Chris Baraniuk

It's 40 years since the Chernobyl disaster. This is what it has meant for wildlife living around the devastated nuclear power plant.

As the US military ends a tradition of mandatory seasonal flu shots, Chris Baraniuk reports on the ensuing debate over troop readiness versus personal choiceWith one social media post,1 a vaccine mandate that had been in place for 70 years was cancelled. Pete Hegseth, the US defence secretary, who styles himself “secretary of war,” declared that US military personnel would no longer be obliged to undergo seasonal flu vaccination.A mandatory jab was “just overly broad and not rational,” Hegseth said in a video posted to X on 21 April 2026. Allowing members of the armed forces to choose whether to have the vaccine would give them “medical autonomy” and would pose “no threat” to military readiness, he said.The US first introduced mandatory flu vaccination for military personnel in 1945, partly in response to the number of flu casualties among service personnel during the first world war, when nearly as many were killed by the virus as in combat.2 Seven million personnel were …

The captivating blue glow emitted by a sea-dwelling species of algae has been harnessed by scientists in the US to make light-emitting structures.

Scientists suggest algae could be embedded within biosensors that glow when toxins detected in the environment

Molecules that can capture heat could be a useful technology to decarbonise heating.

Molecules that can capture heat could be a useful technology to decarbonise heating.

A new outbreak of Ebola virus disease in central Africa, caused by the rare Bundibugyo version of the virus, has caused more than 300 suspected cases and killed 100 people, health officials have said.The World Health Organization (WHO) has declared the situation a public health emergency of international concern.1The Africa Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (Africa CDC) has so far identified 336 suspected and 10 confirmed cases in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC).2 There have been 87 deaths in the DRC to date. Uganda has had two confirmed cases and one additional death.3In response WHO has sent five tonnes of medical supplies to the DRC, and $500 000 (£374 000; €430 000) has been released from the agency's contingency fund for emergencies.This Ebola outbreak is causing particular concern because it has been caused by the Bundibugyo strain, which has been detected in only two previous outbreaks, in 2007 and 2012. There are no approved treatments or vaccines for Bundibugyo Ebola.The first field tests …

Plastic food wrappers, bottles, lids and caps are by far the most common items of litter found on the world's shorelines, a study has found.

Global study finds wrappers, bottles and lids on shorelines of 93% of countries analysed as UN talks to tackle issue stall

When a heatwave struck the UK this week, Jon Connorton, a software developer, began monitoring temperatures inside his east Hampshire terrace house.