guest post: dispatches from paradise

for the past three weeks, twelve scientists and supporting team members have been recording, logging and observing sea life in the Chagos archipelago as part of the first full scientific expedition since the area was declared a no-take marine protected zone in April 2010. in this special guest blog from the middle of the Indian Ocean, the team investigate the Salomons Atoll…

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plumes

delicate and highly detailed studies of the flora and fauna of the Pacific islands provide the inspiration for Carlos Noronha Feio’s latest work, now showing at IMT Gallery.  Plant Life of the Pacific World  is a series of gracefully collaged photos of nuclear explosions, alluringly echoing the forms of the natural world as classified by American botanist E.D. Merrill’s book from which the exhibition takes its name. the book’s dry classification of plant forms is transformed by Noronha Feio into an explosive revelry of intense, amoebic forms bursting forth as deadly chain reactions


ornithology

with spring just around the corner and migratory birds returning north, this timely lunchtime lecture at The Royal Society looks at Francis Willughby – the man who basically invented ornithology. Professor Tim Birkhead FRS will explore how he and John Ray produced the landmark publication The Ornithology of Francis Willughby in the mid 1600s, which set the scene for future studies of birds, fish and insects

image: plate 42 of Birds of America by John James Audubon depicting the Orchard Oriole


the plant journal

if the lush images, elegant illustrations and handy potting ideas from Issue 1 are anything to go by, tonight’s launch of The Plant Journal number two should be a cause of celebration. essentially plant porn, each lovingly-crafted issue is dedicated to a particular species – in this case one of our personal favourites: Monstera Deliciosa read more


frozen


it’s taken us days and days and days to even start this post – possibly because we can’t actually bring ourselves to acknowledge that after almost sixty years of nature broadcasting, Sir David Attenborough might well have completed his last major TV epic read more


zond

we thought we’d mark Earth Day tomorrow with a familiar but slightly different view of the planet we call home: not the famous Earthrise image taken from Apollo 8, but one snapped during the unmanned Russian Zond-7 mission on August 9, 1969. a two-person spaceship designed to circle around the moon but not land, the Soyuz 7K-L1 also photographed ‘earthrise’ – whose contrast between the dead moon and living earth became an emblem of the early environmental movement – during other missions around the moon and back



crossover

typical. you wait all week for a nice science image, then two come along at once. both images below are surprising examples of the way particle physics experiments are being used to study nature, something that will be discussed at a workshop in Paris next week. the first shows something called a scintillation hodoscope close to the crater of Mount Etna, which is being used to study both cosmic rays and help predict volcanic eruptions. the second is part of the

CLOUD project at CERN, which is looking at cosmic rays in relation to cloud formation and climate science. nice to see the sciences playing so well together

 

_image: D.Gibert et al, CNRS/INSU/IN2P3, INGV/Catania_image: CERN

_image: CERN


canopy

in Werner Herzog’s 2004 documentary The White Diamond, we are introduced to Dr Graham Dorrington – a London-based aeronautical engineer who builds airships to explore the ethereal canopy layer high above the world’s tropical rainforests. we caught up with Graham over on the reader this week to chat all things aerial ahead of the Treetop Odyssey event at the ICA this weekend

 

_the various strata of a typical forest


hollow

if you’re out and about in the woods this weekend keep an eye out for the telltale signs of one of Britain’s best-loved creatures: the hazel dormouse. you can find their discarded hazelnut shells in woodland and hedgerows, and help the People’s Trust for Endangered Species monitor population numbers by reporting back as part of the awkwardly-named “Golden Great Nut Hunt”. beyond the satisfaction of helping this noble creature, there’s a bling golden hazelnut up for grabs

 

_image: hazelnut shells chewed by dormice (centre), woodmice (left) and squirrels (right) © Patrick Watts-Mabbott/ENPA


cubes

a tale of two clever cubes this week, both designed to educate people about carbon in various ways. the first is Eurban’s Carbon Cube, lower photo, created in 2006 from offcuts produced by the architecture firm’s various eco-friendly timber structures. measuring precisely 360mm x 360mm x 360mm, each cube is designed to act as a piece of furniture containing 10kg of carbon. design consultancy Ramboll’s new project, also called The Carbon Cube, is similar in showing how much timber is required to absorb the average UK citizen’s annual CO2 output represented by a 2.4m cubic volume, with members of the public invited to make a pledge to reduce emissions and decorate a small cube of spruce

you can see Ramboll’s cube on Store Street as part of the Pocket Park, and sit on one of Eurban’s cubes at our GREEN/SPACE event tomorrow, where they’ll also be on sale at 30% off RRP

_Ramboll’s Carbon Cube

_Eurban’s Carbon Cube


pods

mobile, modular and designed to survive the extremes of the Antarctic, Hugh Broughton Architects’ new Halley VI research station consists of a series of pods which will house researchers from the British Antarctic Survey. built to withstand high winds and winter temperatures of -50°C, the raised habitats will also reduce the station’s impact on the continent’s pristine environment. now in place on the Brunt Ice Shelf, the futuristic structures take on an otherwordly appearance when seen in-situ against the blowing snowdrifts and icy blue sky of the frozen continent

