ScIence

It's not unusual for parents to worry about the next generation and the future planet they'll inherit, but new research suggests having children doesn't necessarily make you any 'greener' as a person - quite the opposite, in fact. A new study in Sweden has found that even those who really care about the environment often end up having their deck of priorities re-shuffled by the realities of par

Kīlauea was taking its time. In 1983, the volcano on the island of Hawaii began to erupt, and it didn't stop for 35 years, culminating in the longest-running eruption of its kind in centuries. In 2018, when this decades-long outpouring finally quit, Kīlauea ended things with a bang. A series of new eruptive fissures tore open in the volcano's East Rift Zone, producing gushing fountains of s

Whether you use Zoom, Skype or Microsoft Teams, the webcam on your home PC or laptop device has probably never been as active as it is during this pandemic. Most of us have a camera built into our phone, tablet, laptop, or a desktop webcam we use for work, study or virtual socialising. Unfortunately, this privilege can leave us vulnerable to an online attack known as camfecting. This is when

Herds of horses, bison and reindeer could play a significant part in saving the world from an acceleration in global heating. That is the conclusion of a recent study showing how grazing herbivores can slow down the pace of thawing permafrost in the Arctic. The study - a computerized simulation based on real-life, on-the ground data - finds that with enough animals, 80 percent of all permafrost

Engineers have developed a semi-transparent solar cell that offers a viable level of efficiency, and it might get us closer to a future where windows that double up as solar panels could transform both architecture and energy production. Two square metres (around 22 square feet) of the next-gen perovskite solar cells (PSCs) would be enough to generate about as much electricity as a standard sol

Renewable energy could power an economic recovery from COVID-19 by spurring global GDP gains of almost US$100 trillion (£80 trillion) between now and 2050, according to a report. The International Renewable Energy Agency found that accelerating investment in renewable energy could generate huge economic benefits while helping to tackle the global climate emergency. The agency's director gen

Life during a global pandemic takes on a surreal quality. The ubiquitous presence of social media and a constant fire hose of coronavirus news can make it particularly hard if you're already feeling anxious. So, we've put together a little round-up of recent science news that we find inspiring, encouraging, and worthy of note in these trying times. 1. CRISPR has been used to attempt a c

To understand how atoms unite to turn into molecules, we need to catch them in action. But to do that, physicists must force atoms to pause long enough for their exchanges to be recorded. That's no easy task, and one physicists from the University of Otago have only just recently achieved. Until now, the best physicists could do to understand the finer points of various atomic interactions was