Resources by Planet Earth Online

Energy Crops, CryoSat-2 and Bird Bling

A podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC). Willow, palm, miscanthus and other energy crops are being touted as a possible solution to Britain's growing energy security problems. There are suggestions that they could help replace fossil fuels, plugging...

Essex Coral Reefs, Malaria in the UK, and Antarctica

In this podcast from the Natural Environment Research Council's (NERC) Planet Earth Online collection, Sue Nelson visits an indoor coral reef at the brand new Coral Reef Research Unit at the University of Essex.

Researchers are using the reef to look at the effects of ocean acidification on coral in a...

Fish Poo, Dead Whales, and the Japan Earthquake

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) looks at how the famous White Cliffs of Dover could be made of fish poo (at least partially), why one researcher is so interested in dead whales, and why the Japan earthquake was so powerful and devastating....

Flood Defences, the Southern Ocean, and Whiter Clouds

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) looks at why removing some man-made coastal flood defences might not be such a bad idea, what it is like studying gas exchange in the wilds of the Southern Ocean, and – in what could be the first case of '...

Geoengineering, Wind and Sea Squirts

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), two researchers talk about the technological solutions some scientists say might have to be used to tackle climate change.

With average temperatures expected to rise by 2°C this century, and efforts...

Gold, storms and dinosaurs

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Richard Hollingham looks at where and how to find gold while Sue Nelson finds out why weather forecasters still struggle to predict sudden, violent summer storms. Other reports discover why scientists may be...

Harassed Guppies and Promiscuous Fruit Flies

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), reporters find out what sexual conflict means for female guppies, how female promiscuity may be a good thing and why female mongooses all give birth at the same time.

In an extreme example of sexual...

Hi-tech Physics, Toxic Soils and Mussel Shells

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC) was recorded at the Diamond Light Source in Oxfordshire, England and discusses how two researchers are using hi-tech physics to study different aspects of the environment.

The Diamond synchrotron is like...

Highlights From 2009

This podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), looks back at some of the highlights from 12 months of Planet Earth podcasts, and looks ahead to some of the big stories expected in 2010.

Marine biologist Ben Wilson from the Scottish Association for...

Ice Clouds and Viper Venom

In this podcast from the Planet Earth Online collection and the Natural Environment Research Council (NERC), Sue Nelson visits the ice cloud chamber in the School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences.

Scientists know that fluffy stratocumulus clouds act like a blanket on the Earth - they stop...