Planet Earth

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: how knowing exactly which bees pollinate which crops may help us grow food more sustainably; and a look at the effects of tiny particles called nanomaterials on the environment and our health.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: a look at how technology designed to measure air pollution may soon be used to smell disease on a patient's breath; and the steps British researchers are taking to put a value on all the benefits of nature that we often take for granted.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - scientists describe why the planet's least understood but most diverse species of coral is under threat. Also, what the meteorite strike that wiped the dinosaurs out would've been like; and why co2 isn't the only greenhouse gas we should be worried about.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: researchers explain why, despite record rainfall, England is in drought. Later, how scientists are using indoor avalanches to figure out where to put buildings and roads. Finally, news of ice loss in Antarctic, and the benefits of bat dung.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - we take a closer look at tiny marine plants, which underpin the entire marine food chain and play a vital role in the Earth's climate. Also, how scientists are using volcanic ash called tefra to tell how people may have responded to rapid environmental changes in the recent past.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how fungal infections could threaten our food security as well as the planet's amphibians; work under way to understand the ecosystems around the hydrothermal vents in the Southern Ocean; and how it's people, not buildings, that use energy.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, Richard Hollingham hears about new air-quality monitoring that could help mitigate the effects of bad-air days; the effect of climate change on Mediterranean dwarf elephants; and exactly how many litres of water it took to make his morning coffee.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham finds out why the American signal crayfish is driving out one of the UK's native species; in our latest audio diary, Hannah Grist from the University of Aberdeen talks us through her research on European shags; and what noctilucent clouds tell us about our changing climate.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, Sue Nelson goes to the River Thames in central London to find out why nitrate pollution has trebled since the 1930s. Later on, she talks to a researcher about an unusual freshwater bulge in the Arctic, and asks if we should be concerned. Finally, we hear a round-up of some of the news from the natural world.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Sue Nelson visits RAL Space at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire to find out how scientists check if the scientific equipment they put on satellites will work properly once in space. Later she goes to Buckinghamshire to hear how simple changes to hedgerow management could significantly improve winter habitats and food supplies for wildlife.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham goes to the River Wandle in south-west London to find out how scientific research is helping to revitalise this heavily-used river; later he goes to Cambridge to hear about some of the hottest conservation topics for 2012.

It's not often that science news goes viral, but when researchers dubbed a new species the 'Hoff Crab' more people than usual seemed to take notice!

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to Birmingham to find out how the James Bond film Casino Royale and orang-utan conservation are linked; later she meets a scientist from the British Geological Survey to learn which parts of the UK power grid are most at risk during solar storms.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson goes to the Thames Barrier to find out how engineers use science to decide whether or not to raise or lower it, helping to stop storm surges from flooding London; while Richard Hollingham meets a scientist who developed a technique that reveals the colour of truly ancient fossilised birds.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Richard Hollingham talks to one of the scientists behind the discovery of the ozone hole to find why it's still there; how research on starlings on an island famous for its sweaters could help bird conservationists; and why forest fires in North America affect people thousands of miles away in Europe.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - Sue Nelson visits the largest collection of venomous snakes in the UK to find out how researchers are developing antivenoms to help African snakebite victims; and what scientists are doing to understand why populations of the European shag are declining.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: Richard Hollingham meets scientists and archaeologists who are working to preserve one of the most important Neanderthal settlements in north-west Europe to find out how they lived; later on, he visits the local primary school to find out what schoolchildren make of the Neanderthals.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast - how scientists find out about life in the oceans' deepest trenches; how identifying proteins from 50 milion year old reptile skin could help us store radioactive waste; and studying the effects of climate change in the Arctic.

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast, how hikers and walkers could be unwittingly changing the landscape by spreading alien species; what it's like to work as a marine biologist in the Arctic in temperatures of minus 40C; and exactly how stable is the West Antarctic Ice Sheet?

This week in the Planet Earth Podcast: in a geoengineering special edition, we take a closer look at some of the technologies we may have to resort to using to avert dangerous climate change.