BBC News
BBC News - Science & Environment
Bats are seeking sanctuary in churches - but they're making an unholy mess
Fri, 31 Oct 2025 00:34:03 GMT
A new study estimates that about half of all churches in England have bats living in them.
Pictured: Winning entries for Wildlife Photographer of the Year 2025
Tue, 14 Oct 2025 23:04:11 GMT
South African photographer Wim van den Heever takes the main prize for his shot
Future of space travel: Could robots really replace human astronauts?
Tue, 31 Dec 2024 01:46:51 GMT
Advances in technology raise questions about the need to send people to space - and the risks and cost
Spain to open network of climate shelters
Wed, 17 Dec 2025 17:50:37 GMT
Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez says the shelters will be in public buildings across the country.
Melting glaciers threaten to wipe out European villages - is the steep cost to protect them worth it?
Sat, 02 Aug 2025 23:06:56 GMT
Switzerland spends almost $500m a year on protective structures. Is it worth it - or, as some suggest, should people move away from the mountain villages at risk?
Blue Origin astronaut reveals depression after 'tsunami of harassment'
Tue, 30 Dec 2025 12:26:50 GMT
Blue Origin's all-female crew, which included scientist Amanda Nguyen, was launched into space in April.
Government rolls back nature protections to boost housing
Tue, 16 Dec 2025 17:51:04 GMT
Critics say government changes to a flagship biodiversity policy could stall nature recovery.
Great white sharks face extinction in Mediterranean, say researchers
Tue, 30 Dec 2025 01:15:19 GMT
Overfishing and illegal fishing are contributing to the loss of sharks, including great whites.
'It's harder to be a parent than a space shuttle commander', trailblazing Nasa pilot tells BBC
Tue, 21 Oct 2025 02:34:44 GMT
The BBC speaks to astronaut Eileen Collins, the first woman to pilot and command a Nasa spacecraft.
UN climate talks fail to secure new fossil fuel promises
Sat, 22 Nov 2025 22:38:19 GMT
Nearly 200 countries attended COP30, which aimed to commit the world to take more action on climate change.
'How growing a sunflower helped me fight anorexia'
Fri, 10 Oct 2025 05:04:46 GMT
'Green social prescribing' schemes are being used by NHS doctors to improve patients' mental health.
COP30: Five key takeaways from a deeply divisive climate summit
Sun, 23 Nov 2025 00:10:18 GMT
What did we learn from a climate summit that ended in a deal with no new mention of fossil fuels?
BBC taken to secret location in Welsh mountains to find rare plant
Mon, 29 Dec 2025 12:26:19 GMT
BBC Climate Editor Justin Rowlatt travels to Eryri - also known as Snowdonia - to find a rare plant.
Red Tractor ad banned for misleading environmental claims
Wed, 15 Oct 2025 02:40:44 GMT
The Advertising Standards Authority upheld a complaint by environment charity River Action.
Australia's rainforests are releasing more carbon than they absorb, warn scientists
Thu, 16 Oct 2025 06:28:19 GMT
Australia's rainforests are the first in the world to make the "concerning" switch, say scientists.
Government waters down inheritance tax plan for farms
Tue, 23 Dec 2025 17:29:09 GMT
The government has now said it will lift the intended threshold from £1m to £2.5m.
'Year of octopus' declared after warmer seas lead to record UK numbers
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:49:25 GMT
The Wildlife Trusts say its is 'flabbergasted' by the sighting of the highest number of octopuses since 1950
Spain's commitment to renewable energy may be in doubt
Mon, 15 Dec 2025 00:02:06 GMT
The current government is politically weakened and the opposition wants more use of fossil fuels.
The truth about life on other planets - and what it means for humans
Thu, 17 Apr 2025 00:11:47 GMT
Could discoveries of alien life ever change the human psyche in how we view ourselves and each other?
The Climate Question
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 08:56:00 GMT
We're still behind on our global warming targets after the big summit in Brazil.
What in the World
Mon, 24 Nov 2025 14:56:00 GMT
There was no clear commitment to phase out fossil fuels
Astronauts Butch and Suni finally back on Earth
Wed, 19 Mar 2025 00:14:48 GMT
Dolphins circled their capsule after it landed off the coast of Florida.
