Bárbara Pinho

ESMH Summer School 2026 - Call for young journalists and content creators - ESMH Are you a young journalist writing about science and technology? Do you have questions about the impact of Artificial Intelligence (AI) on newsrooms,

🗓️22-25 June 2026 Brussels:

#ESMHSummerSchool for young journalists on #Science #Communication in the age of #AI

👉You can now apply: wp.me/panTdn-4vj

#SciComm @linagalvez.eu @europeanjournalists.org @wfsj25.bsky.social @stinaborchers.bsky.social @pierregirard.bsky.social @josecepeda.bsky.social

The chemistry of port In Portugal's Douro valley, centuries-old winemaking traditions meet modern chemistry to create a sweet and intense fortified wine. Bárbara Pinho talks to the experts about the compounds and reactions...

What makes port so rich and complex? Discover the chemistry behind your festive favourite, from sun-baked grapes in Portugal’s Douro valley to the sweetness provided by fortification.

(I'm also grateful (and excited!) that this article was featured in the Nature Briefing newsletter 🥹 )

Consumers question safety of parabens and PFAS in personal care products amid health concerns Growing research into cosmetic ingredients has been raising safety concerns among consumers. Bárbara Pinho explores the future of safer chemistry amid the 'clean beauty' trend

The “clean beauty” movement is reshaping cosmetics

Consumers push for products free from parabens, PFAS & phthalates - but the science behind safety is layered, uncertain & (at times) misinterpreted

Read more in my latest @chemistryworld.com story: www.chemistryworld.com/features/con...

Cutting methane emissions is a smart, fast way to tackle climate change.

This satellite was such a crucial tool for tracking who’s emitting methane and helping to hold them accountable. It’s a sad day.

🥰🥰

How safe and sustainable are period products? Millions of people around the world use period products every month. Bárbara Pinho finds out what their environmental footprint is and whether they carry chemicals harmful to human health

I've been a fan of Nature's newsletter 'Anthropocene' for a while now and was so happy to see my @chemistryworld.com article on period products featured in today's edition 😊

Read the story here: www.chemistryworld.com/features/how...

First case of glyphosate-resistance confirmed in Ireland Resistance was identified in a population of Italian ryegrass weed in field conditions and tested under lab and glasshouse conditions.

Ireland’s first case of glyphosate-resistant grass weed has been confirmed. It comes just three months after the UK’s first case of glyphosate-resistance was discovered in a weed in Kent, England.

www.irishexaminer.com/farming/arid...

She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her

Trump’s immigration crackdown ensnared Kseniia Petrova, a scientist who fled Russia after protesting its invasion of Ukraine. She fears arrest if she is deported there.

She Worked in a Harvard Lab to Reverse Aging, Until ICE Jailed Her

www.nytimes.com/2025/04/11/s...

Farmers closer to shooting more wolves under proposed EU law Law championed by Commission President Ursula von der Leyen would lower the protection status of Europe’s wolves.

Love that 'we're' celebrating the return of extinct wolves, but we can’t even protect the ones already here. What’s the plan, bring back animals just to shoot them later when they go after livestock?

www.politico.eu/article/farm...

The glyphosate debate The EU has recently approved the use of glyphosate for another decade. Bárbara Pinho examines the controversial pesticide's presence in British farming and considers the possibility of a ban in the UK

and @barbarapinho.com examines the controversial pesticide’s presence in British farming while discussing the possibility of a ban in the UK
#ChemSky

In many ways, the debate around glyphosate highlights long-standing scientific questions. How should we weigh evidence, and how do we calculate risk overall?
@broadwithp.bsky.social gets into the weeds of the controversy in this article, but that's not all we have on glyphosate this week...

Microplastics Are Messing with Photosynthesis in Plants Microplastics can cut a plant’s ability to photosynthesize by up to 12 percent, new research shows

www.scientificamerican.com/article/micr...

UK writers, anyone else having trouble with logging into ALCS?

The glyphosate debate The EU has recently approved the use of glyphosate for another decade. Bárbara Pinho examines the controversial pesticide's presence in British farming and considers the possibility of a ban in the UK

The glyphosate debate: nice to see our own @hmetcalfe1.bsky.social quoted in this in-depth feature by @barbarapinho.com www.chemistryworld.com/features/the...

The problem of plastic in our soils Not just a marine issue, new research shows microplastics are also changing agricultural land. Bárbara Pinho finds out how and what we can do to prevent it affecting our food

Definitely a hot topic! Funny enough, I also wrote about it with a focus on soils, feel free to check it out! www.chemistryworld.com/features/the...

I've been covering agriculture and agrochemicals for a couple of years now, and glyphosate remains one of the most hotly debated topics. I truly enjoyed diving into this discussion and the science behind it! Big thanks to @neilwithers.bsky.social for the opportunity to write this one.

