Roger Highfield is the Science Director at the Science Museum Group, a member of the UK's Medical Research Council and a visiting professor at the Dunn School, University of Oxford, and Department of Chemistry, UCL. He studied Chemistry at the University of Oxford and was the first person to bounce a neutron off a soap bubble. Roger was the Science Editor of The Daily Telegraph for two decades, and the Editor of New Scientist between 2008 and 2011. He has written or co-authored ten popular science books, most recently Stephen Hawking: Genius at Work, and has had thousands of articles published in newspapers and magazines.
Climate change may accelerate the disappearance of millennia of Indigenous knowledge tied to the plants people use for food, medicine, construction and cultural traditions. Roger Highfield, Science Director, reports on a study published today. By the end of this century, Indigenous communities across Amazonia could lose around a third of the native plant species on which they depend. At the same time, the disappearance of their languages threatens to erase a quarter of the region’s documented knowledge of those plants. Together, the losses threaten one of the world’s […]
Lung cancer may be moving into the era of prevention. A blood test could identify high-risk people years before diagnosis, and existing anti-inflammatory drugs might stop some cancers before they start, reports Roger Highfield, Science Director.
For World Neglected Tropical Diseases Day on 30 January, Roger Highfield talks to a diplomat and leading biomedical researcher about the importance of a new vaccine and why often-overlooked illnesses demand global attention.
The climate-jamboree leaves the Amazon after much process but little progress, reports Science Director Roger Highfield
The Science Museum Group’s acclaimed Cancer Revolution exhibition has crossed the Irish Sea to reveal the past, present and future of how cancer is prevented, detected and treated. Roger Highfield, Science Director, attended the launch in Dublin.
The new Longitude Prize aims to do what medicine has long struggled with: harness AI and global collaboration to unlock life-saving treatments for one of the most devastating diseases. Roger Highfield, Science Director and Longitude Committee member, reports.
A new study finds global warming could wipe out 24% of staple-crop calories—roughly equivalent to missing a meal, every day – by the end of this century, reports Science Director Roger Highfield.
Roger Highfield, Science Director, discusses a new study which says the world’s “safe” climate limit may be closer to 1°C—not 1.5°C—as ice loss accelerates and irreversible sea level rise looms.
With the Injecting Hope tour reaching its final venue in India, Roger Highfield and Shalini Narayan describe how a unique partnership between the UK, China and India brought the story of COVID-19 vaccines to millions.
Can a computer predict the evolution of alien worlds? Roger Highfield, Science Director, talks to a newly awarded scientist about his quest to simulate how planets evolve to study climate change on Earth and spur the search for alien life.
A major ocean current that regulates global temperatures – and gives the UK mild winters – is weakening due to climate change. Science Director Roger Highfield describes a new study which suggests it may avoid collapse this century, thanks to powerful winds that whip around Antarctica.
As climate scientists worry that the Earth may tip beyond a point of irreversible climate change, new research suggests that even the simplest computer model is vulnerable to such tipping points. Roger Highfield, Science Director, reports.
