Science

Image copyright EPA Image caption Giraffes are targeted for bushmeat, but body parts are also used for jewellery and bracelets Giraffe conservation has taken a big step forward with the world’s tallest mammals receiving enhanced protection from unregulated trade. The move will regulate the trade in giraffes and their body parts under the Convention on […]

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media captionLife-sized robot launched into space Russia has launched a rocket carrying a life-sized robot to the International Space Station (ISS). It was launched from Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan on Thursday and is set to arrive at the station on Saturday. The robot, named Fedor (Experimental Demonstration […]

Image copyright UCSF CHIMERA/SCIENCE PHOTO LIBRARY Image caption An enhanced picture of virus seen through an electron microscope. Spectacularly detailed videos from an advanced microscope are sparking a biology “revolution”, scientists say. The technique was once termed “blobology” because its images were so indistinct. But now, it is being used to create videos of the […]

Getty Images Iceland has marked the melting of a glacier by holding a mock funeral to say goodbye. The glacier called Okjokull, is the first in the country to be lost to climate change, after the warmest July ever on record. Iceland loses about 11 billion tonnes of ice per year, and scientists have warned […]

Protests at the base of the dormant volcano Mauna Kea mountain, on the Big Island of Hawaii, have entered their sixth week. Jason Momoa, Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson and Nicole Scherzinger have joined campaigners protesting against the building of a giant telescope on top of a mountain that some Hawaiians consider sacred. Johnson, who voices […]

Image copyright NASA Image caption Artwork: Europa Clipper will try to determine whether the moon can support biology Scientists working on an audacious mission to the ocean world of Europa can proceed with the final design and construction of the spacecraft, Nasa says. The Europa Clipper mission will target the ice-encrusted moon of Jupiter, which […]

Image copyright AFP Image caption The rocket weighs as much as a fully-loaded jumbo jet India’s second lunar exploration mission has entered the Moon’s orbit, nearly a month after blasting off, officials have said. Chandrayaan-2 began its orbit of the Moon at 09:02 local time (04:32 GMT) on Tuesday. The craft completed the manoeuvre in […]

For the world’s shepherds, shearing sheep is a vital part of caring for their flock. However, many vegans consider the wool industry to be cruel and harmful to animals. In early 2019, an online clothing retailer temporarily stopped selling woollen products and farmers were furious. So who’s right? BBC reporter and former farmer, Gareth Barlow, […]

Farmers are on the front line of climate change – vulnerable to changes in temperature and rainfall, as well as increasingly frequent extreme weather events. They also face criticism, in particular over greenhouse gas emissions from the meat and dairy industry, with calls for a move to a more plant-based diet. Agriculture is currently responsible […]

Image copyright NASA A Nasa facility in Alabama that developed the giant rocket for the Apollo programme in the 1960s will play a key role in sending astronauts down to the Moon’s surface in 2024. The Marshall Space Flight Center in Huntsville will lead the development of a vehicle that will land astronauts on the […]