The best science long reads of 2017 (part two)

From investigating the songbird trade in South-East Asia to hanging out with a man who keeps some very poisonous company, here's a second festive selection of the best science and environment long reads this year. You can read part one here. Sold for a song. By Victoria Gill

Songbird Lush green blankets of vegetation drape over Java's steep mountains. But these dense rain forests - on Indonesia's most crowded island - are rapidly falling silent. Songbirds that used to give the mountains a unique melody are being caught and sold. Read the feature Weather forecasting's post-1987 revolution. By David Shukman SupercomputerImage copyrightMET OFFICE
On 15 October 1987, a BBC weather forecast, drawing on Met Office guidance, dismissed any suggestion that Britain might be hit by a hurricane. That night, the country was battered by high winds, leaving 18 people dead. For the 30th anniversary of the event, David Shukman looked at how technology has transformed weather forecasting in the time since the Great Storm.

source; www.bbc.com