Invasive alien plants are causing havoc in our natural landscape, but gardeners can play a key part in stopping their spread.
That`s the view of Imperial College Wye which will be exhibiting at this year`s Chelsea Flower Show, opening 20 May. The College stand (LL23) will outline the threat caused by alien or non-native plants introduced intentionally from overseas, usually as garden plants. The main culprits – including rhododendron ponticum, giant hogweed and Japanese knotweed – are not on
The barrier that ‘good parents’ can provide for their children against the drugs culture is beginning to break down in cities where drugs are most freely available, researchers have found.
But the international study, led by Newcastle University in England, concluded that having a caring mother was the single most important factor in preventing youngsters from taking drugs.
The study, funded by the European Commission, found that 14 and 15 year-olds were far less likely to have drug
The Italian government recently decided to move forward with planning for the construction of underwater, mobile floodgates to mitigate flooding in Venice, situated on islands in a lagoon in the Adriatic Sea. The soundness of the plan is discussed by several scientists in the May 14 issue of Eos, published by the American Geophysical Union.
The approved plan to protect Venice, called MOSE (Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico, or Experimental Electromechanical Module), involves the construct
Authors of a research letter in this week’s issue of THE LANCET conclude that there is no evidence to support the belief that sexual intercourse too soon or two long after ovulation is associated with an increased risk of birth defects and Down’s syndrome.
For many years, the ageing of gametes as a result of prolonged retention in the female reproductive tract before fertilisation has been circumstantially associated with major birth defects. Joe Leigh Simpson and colleagues from Baylor Coll
A US study in this week’s issue of THE LANCET concludes that the antibiotic azithromycin is ineffective for treating bronchitis, even though it is often prescribed by physicians for this condition.
Azithromycin is an expensive, broad-spectrum antibiotic; there is limited evidence about its effectiveness in treating bronchitis. Arthur Evans and colleagues from Cook County Hospital, Chicago, USA, investigated whether people with bronchitis given azithromycin returned to work earlier, and had
Record low numbers of highly-prized squid have devastated the Falkland Islands fishery this year. Less than 10,000 tonnes have been caught so far, making this the worst year since the fishery began in 1987. As described in this week`s SCIENCE British Antarctic Survey (BAS) scientists believe unfavourable oceanographic conditions in squid spawning grounds caused the slump in the fishery which is normally worth £17 million ($US 25 million) in licence fees.
The flying squid Illex argentinu
Road vehicles may soon be fitted with pop-up bonnets, windscreen airbags and energy absorbing bumpers to improve pedestrian safety, according to researchers in this week’s BMJ.
Collisions between pedestrians and road vehicles are responsible for more than a third of all traffic related fatalities and injuries worldwide, yet research has so far concentrated almost exclusively on increasing the survival of vehicle occupants, argue researchers at the University of Virginia, USA.
Crash
iver air bags offer relatively little benefit in road vehicle crashes compared with seat belts, finds a study in this week’s BMJ.
Researchers in the United States identified all passenger vehicles that crashed during 1990-2000 in which the driver or passenger, or both, died. A sample of 51,031 driver-passenger pairs was analysed to estimate the association of driver air bags with driver fatality.
Having an air bag was associated with an 8% reduction in the risk of death, whether the
The genome sequence of Streptomyces coelicolor , one of the family of common soil bacteria that produce more than two thirds of the world’s antibiotic medicines, will be published in the journal Nature this week.
Streptomyces are almost ubiquitous in the soils and are responsible for its familiar ‘earthy’ smell. The genome data, collected by British scientists from the John Innes Centre and The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute, is already being used in research that will help de
Biomed Central launches a multimedia resource of the most significant scientists of the 20th century
BioMed Central is pleased to announce the launch of Science Archive, a new multimedia resource consisting of extensive autobiographical video recordings with some of the most important scientists of the last century. The service is launching with the audiovisual autobiographies of two giants of modern biology, Sydney Brenner and John Maynard Smith with other scientists to be added l
A team of researchers from the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, together with researchers from ICMAB (CSIC) and other Russian and Ukrainian scientists, have discovered an unprecedented method for accurately controlling the formation of nanometric structures made of semiconducting material in the form of islets, using promising optoelectronic applications in the most advanced communication technology. The discovery was featured as a cover story by the prestigious Nanotechnology magazine.
O
Who has not wound up nowhere in an Internet search for information that should be available about a company, an institution, or an organization? Who has not then longed to have someone to talk to who could answer questions with no hassle or waste of time? Johan Åberg, from the Department of Computer Science at Linköping University, Sweden, has studied what such a human help system might look like.
Automatic help systems with computerized answers already exist. But they seldom work very well
Coniferous trees are widespread in Russia, especially in Siberia, where taiga extends over tens of millions of hectares. Cedars and pines grow also in the environs of cities and in city parks and suffer from human-induced changes in environment.
Of course, coniferous trees can withstand a low-level pollution. Acid gases or soil pollutants that trees absorb are actively transported and deposited in those parts of wood, which do not perform important functions, and some elements are re
Nowadays society is deeply concerned with the safety issues, the flight safety in particular. Despite the technological progress, people can not do without dogs` assistance, as no device is capable of replacing the dogs` scent in search of explosive substances and drugs. Dogs are indispensable for differentiating between different individuals by specific smells. To work efficiently a dog needs excellent scent and ability to learn quickly. It is only in Russia that the unique animals -dog and jackal h
Conditions in space are unlike anything we experience on Earth. Incredible extremes of temperature that can switch in an instant, startling vacuum conditions, not to mention radiation – it`s a tough life for a spacecraft. So it is essential to make sure they are prepared to withstand these conditions before they are launched into this wholly unfriendly environment.
For instance, in a vacuum, heat cannot be conducted as it is here on Earth. A spacecraft that is being heated by the Sun`s rays
A revolutionary method for detecting which human embryos are most likely to develop successfully to the stage at which they implant in the womb has been developed by scientists at the University of York and clinicians at Leeds General Infirmary.
The research has been funded by the Medical Research Council.
The discovery, if confirmed in clinical trials, could bring new hope for many couples undergoing fertility treatment since current failure rates are high. One of the problems is that e
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