Carbon-neutral online conference – Climate 2008 / Klima 2008
I have been participating on this since yesterday and thought it was worth a mention. Yesterday (3rd November 2008) the online climate conference CLIMATE 2008 / KLIMA 2008 opened its virtual doors. If you want to join the conference, go to www.climate2008.net – from now until 7 November 2008. Once you have registered (for free)…
Neglected diseases at the APHA conference
Professor Peter Hotez told some shocking truths in his talk about neglected tropical diseases at the APHA conference in San Diego this week. Some of these diseases are taking hold in the southern USA.
The next Green Revolution
A few months ago, in the ‘silly season’ of summer, we were fretting about the future of food – how we were ever going to produce enough to feed and fuel the world, whether we were all going to be subsisting on fermented barley sludge and have to give up milk. Since then, I’ve been…
Beetle threat to ‘leaf peeping’ tourism
Looking out of the office window at this time of year, I’m fortunate enough to be able to enjoy the sight of trees turning all possible shades of red and orange. In parts of the USA, autumn foliage is big business for tourism, with ‘leaf peepers’ descending on New England every autumn to see forests…
Are wild treeshrews alcoholics?
It’s normal enough to see drunk students hanging off of tree branches (isn’t it?), but what about small rat-like creatures? It turns out that wild mammals may also be behaviourally and physiologically challenged by alcohol in their food. Frank Wiens and colleagues recently discovered that pentailed treeshrews (Ptilocercus lowii) and 6 other mammalian pollinators of…
The First European Veterinary Week, 10-16 November 2008
European vets are gearing up for their first veterinary week, which will be held from 10-16 November in various locations across Europe. This is a joint initiative organised by the European Commission and the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe (FVE). The organising team is also supported by an advisory group of stakeholders (farmers’ organizations, industry…
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…