The government has announced its ambition to reduce the number of calories in some popular foods by 20 per cent by 2024. Will this really help the nation lose weight? There’s often confusion and debate about how best to tackle the UK’s obesity epidemic. Some commentators have blamed obesity on over-consumption of certain food types like…
At least four people have died in car crashes as heavy snow sweeps across the country. Forecasters are predicting up to 10 centimetres of snow for many places, with hundreds of schools closed down, trains disrupted and flights cancelled and flights disrupted. And there’s more snow on the way – plus for parts of the…
Liam Dutton
With the coldest spell of weather for at least five years set to bring disruptive snow to the UK this week, here are useful tips that will help you stay up to date and be prepared for what’s to come.
It appears that the drugs DO work. Scientists say that they have resolved one of the most hotly debated topics in medicine – whether anti-depressants are effective in treating depression. A huge study carried out over six years has found that all 21 common anti-depressants are more effective than dummy pills. Doctors hope it will…
What would happen if the water simply ran out? That’s the nightmarish reality facing four million people in Capetown, which may soon be forced to turn off its taps after drought and population growth brought reservoir levels dangerously low. Officials say supplies could dry up by mid April.
Dr Irene Pepperberg, comparative psychologist at Harvard University, discusses talking animals.
The foreign secretary, Boris Johnson, has hinted at the prospect of building a road bridge between the UK and France. FactCheck asks whether such a project would be feasible – and what challenges engineers would be up against.
Liam Dutton
Earlier this week, I criticised the Irish Met Service, Met Eireann, for naming Storm Fionn. Here’s why I did this and how I think Met Eireann and the Met Office can improve the storm naming system.
Krishnan Guru-Murthy speaks to Environment Minister Therese Coffey and I began by asking her why it will take until 2042 to get rid of avoidable plastic waste.
Theresa May has promised to tackle what she describes as a “scourge” of plastic waste. The Prime Minister visited a bird sanctuary as she outlined her 25-year plan for the environment. Critics say her plans need to be backed with legislation and take too long to do anything. But does her wider environment plan really…
Environmentally friendly farming will be the watchword once Brexit has happened. That was the message from Environment Secretary Michael Gove today as he set out plans to pay farmers for their stewardship of the countryside rather than how many acres they have. Mr Gove did admit, however, the current EU system of subsidy many farmers…
In the heart of the Nevada desert, Area 51 has become the holy grail of conspiracy theorists – home, they say, to a top secret US military base for the study of extra-terrestrials. But now it has emerged that the theorists might not have been that far off. It has been reported that the Pentagon…
Liam Dutton
As cold Arctic air returns to the UK in the coming days, some places will see significant snow. But where, when and how much?
Liam Dutton
Predicting snow in the UK is difficult and weather computer models rarely get it right more than a few days ahead. But why is this the case?
Progress in the fight against Malaria has stalled, the World Health Organisation warned this week. Funding has levelled off and after years of progress, countries where malaria is endemic have become complacent. The W.H.O’s annual Malaria Report finds five million more people died of the disease in 2016 than in the previous year. Many scientists…