In 2023, the EU approved glyphosate for another decade of use. This got me thinking: how does this decision affect British farms in a post-Brexit Europe? I explore this and more in my latest feature for Chemistry World.

Lack of harmonisation of greenhouse gases reporting standards and the methane emissions gap - Nature Communications Companies benefit from some discretion on how to disclose their emissions, leading to potential underestimations of GHG footprints. Focusing on direct methane emissions, this paper quantifies a sizeab...

📢 Methane emissions are underreported - by a lot

A new study finds that inconsistencies in carbon accounting standards lead to a massive underreporting of methane emissions - up to 3.3Gt CO₂ equivalent, depending on the metric used.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#Climate #Methane #SciComm 🧪

Pesticides have negative effects on non-target organisms - Nature Communications Pesticides affect a diverse range of non-target species and the magnitude of this hazard remains only partially understood. Wan et al. found that insecticides, fungicides and herbicides have negative ...

Pesticides Harm More Than Pests

A large-scale analysis of 1,705 studies shows that pesticides negatively impact non-target plants, animals, and microbes - raising concerns about biodiversity loss.

🔗 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

#SciComm #Biodiversity #Pesticides 🧪

Mortality drives production dynamics of Atlantic cod through 1100 years of commercial fishing Fishing in the Viking era did not affect the Icelandic cod population, but foreign markets in the 14th century changed everything.

🐟 Cod shrinking from centuries of fishing

A new study reconstructs 1100 years of Atlantic cod fishing. Viking-era cod were 25% larger & lived 3x longer than today.

Overfishing drove size & age declines - not climate.

🔗 www.science.org/doi/10.1126/...

🧪 #Ecology #Fish #SciComm

Ensemble estimates of global wetland methane emissions over 2000–2020 Abstract. Due to ongoing climate change, methane (CH4) emissions from vegetated wetlands are projected to increase during the 21st century, challenging climate mitigation efforts aimed at limiting glo...

🌍 Wetlands & methane: a warming cycle

Wetlands are releasing more methane due to rising temperatures, about 6–7 million tonnes more each year since 2000. Climate change is fueling this increase, making it harder to slow global warming

🔗 bg.copernicus.org/articles/22/...

#SciComm #ClimateCrisis 🧪

Associations between per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and county-level cancer incidence between 2016 and 2021 and incident cancer burden attributable to PFAS in drinking water in the United S... Journal of Exposure Science & Environmental Epidemiology - Associations between per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and county-level cancer incidence between 2016 and 2021 and incident...

🐟💧 PFAS and Cancer: A Link in Drinking Water

A new study connects PFAS ('forever chemicals') in US drinking water with cancer risks.

Researchers estimate up to 6,800 yearly cases are now tied to these contaminants.

🔗 doi.org/10.1038/s413...

#PFAS #SciComm 🧪 #Health

World breaches 1.5C global warming target for first time in 2024 Data for warmest year sparks fears climate change is accelerating faster than expected

“Honestly, I am running out of metaphors to explain the warming we are seeing,” said Copernicus director Carlo Buontempo.
www.ft.com/content/fd91...

Ridgeline chart showing the distribution of global daily air temperature differences from the pre-industrial reference period (1850-1900), for every year between 1940 and 2024. Each individual year resembles a hill, shaded in a darker shade of red and further to the right for warmer years. The trend is clearly towards warmer years, with 2024 standing out as first year above 1.5C.

NEW: 2024 has just been confirmed as the warmest year on record, and the first to breach the 1.5C threshold.

We used a ridgeline (Joy Division inspired) chart to visualise daily temperature anomalies since 1940.

2024 clearly stands out with 100% of its days above 1.3C and 75% above 1.5C.

A turquoise-blue image of the ocean seen from satellite. A white cloud in the bottom part, with the form of a heart, and its shadow in the upper part of the image, in dark blue.

💙🤍 A little heart-shaped cloud and its shadow, over the Adriatic Sea, seen by #Sentinel2.

Consuming arts and culture is good for health and wellbeing, research finds Engaging with arts improves quality of life, increases productivity and creates financial ‘dividend’

Going to an arts event or taking part in a cultural activity, even only occasionally confers an array of “significant” benefits that can include alleviating pain, frailty, depression and dependence on medication, a government-commissioned review has found.

www.theguardian.com/society/2024...

‘Hollywood is just content now!’ Well then watch non-English-language stuff. Watch independent films. Watch stuff made for $10m max. Watch shorts. Watch guerrilla documentaries. Watch experimental filmmaking. Watch kooky animations. It’s still film if it wasn’t made in California for $100m.

Two stages of writing:

1) This shouldn't take too long
2) Oh no

And this: hakaimagazine.com/news/offshor...