NZ kiwifruits hit by bacterial canker
Biosecurity New Zealand announced on Saturday that samples of New Zealand pollen have tested positive for the bacterial kiwifruit disease, Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa). Results indicate that Psa may have been present in New Zealand for a number of years. The confirmation of Psa in New Zealand comes as a huge blow to the…
Can London 2012 be a winner for tourism?
One of the world's largest travel trade shows, the World Travel Market, is currently underway in London. This year there has been a greater emphasis on sport tourism, with an exhibitor area devoted to this tourism niche, and a debate on Monday entitled 'Sports Tourism: It's a Tough Game – but Some Win', chaired…
Mushrooms, delicious or deadly?
Yunnan sudden death syndrome occurs in remote mountainous villages of the Yunnan province of China in the rainy season, at an altitude of 1800-2400 m: people just drop dead from heart failure. You might think its linked to the season…some waterborne or insect-carried disease, or maybe the altitude & a genetic quirk, but it turns…
Health inequality, health disparity, health equity: what’s the difference?
Well if you are at the bottom of the social heap, striving to find enough money to put food on the table and keep a roof over your head…not much. But if you want to understand how a government or a researcher or development worker thinks and works to improve your lot (& public health…
Do Accents Help Plants Grow? Dey Do Dough, Don’t Dey Dough?
According to “research” by Plants4Life, a UK organisation set up to promote plants in the home and the office, “It is a fact that houseplants love a good chat!” and Liverpool accents in particular. The organization says, “Research has shown that talking to our houseplants can help them to grow big and healthy but no one…
If I get sick, will she know what to do?
Copyright: John & Penny Hubley This blog is contributed by Dr Neil Pakenham-Walsh, Coordinator of HIFA2015 , the global campaign and email forum focussed on informed healthcare provision in developing countries. We in richer countries take for granted that our healthcare providers have access to the information they need to make informed decisions... Every…
Trick or treat?
Universities in Colombia are using their national newspapers to raise awareness of science in their country. Is that a trick or a treat?
Putting a value on Mau Forest
Photo courtesy of United Nations Environment Programme. Mau Forest Complex forms the largest closed-canopy forest ecosystem of Kenya. It is the single most important water catchment in the Rift Valley and western Kenya. As Dave pointed out in his blog article last year, the ecosystem services provided by Mau Forest support key economic sectors, including…
Carbon sequestration: Could GM trees be the key?
New research in the latest issue of BioScience examines the prospects for enhancing biological carbon sequestration through a variety of policy and technical approaches, including the deployment of genetically engineered trees and other plants. Forests of genetically altered trees and other plants could sequester several billion tons of carbon from the atmosphere each year and…
The market triumph of ecotourism?
Lake in Tambopata region As Editor of CABI's Leisure Tourism Database, I get to keep up to date with news and research in the leisure and tourism industry. It's always of interest to follow developments in places I've been to, so my attention was grabbed last week by an email from the University of East…