Environment

A limpet no bigger than a coin could reveal the possible fate of cold-blooded Antarctic marine animals according to new research. Compared to their temperate and tropical cousins, cold-blooded polar marine animals are incapable of fast growth. Until now scientists assumed that a lack of food in winter was the major limiting factor. Studies of the protein-making abilities of limpets in both the sea around the British Antarctic Survey’s (BAS) Rothera Research Station and in the laboratory aquarium reveal that these animals cannot make proteins – the building blocks of growth - efficiently. Lead…

The scientist involved in helping re-introduce the Great Bustard to the UK is “delighted” that birds released at a secret Wiltshire location have laid their first eggs. Dr Tamas Szekely from the University of Bath says that the announcement from the Great Bustard Group comes a year earlier than predicted, and shows that the project is making good progress. The Great Bustard is the world’s largest flying bird and although it was hunted as a trophy until it became extinct in the UK in the 1830s, it still lives in stable populations in eastern Europe. Female Great Bustard at nest (credit: IUCN…

Removing invasive predators from island breeding colonies could save more seabirds for less cost than reductions in fishing, a study of Australia’s Eastern Tuna and Billfish Fishery (ETBF) has found. According to one of the authors of a paper on the findings in the August edition of Frontiers in Ecology and Environment, CSIRO scientist Dr Chris Wilcox, a major challenge for fisheries worldwide is to reduce their impact on ‘bycatch’ species such as seabirds. “Australian Commonwealth fisheries have made strong efforts towards reducing bycatch, including modifying fishing gear and restricting…

Although the addition of nutrients to soil helps to maximize crop production, fertilizer can leech nutrients, polluting the water supply. A recent study by researchers at the University of Minnesota shows alternative cropping practices may help to protect the environment by reducing high nitrate levels in surface and ground water caused by conventional fertilizer use. Nitrogen is one of the most important elements required in agricultural systems for plant and animal production. While treatment with the correct amount of nitrogen-based fertilizer optimizes crop yield and minimizes…

White gold. That’s what some call one of the most-eaten seafoods because it's so lucrative. A.k.a. shrimp, the new gold rush has reached landlocked desert farms in Arizona. “What heat-stroked dummkopf came up with that insane notion?” I find myself exclaiming at the thought of all that water. “Haven’t they heard the word drought? Or sustainability?” Well, actually, it’s not quite as certifiable as it sounds. The farmers at Wood’s Brothers – one of four shrimp farms in Arizona – pump water from deep underground. It’s a little too salty to use as potable water because it is a vestige of a…

Current strict environmental legislation demands advanced concepts to reduce the emission of harmful gasses by cars. Reducing the emission of nitrous oxides (NOx) emitted by diesel and lean-burn petrol engines is one of the challenges faced. These economical engines produce exhaust fumes that are particularly rich in oxygen and therefore the conventional three-way catalytic converter is not suitable for converting the generated NOx into nitrogen. The current trend is therefore to add specific components such as barium to the catalytic converter to store the NOx formed. Dutch researcher…

Since being found in Florida just a little more than a year and a half ago, citrus greening disease, which originated in China a century ago, has spread from 8 to 23 counties. The disease, called Huanglongbing (yellow shoot) in Asia, is spread by the bacterium Candidatus Liberibacter asiaticus (CLas) via insects.  Once citrus trees are infected, the fruit yield, rate, and quality are greatly reduced. The trees also become susceptible to other diseases and health problems. In some areas of Brazil, citrus greening has affected as much as 70 percent of the fruit rate and yield. Since…

Those of us attempting to curb our emissions can soon travel with a little less guilt. Boeing unveiled its ~300-seat greenliner in Seattle yesterday. Made largely of composites, it is lighter than other airplanes of a similar size, and thus will consume about 20% less fuel. And did I mention it looks cool, too?

The Ugandan government wants to change the law to allow Mabira Forest Reserve, the 30,000 hectare rainforest in Uganda which has been protected since 1932, to be carved up and a quarter of it used for sugar cane production by huge firms, notably the Mehta Group, which has close ties to politicians within and outside the country. The forest is home to nearly one third of Uganda's bird life. Sugar cane is a notoriously un-economical crop. The forest was supposed to be protected in return for $US 360 million of World Bank money to fund construction of a hydroelectric dam on the River Nile…

A Cardiff University research collaboration is working to recycle precious metals from road dusts and vehicle exhausts to create greener energy. The innovative research by scientists from the School of Earth, Ocean and Planetary Science working with the University of Birmingham is to be featured at the Royal Society Summer Science Exhibition (2-5 July). Catalytic converters which keep exhaust pollutants from vehicles down to an acceptable level all use platinum, however over the years the platinum is slowly lost through exhaust pipes. Dr Hazel Prichard, School of Earth Ocean and Planetary…