Where have all the bees gone?
Recent reports of disappearing bees may initially come as a relief to some of us, but this is actually very serious news considering bees pollinate a large proportion of our plants, including some food crops, and are keystone species in the ecosystem. Today the Bumblebee Conservation Trust invited the UK public to send in sightings…
Twinkle, twinkle, little star
Hurtling around the planet, some 23 km above our heads, will be a network of 30 satellites making up the EU Galileo positioning system. The 675 kg spacecraft will carry the equipment necessary to potentially pinpoint the position of a transponder on the Earth’s surface with centimetre-accuracy. Assuming the project overcomes the economic and political…
1000 diseases mapped!
This month sees the publication of map number 1000 of Distribution Maps of Plant Diseases the authoritative source for accurate data on the worldwide distribution of plant diseases of economic or quarantine importance, published by CABI in association with the European and Mediterranean Plant Protection Organization (EPPO). First published in 1942, Distribution Maps of Plant…
Peat – sink or source
It was reported in the news today that the UK’s carbon emissions rose by 1.25% over the last year, while overall greenhouse gas emissions stayed on Kyoto targets. Many people won’t be too concerned by this rise, seeing that we are still well below the 1995 CO2 emissions and have reduced other greenhouse gases. I…
MUM’s not going to poison you
When I buy mineral water, though I don’t usually read the label, I generally expect it to contain the usual sodium, magnesium, calcium salts. Commercial bottled waters in most countries I have travelled to supply this information as a result of a legal requirement. What did come as a surprise was the approximate mineral composition…
Cataloguing Life
Today sees the launch of the Catalogue of Life, a taxonomic checklist of 1 million of the world’s organisms. The catalogue contains contributions from 47 databases constructed by more than 3000 taxonomists and species specialists from around the world. Jointly produced by Species 2000 and ITIS, this 7th edition encapsulates data from 1 million species…
Cow + Grass = House
Cows plus grass equals dung; 7-9 million tonnes of it each year in the USA alone! What if cows plus grass made flooring?, or shelving? or a table? Michigan State University researchers, working with the US Department of Agriculture, reckon that the "digester solids" leftovers from anaerobic digestion of cattle manure can be processed into…
Fancy a bottle of Swedish white?
At the moment, the idea of wines from Scandinavia, or other northern climes, may seem fanciful. But by the end of this century, climatologists suggest that Sweden could be producing Riesling or Chianti, Germany will be better known for luscious red wines than the current whites, and California’s famous Napa Valley could be as hot…
“Sustainable Aquaculture” – challenges for a growing industry
On 27 February at Aquaculture 2007, the Trienniel Meeting of the World Aquaculture Society, National Shellfisheris Society and American Fisheries Society – Fish Culture Section, the Plenary Lecture was given by Dr Jason Clay of the World Wildlife Fund. The theme was how the WWF is acting to promote sustainable food production, focusing on aquaculture.…
Drink coffee, feed the world?
As I sat bleary-eyed in the staff restaurant at CABI drinking a morning cup of coffee today, was I simply having a shot of caffeine to keep me going after an early start. Or, as it was Fairtrade coffee I was drinking, was I making a real contribution to improved livelihoods of small farmers in…