We have never observed planetary boundaries. It's either time to start taking these issues seriously or get ready for massive 'unplanned degrowth'... www.fao.org/newsroom/det...

"Elon Musk is deliberately using his platform to poison our politics and divide our country It’s time for the government to wake up to the threat he poses to our country"

The net worth of 10 richest US billionaires grew by $698bn in the past year. Thats ~10 times the annual amount required to end extreme global poverty. Why does Bill Gates advise directing money away from “near-term emissions goals” towards climate “adaptation” ? www.theguardian.com/commentisfre...

Absolutely obscene. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

Britain is one of the least ‘nature-connected’ nations in world – with Nepal the most. Lets get reconnected - it’s good for us. Others languishing near bottom of 61-country study include Canada, Germany, Israel, Japan and Spain. www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Northumberland Wildlife Trust in partnership with The Wildlife Trusts have a one-time-only opportunity to secure the future of the historic Rothbury Estate in Northumberland. We can help. www.nwt.org.uk/what-we-do/p...

A manifesto for plant science education Alvey et al. 📖 nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/... Societal Impact Statement also available in French. #PlantScience @apaterlini.bsky.social @lizalvey.bsky.social @PlantTeaching.bsky.social @katharinehubbard.bsky.social

Wind power has cut £104bn from UK energy costs since 2010, study finds www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Interesting study from #ubc in PNAS. Elevated virus infection of honeybee queens reduces methyl oleate production and destabilizes colony-level social structure. When methyloleate levels drop, workers "smell" the queen's weakness & begin preparing her successor. doi.org/10.1073/pnas...

I have a PhD opportunity with @juliakoricheva.bsky.social at @rhulbiology.bsky.social and @rbgkew.bsky.social to research the effect of forest diversification on understory forage provision for pollinators in an experimental mixed forest in Finland. www.trees-dla.ac.uk/projects/eff... please share

Green pathways to mental health: relationships between treescapes and well-being and distress @peopleandnature.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Bumblebees learn to use antennal and tarsal taste to predict the presence of nectar rewards in flowers. This means that bees can learn to associate no food floral trait – e.g., chemicals on the surfaces of petals – with the quality of floral rewards. @ox.ac.uk doi.org/10.1242/jeb....

Scientists have wondered what gives luxury ‘cat-poo’ coffee that has been through a Civet’s digestive tract its unique flavour. Well it’s pretty obvious - it’s been through the digestive tract of a Civet. Anyway - here’s a piece on the chemistry of cat-poo coffee. www.nature.com/articles/d41...

New OA publication from TreE_PlaNat project @uktreescapes.bsky.social in Ecological Solutions and Evidence: Creating woodland through natural processes: Current understanding and knowledge gaps in Great Britain besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/...

Great PhD opportunity to work with @juliakoricheva.bsky.social & me looking at floral rewards in forests. @rbgkew.bsky.social @rhulbiology.bsky.social

Irvine Welsh at #wimbledonbookfestival talking about his new book book Men In Love. And even got to meet the man himself in the pub afterwards.

Autumn here in force @rbgkew.bsky.social

Happy Diwali!

It’s autumn in the bonsai house @rbgkew.bsky.social

Government told to prepare for 2C warming by 2050. UK ”not yet adapted" to worsening weather extremes already occurring at current levels of warming, "let alone" what was expected to come, the Climate Change Committee (CCC) wrote in letter addressed to government. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Australia’s only shrew has been declared extinct. Australia leads the world in mammal extinctions and ranks second for loss of biodiversity. We need better funding for conservation action and stronger environmental laws to uphold our international commitments to prevent further extinctions 🧪

Planet’s first catastrophic climate tipping point reached, as coral reefs face ‘widespread dieback’ Unless global heating is reduced to 1.2C ‘ASAP’ warm water coral reefs will not remain ‘at any meaningful scale’, a report by 160 scientists from 23 countries warns www.theguardian.com/environment/...

There is a DIY movement to get artists and fans to quit the music app Spotify. Musicians have long criticized the streaming service’s paltry payouts, but a new wave of boycotts is emerging. It invests in AI weapons tech & advertises ICE recruitment in the USA www.theguardian.com/technology/2...

