Meridian Science

A family of five from Crawley in Sussex has been left homeless after a ten tonne tree toppled onto the roof destroying much of their house.

The mature oak, in full leaf, collapsed without warning despite regular inspections by the council. No-one was injured but as Andy Dickenson reports it could have been a very different story.

He speaks to the householder Imkiaz Najam and his neighbours Vera King and Mahomad Ibrahim.

Space enthusiasts are invited to become scientists to help identify massive solar eruptions by watching video clips recorded in space.

Scientists from the University of Reading are asking members of the public to help review NASA footage in the latest Solar Stormwatch project.

The project, hosted by Zooniverse, launches on 20 September and asks volunteers to review footage of eruptions on the sun’s surface.

Each eruption was made up of a billion tonnes of matter travelling at a million miles per hour.

These solar storms are capable of damaging satellites, overloading power grids and exposing astronauts to cancer-causing radiation.

Hundreds of volunteers assisted in the first Solar Stormwatch project in 2010, leading to seven scientific publications.