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A huge cloud of dust from the Sahara recently travelled northwards across Europe. If you remember a particularly spectacular sunset earlier this month, you probably have that dust to thank.
It’s not unusual. Four years ago, almost to the day, the sky turned orange, and those of us in our London office felt like we were on Mars. Cars were left coated in a fine dust from so-called “blood rain”. Hossein Hashemi of Lund University looks at what is generating all this dust – and what to do about it.
The meningitis outbreak in Kent has been caused by a strain of bacteria that appears to be genetically distinct from anything seen before. Microbiologist Mark Fielder of Kingston University has some relatively good news: it remains sensitive to antibiotics, and vaccines should still work.
The new Pixar movie Hoppers follows a young environmentalist who inhabits a robotic beaver to help save their local environment. Yuan Pan of King’s College London praises the film for moving away from anthropomorphic sentimentality and presenting a messier ecological reality where animals eat each other and there are no simple heroes or villains.
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Will de Freitas
Environment + Energy Editor
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ragusaliaga / shutterstock
Hossein Hashemi, Lund University
Rising temperatures and shifting winds are changing how dust travels from the Sahara to Europe.
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PA Images
Mark Fielder, Kingston University
A meningitis outbreak in Kent linked to a genetically unusual strain has raised urgent questions about why it is spreading among young people.
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In the film, scientists have developed a technology that transfers human consciousness into lifelike robotic animals.
Courtesy of Disney/Pixar
Yuan Pan, King's College London
Hoppers arrives 17 years after Wall-E, Pixar’s last overtly environmentally themed film.
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Politics + Society
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Steven Barnett, University of Westminster
The BBC’s royal charter is renewed once a decade to make sure the broadcaster keeps up to date with political and technological changes.
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Susan Smith, University of Cambridge
Habermas was unshakeable in his conviction that people have minds of their own and are free to hope for a better future.
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World
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Bamo Nouri, City St George's, University of London; Inderjeet Parmar, City St George's, University of London
Donald Trump’s revival of a ‘roadmap’ to peace dismissed by Iran in 2025 suggests he is looking for a way out of an increasingly unwinnable war.
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Business + Economy
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Rachel Williams, Cardiff University
When owners don’t trust vets, it can be disastrous for their pets.
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Environment
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Jessica Newberry Le Vay, University of Oxford
For many young people, climate change education is disconnected from what they see as helpful to everyday life.
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Olly Owen, University of Oxford; Zoe Brown, University of Oxford
Research shows how cocoa farmers in Nigeria are profiting from protecting trees alongside their farms.
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Health
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Dipa Kamdar, Kingston University
Interest in lithium’s effects on the brain is growing, but the science behind low-dose use and supplements is far from settled.
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Martin Whyte, University of Surrey
In a clinical trial, this small-molecule drug was found to be superior to semaglutide for lowering blood sugar.
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Sean Semple, University of Stirling; Rachel O'Donnell, University of Stirling
Scotland showed the world how to go smoke-free. Finishing the job is proving harder.
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Rebecca Dean, University of Oxford; Irem Sepil, University of Oxford; Krish Sanghvi, University of Oxford
New research suggests that the longer sperm are stored before ejaculation, the lower their quality – with implications for men trying to conceive and IVF treatment.
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