A glimpse of wild brumbies in the Snowy Mountains. Credit: Michael Tristram/Flickr, CC BY-NC-ND

By Don Driscoll, Australian National University and Sam Banks, Australian National University

BedZED in Hackbridge, London. Credit: Tom Chance, CC BY-SA

By Melissa C. Lott, University College London

The primary goal of home energy efficiency initiatives might be to reduce total energy consumption, but these projects could have a negative impact on public health if we do not take care.

Planck telescope and the Cosmic microwave background. ESA and Planck, CC BY

By Robert Crittenden, University of Portsmouth

But which words will lead to action? Credit: EPA

By James Painter, University of Oxford

Each of the 125 leaders attending the New York climate summit this week has been given four minutes to speak to the world. They (or their aides) may well have dipped into the climate literature to add scientific ballast to their speeches. But they may not be as familiar with the vast array of academic studies on effective communication about climate change.

Climate March, New York City

By Alessandro R Demaio, Harvard University

US Army scientists analyze unknown samples to determine whether hazardous. That's typical of research trying to understand the unknowns and expand on our knowledge. Credit: Flickr/US Army RDECOM, CC BY

By Tim Dean

UNDERSTANDING RESEARCH: What do we actually mean by research and how does it help inform our understanding of things? We begin today by looking at the origins of research.