One year from the Olympics: Will home advantage favour Team GB?
It is now exactly a year until the 2012 Olympics open in London, and events to mark the occasion are being held throughout the capital. Like a number of my colleagues I've been fortunate enough to get tickets for at least some events next year, although having missed out on athletics and cycling while getting…
Pop forest to compensate for festival’s carbon footprint
Rock festivals, like many other activities produce carbon emissions, for example, from people travelling to the festivals, the performers transport of equipment and the energy used in lighting and instruments used, to name just a couple of emission sources, and not forgetting the amount of pollution incurred too. Are organizers and participants doing anything to…
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It was Bhutan which first famously came up with the concept of Gross National Happiness. Back in 1972, the then-King Jigme Singye Wangchuck asked why countries were obsessed with GDP. "Why are we so obsessed and focused with gross domestic product?" he asked a journalist inquiring about the country's economy. "Why don't we care more…
Ever wondered how much carbon is stored in the vegetation of a whole city?
The UK government has recently set a target of an 80% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions by 2050, based on 1990 levels. Carbon storage within biomass and soil has become a common feature of governments' policies to mitigate climate change. Many studies have been carried out recently on the carbon sequestration of forests, wetlands, soil and…
‘Great things can come in small packages’
Being only 1.5 m tall, I’m aware I might seem biased; when I say I’m a firm believer in the saying ‘great things can come in small packages’. However, today I came across yet another example which might once more prove that there’s an element of truth in the above proverb. A paper published in…
Veterinarians Target Next Virus for Eradication
Following the recent eradication of rinderpest virus in cattle (see blog), the veterinary profession is contemplating which viral disease of animals should be targeted for eradication next. This is not an easy task considering the vast number of viral diseases that plague livestock animals and have devastating effects on animal health, public health and people’s livelihoods. According to…
E. coli O104: Should we believe them this time?
Choose your sprouts carefully Apparently its now thought that fenugreek seeds sourced in Egypt were the cause of the recent outbreaks in Germany and France. I suggest you read today's Update on E.coli O104 outbreaks from EFSA and draw your own conclusions. The update tells us that the particular batch of fenugreek seeds has been…
Ever wondered how much carbon is stored in a tree?
Photo courtesy of Google Images. As trees photosynthesise they use carbon dioxide (CO2) from the atmosphere with water from rain or irrigation and nutrients from the soil to form carbohydrates, which make up the tree’s biomass, but how much carbon is made by a tree in this process? Researchers at Ecometrica have worked it out!
SpongeBob Gets Taxonomical
SpongeBob SquarePants, the enthusiastic underwater animated character, is now commemorated in the scientific name of a fungus,Spongiforma squarepantsii. The fungus is in the Boletaceae family, and is described in a paper in press in the journal Mycologia, based on specimens collected in 2010 in Lambir Hills National Park, in Sarawak, Malaysia. The bright orange fungus…
Is there an agronomist in the house?
One of my colleagues has just passed me an interesting article entitled UK agronomy skills – a lost generation which she spotted in the 6th June issue of Chemistry & Industry. In this article, the chief executive of the Processors & Growers Research Organization, Salvador Potter highlights the shortage of basic agronomy skills facing the industry.…