Very happy to be part of this big ocean celebration at the Royal Geographical Society in London on June 3rd, hosted by Oceanographic magazine. Tickets available now if you'd like to join the fun - it's going to be great. "Innerview" is their framing of the Overview effect but from inside the ocean.

Good points in this piece from Chris Rapley: "Not once in the history of human spaceflight has an astronaut been known to tamper with their life support system... Sabotage is unthinkable – socially intolerable... We are doing to our planetary life support what no astronaut has done to theirs. "

Top news from my clean tech/transport panels this w/e: 1. Small plug-in home batteries that let you store grid energy when it's cheap & use it later are HERE. 30% cost savings! 2. Home sodium-ion batteries are also here, & cheaper than Li-ion. 3. Plug-in solar panels are coming to the UK SOON 🎉

It's a lovely day here at Everything Electric NORTH (Harrogate), or at least lovely if you don't mind it being a bit grey. Loads of home tech - I'm especially excited by the sodium-ion home batteries and the plug-in batteries. And lots of EVs to test drive. Yay clean tech! uk.everythingelectric.show

The Royal Society Summer Science exhibition is coming up (June 30th - July 5th), and I'll be speaking at one of their MANY events, on fast fashion and ocean health. Do take a look at the rest of the programme - there's loads to see and do! royalsociety.org/science-even...

Happy 100th birthday, Sir David Attenborough! Of all the billions of animals on Planet Earth, you are one of the very very best. Thank you. 🎉🎉🎉🎉🎉

The dream team were on stage last night at Cosmic UCL, for UCL's 200th birthday. So much fun! Pic: @markmiodownik.bsky.social Nick Lane, @adamrutherford.bsky.social , me, Saiful Islam, @drkevinfong.bsky.social , Maggie Aderin, @jlukeroberts.bsky.social & @jonbutterworth.bsky.social

The Everything Electric Show is coming to Harrogate this Friday and Saturday, with all the latest & best in electric energy/transport tech. Lots of discussions, EV test drives + reviews, home energy, in-person advice and the roadmap to an electrified world. Join us there and see the future!

How infuriating to hear the chairman(?) of Asda on the Today programme implying that land use for solar farms might significantly hurt UK food production. It's nonsense. Golf courses use more than solar ever will & beef/lamb production is huge yet provides a tiny fraction of our protein & calories.

Billionaires become a problem cos of their yes-ppl telling them what they want to hear, giving them an inflated sense of their value & the quality of their ideas. It just occurred to me that LLMs like ChatGPT do the same thing. Will that turn everyone into spoiled emperors with no clothes? Argh.

Lovely to start the day on BBC Radio London, talking to Ed Adoo about UCL’s 200th birthday, our upcoming Cosmic UCL show, the importance of curiosity, and how our universities contribute to society. Yay ideas! www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

Sometimes (like now), I have a moment of just being amazed at addresses, the old school ones, before GPS. You can travel across the world, passing millions of people and buildings, and arrive at the place where the one or two or several humans you know out of billions are waiting. So cool.

Hello Cambridge! I’ll be speaking about the delights and importance of the ocean on June 18th at Churchill College. Free tickets available now (but you do need to register): www.chu.cam.ac.uk/event/the-ma...

Progress! There are now 2 million electric vehicles on the road in the UK, and 25% of all car sales globally are EVs. Of course, we need more public transport & capacity for walking/cycling, but the cars we need will be electric. Vans too... for an overview of the electric vans on offer, see this:

I'm hosting LOADS of fantastic panels at Everything Electric NORTH, now only a week away. Come along to talk to experts about heat pumps, solar panels, batteries, test drive/ride the latest electric cars/bikes, & eavesdrop on an electrified future. See you there? uk.everythingelectric.show/visit

If I was in charge of space missions, I wouldn't be sending engineers or scientists or wannabe space colonists up there. I'd be sending artists, poets and writers - the people who can look back at Earth and share what it feels like to see directly how beautiful, fragile & unique our planet is. [1/2]

Sound on for this video. While on our bikes, @helenczerski.bsky.social and I saw a delivery robot go off the curb, and the rest is below…

I spent today at CleanTechnica's Electric Home Show in Hawaii. It's the first (not not the last) one - national politics isn't stopping people finding the local solutions that are best for them. It felt like the first Fully Charged Show LIVE, 8-9 years ago - a new community forming. More of this!

