Chris Baraniuk

@chrisbaraniuk.com

31085 Followers 1910 Following

Freelance science & technology journalist. 12+ years experience. Irish/Polish. Writes for the BBC, Wired, The Guardian and others! Portfolio: chrisbaraniuk.com Newsletter: thereengineer.pro Coaching: chrisbaraniuk.com/coaching HQ: Belfast, N. Ireland

A photo of a young green skinned winter squash fruit growing on a vine trained up a wooden ladder-like support in a garden. A fence and potted plants are visible in the background.
A photo of a very light blue, almost light blue coloured sweet pea flower. Darker purple flowers are visible in the background.
A photo of my left hand holding a large bundle of long runner beans, freshly harvested.
Each time you send a quarterly update it will cover from the start of the tax year to the end of the update period, not just the previous three months. This means you can correct your records without having to resend previous updates.
A photo of a flagstone path through a summer wildflower meadow. There are knapweed, ox eye daisy and trefoil flowers visible.
A photo of a beach. The sky is blue with some light cloud. There is a grassy fenced area in the foreground. The beach curves round in a crescent shape to a headland on the horizon.
A photo of a large green tomato growing on a plant held up by a thick bamboo cane.
A photo of highly perfumed sweet pea flowers growing up cords against a dark grey fence. The flowers are white/light pink with mottled purple colour.
A photo of a beach with sunlight reflecting on the water. The sky is clear, light blue. Some green fields on land are visible on the horizon.
A photo of a large six blade fan, painted red, set into a circular hole in a brick wall.
A photo of a rich purple coloured dahlia flower. The blurred background shows a patio and wooden chair amongst other flowering plants.
A photo of a large dark brown moth, wings closed, resting on a bright petrol blue compost bag.
A photo of dozens of garlic bulbs pulled from the soil in a raised bed and piled up together. Their long roots are visible as are the green and yellow leaves of the plants.
A photo of a blue sky with some cloud present here and there. The top of a tree is visible.
A photo of a row of relatively young, richly green coloured cucumber plants growing in a raised bed. Some yellow flowers are visible behind.
"Record-shattering temperatures are feeding demand for air conditioning and driving surges in demand for electricity – which can result in a vicious cycle of increased greenhouse gas emissions that in turn make the world even hotter.” During the early summer heatwave of 2025, France recorded an evening electricity peak 25 per cent above the off-season average due to cooling, despite the country having a relatively low ownership of AC.
Back in 2022 when temperatures were forecasted to reach 40 °C for the first time and the Met Office issued its first ever Red Heat Warning many people underestimated the risks, with some media coverage dismissing concerns and encouraging people to head to the beach. The next day, people were shocked as roads melted, wildfires raged close to urban areas, and the heatwave led to nearly 3000 excess deaths in England.
A photo of a night sky. There are clouds but lots of clear views also, with a rich orange sunset visible on the horizon. There is a garden hedge in the foreground.
A photo of a bunch of tender stem broccoli held in someone's hand, having just been cut from the plant below.
I am sorry to hear that you did not enjoy your stay on this occasion due to finding blood stains on the bedding in your original room, and then being moved to another room with a strong damp smell, with no further room move available. I understand how disappointing this must have been, especially given the cost of your stay, and I am sorry that the overall experience did not meet the standards you expected from Premier Inn.
A close up photo of a large pink cosmos flower, viewed directly face-on. The blurred background shows a patio, vegetation and some wooden chairs behind.
According to UN maritime agency, the latest incident brings the number of confirmed seafarer fatalities to 14 since the crisis began on 28 February. The agency has verified 46 attacks on international shipping in and around the Strait of Hormuz during that period.
A photo of an embryonic chilli, green in colour, growing on a potted chilli plant in a summer house.
A photo of strawberries at various stages of ripeness growing on strawberry plants in a veg patch. The soil is covered with a layer of straw mulch.
A photo of Prof Yap Boum II (in green waistcoat and sunglasses) with people standing outside in Rwampara, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Some of the people are wearing facemasks. One woman is holding a smartphone. A security guard is visible in the background.
An account known only as "barry parmegiana" quoting my post saying, "This is a laudable sentiment but the person who posted it works for the BBC, which is promoting the pogroms."
A photo of Eric Bibb and his band on stage at the Empire Music Hall in Belfast.
A photo of large square paving slabs meandering through a small wildflower meadow. There are many oxeye daisies and birds foot trefoil flowers visible.
A close up photo of a female common blue butterfly sitting on an ox-eye daisy flower that is yet to fully open. The blurred background shows green vegetation below.
