Nanotechnology, Miracle or Menace?
This debut blog is contributed by our editorial intern Elizabeth Milway, an Oxford University graduate with a background in biochemstry & bionanotechnology. Recently wherever I turn nanotechnology keeps cropping up! At first I thought – maybe it’s one of those things where once you’ve noticed something you can’t stop noticing it, but then I did…
Many species, one planet, one future
'Many species, one planet, one future’ was the theme for this year’s UN World Environment Day (WED), which was celebrated last Saturday 5th June and it echoed the urgent call to conserve the diversity of life on our planet. Read on to see what went on to mark the day.
The greenest government ever?
Image from govtech.com The new UK Prime Minister, David Cameron, announced recently, during his first visit to the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) in London, that the UK central government is aiming at cutting their emissions of CO2 by 10% in the next 12 months and he wants the government departments…
Pesticidal plants help poorer farmers reduce crop losses
Earlier today I was leafing through the latest issue of Kew Scientist, and was interested to read about Kew's work with pesticidal plants in Africa. Providing poorer farmers with environmental benign alternatives to expensive, synthetic pesticides, native species with pesticidal properties are the subject of two newly funded projects which continue Kew's collaboration with the Natural…
Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation
As Vera pointed out in her blog yesterday, this Saturday (22 May) is the International Day for Biodiversity. The theme for this year is ‘Biodiversity, Development and Poverty Alleviation: Recognizing the Role of Biodiversity for Human Well-Being’. Poverty alleviation is something we feel strongly about here at CABI where our mission is to “improve people’s…
Highlighting International Day of Biodiversity – 22 May 2010
Saturday 22nd May 2010 is International Day of Biodiversity. In fact, the UN designated this whole year of 2010 as ‘International Year of Biodiversity’ and I’ve been writing news articles for the CABI Environmental Impact database (EI) throughout the year on the subject to highlight the European Environment Agency (EEA) ’10 messages on biodiversity for…
‘orrible things you find in your food
The other day, I purchased pork & apple burgers from the local farmers’ market. The first 3 went down a treat, shared between myself, my daughter and my husband. But suddenly in the 4th one, my husband discovered a squashed piece of metal. Knowing his history of cracked dental fillings I was all for persuading…
Climate change: individuals who are making a difference
There are probably many environmentally conscious people out there who, like me, feel that the measures taken by governments worldwide to tackle CO2 emissions are moving too slowly to halt the inexorable rise in global temperatures. In a week when the recently announced US Climate Bill is predicted to face a long and rocky road…
Cleaning up the Gulf of Mexico oil spill?
Photo of oil spill of Gulf of Mexico taken 4 days ago by Astro_Soichi (twitpic.com) This is not the first time an accident resulting in oil spill in the sea has happened. Other disasters include: the Exxon Valdez disaster in the Alaskan shoreline of Prince Williams in 1989; the cargo oil spill of tanker Volgoneft-248,…
Roasted grasshopper with a sprinkling of termites
Chances are if you’re European you don’t make a habit of eating insects. When you have eaten them it was probably by mistake, maybe whilst enjoying a summer bike ride or a run. After a few seconds of coughing and spluttering and feeling personally affronted at the insect flying into your mouth without warning you…