Environment

There will be two attempts to land on Mars in 2021 – by Nasa and the China National Space Administration. Nasa’s Perseverance is scheduled to touch down on the Martian surface on 18 February. If successful, it will be the biggest and most sophisticated vehicle ever sent to land on another planet. China’s Tianwen-1 will

There’s a lot of choice about which type of face covering to wear – and in some countries the advice about which one to wear is changing, as we learn more about how the virus spreads. Dr Anthony Fauci, the top US infectious diseases expert, recently advocated wearing two masks. But does it matter what

Hundreds of tiny forests are being planted in towns and cities around the world. The British government has announced funding for 12 of them in the UK. But what’s the point of a forest the size of a tennis court? A film for People Fixing the World by Richard Kenny and Anna Holligan.

Why is it that so many missions to Mars happen at the same time? In February 2021, Nasa’s Mars Perseverance Rover, the United Arab Emirate’s Hope satellite and China’s Tianwen-1 are all due to arrive at the Red Planet- but only Nasa and China aim to land on its surface. How far away is Mars?

Experts want to get an accurate picture of light pollution levels, by asking members of the public to count how many stars they can see. Organisers at Campaign to Protect Rural England want people across the country to focus on the stars in Orion, between 6 and 14 February 2021. Light pollution can be harmful

In 1960, Jacques Piccard and Lieutenant Don Walsh became the first humans ever to journey to the world’s greatest depth, the bottom of the Mariana Trench in the Pacific Ocean. They attempted the expedition in the Bathyscaphe Trieste, a submersible specifically designed to withstand the tremendous pressure they would encounter. Don Walsh spoke to Witness

A scientist working on the Oxford-AstraZeneca Covid-19 vaccine says he hopes he can inspire other people from black and ethnic minority backgrounds to realise their own life-saving dreams. Dr Mustapha Bittaye also told the BBC about the head start their previous vaccine work gave them, and emphasised the importance of countering vaccine disinformation on social

This cub is so cute that you can’t help but “panda” to her needs! A video of six-month-old Fu Bao clinging on to her zookeeper’s leg has gone viral with more than four million views on YouTube. The cub was the first giant panda to be born in South Korea – at Everland Zoo. Her

Butterfly wings are a bit of a mystery and “conventionally considered aerodynamically inefficient”. Researchers have analysed air flow movements behind butterfly and mechanical wings, and found that their wings clap together during the upstroke thrusting the animal forwards. This is crucial for fast take-off and evasive manoeuvres and may help explain the evolution of wings.

Snow storms bring deadly chaos to Japan. Video, 00:00:54Snow storms bring deadly chaos to Japan

Though scientists had warned the world was due a pandemic, no-one could have predicted the scale and impact of Covid-19. So should we expect more pandemics in the future? The BBC’s Mattea Bubalo explains . Video by Mattea Bubalo, Laura Foster and Kate Forbes. Graphics by Mel Lou and Terry Foster

We need to drastically cut our carbon emissions to reduce the harmful impacts of climate change. Global leaders have set targets to reach net zero emissions by the second half of this century. That means putting the same amount of greenhouse gases into the air as we take out.  BBC Minute’s Olivia Le Poidevin reports.

play Lookahead 2021: Trips to Mars and the Arctic. Video, 00:02:37Lookahead 2021: Trips to Mars and the Arctic

An aspiring wildlife photographer has formed an unlikely friendship with a fox. Tony Putman, from Crowborough, East Sussex, first came across the vixen while walking his dogs in nearby Edenbridge, and struck up a bond by giving it dog treats. Tony combines his job as a gardener with his passion for taking pictures of animals.

In Kenya, communities are starting to rethink wildlife conservation. Traditional methods often meant moving indigenous people from their land to make way for protected areas and wildlife. Nashulai, on the edge of Kenya’s world famous Maasai Mara National Reserve, wants to change that. It’s a conservancy where humans and animals live side-by-side, reviving ancient practices.

play When Greta Thunberg met Margaret Atwood… on Zoom. Video, 00:02:37When Greta Thunberg met Margaret Atwood… on Zoom