What happened
Households across Great Britain may be encouraged to increase electricity use during periods of excess renewable generation this summer under new grid-balancing plans. Energy suppliers could offer sharply reduced or even free power at certain times, prompting people to run appliances or charge electric vehicles when wind and solar output is high.

Who said what
The National Energy System Operator (Neso) outlined the strategy as a way to avoid paying renewable generators to shut down when supply exceeds demand. Instead, consumers would be nudged to absorb surplus electricity.

This summer is “expected to be a season of record renewable energy, and could be the first summer the grid runs entirely on zero-carbon electricity”, said Jillian Ambrose in The Guardian. The approach marks the first time Neso has directly called for increased consumption in order to stabilise the network.

What next?
A sunny, windy summer could strain grid capacity, raising blackout risks if supply outpaces demand. Longer term, infrastructure upgrades and rising electricity use from electric vehicles and industry are expected to ease pressure and reduce the level of wasted renewable energy.

What happened
Wales is set to begin building a first-of-its-kind nuclear power station, the government has announced. The site in Wylfa, Anglesey (pictured above), generated nuclear power from 1971 until its closure in 2015. The state-owned Great British Energy – Nuclear bought the site in 2024, and last year signed a £2.5 billion partnership with Rolls-Royce to develop the UK’s first small modular reactors.

Who said what
Rolls-Royce said the project would create 3,000 jobs near Wylfa, and another 5,000 across Britain. This is “a historic step for clean power, industrial growth and skilled jobs in Wales”, said Tom Greatrex, CEO of the Nuclear Industry Association.

Small modular reactors are manufactured in a factory before being assembled on site to “drive down costs and speed up installation”, according to The Guardian. It is a “major milestone” for Britain’s energy security, said Energy Secretary Ed Miliband.

What next?
The government aims to have Wylfa’s three new reactors connected to the grid by the mid-2030s. It claims that the units will supply enough electricity to power the equivalent of 3 million homes for more than 60 years.

Having kids is a decision with a lot of gravity, literally. Scientists have found that sperm in space can’t find their direction during the pursuit to fertilise an egg. Such digressions could pose a problem in the future as the possibility of human colonies in space becomes more likely.

A lack of gravity “impaired the directional navigation and fertilisation capacity” of human sperm cells, said a study published in the journal Communications Biology. “This is the first time we have been able to show that gravity is an important factor in sperm’s ability to navigate through a channel like the reproductive tract,” said Nicole McPherson, a senior lecturer at Adelaide University’s Robinson Research Institute and the senior author of the study.

But there may be a way to lead sperm in the right direction: the hormone progesterone. “Progesterone works as a chemical signal, a kind of biological homing beacon that the egg releases around the time of ovulation,” McPherson told Scientific American. “Sperm have receptors on their surface that detect this signal and use it to orient themselves and swim towards the source.” However, the progesterone only helped at concentrations “considerably higher” than those found in nature, so it is not yet a “simple fix for fertility in space”.

As of now, “Nasa and other governmental space agencies maintain that no one has ever had sex in space”, said Scientific American. “But future human spacefarers may want to have families and reproduce while in a microgravity environment.”