Katrina, flu and bioterrorism
Hello from the American Public Health Association conference. “Whats hot?” you ask. I’d say Katrina, flu and bioterrorism. Yesterday I heard talks from a passionate bunch of people disturbed about how the US government is treating public health in the era of bioterrorism. They talked on flu, bioterrorism and hurricane Katrina but some common threads…
Goliath and Titan – running out of leg room
A long, long time ago in a land far away, lived giant beasts stomping, scurrying and soaring over the earth. No, not a fairy tale but an image of life on earth around 290 million years ago before the climate continued to change, oxygen levels decreased and animals shrunk in size and long before humans…
How we keep women workers in poverty
Next time you have a few minutes I would urge you to read ActionAid’s report Who Pays? How British supermarkets are keeping women workers in poverty, which describes how those low, low supermarket prices impact the workforce in the developing world. The report highlights how women, in particular, are more likely to be negatively affected…
Don’t waste your energy!
It’s the middle of Energy Saving Week and the Energy Saving Trust has come up with a range of themes to encourage people to reduce their energy consumption by 20%. The Trust is government and private sector funded and the website features calculators, space for comment and plenty of contact details, yet Combat Climate Change…
Get set for a busy birdfeeder!
A recent article published in Bird Study gives some explanation of the varying numbers of birds you may see on your bird feeder from year to year. Dan Chamberlain, Andrew Gosler and David Glue from the British Trust for Ornithology and the Edward Gray Institute of Field Ornithology, Oxford investigated whether woodland species that feed…
Needle cast diseases on Christmas trees
Christmas tree growers are advised to be on the lookout for needle infections by fungal pathogens causing discolouration and defoliation. Severe cases of needle drop not only decrease tree value, but result in poor tree health and vigour. Although most conifers are somewhat susceptible to needle cast diseases, certain varieties of Scots pine, Douglas-fir and…
Blogging from BCPC/IPPC 2007 – Call for Agrochem Education
Day Three of the BCPC Congress here in Glasgow and everything is in full swing. There’s a full programme of seminars, meetings and posters, alongside a buzzing exhibition hall. The quality of freebie giveaways is pretty low, but can whoever is giving out the squeezy brain stress toys please make themselves known? The CABI stand…
(Not-so-)Happy World Food Day!
Today is World Food Day. Or World Food Week. Or World Food Month, depending on which country you’re living in. This year the event, which has been taking place since 1980, centres on the theme of ‘The Right To Food’ and is held each year on the anniversary of the Food and Agriculture Organisation’s foundation…
Finding that needle: searching tips
I’ve spent the last few months constructing ready made searches for Nutrition and Food Sciences on CAB Direct. Here are some general handy tips for choosing the words for searches that I have gathered on the way. This isn’t the CAB Direct helpfile, you’ll find that on CAB Direct.
Gardening in Microgravity
Long-term space missions would need plants for recycling carbon dioxide and oxygen and producing food. However, growing plants in space is a tricky business – some of the basic signs of over- or under-watering (wilting and flopping) are simply not present in microgravity, and water does not spread through the soil as it would on…