are set to miss their carbon reduction targets for 2020. Additionally, teams leading the implementation of green initiatives are being cut and sustainability plans are not being renewed, the 2016 People & Planet University League has found. It is the fourth year running that the…
Science
Planet’s biggest protected marine reserve created
The Ross Sea in Antarctica will become the world’s largest marine protected area (MPA) after an international agreement was made at the meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR) in Tasmania, Australia. After five years of deadlock, representatives from the European Union and 24 individual countries have agreed that…
Science
Catch of the day
When it comes to being attracted to others, we will all agree that a sexy accent can seal the deal. As it happens, this is also the case for cod, whose differing accents are causing scientists to worry for the fish’s mating prospects. Increasing sea temperatures due to climate change are driving Cornish cod to…
Science
Hope for World’s Most Trafficked Mammal
An international trading ban has been imposed on the world’s most trafficked mammal, the pangolin, at a CITES conference in Johannesburg, South Africa, giving new hope to an animal on the brink of extinction. A unanimous vote between the 183 countries, which constitutes the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES), means the ban…
Latest Comments