Ever wondered what the carbon footprint of your spam emails is?
An article in Tuesday’s Guardian online quoted that a European Commission report, published in 2008, estimated that technologies such as email and mobile phone texts contribute 2% to the European greenhouse gases emissions and, furthermore, that this figure might double by 2020, if we continue using these technologies at the same rate. The article also…
Whoever said that science and religion didn’t mix?
Hello, here is a blog from our guest blogger Rosaline Hulse. Rosaline studied Human Biology at the University of Birmingham and is currently working for a renewable energy trade association in London. With a particular interest in engaging the public in scientific debate and communicating science in an accessible format, especially in relation to climate…
Pop forest to compensate for festival’s carbon footprint
Rock festivals, like many other activities produce carbon emissions, for example, from people travelling to the festivals, the performers transport of equipment and the energy used in lighting and instruments used, to name just a couple of emission sources, and not forgetting the amount of pollution incurred too. Are organizers and participants doing anything to…
Ever wondered how much carbon is stored in the vegetation of a whole city?
The UK government has recently set a target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, based on 1990 levels. Carbon storage within biomass and soil has become a common feature of governments' policies to mitigate climate change. Many studies have been carried out recently on the carbon sequestration of forests, wetlands, soil and…
‘Great things can come in small packages’
Being only 1.5 m tall, I’m aware I might seem biased; when I say I’m a firm believer in the saying ‘great things can come in small packages’. However, today I came across yet another example which might once more prove that there’s an element of truth in the above proverb. A paper published in…
Veterinarians Target Next Virus for Eradication
Following the recent eradication of rinderpest virus in cattle (see blog), the veterinary profession is contemplating which viral disease of animals should be targeted for eradication next. This is not an easy task considering the vast number of viral diseases that plague livestock animals and have devastating effects on animal health, public health and people’s livelihoods. According to…
Ever wondered how much carbon is stored in a tree?
Photo courtesy of Google Images. As trees photosynthesise they use carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere with water from rain or irrigation and nutrients from the soil to form carbohydrates, which make up the tree’s biomass, but how much carbon is made by a tree in this process? Researchers at Ecometrica have worked it out!
SpongeBob Gets Taxonomical
SpongeBob SquarePants, the enthusiastic underwater animated character, is now commemorated in the scientific name of a fungus,Spongiforma squarepantsii. The fungus is in the Boletaceae family, and is described in a paper in press in the journal Mycologia, based on specimens collected in 2010 in Lambir Hills National Park, in Sarawak, Malaysia. The bright orange fungus…
Is there an agronomist in the house?
One of my colleagues has just passed me an interesting article entitled UK agronomy skills – a lost generation which she spotted in the 6th June issue of Chemistry & Industry. In this article, the chief executive of the Processors & Growers Research Organization, Salvador Potter highlights the shortage of basic agronomy skills facing the industry.…
Major Veterinary Achievement – Cattle Plague Eradicated
The World Animal Health Organization (OIE) has declared that the cattle disease Rinderpest (also known as Cattle Plague) has been eradicated, which means that all 198 countries and territories with rinderpest-susceptible animals were free of the disease. The global disease freedom status is expected to be ratified by Ministers of Agriculture at the Food and…