Ecology, The Environment and Conservation

A plastic “energy flower” that collects solar and wind energy that can then be used to power appliances in the home for free has won a Northumbria University student a top award.

Paul Richardson, a third year design student, won a £1,750 Design International Attachment Award from the RSA (Royal Society for the encouragement of Arts, Manufactures and Commerce).

Paul’s award will give him the chance to work with DCA International to research and develop his interest in design.

With the help of biologists and in a radical reversal of roles, the environment could exploit free trade. But with the World Trade Organisation`s legitimacy being challenged as never before, this opportunity is at risk.

“In the prevailing climate, trade protectionism gets equated with environmental protection, free trade with freedom to plunder”, says Dr Douglas Yu at the University of East Anglia`s School of Biological Sciences. “But the WTO could actually drive fundamental environmental re

Marine reserves have rapid and lasting impacts on organisms inside reserves, according to scientists at the University of California, Santa Barbara.

In a paper published in the current issue of ECOLOGY LETTERS, the researchers reviewed 80 studies from `no-take` reserves, where it is illegal to extract organisms in any way. These showed that density, biomass, average size and diversity of organisms inside these reserves reach much higher levels within a short period of time, usually one to th

Research funded by the European Space Agency into ways of feeding future astronauts on missions to Mars is about to find a very down-to-earth application – how to dispose of the sewage sludge left over after wastewater treatment.

The MELISSA (Micro-Ecological Life Support Alternative) project, which ESA is funding in companies and research institutes throughout Europe, is developing a system of recycling as much of the waste as possible produced by astronauts on long-duration space missions

High-energy bubbles scour municipal water filters.

Sound waves could provide a greener way to make tap water taste better.

Ultrasound can make bubbles in water that could clean ceramic filters quickly and cheaply, say Linda Weavers and colleagues of Ohio State University, Columbus 1 . When the bubbles burst, they release energy that makes tiny, but fiercely powerful, jets of water that scour the filter’s surface and flush away debris.

Most municipa

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