Vincent Plant discusses the inevitability of human’s high level of intelligence, and the implications this had on our planet.
Biology
Wearing Your Heart on Your Sleeve: The Hidden Problem of Microfibres
Issy Murray explores the damaging effects of microfibres in our clothes and explains the actions we can take to reduce it.
Tardigrades; Weird and Wonderful
You’ve heard of grizzly bears, black bears, and polar bears, but prepare to meet the fiercest bear of them all…and he happens to be smaller than a grain of rice! The water bear, alongside the moss piglet, is a species of tardigrade, a group of microscopic organisms no larger than a single millimetre in length. […]
Best of TED: Gene editing and the eradication of malaria
Jennifer Kahn is a science journalist whose articles cover the gene-editing abilities of CRISPR technology. Her TED talk, ‘Gene editing can now change an entire species – forever’ can be found on TED.com under the ‘Science’ section. No one can deny the blight malaria has been on the world. UNICEF figures show over a […]
Second Thoughts: Hunting the Self
Beyond Biology – Chantal D’Arcy One of the hardest aspects of moving away from home and into the real world – whether it be university or anything else – is the realization that you’re not as special to the rest of the world as you are to your mum. Every day I find myself overwhelmed with […]
Attenborough joined by Exe biologist in new doc
A University of Exeter marine biologist has been chosen to accompany David Attenborough in his new interactive series on the Great Barrier Reef. Dr Steve Simpson, Senior Lecturer in Marine Biology and Global Change, joined Attenborough in the three-part BBC series taking viewers on a journey across the Great Barrier Reef on board a state-of-the-art research […]
Biology of the Big Screen: Godzilla’s “MUTOs”
An international multimedia phenomenon since 1954, the Godzilla franchise returned on the big screens just in time for its 60th anniversary last year, with a rather surprising story including some new exotic characters. The classic “monster against the city” scenario is twisted and turned so that the iconic creature loses the “bad guy” label to some […]
Exeter academics make world’s best list
Six academics from the University of Exeter have earned a place on a prestigious list of the world’s most influential minds, which was published earlier this week. Inclusion on the Thomson Reuters Highly Cited Researchers list, which spans natural, biomedical and social sciences, represents a researcher’s ranking within the global top 1 per cent. Three […]
Creatures in extreme places
From the crushing pressures at the depths of the oceans to the scorching heat of volcanoes, you would be hard pressed to find a region on earth that life has not exploited. For decades, biologists have been finding what they believe to be the limits of life on earth, and for decades, nature has been […]
Rare footage of ‘Paddington Bear’ captured by Exeter University biologist in Peru
An Exeter University biologist was part of the expedition team to capture some of the first ever footage of incredibly rare and endangered animals. The critically endangered bird, the Sira Currasow, and the spectacled bear on which the character Paddington Bear was based, were caught on camera by the biologists whilst on an expedition in […]