EU waters down plans to end new petrol and diesel car sales by 2035
Tue, 16 Dec 2025 19:28:36 GMT
Carmakers, particularly in Germany, have lobbied heavily for concessions to the planned rules.
Why scientists are counting tiny marine creatures, from Space
Tue, 04 Feb 2025 01:59:32 GMT
Differences in seawater colour could reveal how tiny Antarctic creatures are faring in a warming world.
From Hollywood to horticulture: Cate Blanchett on a mission to save seeds
Sun, 19 Oct 2025 23:42:05 GMT
The Hollywood actor teams up with Kew’s Millenium Seed Bank as it celebrates its 25th anniversary.
'New reservoirs will help address water shortage'
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 05:28:30 GMT
Water company says it needs two new reservoirs and a recycling plant to cope with demand in Suffolk.
SpaceX Starship test fails after Texas launch
Fri, 17 Jan 2025 02:27:56 GMT
Officials at Elon Musk's company said the upper stage was lost, minutes after it launched.
Asteroid contains building blocks of life, say scientists
Wed, 29 Jan 2025 16:07:12 GMT
Bennu contains minerals and thousands of organic molecules, including the chemical components that make up DNA.
Foul skies, fading light: How air pollution is stealing India's sunshine
Mon, 13 Oct 2025 23:06:44 GMT
India’s sunshine hours have fallen over the past 30 years due to clouds, aerosols and local weather.
Cats became our companions much later than you think
Thu, 27 Nov 2025 20:02:21 GMT
In true feline style, cats took their time in deciding when and where to join us on the sofa.
Nasa to put nuclear reactor on the Moon by 2030 - US media
Tue, 05 Aug 2025 11:36:24 GMT
The reactor would provide power for humans on the Moon but there are questions about feasibility.
Inside the lab analysing the world's oldest ice
Thu, 02 Oct 2025 11:58:34 GMT
The BBC's Science Editor Rebecca Morelle goes behind the scenes with the team discovering what the melting of ice from over a million years ago can tell us.
The before and after images showing glaciers vanishing before our eyes
Sun, 05 Oct 2025 00:28:17 GMT
They are melting like never seen before, changing landscapes around the world beyond recognition.
Physics Nobel awarded to three scientists for work on quantum computing
Tue, 07 Oct 2025 12:59:52 GMT
The announcement was made by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences in Stockholm.
These robots can clean, exercise - and care for you in old age. Would you trust them to?
Tue, 28 Oct 2025 00:04:09 GMT
It sounds like something from a sci-fi film - but some scientists believe this clever new tech could help alleviate strains on the UK care system
Rocket launch challenges Elon Musk's space dominance
Thu, 16 Jan 2025 08:12:27 GMT
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos's space company blasts its first rocket into orbit in a challenge to Elon Musk.
Shell facing first UK legal claim over climate impacts of fossil fuels
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 00:20:34 GMT
Survivors of a deadly typhoon in the Philippines have filed a claim against the UK's largest oil company.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 04 Dec 2025 17:00:00 GMT
Almost four decades after the first HIV treatment, is there finally a ‘functional’ cure?
Life on Mars? 'Leopard-spot' rocks could be biggest clue yet
Wed, 10 Sep 2025 15:00:16 GMT
Unusual mudstones found on the Red Planet are potentially associated with ancient Martian microbes.
'This is our future,' climate adviser warns as 2025 to break heat records
Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:44:17 GMT
The Met Office says that 2025 is likely to be the UK's hottest year since records began.
COP30: Trump and many leaders are skipping it, so does the summit still have a point?
Mon, 10 Nov 2025 00:09:19 GMT
The US president is notably absent from these UN climate talks, as are other world leaders, all of which prompts questions about the purpose of COP today.
'This is our future,' climate adviser warns as 2025 to break heat records
Tue, 23 Dec 2025 11:44:17 GMT
The Met Office says that 2025 is likely to be the UK's hottest year since records began.
