Nasa robot rover shows that sparks fly in dust storms on Mars
Electrical activity had not been observed in dust storms on Mars before this. Nasa Sometimes you get a small electric shock from touching your car door handle on a dry...Read More >
Environment
COP30: Zambia’s forest communities need finance for solar power – so they don’t have to cut down trees to pay for it
Across rural Zambia, small solar home systems and lanterns have transformed daily life. Between 2018 and 2022, more than one million small solar devices were sold across the country. These...Read More >
A psychedelic tour of Earth’s ecosystems – from the desert to Siberia
Every mind-bending molecule in nature has an evolutionary origin; a defence against being eaten, a lure for pollinators, or perhaps a happy biochemical accident. Though they seem extraordinary, life has...Read More >
Hurricane Melissa is a warning – why violent storms are increasingly catching the world off guard
Hurricane Melissa making landfall with Jamaica | ESA Hurricane Melissa is tearing through the Caribbean, bringing record-breaking wind and torrential rain to Jamaica – the island’s first ever category 5...Read More >
How a more flexible energy grid can cope better with swings in Britain’s weather
Thomas Reaubourg/Unsplash For most Brits, January 8 2025 was an uneventful Wednesday, albeit slightly cold. But these low temperatures, coupled with a significant drop in wind speed, contributed to a...Read More >
We tested a famous biological rule on dinosaurs – and it doesn’t work the way we thought
Winner of the Research Output Prize 2025 – Environment Jacob Gardner, Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Reading, and Lauren Wilson, PhD student at Princeton University, examine whether Bergmann's...Read More >
Seven questions our water research is answering to keep people, places and the economy afloat
In this blog for World Rivers Day, Hannah Cloke, Professor of Hydrology, explains how understanding water systems – from river health to flood forecasting – is essential for protecting our...Read More >
Why building nature-centric housing involves a mindset shift
Milan's Vertical Forest Tom Oliver, University of Reading How do you build 1.5 million new homes in five years without destroying nature? Housing is unaffordable for most people, so the...Read More >
Why on Earth is the planet’s day getting shorter?
Earth will complete a rotation 1.33 milliseconds earlier than usual on Tuesday, August 5. That makes it one of the shortest days of 2025 at 86,399.99867 seconds long. How that...Read More >
Three types of drought – and why there’s no such thing as a global water crisis
Lithium ponds in the Atacama Desert, Chile | NASA Earth Observatory, 2018 Hosepipe bans have been announced in parts of England this summer. Following the driest spring in over a...Read More >
