The search for extraterrestrial intelligence is like looking for a needle in a haystack – that unequivocal indication of intelligence in the morass of astrophysical noise coming to us from the universe. Steve Croft reviews the field.

Supporting schoolchildren to carry our real research has many benefits – for teachers and scientists as well as the students themselves. Peter Hatfield of the University of Oxford writes about LUCID

Whistlers and chorus are plasma waves in the upper atmosphere; Nigel P Meredith describes how converting them to sounds opens the doors to a wide range of outreach activities with artists and gamers.

Seismology has the potential to locate nuclear tests, including those carried out by North Korea. The British Geophysical Association devoted their main annual meeting to the challenges of supporting global security.