A Catalyst article about BepiColombo, a spacecraft which will visit Mercury, powered by a revolutionary new rocket engine technology using ion engines and using a slingshot manoeuvre to accelerate it. The development of the spacecraft is an international project and will combine exciting scientific goals exploring...

The mission of the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) is to gather and apply knowledge, improve understanding and predict the behaviour of the natural environment and its resources. It was established in 1965.

NERC funds and manages research and training in earth system science, advancing knowledge...

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Richard Hollingham hears how the underwater world isn't the soundless place often imagined. From chirping, gurgling and snapping sounds from busy coral reefs to clicking sperm whales, scientists are finding...

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Richard Hollingham talks to Professor Meric Srokosz from the National Oceanography Centre, Southampton about a new European Space Agency satellite, which was due to be launched on 2 November 2009. 

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This Catalyst article looks at OIF (Ocean Iron Fertilization) a process of pouring iron into the oceans. The theory behind it is to slow climate change by using a process that already occurs naturally. Nature has a way to draw carbon dioxide (CO2) from the air down into the ocean. If the process could be speeded up...

Many sea creatures such as crabs and shell fish are affected greatly by the levels of acid and temperatures of the ocean they live in as it prevents their outer shell development. This can lead to a depletion in numbers and a knock on effect along the food chain.

These resources include practical activities...

This Catalyst article describes the work of scientists detecting changes in the oceans. The working lives of three oceanographic scientists who are investigating the Gulf Stream are examined, as is the requirement for them to work closely with experts in other fields, such as: engineers, software developers and...

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). With efforts to improve energy efficiency focused on green transport, sustainable power generation, growing your own food and reducing waste, it is often easy to forget that the very buildings we live and work in...

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Does your shopping basket contain chocolate, biscuits and shampoo? If it does, you may be unwittingly contributing to the destruction of the some of the world's pristine rainforests.

Manufacturers now use...

Glaciers exposed to particulate matter (pollutants) undergo changes to their surface reflectivity. This phenomena called albedo leads to an increased heat absorption at the surface of the ice and as a result an acceleration in the melting process. This resource includes a practical activity that models the effects...

Planet Earth podcasts, from the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) and hosted by Planet Earth online, cover a variety of topics about the world around us. Each podcast reports on two to four different stories, describing research projects and studies, dangers to the environment and wildlife, and proposed...

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Scientists recently found plastics floating in some of the most remote and inaccessible seas in the world, just off the coast of Antarctica. Although it clearly looks ugly in such a pristine environment,...

This Mathematics Matters case study looks at the serious problem of coastal erosion. Much of the UK’s coastline is undergoing erosion, placing homes, businesses and other important coastal sites at risk. Mathematical modelling can enable us to understand both the short and long term processes that lead to erosion,...

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). The UK is literally full of geology - so much so that many names of geological periods come from names of regions of the country, the most well-known being the Devonian (after Devon) and the Cambrian (the old name...

Produced by the Science and Technology Facilities Council (STFC), these naked Scientist podcasts look at a wide range of general science questions in an accessible and informative way. In these podcasts, the Naked Scientist answers questions from callers into Talk Radio...