Two favourite lines from @billmckibben.bsky.social 's great talk this evening: "Humanity has spent 700,000 years setting things on fire. But we don't need to do that any more". And the description of a sign held up at a climate protest by a group of senior citizens: "Fossils against fossil fuels"

"Can tech save the world?" is the wrong question. The right question is "what kind of world do we want to build?", and then the tech can help us get there. It's the re-invented worldview that the tech gives you access to that matters. The tech needs to support that worldview, not dictate it.

I've been privileged to be given leis before, but these two (the light green/brown and the white/pink one) are just stunning. The white/pink one is actually heavy because the petals it's made from are so densely packed. I love that it's nature's beauty plus human creativity. Mahalo nui Hawaii!

Delighted to discover "Beelzebufo", a huge (~40cm long) toad that lived 70 million years ago, mostly because of its name. It's so huge and scary that it's the "devil toad" by both name and nature: Beelzebub for devil, and Bufo bufo is the latin name for the common toad.

I'm in Hawaii to give a couple of talks (tonight at the university & on Sunday at www.electrichomeshow.com) & it's been lovely to share ocean science and enthusiasm on radio & tv while I'm here. So much love for the ocean and both what it is and what it could be!

Londoners! A brilliant and delightful dose of ideas, science, music and comedy is coming up as part of University College London's 200th birthday celebrations: ✨✨Cosmic UCL✨✨. Bring your friends and join us on May 6th for a great night out: www.bloomsburytheatre.com/event/2026/0...

English teachers (both primary & secondary), this is for you: UCL's Centre for Climate Change Education has just added new resources for teachers on helping pupils connect with nature via English teaching. They've got loads for other subjects too. Do share! climateeducation.org.uk/professional...

Has anyone out there had any experience (either as a speaker or audience) with the Manhattan Book Club? I’m having quite a weird e-mail exchange with them at the moment and I can’t work them out. I’ve never come across them before. What’s their deal?

If, like me, you have loved reading & writing & words all your life, and you're mystified and a bit lost in a world that thinks reading is inconvenient & slow, this amazing radio series - How Reading Made Us - is for you. Reading DOES matter & this explores how & why. www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/...

It's really exciting that even with the current geopolitical situation, CleanTechnica are about to hold the *1st* Hawaii Sustainability & Electric Home show. I'm delighted to be speaking there (also at the uni), but mostly excited that it's happening. Spread the word! www.electrichomeshow.com

Just had my first look at the new Astronomer’s Takeover in Greenwich, which is what all the astronomers are doing while the Royal Observatory is renovated. Very interactive, lots of astronomers on hand to answer Qs, and perfect for a family day out. Do go! www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/nat...

It was lovely to be asked on to The Climate Question (hosted by Graihagh Jackson and Jordan Dunbar and now on BBC iPlayer), so here's me being very enthusiastic about the ocean and possibly ranting a bit about the Moon: www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/epis...

Just idly wondered why plants don't get sunburn, and now I know that not only do they produce flavonoids that act as sunscreen and repair damage, but because some flavonoids are strong pigments growers have considered a quick UV blast before harvest to maximise the colour/antioxidants for humans.

I'm fed up of seeing drivers texting or reading from a phone ***while driving*** (and it's also unacceptable if you're stopped in traffic). If you are driving, it's very simple: you are in charge of a 1+ ton killing machine, so don't touch your phone. Ever. No, not even "insert excuse here".

I’m sure one of the things nutritionists say regularly is that we should try to eat more colourful food… and this bagel/beigel is apparently here to help. With enthusiasm. I wasn’t expecting one of these in my day, but here we are.

