Dr Claire Asher

WOW. Posting also to the 🧪 feed

Microplastics in the placenta linked to increased risk of miscarriage In a recent study published by eBioMedicine, researchers found that women with higher levels of microplastics in their placenta were at an increased risk of experiencing spontaneous miscarriage in the...

🧪 NEW STUDY: Pregnant women with higher levels of microplastics in their placenta are at increased risk of miscarriage.

Also: Microplastics were found in all placentas tested.

Also: Miscarriages are involuntary abortions.

1/5

www.ehn.org/miscarriage-...

I'm game!

Anthropologists make 'ant yogurt' from centuries-old recipe, serve it as an 'ant-wich' at Michelin-star restaurant Researchers have revealed how adding a handful of live ants to warm milk can create yogurt.

Would you eat the ant-yoghurt? 🧪🏺🐜

Left: Cassini image of Enceladus showing its geysers. Right: This illustration shows the process of light, soluble and reactive organic compounds making their way onto ice grains emitted in jets of water from Saturn's moon Enceladus, where they were detected by the Cassini spacecraft.

Data from the Cassini spacecraft shows that there is complex organic chemistry happening in the ocean of Saturn's moon Enceladus.

It took 17 years to get the result! The finding boosts the case that life could possibly exist inside this little ice-covered world. 🧪🔭

www.esa.int/Science_Expl...

On the cusp of launching Season 6, Robot Talk has reached an exciting milestone: 50,000 downloads! 🎉

At this point, I'm running out of superlatives 😂. It's just amazing to see the podcast grow beyond what I ever imagined.

Thank you to everyone who's listened!

#Robots #Robotics #AI #Tech

The fate of flying rivers could decide Amazon ‘tipping point,’ report says Experts often warn about the “tipping point” for the Amazon, a scenario in which the rainforest collapses into a drier, less biodiverse savanna ecosystem. But the term “tipping point” is sometimes…

The Amazon’s “tipping point” refers to the transition of the rainforest into a drier, savanna ecosystem.

The rainforest’s ecological balance depends on the transport and recycling of moisture, but deforestation has been shown to disrupt the region’s water cycle.

A photo of Stefano wearing a light blue striped shirt and glasses.

Curious about environmental robotics? 🤖 🌳

Later this season, I'll be chatting to Prof. Stefano Mintchev from @ethz.ch about robots to explore and monitor the natural environment.

Send me your questions for Stefano in the comments below or on the Robot Talk website: robottalk.org/ask-a-question/

Warming triggers unprecedented carbon loss from tropical soils, study finds Climate warming could cause much greater soil carbon losses in the tropics than previously predicted, with potentially dire consequences for the global climate, according to a new study published in…

Climate warming could cause much greater soil carbon losses in the tropics than previously predicted, with potentially dire consequences for the global climate, according to a new study published in Nature Communications.

The buff-tip moth (Phalera bucephala) has mastered a very particular kind of camouflage.

When they close their wings up, they resemble a broken twig.

Native to large parts of Europe, there's regional pattern variation that reflects the local tree species. This one best resembles birch twigs?

A photo of several robots stood in front of a stage, with an orange banner behind them that reads: "Milton Keynes Smart City Robotics Competition. Free Event". The robots include a white humanoid Pepper robot, a drone and a wheeled rover.

📢 I'm excited to announce that I'll be attending the Smart City Robotics Competition in Milton Keynes later this month!

I'll be chatting to competitors, exhibitors, and attendees about the latest innovations in robotics. 🤖

Find out more: www.patreon.com/posts/robot-... #Robotics #SmartCity

Warming triggers unprecedented carbon loss from tropical soils, study finds Climate warming could cause much greater soil carbon losses in the tropics than previously predicted, with potentially dire consequences for the global climate, according to a new study published in N...

Tropical soils are more sensitive to warming than previously thought.

In a field experiment in Puerto Rico, warming understory plants and topsoil by 4°C increased CO2 emissions by between 42% and 204%, depending on the terrain. 🧪

My latest for @mongabay.com: news.mongabay.com/2025/09/warm...

How We Came To Know Earth | Quanta Magazine Climate science is the most significant scientific collaboration in history. This series from Quanta Magazine guides you through basic climate science — from quantum effects to ancient hothouses, from...

New Quanta Magazine series on climate science. I was one of the people interviewed for this months ago and happy to start digging in now!

www.quantamagazine.org/how-we-came-...

Overcrowding threatens sustainability of jaguar ecotourism in Brazil’s Pantanal The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere. Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat But the…

The Brazilian Pantanal is the world’s largest wetland and home to the highest density of jaguars anywhere.

Thousands of tourists arrive every year to see the animals in their natural habitat

But the boom in tourism has created new problems.

Soil carbon: Crucial ally or potential threat to net-zero commitments? The daily destruction of nature’s carbon stores is happening right before our eyes, as forests are ravaged by catastrophic wildfires and vast tracts of wildlands are cleared for agriculture. But even…

The daily destruction of nature’s carbon stores is happening right before our eyes, as forests are ravaged by catastrophic wildfires and vast tracts of wildlands are cleared for agriculture.

But even greater stores of carbon lie hidden beneath our feet, and they too are under threat.

Soil carbon: Crucial ally or potential threat to net-zero commitments? The daily destruction of nature’s carbon stores is happening right before our eyes, as forests are ravaged by catastrophic wildfires and vast tracts of wildlands are cleared for agriculture. But even ...

