A new deadly virus
As the world’s attention has been focussed on the global financial crisis, little notice has been taken of the emergence of a new deadly disease in southern Africa. In September a woman tourist guide living near Lusaka, Zambia was evacuated to South Africa in a critical state. Her symptoms included fever myalgia, vomiting, diarrhoea, followed…
Climate change affects tigers’ behaviour.
A report from India Reuters says the number of tiger attacks on people is growing in India's Sundarban Islands, possibly the largest mangrove ecosystem in the world. Seven fishermen were killed in the past six months in a location called Netidhopani, according to report by P. Sanuyal, from the World Conservation Union. The report suggests…
World Food Day – What’s the Point?
Today, October the 16th, is World Food Day. As it was last year. As it will be next year. But, does having a day dedicated to the world’s food security problems do any good? I ask myself.
A little more on Paget’s…
Just a week after finding out that Paget’s disease might be linked to distemper virus, I was surprised to see the disease mentioned in a story in the Guardian newspaper, in connection with a pianting I know well from visits to the National Gallery. The painting entitled ‘A Grotesque Old Woman’, is one of the…
Fighting the ‘superweed”
Switching on the radio this morning, I was snapped out of the usual early-morning drowsiness by hearing CABI mentioned towards the top of the news bulletins. Among the usual stories of global financial meltdown, US presidential elections and the like, was news of how my scientific colleagues are hoping to bring Japanese knotweed, an aggressive…
Pedal Power Purification
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-U-mvfjyiao&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1] I saw this over on Slashdot – a prototype solution to the developing world problems of transporting water from the source to the home, and purification to drinkable standards. The Aquaduct concept bike was developed for the Innovate or Die contest.
One medicine; in practice
The ‘One-medicine’ movement has been boosted by the launch of a new web site at http://www.onehealthinitiative.com. It aims to promote the idea of ‘one medicine’ throughout the world and provide information on this initiative for the public, political and governmental leaders, news media, and all ‘One Health’ professionals, advocates, and supporters. The concept of ‘one…
Why Can’t GM and Organic Just Get Along?
Growing of organic and genetically modified crops on neighbouring farms continues to be contentious, especially in Europe, but the issue of coexistence of same-species crops for different markets is not limited to GM. In a paper entitled “Can GM and organic agriculture coexist?”, Eberhard Weber points to the need for oilseed rape for cooking and…
Take care with reintroductions
I recently came across an item in Science Daily describing an article1 in Current Biology about the introduction of a notorious pathogen to an endangered animal population by reintroductions from a captive breeding programme. The Mallorcan Midwife Toad, Alytes muletensis, classified as Vulnerable by the IUCN, has been found to be infected with the fungus…
Should pastoralism get a better press?
A rich vein of news and information on the environment, conservation and development is finding its way into the mainstream media at the moment from the IUCN World Conservation Congress currently taking place in Barcelona, Spain. Among the reports making the science news headlines is the latest Red List of threatened species, suggesting that as…