Early bird registrations - with savings of up to 53% - are closing on 20 October 2025 for delegates wanting to attend the 13th World Conference of Science (WCSJ 2025). The Conference takes place from 1 to 5 December 2025 in Pretoria, South Africa. 

The WCSJ is a biennial gathering of the world’s science journalists — a space to sharpen their skills, exchange ideas, and explore how best to tell the stories that shape our shared future. Science journalists play a vital role in keeping the public informed about the issues that matter most, from climate change and health crises to the challenges of misinformation, shrinking funding, and reporting amid global conflict.

What influenced the expansion of the Patagonian ice sheet during the last ice age? This question has been investigated by an international research team led by the University of Bremen. The scientists found evidence that the advances and retreats of glaciers in South America over the past 120,000 years were primarily influenced by changes in summer solar radiation and duration of the summers. These energy fluctuations followed a regular cycle similar to changes in the Earth’s tilt angle, but were additionally amplified or suppressed by short-term climate variations over thousands of years. The results of the study have been published in the scientific journal Nature Communications.

The world faces a “new reality” as we have reached the first of many Earth system tipping points that will cause catastrophic harm unless humanity takes urgent action, according to a landmark report released today (13 Oct) by the University of Exeter and international partners.