Curious about environmental robotics? 🤖 🌳 Later this season, I'll be chatting to Prof. Stefano Mintchev from @ethz.ch about robots to explore and monitor the natural environment. Send me your questions for Stefano in the comments below or on the Robot Talk website: robottalk.org/ask-a-question/

Climate warming could cause much greater soil carbon losses in the tropics than previously predicted, with potentially dire consequences for the global climate, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage. When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig. Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

📢 I'm excited to announce that I'll be attending the Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes later this month! I'll be chatting to competitors, exhibitors, and attendees about the latest innovations in robotics. 🤖 Find out more: www.patreon.com/posts/robot-... #Robotics #SmartCity

Tropical soils are more sensitive to warming than previously thought. In a field experiment in Puerto Rico, warming understory plants and topsoil by 4°C increased CO2 emissions by between 42% and 204%, depending on the terrain. 🧪 My latest for @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/2025/09/warm...

New Quanta Magazine series on climate science. I was one of the people interviewed for this months ago and happy to start digging in now! www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...

The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the boom in tourism has created new problems.

The daily destruction of nature’s carbon stores is happening right before our eyes, as forests are ravaged by catastrophic wildfires and vast tracts of wildlands are cleared for agriculture. But even greater stores of carbon lie hidden beneath our feet, and they too are under threat.

In my latest feature for @mongabay.com, I look into the current state and future outlook for the #soil carbon sink. It stores an astonishing 2.5 trillion metric tons of carbon (in just the top 2m!), but is at risk of becoming a net CO2 source as the climate warms 🧪 news.mongabay.com/2025/09/soil...

I'm absolutely thrilled to see my lovely and very talented friend Matthew Hutchinson interviewed in the @theguardian.com this week about his experiences as a black doctor in the NHS. I'm really looking forward to reading his book when it comes out! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

Alright, you all have to stop and appreciate this stunning little dude. The blue eyes, fuzzy sideburns, and cute little bee feet. These longhorn bees are typically energetic and skittish, but Mr. Handsome must've been napping. A great opportunity for a nice portrait. (Melissodes denticulatus) PA

‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise

Despite a federal protection law, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest lost a Washington, D.C.-sized area of mature forest every year between 2010 and 2020, with most of the deforestation occurring illegally on private lands for agriculture.

Two for one invertebrates for #InverteFest. Here is the nudibranch Hypselodoris tryoni, in Komodo Indonesia, where you can see the purple eggs of a parasitic copepod sticking out from the slug's gill pocket. #sluglife #nudibranch🧪🦑

Researchers in Scotland created a robotic fiddler crab to study the claw-waving contests that males of the species use to attract a mate. But the robot, nicknamed "Wavy Dave", didn't come out of the experiments unscathed. 🤖 www.livescience.com/animals/crus... #Robots #Robotics

Treehoppers are such perfect creatures. 💚 🌿 🦗 #InverteFest

Ever wondered how scientists would solve a crime in zero-G? My latest story for @sciencefocus.bsky.social looks at how forensic science might work on the ISS. 🧪 www.sciencefocus.com/space/heres-... #CSI #Forensics #Space

✨ New bonus episode! ✨ I asked roboticists what type of #robot they'd like in their household. We had a bit of a giggle discussing the future potential and current limitations of home robots! 🎧 Listen here: www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-... What kind of home robot would you choose? #Robotics

2. The greatest heroes of any age, the people who have secured all our fundamental freedoms, are those who have broken oppressive laws for moral reasons. When you malign altruistic protesters for breaking the law, you diss the legacy of those who broke it for your sake.

Every summer Spiny Spider Crabs undertake an epic migration, traveling to shallow coastal waters to moult on mass. They group together to provide safety in numbers as they shed their old shells. 🦀🌊 #NationalMarineWeek

Lawmakers approved a bill that weakens Brazil’s environmental licensing framework, which creates self-approving licensing and hands decisions to local politicians. The new law eases critical impact studies for large-scale enterprises and threatens hundreds of Indigenous and Quilombola communities.

Friends, if you want to learn about shark ecology and biology and how scientists study these, I am teaching an online course through Center for Wildlife Studies! You can take it for graduate course credit, for CPE credit, or just to learn! There’s also an optional 3-day field research experience!

Robot Talk is taking a break over the summer, so let's take a look back at Season 5! In September, I chatted to Prof. John Leonard from @csail.mit.edu about #autonomous navigation for underwater vehicles & self-driving cars. 🤖 www.robottalk.org/2024/09/27/e... #Robots #Robotics #Autonomy

For #FossilFriday: it may not look like much, but this canid right patella is the first confirmed record of ice age dire wolves (real ones, Aenocyon dirus) from what is now Tule Springs Fossil Beds National Monument, Nevada, US. 🐺 🧪

The highway cuts through one of the most preserved regions of the Amazon, and its restoration is likely to lead to widespread deforestation, as happened with other roads. Rafael Spuldar for @mongabay.com news.mongabay.com/2025/07/amaz...

Madagascar is home to a beautiful, totally endemic snake fauna. Here are some from my most recent fieldtrip for you to appreciate for #WorldSnakeDay 🐍🧪

A UK student has identified a new Cretaceous mammal, Novaculadon mirabilis, from a 145-million-year-old jawbone in Dorset. Its sharp teeth suggest it was an omnivore that lived alongside dinosaurs. ⚒️🦴🧪 #Paleontology #Novaculadon #FossilDiscovery #Cretaceous www.port.ac.uk/news-events-...

Camera trap footage and scent analysis confirm a unique symbiosis between an ant-eater and a subterranean fruit. Looks like the ant-eating aardvarks of the African savanna do not need to be taught the benefits of a balanced diet! Cartoon by Rohan Chakravarty: buff.ly/HhI31t2.