A close cropped photo of a painted lady butterfly sitting on pink thyme flowers in a garden rockery.
A photo of seven plastic, terracotta-coloured pots in a row against a dark grey wooden fence. Each pot has a young tomato plant in it, tied to a bamboo cane.
A photo of freshly picked, large cavolo nero (kale) leaves held in my hand above a garden path.
A meme image from Fawlty Towers. The caption is Basil's famous quote from the "don't mention the war" episode. He is saying, "I mentioned it once but I think I got away with it".
A photo of a Nintendo 64 video game console on a desk. There are two controllers, one grey, one green. The console has a Doom 64 game cartridge in it and is hooked up to a small, black cathode-ray tube TV showing the Doom 64 title screen.
A photo of some cucumber seedlings in modules on an outdoor work table by a red brick wall. There are terracotta coloured plastic pots ready for the seedlings next to them on the table.
A photo of a hoopoe bird pecking around a grassy patch of ground in a park. The bird has strong black and white diagonal stripes on its lower wings and body, a prominent slightly curved beak and a sandy coloured crest on its head.
A photo of a large bird of paradise leaf half unfurled. There are bands of progressively lighter coloured green towards the inside of the leaf.
A photo of a bright red coloured moth with translucent brown wings sitting on fine mesh netting over a raised bed.
A close up photo of five large pink-white tulip flowers growing out of a terracotta pot on a patio. They are positioned in front of a khaki coloured summer house which is just visible blurred in the background.
A photo of 11 young brassica plants well spaced apart in a wooden raised bed full of compost.
A photo of an orange tortoiseshell butterfly inside a large purple tulip flower. The flower is growing in a terracotta pot on a patio in the sunshine.
A photo of Trigger from Only Fools and Horses looking somewhat startled.
A photo of chilli plant seedlings growing in soil-filled square modules on a window sill. One of the labels reads "cayenne chillies" and another reads "devil's brew chillies".
A photo of Shirley Bassey singing on top of an oil rig.
A photo of a cluster of light pink cherry blossoms on a curved branch. Close up. Slightly blurred background shows a summer house and some terracotta pots on a patio.
A ten second video showing a male house sparrow on a garden bamboo frame. A fluffy pampas grass frond has been tied to it and the sparrow is energetically pulling small tufts from it with his break. Also on the frame, to the rear, is a male blackbird. A fence and privet hedge are visible in the background.
A chart listing various climate impacts and the "yes / no" response from Peruvian coffee growers as to whether they had witnessed them or not. The top result was temperature changes, with 92% saying "yes". Winds: 35%. Humidity: 34%. Rain season: 47%. Rainfall amount: 56%. Rainfall intensity: 36%. Streamflow: 52%. Solar radiation hours: 32%. Pests and diseases: 69%. Coffee flowering: 49%. Coffee beans: 51%. Coffee plant response to dimatic variables: 44%.
Two charts. Chart 1 is a bar chart showing declining oil and gas import dependency in the present conflict scenario versus base case between 2025 and 2050. For example, oil starts out at 80% dependency but falls to around 50% in the conflict scenario whereas, in the base case, it actually rises to roughly 90%. Chart 2 is a line graph showing commodity demand for both oil and gas falling between now and 2050.
Air NZ cuts more services and makes ‘targeted’ fare increases as fuel costs more than double. Stuff reporters. April 7, 2026 • 3:27am.
A photo of seven large purple tulip flowers growing out of a large terracotta pot on a patio. A summer house is visible in the background.
A view of Earth taken by NASA astronaut and Artemis II commander Reid Wiseman from one of the Orion spacecraft's four main windows after completing the translunar injection burn on April 2, 2026.
A screenshot of a Google search result that reads: "Looking after your heating oil in the south east. Cleaning up oil spills is difficult and can be very expensive. A recent domestic oil spill in Hampshire cost over £100,000 to clean up."
A photo of a smiling MARO and her four band mates standing in a huddle together on stage as they receive applause. The stage has a red coloured semicircle in the background. There are instruments and microphone stands behind the group.
A photo of a peacock butterfly in the sun. The insect is sitting on a rough, grey coloured patio paving stone.
A photo of a seed rill with in soil with small oval shaped parsnip seeds in it. The bed is lit up by sunshine
A photo of two orange, speckled tortoiseshell butterflies one above the other, sitting on a light pink primrose flower.
A photo of the south English coastline on a beautiful day. The sky has a spread of white fluffy clouds but the rest of it is blue and sun is falling on the grassy green land below. The coastline is curved in a boomerang shape, enclosing an area of light blue sea.
Here's what we found: We decided not to take this ad down. We found that the ad doesn’t go against Google’s policies, which prohibit certain content and practices that we believe to be harmful to users and the overall online ecosystem.
A screenshot of the training day episode from the UK comedy series The Office, with staff sitting in a semi circle around a large TV, watching a video.