It's a bit gusty out there, but on the plus side, the UK is currently running on 77% renewable electricity right now. 🎉🎉💨💨 Yay nature! (screenshot from grid.iamkate.com )

A colleague has just made my day with this typo (I assume it's a typo and he meant "towards") in a bullet point list: "The challenge of autonomous oceanography (eg toads meeting climate goals)" And now I just want to help toads meet their climate goals. Go toads!

I've been a badminton player all my life & I love this sport. But we go through an embarrassingly vast number of fragile feather shuttles. I'm so happy that someone is FINALLY taking this seriously. Current plastic shuttles don't work, but we can work it out if we want: www.bbc.co.uk/sport/badmin...

You won't recognise the guy 2nd from left here, between Andy Torbet, Chris van Tulleken & me, but I can guarantee you've seen wildlife footage that he shot. It's Doug Allan, legendary wildlife cameraman and a proper character. Incredibly sad news that he died today: www.scotsman.com/news/pioneer...

A single line in this piece just made my day: “The electricity system operator is understood to be preparing to run the grid without any gas for short periods as soon as this summer, in a first for the UK energy system.” Renewables *work*. And progress matters🎉 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Over the years I’ve often grumbled that no-one should be allowed to go back to the Moon until we’ve cured the common cold. And so of course as humans approach the Moon for the first time in my life, I’m parked on the sofa with tissues, nursing the first cold I’ve had for months. Hmph.

Over the last 3 days I've walked ~70km along the North Downs Way, from Merstham to Cuxton. (a) It's been great: lovely spring hiking weather, loads of birdsong. (b) I passed almost no-one along the way. Bank holiday weekend, easy trains from London, well-marked path. Where was everyone?

Currently hiking along the North Downs Way (sunnier yesterday than today) and I’m looking at the ground with new eyes after recording this week’s Rare Earth on soil. It’s jolly, fascinating & perfect for the long weekend. On air at 12 today or online after that: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

I love the footpaths that cover this country. I love that individuals in the past put up signs and build steps and made stiles so that others could follow in their footsteps. And I’ve had a great day plodding along the North Downs Way. Also: yay bluebells!

It's only worth going back to the Moon if it makes us look properly again at Earth, and appreciate how beautiful, precious and fragile what we have here is. The most famous images from Apollo aren't about the Moon - they're pictures of Earth. We need to stop taking our home for granted.

T-10 minutes. They're just about to start the clock. You can watch live here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_U...

NASA's live feed on the Artemis launch is here, and it's just started broadcasting: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tf_U... I don't anticipate much happening for a while - the launch is currently scheduled for 11:24pm UK time. But keep an eye on the feed and share the link.

Here is our superstar team today for this week's Rare Earth on soil, hosted by @tomheap.bsky.social and me. We delve deep into the biological engine that is our soil, helped along by worms, the sound of an ant's footsteps, and a lot of laughter. Listen from Friday: www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m...

The event list for the excellent Cheltenham Science Festival is out today, and there is LOADS to get stuck into. I'll be doing events on indoor air pollution (cookers, aerosol sprays, cleaning products, boilers..) and water management (water companies & more besides). Full event list in the link.

This post is about a very serious story, but on my first pass I read it as “God Squid” and thought that maybe someone had finally succeeded in having a word with our cephalopod overlords and persuading them to intervene in a human world that clearly needs help.

Maybe these need to be put on a few menus/supermarket walls. These are from the UK National Food Strategy, showing the proportion of UK land used for different things (huge for beef/lamb, tiny for crops), & where we get our calories and protein (68% & 52% from plants). The difference is staggering.

This is a lovely short video from the Royal Society on why soil is one of the most amazing things on Earth: www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmJU... Beautifully done. And soil is our topic for this week's Rare Earth, so lots more on the joy, importance & surprises of soil will be coming soon. 🪱🌱🍄