@chalkmark profile picture
Richard Gray @chalkmark

Science journalist. Ex-biochemist. Editor at BBC Future (bbc.com/future). Coffee drinker. Climber. patentlygreat.wordpress.com

Joined March 2009
  • Tweets 4,936
  • Following 3,214
  • Followers 4,425
208 Photos and videos
Richard Gray retweeted
Ashis Basu 🇨🇦 ashis.bluesky.social@BasuAshis
9 Dec 2024
An iceberg plate works as a tuning fork," says Alexander Gavrilov, a professor at the Centre for Marine Science and Technology at Curtin University in Australia. "The song frequencies depend on iceberg's dimensions." @chalkmark bbc.com/future/article/20241…

How the mournful songs of icebergs reverberate around the world

Icebergs produce some of the loudest natural noises in the oceans. Can we learn anything about their birth, life and death by listening in?

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And somehow we shoehorned an anecdote about James Baldwin and Margaret Mead into this delightful story about critter cams??? bbc.co.uk/future/article/202…

At-home trail cameras: Capturing the secret animal reality show in your own back garden

An online community has erupted around people filming wildlife with backyard trail cameras. It's not just cute: the videos are uncovering animal secrets for biologists.

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I couldn't be more thrilled to read this headline on a dingy Friday afternoon: bbc.com/future/article/20240…

Honey, not marmalade, is saving the real 'Paddington Bear'

Drought and conflict with farmers are threatening Bolivia's Andean bear – the real-life Paddington Bear. Now a beekeeping project is helping protect this endangered species.

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Richard Gray retweeted
Jim McQuaid 🇺🇦 🇪🇺@jimmcquaid
2 Mar 2024
The far-reaching impacts of #wildfiresmoke – and how to protect yourself. Last year smoke from massive fires in Canada blew all the way to New York, resulting in #AirQuality alerts being issued. A great article on the subject..... bbc.com/future/article/20240…
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🇦🇶 The experience of living in Antarctica, almost totally cut off from the rest of the world, can change how you speak bbc.co.uk/future/article/202… by @chalkmark via @BBC_Future

Isolated for six months, scientists in Antarctica began to develop their own accent

Isolated for six months one winter, a group of scientists changed how they spoke.

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Very much enjoying this list of successful partnerships from the natural world, including the slimy mutualism of periphyton: bbc.com/future/article/20240…

The interspecies relationships that evolved in nature

From bats and carnivorous plants to crocodiles and birds, nature is full of remarkable pairings that depend on each other to survive.

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Richard Gray retweeted
Katharine Quarmby@KatharineQ
25 Jan 2024
Is asbestos in drinking water safe? A year ago, @journalismfund awarded our cross-border team a grant to investigate whether asbestos fibres from old pipes leaching into drinking water was safe: I wrote the UK investigation for @BBC_Future 1/ bbc.com/future/article/20240…

Asbestos in drinking water: What does it mean for human health?

Decades old water piping made from asbestos cement is starting to degrade – but what does it mean for human health?

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Anyone who has 24 minutes to spare this week, I can very much recommend these three excellent short films presented by @rifish about deep time. Beautifully shot, and delightfully lyrical. I found them strangely calming: bbc.com/reel/video/p0f7smlm/…

The man who discovered the 'abyss of time'

How one geologist transformed how the world sees time.

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The picture captions in this week's Future Planet story are making me smile a lot this week: bbc.com/future/article/20230…
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Richard Gray retweeted
Georgina Rannard@GeorginaRannard
12 Jan 2023
"Our analysis allows us for the first time to actually put a number on what Exxon knew - that the burning of their fossil fuel products was going to heat the planet by about 0.2C of warming every decade" - what a scientist behind new findings told me bbc.co.uk/news/science-envir…

ExxonMobil: Oil giant predicted climate change in 1970s - scientists

Researchers claim to put a number on what Exxon knew about temperature rise as early as the 1970s.

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Richard Gray retweeted
The Procrastinator Times@Pro_Sometimes
12 Jan 2023
We tend to associate dinosaurs with ground-shaking roars, but latest research shows that this is probably mistaken. 📝: Read @chalkmark’s interesting article @bbcfuture ⏳: Estimated Time of #MeaningfulProcrastination: 9 min 💌: #ProcrastinatorTimes bbc.com/future/article/20221…
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Richard Gray retweeted
BBC Future
@BBC_Future
4 Jan 2023
Microscopic fragments of plastic are absorbed from the soil by plant roots. What does this mean for the food we eat? bbc.com/future/article/20230…

How microplastics are infiltrating the food you eat

Plastic pollution is one of the defining legacies of our modern way of life, but it is now so widespread it is even finding its way into fruit and vegetables as they grow.

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Richard Gray retweeted
BBC Future
@BBC_Future
14 Dec 2022
Could dinosaur calls have been more like birds than fearsome movie monsters? bbc.com/future/article/20221…

What did dinosaurs sound like?

We tend to associate dinosaurs with ground-shaking roars, but the latest research shows that this is probably mistaken and they probably sounded very different.

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Richard Gray retweeted
BBC Future
@BBC_Future
19 Dec 2022
Most space agencies aim for the Moon – the UAE’s aimed for Mars. bbc.com/future/article/20221…

How the UAE got a spacecraft to Mars – on the first try

In 2020, the UAE's space agency launched its first Mars mission, less than a decade after it was created. How did they manage it?

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Richard Gray retweeted
BBC Future
@BBC_Future
16 Nov 2022
Artemis I is paving the way for humanity’s return to the Moon. bbc.com/future/article/20220…

Artemis: The return to the Moon that will set new space records

The launch of Artemis I helped prepare the way for humanity's return to the lunar surface and beyond. How will this ambitious new space programme make history?

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Richard Gray retweeted
Brian Cox
@ProfBrianCox
18 Nov 2022
I’m on @BBCBreakfast in the next hour talking about Black Holes - with the ‘other’ Brian Cox. One day I will tell the full story about me trying to check into the hotel last night. Confusion doesn’t begin to describe it.
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Richard Gray retweeted
david@davidstocko
27 Sep 2022
Someone only went and put the Jaws theme over @NASA's asteroid collision mission. Now nobody is safe...
Emily Bates@emzywb
27 Sep 2022
Replying to @DownHereOnEarth
Just when you thought it was safe to go back to the asteroid...
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Richard Gray retweeted
Roberta Angheleanu@DrRobertaAngh
26 Aug 2022
It was a pleasure writing this article for @BBC_Future ! Why a workout is good for your gut bacteria bbc.com/future/article/20220… via @BBC_Future

Why a workout is good for your gut bacteria

The rich microbiota flourishing inside us may play a far greater role in the way exercise improves our health than previously thought.

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