Topic description and stories

The climate crisis and biodiversity losses are affecting the planet at an alarming pace. Cambridge researchers are helping the response to these threats, building resilience, supporting the transition from fossil fuels to a zero-carbon future, and enabling us to act sustainably to protect the planet's precious resources and reduce waste.

The climate crisis: towards zero carbon

26 February 2020

Sir David Attenborough, Dr Jane Goodall DBE and leading Cambridge University researchers talk about the urgency of climate crisis – and some of the solutions that will take us towards zero carbon.

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Grouper and moray.

Memory like a fish

09 Dec 2011

The traditional belief that fish have short memory spans may not be as true as we thought. Gates scholar Alex Vail is carrying out research that...

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Scrap-metal

Six steps to a better material world

30 Nov 2011

Every year we make 10 times our own bodyweight of steel, aluminium, cement, plastics and paper, for every person alive, using a fifth of all the...

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Demonstration banner

Deep issues: communicating CCS

03 Nov 2011

New research has identified communication gaps that could hinder the deployment of carbon dioxide capture and storage (CCS) technologies to mitigate...

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Demolition of Manor Park School, Newcastle.

School carbon emissions in England are on the rise

01 Nov 2011

New data obtained by researchers shows that electrical energy consumption in England's schools has gone up, even as heating demand has fallen, with...

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Close-up of the moss pots incorporated into a novel table developed at Cambridge University.

The hidden power of moss

22 Sep 2011

Scientists at Cambridge University are exhibiting a prototype table that demonstrates how biological fuel cells can harness energy from plants.

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Ghana forest

Sparing or sharing? Protecting wild species may require growing more food on less land

02 Sep 2011

Separating land for nature and land for crops may be the best way to meet increased food demand with the least impact on wild species.

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Vegetables

Food security: your questions answered

31 Aug 2011

Over the past month, the University of Cambridge has been profiling research that addresses one of the biggest challenges of the 21st century – how...

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Depiction of a graphene sheet.

Graphene goes plasmonic

30 Aug 2011

Researchers have discovered a crucial recipe for improving the characteristics of graphene devices for use as photodetectors in the next generation...

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Batteries

Todd-Hamied Laboratory at the Department of Chemistry opens

11 Aug 2011

The University of Cambridge’s Department of Chemistry has today unveiled the new, cutting-edge Todd-Hamied Laboratory. The laboratory will explore...

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The Foreseer tool is based on Sankey diagrams, where the width of each line is proportional to the quantity of resource

Foreseer of future resources

20 Jul 2011

An online tool will help users predict trade-offs between the global commodities of energy, water and land.

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Chocolate-backed Kingfisher

Farming and the fate of wild nature

19 Jul 2011

As the drive to increase food production gathers pace, conservation scientists suggest that reconciling food security with protecting biodiversity...

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Soil

In soil we trust

14 Jul 2011

Far from being merely ‘dirt’, soil plays a fundamental role in food production, water availability and biodiversity. A new research programme aims to...

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