Be KIND to nettles
AS an avid reader of fairytales in my youth, I was always intrigued by the story of the seven ravens. Seven princely brothers condemned to be ravens by day can only be rescued if their beautiful sister is prepared to pick nettles, barehanded, spin them into thread and weave the lot into seven shirts. Unfortunately…
Biodiversity suffers as resource use increases
More than a quarter of the world’s biodiversity has been lost in the last 35 years according to a World Wildlife Fund (WWF) report, compiled by the Zoological Society London (ZSL).
A little hope for orangutans
There’s a little glimmer of hope for the orangutans living in the rainforests of Indonesia. Back in February 2007 Vicki told us about the critical situation of these animals in Borneo and Sumatra: “their habitat is under constant attack from illegal logging, forest fires and mining… not to mention the ever-encroaching oil palms and the…
Climate change – good news for agricultural research?
The agricultural research drought – in need of a little climate change? This morning, office banter here at CABI turned to the post 9/11 affliction that affected newspaper and magazine columnists for many months, if not several years, after the event. For quite some time it seemed almost impossible to read a Sunday supplement without…
Isn’t it about time we start running our cars on ethanol like they do in Brazil?
After reading the news on the end of the 48-hour strike by employees at the Grangemouth oil refinery in Scotland last month, I was quite relieved. I have to use my car to go to work and didn’t want to see another increase in petrol prices, or worse still no petrol in the pumps. I’ve…
No, your car won’t glow in the dark
‘But will your car glow in the dark’ was the headline of an Irish newspaper article a few months ago describing a joint project between Irish-based company Greenfield Project Management, the Belarussian government and Swedish-based Chematur Engineering. The aim is to produce fuel ethanol from grain crops and sugarbeet grown on land contaminated by the…
Have you noticed an increase in your supermarket bill?
In the past couple of years the world price of field crops such as wheat, rice, soya beans, rice and palm oil has risen dramatically (doubling, tripling and more..). But, what is causing this upward movement? Well…a multitude of market forces!
Science and Hollywood: An Inconvenient Truth
I wonder how many of us have watched Al Gore’s film An Inconvenient Truth and thought "wow, that really is terrifying, I’d better start making a few changes". And more to the point, how many of us have then done something about it. If you’re like Sarah and you’ve started cycling to the supermarket, well…
Every frog has its day
As I flicked through the latest issue of the Durrell Wildlife Conservation Trust magazine ‘On the edge’ I came a cross an article on the mountain chicken, a large endangered frog that unfortunately happens to taste a bit, well, a bit like chicken. Now I’m not the greatest fan of amphibians but I couldn’t help…
Easier being green…
Last Saturday, I cycled to Tesco’s*. It’s around five miles away from where I live, so wasn’t a huge effort and, to be fair, I could use the extra exercise. I stress this because I’m about to mention the environment. Before you head off to the ‘post comment’ box below, I must stress that my…