Universal influenza vaccine is now a possibility..
Across my desk today at CABI, came the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and tucked away at the back in a section called “Clinical Implications of Basic Research” was “Stalking influenza diversity with a universal antibody” by Charles R. Russell (St Jude Children’s Hospital, Memphis). Here I learnt that an antibody has been isolated…
Food for thought on UN World Food Week – Close to one billion people are chronically hungry
“In the searing heat of late spring, before anyone realized that what was happening here was just the beginning of something much bigger, a tiny girl stumbled through a field of rocks toward a group of international aid workers. She was barefoot and limping. Flies dotted her face, craving the moisture of her eyes, lips,…
Following the heat wave – moths migration to the UK
Photo courtesy of Butterfly Conservation A number of moth species from other countries in Europe and areas as far away as the Mediterranean region have migrated to the UK in the past week, most probably due to the heat wave we have experienced this Autumn, reported various news channels this morning (e.g. BBC News). Some moths…
How green is bioenergy?
It is well known that there is an international effort to replace fossil energy with biomass in an effort to reduce greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and curb global warming. It was widely assumed that biomass combustion would be inherently 'carbon neutral' because it only releases carbon taken from the atmosphere during plant growth. However, there…
If I ruled the world…
On the way home yesterday I was musing about the UN summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs) happening next week. If I was in charge what would I do? As we are dealing with limited resources in many countries, prevention could achieve more than concentrating on cure. What I’d do about NCDs would be to ban…
24 hours of reality – is this the beginning of a global climate crisis movement?
A total of 24 presentations on the climate crisis were broadcast via the internet, starting in Mexico City at 7 pm on the 14th of September and proceeding westward around the globe, so that the presentation happened at 7 pm in each city, ending at 7 pm on 15th September 2011 in New York, on…
24 Hours of Reality
24 Presenters, 24 Time Zones, 13 Languages, 1 Message: the climate crisis is real and we know how to solve it. Read on to find out more about this event.
Want to know your individual carbon footprint? Here is a quick carbon calculator tool
I found an easy and fun to use carbon footprint calculator in the Guardian online, which I thought I should share with handpicked readers. The carbon calculator tool is also available in the 10:10 webpage, an organisation which aims to inspire and support people and organisations to cut their carbon emissions by 10% in a…
Land sparing vs. land sharing: how best to reconcile food production and biodiversity?
In a world of climate instability and ever-growing population, global food security is becoming an increasing concern. How do we feed a population of some seven billion (set to reach 9 billion by 2050) without losing even more of our precious biodiversity by diverting ecosystems such as forests and grasslands to cropland? Do we squeeze…
Getting kids to eat healthy- mission impossible?
There’s a challenge! How to do it? Stealth, education, marketing, example. Which do you choose? Should we hide fruit and vegetables in meals so children eat them without realising as suggested in American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently or use marketing to improve the image of healthy food, employing packaging and advergames? Or in fact…