Laurence D. Hurst, Professor of Evolutionary Genetics at The Milner Centre for Evolution, University of Bath Modern medicine’s ability to keep us alive makes it tempting to think human evolution may have stopped. Better healthcare disrupts a key driving force of evolution by keeping some people alive longer, making them more likely to pass on […]

David Rothery, Professor of Planetary Geosciences, The Open University The European Space Agency (ESA) will launch its BepiColombo mission to the planet Mercury from its spaceport near the equator in Kourou, French Guyana, on October 20. My involvement in the mission means that I will be anxiously following the journey as the spacecraft carries out […]

Gareth Dorrian, Post Doctoral Research Associate in Space Science, Nottingham Trent University and Ian Whittaker, Lecturer, Nottingham Trent University Popular science fiction of the early 20th century depicted Venus as some kind of wonderland of pleasantly warm temperatures, forests, swamps and even dinosaurs. In 1950, the Hayden Planetarium at the American Natural History Museum were […]

Tirivaviri Augustine Mamvura, Senior Lecturer, University of South Africa Next time you’re strolling through a food market, stocking up on fruit and vegetables, consider this: you’re surrounded by unharnessed energy. Cabbages, apples, potato peels and similar food stuffs are all potential biomass. That means they can be processed (usually by burning) and used as fuel. […]

Mark New, Director, African Climate and Development Initiative, University of CTown The release this week of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s (IPCC) special report on global warming of 1.5℃ above pre-industrial levels marks a critical point in climate negotiations. Billed in the media as “life changing,” the report illustrates how crossing the ever-nearer threshold […]

Keith Shine, Regius Professor of Meteorology and Climate Science, University of Reading The world’s climate scientists have spoken: if we want to limit human-induced global warming to 1.5℃ we probably can. But it will be tough, given where we’re starting from. That’s the conclusion of a new report by the UN’s Intergovernmental Panel on Climate […]

Veronica Augustyn, Assistant Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, North Carolina State University There are more mobile phones in the world than there are people. Nearly all of them are powered by rechargeable lithium-ion batteries, which are the single most important component enabling the portable electronics revolution of the past few decades. None of those […]

Andrew Norton, Professor of Astrophysics Education, The Open University In Star Wars VI we first meet the Ewoks living on the Forest Moon of Endor. The planet Endor itself is a gas giant, but the Forest Moon is a habitable world, peopled by small furry sentient creatures. While we may not be living in the […]

Ravi Silva, Director, Advanced Technology Institute, University of Surrey We rarely see a truly remarkable new technology more than once a decade. After years of undelivered promises, such a technology looks finally set to enter the market: the flexible computer screen. Imagine, a tablet display you can fold up and put in your pocket, a […]

by Rob Smith, World Economic Forum – August 2018 Graphene is a modern marvel. It is comprised of a single, two-dimensional layer of carbon, yet is 200 times stronger than steel and more conductive than any other material, according to the University of Manchester, where it was first isolated in 2004. Graphene also has multiple potential […]