Ecology, The Environment and Conservation

Instead of landfills clogged with computer and car parts, packaging and a myriad of other plastic parts, a Cornell University fiber scientist has a better idea. In coming years, he says, many of these discarded items will be composted.

The key to this “green” solution, says researcher Anil Netravali, is fully biodegradable composites made from soybean protein and other biodegradable plastics and plant-based fibers, developed at Cornell and elsewhere.

“These new fully biodegradable

Climate clues from the Earth’s poles – swarming whale food, winners and losers in Antarctic waters, and solar insights at the BA 2002 Annual Meeting

The latest thinking on the chances of extinction for Antarctic animals in seas and lakes, whale food hiding beneath sea ice, and new insights on the Sun’s spin are among the hot topics slated for discussion at today’s Frontiers of Polar Science panel, organized by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), through i

Recent changes in Antarctic seabird populations may be linked to environmental change according to scientists reporting in the journal Science this week. Researchers from the Cambridge-based British Antarctic Survey (BAS) reviewed the best available data from a range of long-term studies to test the view that warming of the Earth`s climate is affecting Antarctic marine life. Whilst they found that sea-ice has a profound influence on population levels of snow petrels, Adélie and emperor penguins, the

MIT researchers have shown that a common pollutant strongly impacts the behavior of arsenic and possibly other toxic metals in some lakes, adding to scientists’ understanding of how such elements move through the water.

“The work shows that nitrate pollution, which arises from sources such as automobile exhaust, wastewater disposal and fertilizers, is more important in lake dynamics than had been thought,” said Harry Hemond, the Leonhard Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering

Rogue trees are being ‘fingered’ by gene detectives using a well-known technique to catch criminals.

Newcastle University scientists are using DNA fingerprinting to help insurers identify trees that are causing houses to subside.

Often disputes can last for several years, as when two trees of the same kind grow in an area it is very difficult to find out which one is behind the problem. This is because their roots – which can grow underneath a house and cause the subsidenc

Extinction rates of native California plants have been studied by three researchers who found that previously designed mathematical and computer models were biased because they left out the human element in their predictions, according to an article published in the August 20 Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. They conclude with the key concern that “understanding the relationship between habitat loss and loss of biodiversity is central to the development of sound conservation policy.”