April is the cruellest month…
I wonder if T.S. Eliot1 was suffering from diarrhoea when he wrote this line? I believe English literary history generally has him down as recuperating from a nervous breakdown at the time, but who knows?2 So what is the tenuous link between T.S. Eliot’s The Waste Land and diarrhoea? It’s not necessarily what you’re thinking…
Apricots and cyanide: the bitter truth.
I recently came across a case report of cattle being poisoned by apricot kernels, a reminder of the fact that the seeds (and sometimes leaves) from fruits such as apricots, peaches, and other members of the Prunus genus contain glycosides such as amygdalin that can release the deadly gas hydrogen cyanide. This fact is well…
It’s official – referees do favour the home team
While CABI is best known for its involvement in agriculture and the environment, the CAB Abstracts database also covers a range of other subjects, including leisure, tourism and sport. As one of the editors covering this subject area, from time to time I come across papers on subjects close to my heart. Most recently, football,…
NOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!
The sound of despondent Handpicked bloggers rang through the air at CABI this morning. The corridors were reverberating in despair at the New Zealand Herald‘s frightening headline ‘Climate change could see pubs run dry‘. Streuth! Pedants among you who have checked the link will have noted that the story appeared in last week’s Herald, but…
Greener can be Healthier
Climate change is the theme for National Public Health Week (NPHW) this week. It was the theme of World Health Day this year as well – a reflection of the increased attention health is getting in relation to climate change. Climate change is probably the biggest current threat to the public’s health so its time…
Natural England launches the Future of Farming awards 2008
Natural England are inviting farmers and farm managers across England (UK) to enter Natural England’s 2008 Future of Farming Awards. The award scheme, which opened for registration on Monday 7 April, recognises and celebrates farmers in England who have integrated wildlife, landscape and access management with more sustainable farming production on their farms. The awards…
New medicines from fungi.
Many readers will be aware of the potential of living organisms to be sources of useful chemicals such as antibiotics, enzymes and so on — looking at medicinal properties alone, a search of records added to the CAB Abstracts database in the past 6 months finds 4241 indexed with ‘medicinal plants’ and 200 with ‘medicinal…
‘Eat food. Mostly plants. Not too much’
This is essentially what a hundred years of nutritional science; and 610,000 records on CAB Abstracts boil down to, according to journalist and author, Michael Pollan, in his latest book, In Defense of Food: An Eater’s Manifesto. While I by no means agree with everything that he says in this interview with Terrence McNally on…
25 future novel threats facing UK biodiversity
There requires a greater emphasis on forecasting and critical evaluation, and less dawdling on existing, well studied issues: in summary, this is the main recommendation made by 35 senior representatives from UK academia, environmental management & policy, and scientific journalism. Using a technique called ‘horizon scanning.’ They have established a list of 25 future novel…
Will the Nile dry up?
Scientists are unable to make up their minds about the impact that climate change will have on the future of the Nile. Specialists say Egypt is already facing massive water management challenges due to demographic pressures and rising demand for water and electricity, but it is unclear what affect climate change is going to throw…