Science & Environment

PA Media Aulonia albimana was last recorded in the UK in 1985 A critically endangered spider not seen in the UK for 40 years has been rediscovered. Aulonia albimana, which was last recorded in the UK in 1985, was found at the National Trust’s Newtown National Nature Reserve on the Isle of Wight. The team that found the tiny orange-legged …

Evie LakeNorth East and Cumbria John Millard Rothbury Estate in Northumberland is a 15-sq-mile (30-sq-km) tract of former grouse moor, woodland and farmland Sir David Attenborough has championed a bid by conservationists to raise £30m to buy the entirety of a vast upland estate. The Wildlife Trusts and Northumberland Wildlife Trust are attempting to complete the purchase of the Rothbury …

Justin RowlattEnvironment Editor BBC It is 1am on 3 June. A near gale force wind is blasting into Scotland. Great weather for the Moray East and West offshore wind farms, you would have thought. The two farms are 13 miles off the north-east coast of Scotland and include some of the biggest wind turbines in the UK, at 257m high. …

Mark PoyntingClimate reporter NOAA via Getty A satellite image of Hurricane Melissa moving over the Caribbean Sea Hurricane Melissa, one of the strongest Atlantic storms ever recorded, created “extremely dangerous and life-threatening” conditions in Jamaica, according to the US National Hurricane Center. Climate change is not thought to increase the number of hurricanes, typhoons and cyclones worldwide. But warmer oceans …

Rachel Hagan and Mark Poynting,Climate Reporter Strong winds and wild waves in Kingston, Jamaica A very powerful hurricane has made landfall in Jamaica and is the strongest storm to hit the Caribbean island in modern history. Hurricane Melissa, now a Category 4 storm, first hit the island’s southern coast with maximum sustained winds of 295km/h (185mph) – the strongest on …

Matt McGrathEnvironment correspondent Getty Images The goal to keep the rise in temperatures under 1.5C is failing badly according to a UN review of nations’ carbon-cutting plans ahead of next week’s COP30 summit. Only 64 countries have submitted new pledges to limit planet-warming gases this year, despite all being required to do so by now as part of the 2015 …

Pallab GhoshScience Correspondent BBC Listen to Pallab reading this article Hidden away in a lab in north-west London three black metal robotic hands move eerily on an engineering work bench. No claws, or pincers, but four fingers and a thumb opening and closing slowly, with joints in all the right places. “We’re not trying to build Terminator,” jokes Rich Walker, …

A protection zone has been put in place following a case of bird flu at a commercial poultry premises. The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the H5N1 virus was confirmed at a property near Lakenheath, in Suffolk, on Sunday and all birds would be culled. A 3km (1.9 mile) protection zone and 10km (6.2 mile) surveillance …

Jean MackenzieSeoul correspondent BBC/Hosu Lee Boat owner Hong Suk-hui says the seas are becoming more dangerous Hong Suk-hui was waiting on the shore of South Korea’s Jeju Island when the call came. His fishing boat had capsized. Just two days earlier, the vessel had ventured out on what he had hoped would be a long and fruitful voyage. But as …

Available for over a year The ‘bionic eye’ may make you think of Star Trek’s Geordi La Forge. Now, scientists have restored the ability to read in a group of blind patients with advanced dry age-related macular degeneration (AMD). And they’ve done it by implanting a computer chip in the back of their eyes. Professor Francesca Cordeiro, Chair of Ophthalmology …