Ready for another week of resin? Resins are defensive compounds, but some bark beetles use the smell of resin from damaged trees to locate their next home. Ips (#Coleoptera; Scolytinae) tunnel under bark & can kill weakened trees. 📷: Ips typographus Gilles San Martin CCBYSA2 #resin #Botany 🌾🧪🌱

Over half a million people may have lived in the lost landscapes north of Australia, before the land was consumed by the ocean around 18,000 years ago - my latest feature for @sciencefocus.bsky.social 🧪https://www.sciencefocus.com/planet-earth/new-hunt-for-real-world-atlantis-australia #Archaeology

Nature-friendly farming boosts both biodiversity and crop yields — but scaling it up may need more government subsidies to become as profitable as intensive agriculture, a new study led by UKCEH and @rothamsted.bsky.social has found www.ceh.ac.uk/press/nature... 🧵🧪 1/

What roles could humanoid #robots play in our societies? 🤖 I chatted to Dr. Petar Kormushev (@imperialcollegeldn.bsky.social), Ben Russell (@sciencemuseum.org.uk) & Dr. Maryam Banitalebi Dehkordi (@herts.ac.uk) about humanoid robots. Available wherever you get your podcasts: linktr.ee/robottalkpod

The vital role forests play in providing habitat for biodiversity, storing carbon and supporting cultures also buttresses global society economically and socially, according to a new report by authors at the International Union of Forest Research Organizations.

Calling young UK-based artists! To celebrate 50 years of CITES 🌍, the Royal Society of Biology @rsb.org.uk is hosting an art competition for 7–18-year-olds to draw or paint an endangered species. 🎨 🧪Find out more: www.rsb.org.uk/get-involved...

My latest work for @mongabay.com is a two-part series looking at possible climate futures. In the first part, I explore the current status of the climate emergency, and how world leaders, scientists and the global community are responding. 🧪 news.mongabay.com/2025/06/clim... #ClimateEmergency

In 1995, divers near the Ryukyu Islands off Japan spotted these elaborate mandala-like art in the sand of the ocean's floor. They were elaborate 2 meter wide sculptures with fluting, shell ornaments placed at ridges, sand sorted by granularity, both consistent in design & unique. (📷: BBC Earth)

I had a fantastic time hosting Robot Talk live at the Great Exhibition Road Festival today! We talked about humanoid #robotics - the history and future of the field, what useful roles they can play & how we can ensure they’re safe and ethical. The episode will be out later this month. #ExRdFest

🧪 Nigel Farage says abortion laws are “utterly ludicrous.” MPs are watching. We have days to show them: the public backs abortion rights. Join me and sign the petition now! you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/de...

A horrifying read. "We’re talking about nearly half the tree of life disappearing in one human lifetime. That is absolutely catastrophic." 🌍🧪 www.theguardian.com/environment/... #Biodiversity #Insect #Pollution #ClimateCollapse

By betraying his voters so comprehensively and so soon, Keir Starmer has done us a favour. He has given us 4 years to design the government we want. In this week's column I explain how it can be done. There's massive potential, but we need to start now. 🧵 www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

The new Planning & Infrastructure Bill threatens vital protections for our natural habitats. Despite promises, the government is pushing legislation that could devastate ecosystems. Read more & take action: www.ywt.org.uk/news/planning-bill-breaks-labours-nature-promises-say-wildlife-trusts-and-rspb

Here's a photo of a drone with soft, flexible landing gear that can adapt to uneven terrain, which Jane has worked on. Find out more by listening to Episode 122 of Robot Talk - available on all major podcast providers: linktr.ee/robottalkpod #Robots #Robotics #Biology #Drone

Bird feeders have caused a dramatic evolution of California hummingbirds | Science | AAAS www.science.org/content/arti... 🧪

Plants can “hear” bees buzzing & serve up more nectar when they are nearby, scientists have found. Snapdragons increased nectar volume & sugar content, plus altered gene expression for sugar transport & nectar production, when exposed to bee sounds. 🧪🐝🌼👂 www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Today we mark the International Day for Biological Diversity. It's a day to celebrate the beauty of nature but also to recognize its many values & how sustainable development & action for nature is one and the same ambition.🌍🧪 .— @nevilleash.bsky.social for #BiodiversityDay IPBES Officer-in-Charge

Really enjoyed @pintofscience.uk in York tonight, learning about hearing, bilingual brains, and AI safety. Winning the quiz and a free pint glass was an unexpected bonus! #pint25

🚨ATTENTION ALL SCIENCE SUPPORTERS🚨 👀 We have BIG plans which means we need lots of people! Sign up to be a @standupforscience.bsky.social Volunteer, TODAY! ✊JOIN THE FIGHT FOR SCIENCE! 🧪 Like, Share, Comment! #StandUpforScience #SummerFightForScience actionnetwork.org/forms/join-l...

I was a pleasure hosting this panel discussion on robots in #agriculture. I was particularly excited to hear about the innovative ways that #robotics and AI are improving #sustainability by reducing pesticide, fertiliser, and water use and minimising waste.

📢 New Episode Alert! This week, I chatted to Prof. Emma Hart from Edinburgh Napier University about algorithms that 'evolve' better robot designs and control systems. 🤖 Listen now: www.robottalk.org/2025/05/09/e... #Robots #Robotics

Calling all scientists, science postgrads & anyone who’s ever worked in a scientific discipline! Can you spare even just half an hour next Tues 12pm to join me, Chris Packham & 100+ scientists to urge for government policy to be informed by science? Let’s fill Parliament Square with scientists! 💪