Michael Marshall

For decades, an influential theory blamed the Rapanui for their own downfall—a story made famous by Jared Diamond’s book Collapse. New evidence tells a different tale

Craig Venter has died aged 79. He was at the forefront of sequencing the human genome and of synthetic biology, but divided opinion in how he went about it

Many cities' soil is degraded and locked away under concrete, so a pan-European team is planning to revive them through nature-based remediations.

A study based on tree rings claimed that droughts played a role in events that led to the Roman withdrawal from Britain, but other researchers say that isn't backed up by historical evidence

We shouldn't dismiss flowers as merely ornamental – these blooms are world-changers, argues a vivid new book by David George Haskell. Michael Marshall is mostly convinced

The Neanderthal population shrank during a cold spell around 75,000 years ago, and the loss of genetic diversity may have contributed to their eventual extinction

The end-Permian extinction 252 million years ago wiped out over 80 per cent of marine species, but many ecosystems still had complex food webs despite the losses

Sediments from Scotland hint that ocean-atmosphere interactions continued more than 600 million years ago despite widespread ice.

Irish researcher Ronald Halim and his team are growing billions of microalgae that could one day fuel jet aeroplanes.

The period between Christmas and New Year is always weird, but I do quite like getting a chance to take stock of the year; to figure out what I've done, and what I'd like to do next or better. In...

Stalagmite data suggest Homo floresiensis faced prolonged drought that stressed both them and their prey, contributing to their disappearance.

Formula E, an all-electric racing competition, is pioneering technology that could find its way into vehicles at a charging station near you.

An overlooked technology for nearly 50 years, the first liquid air battery facility is finally set to power up in 2026.

An archaeological dig in northern England shows iron and lead processing continued and even increased after the departure of the Romans

Batteries for electric vehicles are notoriously difficult to recycle, but growing demand for the rare metals they contain is leading to innovative new ways of retrieving them.

Grave warnings have been issued about the dangers of creating life forms using mirror-image molecules. How worried should we be?

The world's largest icebergs break off the Antarctic ice sheet. As they drift and melt in the Southern Ocean, they create a unique environment around them.

Renewables 2024 - Analysis and key findings. A report by the International Energy Agency.

With the closure of the last coal-fired power station in the UK, it raises questions about how old fossil fuel infrastructure can be repurposed.

There can be no victory in a war against nature, says Sunil Amrith in The Burning Earth, a must-read history of our environmental crisis The Burning EarthSunil Amrith (Allen Lane (UK); W. W. Norton (US)) So much has been written about the…