The plastic inside us: how microplastics may be reshaping our bodies and minds The particles are in our blood, brains and guts – and we are only just beginning to learn what they do www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Work on medical uses of mind-altering substances was sidelined for decades by the political backlash against drugs, a misstep that has echoes in today’s intolerance of some fields of study

Well done Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) who rejected a Trump administration proposal which detailed policies to follow in exchange for preferential access to federal funds. Universities were offered federal funds for promoting only conservative values. www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

THE SINGH TWINS & Flora Indica. Two thought-provoking exhibitions exploring art, empire & the enduring significance of plants - revealing how cotton, spices & dyes played a pivotal role in colonial expansion & the cultural significance of plants across global traditions. www.kew.org/kew-gardens/...

Habitat improvement helps rare bumblebees in UK www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Congratulations to our PhD student Dr Cedric Maforimbo on successfully passing his PhD viva today. Thx especially to @evoeco.bsky.social who was the external & to Steve Belmain the UoG examiner & @sejarnold.bsky.social who was my co-supervisor along with #steveharte. We are all really proud of you!

Debunking takes hours - misinformation takes seconds - think before you share.

Thrilled to see our paper assigned an issue @nature.com Engineered yeast provides rare but essential pollen sterols for honeybees. Lipids are overlooked nutrients in bee health. Congrats to #ElynorMoore & #GeraldineWright @ox.ac.uk @rbgkew.bsky.social www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Nobel peace prize 2025 live: Congratulations to María Corina Machado who wins for work promoting democratic rights in Venezuela. www.theguardian.com/world/live/2...

Kat Maslova & Prof Robin Williams have recently presented at 'Living with epilepsy - Insight and Innovations' Queens Square London. This was a patient outreach day, and highlighted their work to develop a new dietary approach for the treatment of people with drug resistant epilepsy

How do plants stave off greedy pollinators? Read our new paper on pollen dosing in buzz pollinated flowers just out in @funecology.bsky.social besjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/...

How an insect might change how surgeons operate on the human body www.independent.co.uk/news/health/...

AOC: When everyone says makes an exception here or makes an exception there, and then before you know it, you have masked agents roaming the streets of this country that do not feel entitled to identify themselves

I’m on the panel for this event at the BFI. It’s free! Botanical Futures: Plant-Based Solutions for Climate and Sustainability. 19 Oct at 11:00. Future Botanica, an Augmented Reality app that enables users to design speculative ecosystems with new nature. @rbgkew.bsky.social tinyurl.com/2svpdhrz

@chelmsford.gov.uk why do you have honey bees on the roof of your civic centre? They aren’t in danger in UK & keeping hbees is not a conservation solution - they are domestic animals & compete for food with wild bees species which are at risk. Improve greenspaces! www.bbc.co.uk/news/article...

Oxford co-led study finds that majority of Britons continue to support EDI www.ox.ac.uk/news/2025-09...

An exclusive YouGov poll, commissioned by Best for Britain finds: 62% of Brits say that Brexit has been more of a failure, compared to only 11%who would say it has been more of a success. Full research here: https://bit.ly/4mv524J

Tomorrow.....20.30 on BBC4 I loved making this documentary! www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b...

Mcllroy & Lowry silence vulgar US crowds - Ryder cup playing out like a parody of global politics atm after Trumps awful tirade at the UN - but it turns out the USA is the one going to hell not Europe! It seems a very long way back now for US EU friendship. www.bbc.co.uk/sport/golf/a...

OBAMA: It's fair to say that 80% of the world's problems involve old men hanging on who are afraid of death and insignificance, and they won't let go. They build pyramids, and they put their names on everything. They get very anxious about it.

Why are the American president's claims about autism the first item on British news bulletins? He's not our president, the advice doesn't apply here and he's not presented any evidence to support his assertions. So why spread these claims? What make this the biggest story in the UK?

This is amazing.

Your next visit to Kew is overdue. #autumnleaves @rbgkew.bsky.social

Delightful evening in the temperate house yesterday for the opening night of a Material World @rbgkew.bsky.social a new installation on the use of plant and fungi in clothing and fashion.

Thrilled to see our paper published in #NewPhytologist Pollen sterols are highly diverse but phylogenetically conserved with consequences for nutrition in bees which depend on pollen for these essential lipids. @rbgkew.bsky.social @nrinstitute.bsky.social nph.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/epdf/10....

This will no doubt not end well for biodiversity!! Ministers tell Environment Agency to wave planning applications through Officials say they have been told to do as little as legally possible to prevent housing approvals www.theguardian.com/environment/...

Are you still driving a #tesla? If so you are supporting Musks far right rhetoric and his attempts to undermine british democracy. www.theguardian.com/technology/2...