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The Reengineer is about the people and technologies helping us to tackle, and survive, climate change.
The challenges are massive. But they are also engrossing. We are tasked with reengineering civilisation itself, bit by bit. There is hope and courage to be found in the fact that this is possible.
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Welcome to my portfolio! I have authored more than 1,000 articles. Please see a small selection of these below.
2025 highlights
Waterwheels are back, and they’re generating electricity
Today, waterwheels connected to generators can produce zero-carbon electricity as they spin.
Inside the desperate rush to save decades of US scientific data from deletion
As the Trump administration scrubs data from various websites, activists are swinging in to save it.
'People Are So Proud of This': How River and Lake Water Is Cooling Buildings
Paris is among the cities using large bodies of water to aid cooling systems.
Exclusive: Church organ-tuning records mirror our warming climate
The data appears to reflect climate change, as well as the increased heating of churches in winter.
Exclusive: Let there be warmth! The British churches putting their faith in heat pumps
Some large, stone-built churches around the UK are installing heat pumps in a bid to go green.
'You just can't recreate that glow': The people who hunt old TVs
Some gamers go to extreme lengths to acquire old cathode-ray tube TVs.
Climate change & sustainability
The great truffle shortage is coming
Climate change is wreaking havoc with Earth's ecosystems. Not least, those that support prized truffle fungi.
World's workers don cooling vests to battle heat waves
It's Anthropocene chic - clothing designed to help you survive a working day in blistering outdoor heat.
Leaning into Indigenous knowledge on climate change
Western scientists are finally recognising Native peoples' knowledge of environmental change.
The obvious idea that slashes shipping's climate impact
Just slowing down a bit could reduce commercial ships' emissions by a surprising amount.
Ski resorts are stockpiling snow to get through warm winters
As climate change raises tempreatures, these luxury holiday destinations hoard their snow from year to year.
Lego is a company haunted by its own plastic
Lego's efforts to make toy bricks out of recycled plastic have faltered. Can the company ever be sustainable?
Homes
Heat pumps: The 'geeks' obsessing over heating systems
Do heat pumps work when it's cold? These tech-savvy early adopters say, enthusiastically, "Yes".
How to build a hurricane-proof house
Fear not. If storms come to paradise, you can hunker down in your hurricane-proof house.
The hunt for the most efficient heat pump in the world
Some heat pump installers are competing with one another over the performance of their systems.
Could a thermal camera reveal your home's hidden heat loss?
Thermal cameras are becoming more popular as people insulate their homes. (Photo: oatsy40. CC BY 2.0).
Climate hazards: 'This flood sensor saved my basement'
Gadgets could alert people to the effects of extreme weather, giving them time to save their lives or property.
Exclusive: The untold story of the rise of Heat Geek
It started as a YouTube channel. It's now a heating efficiency start-up raising millions.
Engineering & tech
The uncrackable origins of a mysterious video game
Old Atari game Entombed has some very clever code but no-one can work out how the developers came up with it.
The search for the random numbers that run our lives
Random numbers are indispensable - and yet they are also surprisingly hard to generate reliably.
The people who still love floppy disks
To some, they are a relic of a bygone era. To others, they are the best thing ever. (Photo: frankieleon. CC BY 2.0.)
Haulin' data: Truckers and workplace surveillance
Some US truckers are unhappy about the rise of new devices that record detailed data on their driving.
Exclusive: Ridley Scott inspires Network Rail drone project
Rail engineers aren't hunting for aliens, though they are recreating technology from the film Prometheus.
The plan to farm fish on the moon
Future moon residents may dine on fresh fish - but would fish eggs survive the trip?
Nature
Exclusive: Oysters return to Belfast Lough after 100 years
Scientists find dozens of live oysters in Belfast Lough more than a century after they were last recorded here.
Why the Drake Passage to Antarctica is so dangerous
It's a stretch of water famous for its turbulence. Here are stories from those who have crossed it.
What would a truly wild Ireland look like?
Ireland isn't as "green" as some people think, though it is increasingly the focus of rewilding efforts.
How animals may have conquered snowball Earth
Researchers look to life in Antarctica for tips on how animals might have survived Earth's chilliest eras.
Exclusive: Rare 'industrial snowfall' recorded in UK
Pollution-induced snow appears to have fallen near to Heathrow Airport in January 2023.
Exclusive: Synthetic wine made without grapes
A team of entrepreneurs seeks to launch a new product - wine made by mixing compounds together in a lab.
Health
WhatsApp groups help get food to those who need it
In the cost of living crisis, more and more people are searching for - and distributing - food aid via social media.
The doctor forcing landlords to act on mouldy homes
Millions of Britons live in cold, damp houses that could kill them. This doctor wants to change that.
Why more Covid-19 patients are surviving intensive care
Survival rates are improving for a number of reasons, including pharmaceutical treatments.
Scientists have discovered a new set of blood groups
Did you know that scientists have now described 44 blood groups, and counting?
Revealing the earliest Covid-19 deaths in Europe
Tissue samples kept for months have yielded evidence that the virus was spreading earlier than once thought.
Why health experts are fighting to end daylight saving time
A showdown is brewing in Tennessee over the future of daylight saving time, which - apparently - is bad for us.
Miscellaneous
Exclusive: Portraits of doomed Arctic explorers go to auction
Rare photographs taken just before Franklin's ill-fated expedition departed London in 1845 emerge for sale.
Exclusive: Honeybees recruited to detect plant viruses
A project in Australia uses DNA sampling of beehives to find early signs of plant pathogens in the environment.
Finding a long-lost skeleton from the Batavia shipwreck
Archaeologists have unearthed new evidence of 400-year-old bloodshed on a remote Australian island.
Long reads
They dreamed of esports glory, then their bodies broke down
Esports competitors reveal the shocking impacts of prolonged gaming on their bodies and mental health. Medical professionals and coaches are now realising that esports gamers need focused care - like traditional atheletes.
How going hungry affects children for their whole lives
In Scotland I met Kerry, a mother who starved herself to feed her kids. She now worries about their mental health. Is it time we started treating food insecurity as a public health crisis?
Energy crisis: How living in a cold home affects your health
After Russia invaded Ukraine, energy prices rocketed. This means a rise in people living in cold homes. I spoke to some of those whose health is affected as well as people trying to make a difference.
Saving fragments of civilisation from the big melt
In Norway, ice patch archaeologists are rescuing priceless artefacts as they emerge from melting glaciers.
The billionaire vs the fly
Environmentalists are worried that a proposed golf course in the northeast of Scotland could harm precious wildlife in the area - including a very rare fly. But some locals want the golf course to go ahead. They say it will bring tourism and jobs to the area. Who is right?
Inside the hunt for a million-dollar haul of ocean gold
I met the treasure hunters formulating a high-tech plan in a bid to retrieve gold coins from a 150-year old shipwreck.
