Ancient Britons had wheat 2000 years before they had farms
New discovery is evidence of trade with continental Europe.
UK
United Kingdom
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Analysis and Comment
We don’t need no legislation: wildlife protection depends on enforcement
Labour has pledged a new series of animal protection and welfare reforms, but needs to commit on resources.
‘Missing plastic’ in the oceans can be found below the surface
We dump more plastic into the ocean each year than we've been able to find. New research says much of it is lurking just below the waves.
Green Party should make GDP alternatives an election issue
Traditional economic measures suit the main parties – but not the electorate.
China farming boom has left ecosystems in danger of total collapse
More intensive agriculture has reduced poverty, but China's environment can't handle the pressure.
How poo-sniffing detective dogs can save elusive, rare gorillas
Sniffer dogs are great at finding gorillas in thick forest – but it comes at a price.
Plague outbreaks that ravaged Europe for centuries were driven by climate changes in Asia
The disease didn't linger in European 'rodent reservoirs' but was instead reimported each time droughts caused a crash in Central Asian rat numbers.
Sea creatures will get bigger and bigger (if we don’t eat them first)
But the giants of the future won't be the same fish, whales and sharks we know today.
Deniers vs alarmists? It’s time to lose the climate debate labels
We would have a more productive debate about global warming if we dropped the insistence on naming and grouping our opponents, says new research.
Britain’s climate consensus puts politicians in a corner over carbon emissions
Sustainable living means making big changes, so why can’t we face up to it?
Global warming trend unaffected by ‘fiddling’ with temperature data
Geoengineering might work in a rational world … sadly we don’t live in one
The mercury level in your tuna is getting higher
An Airbnb for washing machines? How to achieve a circular economy
Eight million tonnes of plastic are going into the ocean each year
Stopping at red lights could be slowly killing you
Climate change
Is it time to take science out of the climate change debate?
When a debates is really about opposing political values, appeals to science often just make things worse.
Solving the puzzle of sea-level rise by reexamining the past
A more accurate reckoning of rising seas can provide insight into future projections–which could be faster than previously believed.
Columnists
Editors’ Picks
Mining conquistadors caused air pollution 200 years before the industrial revolution
When the Spanish conquered South America in the 16th century they took over the Incas' mines and soon began to pump clouds of lead dust over the Andes. The silver the conquistadors sent back home made…
Revealed: why some corals are more colourful than others
The stunning colours of coral attract many divers to the world’s reefs but, for us coral scientists, one mystery has always remained. Swimming over a reef, you can frequently spot brightly coloured coral…
Global warming trend unaffected by ‘fiddling’ with temperature data
Attacks on institutions that keep records of global temperatures, such as NASA, the US National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, the UK Met Office, and Australia’s Bureau of Meteorology, continue…
Marine species are more threatened than we thought – and we’ve only looked at 3%
Gaze out from the deck of a boat and you will see an ocean that was, in Henry David Thoreau’s phrase, “equally wild and unfathomable always”. There’s a stark contrast in appearance here between the apparently…
Are crude conspiracies right? Research shows nations really do go to war over oil
The “thirst for oil” is often put forward as a near self-evident explanation behind military interventions in Libya, for instance, or Sudan. Oil, or the lack of oil, is also said to be behind the absence…
How to deal with electronic waste? Make it a national security issue
We’re in the midst of fevered discussions about communications and security. Cybertarian campaigners want to stop collusion between corporations and governments to intercept citizen chat; attention-grabbing…
Humanity is in the existential danger zone, study confirms
The Earth’s climate has always changed. All species eventually become extinct. But a new study has brought into sharp relief the fact that humans have, in the context of geological timescales, produced…
Events
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Seminar: The Anglo-American ‘Special Relationship’ in Jeopardy: US-UK relations since 1945 — UCL
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Authors and the World - Ulrike Sandig — Lancaster University
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Testing the Contact Hypothesis with Israelis and Palestinians — University of Bath
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Random Phenomena in the Theory of Numbers — University of York
How we are different
10 reasons
Most Read past week
- China farming boom has left ecosystems in danger of total collapse
- Plague outbreaks that ravaged Europe for centuries were driven by climate changes in Asia
- Two decades after his death, Gerald Durrell is still making the world a better place
- Can civilisation continue? An Earth system scientist explains
- How poo-sniffing detective dogs can save elusive, rare gorillas
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