'Year of octopus' declared after warmer seas lead to record UK numbers
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 12:49:25 GMT
The Wildlife Trusts say its is 'flabbergasted' by the sighting of the highest number of octopuses since 1950
Brazil's Amazon rainforest at risk as key protection under threat
Mon, 17 Nov 2025 01:10:54 GMT
Brazilian farmers want to end a ban on planting soya on cleared land, which critics say would spur deforestation.
Hen cages and pig farrowing crates face ban
Mon, 22 Dec 2025 13:06:29 GMT
The government says its animal welfare strategy will bring "the biggest reforms in a generation".
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 18 Dec 2025 21:00:00 GMT
President Trump continues to shake up science. We look at the impact it’s already having.
Floods trap people in cars in Spain's Catalonia region
Sun, 12 Oct 2025 21:27:27 GMT
The highest red alert is declared in one coastal province, as residents are urged to stay indoors.
SpaceX pulls off Starship rocket launch in much-needed comeback
Wed, 27 Aug 2025 13:00:47 GMT
The Starship rocket is critical to the company's hopes of one day carrying people to the Moon and Mars.
New study on moons of Uranus raises chance of life
Mon, 11 Nov 2024 16:00:05 GMT
The planet Uranus and its five biggest moons may not be the sterile worlds scientists have long thought.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 11 Dec 2025 21:00:00 GMT
New evidence shows that early neanderthals made fire 350 thousand years before we thought.
BBC Inside Science
Thu, 25 Dec 2025 21:00:00 GMT
A weekly show exploring science, its mysteries, and the debates it sparks.
Dame Jane Goodall revolutionised our understanding of our closest primate cousins
Wed, 01 Oct 2025 20:53:35 GMT
The conservationist, who died aged 91 on Wednesday, challenged how we relate to the natural world.
Landmark deal to cut global shipping emissions in tatters after US pressure
Fri, 17 Oct 2025 16:31:07 GMT
President Trump intervened in the talks calling the deal a "green scam".
Soviet-era spacecraft 'likely' to have re-entered Earth's atmosphere
Sat, 10 May 2025 15:32:19 GMT
The spacecraft, which launched in 1972 on a mission to Venus, circled Earth for over five decades.
Environment prize nominees 'heroes of our time', says William
Sat, 04 Oct 2025 21:04:44 GMT
Fifteen projects are shortlisted for a chance of winning the top £1m prizes at next month's environmental awards ceremony in Rio de Janeiro.
Mayor says too many families are 'working poor'
Tue, 02 Dec 2025 16:46:00 GMT
Tracy Brabin talks to Radio Leeds about the Budget, COP30 and taxing tourists.
Ratmageddon: Why rats are overrunning our cities
Fri, 26 Sep 2025 06:55:02 GMT
Rats are multiplying at speed in urban areas. So, what's really behind the boom - and is it now unstoppable?
Britain's energy bills problem - and why firms are paid huge sums to stop producing power
Wed, 29 Oct 2025 09:14:11 GMT
Could the government's radical plan to change the way the UK distributes electricity really bring down bills - or just lead to a postcode lottery?
Green turtle bounces back from brink in conservation 'win'
Fri, 10 Oct 2025 08:01:28 GMT
Once endangered due to hunting, it is making a strong recovery thanks to global conservation efforts.
Nasa Apollo missions: Stories of the last Moon men
Fri, 08 Aug 2025 21:31:57 GMT
Of the 24 Nasa astronauts who travelled to the Moon in the Apollo missions of the 1960s and 1970s, just five remain.
Why 2026 looks bright for Northern Light sightings
Mon, 29 Dec 2025 00:58:10 GMT
With the Sun still in an active phase there could be more spectacular Northern light displays in the year ahead.
Jim Lovell, Apollo 13 astronaut, dies aged 97
Sat, 09 Aug 2025 07:01:11 GMT
The commander of Apollo 13 famously rescued his men from near certain death in space.
Naked mole rats' DNA could hold key to long life
Thu, 09 Oct 2025 18:06:04 GMT
The bald, subterranean rats are the world's longest-lived rodent.