In my latest feature for @mongabay.com, I look into the current state and future outlook for the #soil carbon sink. It stores an astonishing 2.5 trillion metric tons of carbon (in just the top 2m!), but is at risk of becoming a net CO2 source as the climate warms 🧪 news.mongabay.com/2025/09/soil...

‘You’re the only port of call for 400 hospital patients, which is absurd’: Matthew Hutchinson on the perils of life as an NHS doctor He’s a rheumatologist, a standup comedian – and now the author of a memoir. He talks about racism in healthcare, why Covid was the only time urgent care was properly staffed – and his beef with cardio...

I'm absolutely thrilled to see my lovely and very talented friend Matthew Hutchinson interviewed in the @theguardian.com this week about his experiences as a black doctor in the NHS.

I'm really looking forward to reading his book when it comes out! www.theguardian.com/society/2025...

A bee with blue eyes, long antennae, fuzzy white sideburns, white on the face, and a black body. He is standing on the side of a purple flower with green in the background.

Alright, you all have to stop and appreciate this stunning little dude. The blue eyes, fuzzy sideburns, and cute little bee feet. These longhorn bees are typically energetic and skittish, but Mr. Handsome must've been napping. A great opportunity for a nice portrait.
(Melissodes denticulatus) PA

‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise Pollution, warm oceans and hungry urchins devastated Pacific kelp. Now, thanks to divers with hammers, one of the world’s most successful rehabilitation projects has helped it rebound

‘The forgotten forest’: how smashing 5.6m urchins saved a California kelp paradise

Brazil’s Atlantic Forest still losing ‘large amounts’ of mature forest, despite legal protection By 1970, scientists had spent 65 years thinking the black lion tamarin, a small monkey with a spectacular mane, was extinct. That year, locals found a small population of the species (Leontopithecus…

Despite a federal protection law, Brazil’s Atlantic Forest lost a Washington, D.C.-sized area of mature forest every year between 2010 and 2020, with most of the deforestation occurring illegally on private lands for agriculture.

A yellow nudibranch see slug with dark purple spots. The spots have a white border around them. The slugs' mantle is has a purple edge. In the gills of the slug you can see some purple parasitic copepod eggs sticking out.

Two for one invertebrates for #InverteFest. Here is the nudibranch Hypselodoris tryoni, in Komodo Indonesia, where you can see the purple eggs of a parasitic copepod sticking out from the slug's gill pocket.
#sluglife #nudibranch🧪🦑

Watch robot crab 'Wavy Dave' get attacked in claw-waving contest with real crabs Researchers have built a robot crab that can compete in claw-waving displays with real fiddler crabs, but "Wavy Dave" doesn't always come out unscathed.

Researchers in Scotland created a robotic fiddler crab to study the claw-waving contests that males of the species use to attract a mate. But the robot, nicknamed "Wavy Dave", didn't come out of the experiments unscathed. 🤖 www.livescience.com/animals/crus... #Robots #Robotics

Mottled green and orange treehopper with a magnificent horn over her eyes tipped in red; paused on the stem of a plant, being an adorable large thorn

Treehoppers are such perfect creatures. 💚
🌿 🦗 #InverteFest

I guess 'soon' is a relative term, but the argument is that as space travel becomes more mainstream it will become more likely, so we should be starting to develop the tools now! If / when we reach a point where long-distance space travel is common, given human nature, it's a tragic inevitability.

Yes, it's a bit of a grey area! At the moment I believe astronauts are governed by the jurisdiction of their home country, which could lead to the strange situation of different laws applying to the victim and the perpetrator!

Here's how astronauts will soon solve murders in space | BBC Science Focus Magazine When it eventually happens, a murder in space will be unlike any that has taken place on Earth. So how do you investigate an astronaut's killing when your crime scene lacks gravity?

Ever wondered how scientists would solve a crime in zero-G?

My latest story for @sciencefocus.bsky.social looks at how forensic science might work on the ISS. 🧪

www.sciencefocus.com/space/heres-... #CSI #Forensics #Space

✨ New bonus episode! ✨

I asked roboticists what type of #robot they'd like in their household. We had a bit of a giggle discussing the future potential and current limitations of home robots!

🎧 Listen here: www.patreon.com/posts/bonus-...

What kind of home robot would you choose?

#Robotics

2. The greatest heroes of any age, the people who have secured all our fundamental freedoms, are those who have broken oppressive laws for moral reasons. When you malign altruistic protesters for breaking the law, you diss the legacy of those who broke it for your sake.

A mass gathering of Spiny Spider Crabs - orange crabs with long, spindly legs like a spider. They have an oval, spiky shell that is often covered in algae.

A Spiny Spider Crab - an orange crab with long, spindly legs like a spider. They have an oval, spiky shell that is often covered in algae.

Every summer Spiny Spider Crabs undertake an epic migration, traveling to shallow coastal waters to moult on mass. They group together to provide safety in numbers as they shed their old shells. 🦀🌊

#NationalMarineWeek

Brazil’s Congress passes ‘devastation bill’ in major environmental setback As Brazil gears up to lead COP30, its Congress pushes the worst environmental setback in 40 years.

Lawmakers approved a bill that weakens Brazil’s environmental licensing framework, which creates self-approving licensing and hands decisions to local politicians.

The new law eases critical impact studies for large-scale enterprises and threatens hundreds of Indigenous and Quilombola communities.