Hugh Broughton Architects will be among the speakers at our next live event, GREEN/SPACE

_BAS project manager Karl Tuplin stands besides a completed Halley VI module


dawn

get up early or stay out late this month and you’ll be rewarded with one of nature’s grandest symphonies: the dawn chorus. starting around 4am, birds of all persuasions begin calling out to mark their territory and attract a mate – with blackbirds, robins and wrens soon joined by finches, doves and even owls. if you’re keen to learn more about which one’s which, you can join an organised breakfast event as part of International Dawn Chorus Day, or if you can’t be bothered, here’s what it sounds like in the UK…

birds

 

_image from: Naumann, Naturgeschichte Der Vögel Mitteleuropas


ash

with solar storms battering the magnetosphere, meteors lighting up the night and volcanoes spewing lava and ash you might think the world was coming to an end. but could the Icelandic volcano actually help save the earth? the cooling effects of sulphur dioxide are well documented, and this is the first time UK airspace – and beyond – has been completed free of commercial flights since mass aviation began. in addition to the thousands of tons of CO2 that won’t be produced by grounded planes, the quiet sky will give climate scientists a chance to take a second look at a world without contrails

 

_UK airspace emptying on Thursday, from flightglobal.com


ice

we all know about these ice caps melting down, but scientists are still unsure why it’s happening so quickly. in 2005, the European Space Agency tried to launch a satellite called Cryosat to measure the thickness of the ice, but the Russian rocket carrying it exploded shortly after launch. the mission is considered so vital that a second probe – Cryosat 2 – was built, and yesterday launched successfully from Baikonur Cosmodrome. once in operation, its measurements should give us a clearer picture of just what exactly is going on, and how bad things really are. gulp

 

_artist’s impression of Cryosat in orbit


migration

incorporating recordings of migrating reindeer and the sounds of the Arctic tundra, Saturday’s performance of ‘Nord Rute‘ by Plaid, sound artist Ross Adams and Norwegian author/artist Synnøve Persen promises to be an evening to remember. based on a native Sámi poem, the ‘psycho-acoustic experience’ will be heightened by the fact the audience will be invited to sit on reindeer pelts in an unheated venue!

 

_Ross Adams travelled with a group of reindeer herders on their annual 350km migration


polar

vast, white, frozen and forbidding, the Arctic and Antarctic hold endless fascination for artists and explorers – but are also the ideal setting for some of the latest research in physics, astronomy and climate change. join us for a special (and free!) Science Fair™ on Monday as we discuss the polar regions of the earth in terms of art, culture and science. our guests will be Nicola Triscott of the Arts Catalyst’s Arctic Perspectives Initiative and New Scientist journalist Anil Ananthaswamy, whose forthcoming book The Edge of Physics took him to Antarctica to visit cutting-edge physics experiments and meet the people behind them

 

_image: a photograph of the snow surface at Dome C Station, Antarctica by Stephen Hudson


paradise

you know that feeling where you think you know about every place on earth, and that there’s there nowhere left to discover? we had that feeling blown clear away last week when we first heard about the Chagos Archipelago in the Indian Ocean. located about 280 nautical miles south of the Maldives, this remote paradise is off limits to everyone excepts scientists and B-52 pilots (the island of Diego Garcia is home to a US airbase). it’s virtually untouched and unblemished – with pollution at one part per trillion – and best of all there is a chance the UK government will declare the vast 210,000 square mile area a Marine Protected Area. their consultation ends Friday, so find out more and add your voice at protectchagos.org

 

native Chagos brain coral ‘Ctenella chagius’ photographed by Charles Sheppard, University of Warwick

 


rotation

as part of this year’s If You Could project, filmmaker Michael Moloney and photographer John Hooper spent 24 hours on a hill in the Lake District called Pavey Ark. their stunning 720° panorama starts with the last light of day fading, rotates with the earth as the moon rises and, with Orion finally dropping beyond the hill as the sun rises, continues into the daytime. throughout the night planes and stars traverse the sky, as camera flashes illuminate the landscape, transforming the film from a Koyaanisqatsi-like timelapse into something very special

 

_still from 24 Hours, Pavey Ark


hidden

brave the snow and ice this weekend and you may just be lucky to spy the elusive bittern (pictured). rangers from the Lee Valley Park will be leading a bittern-spotting walk through the marshes of East London. “warming drink and biscuits” are promised, but you may not be so lucky on the bittern front – they’re among Britain’s rarest birds because of loss of their reedbed habitat through drainage

 

_image: Russell Spencer / RSPB


breathe

it might not save the world, but the ANDREA air filter will certainly help clean up your home environment. developed by French designer Mathieu Lehanneur and Le Laboratoire founder David Edwards, it draws on research that NASA did in the 1980s as part of the BioHome project, which examined how plants could be used to clean the air inside space stations like Skylab

to celebrate super/collider’s new role as UK distributor for ANDREA, we’re offering super/weekly readers a hefty secret discount until Christmas. you can read more here or order from our online store

 

_ANDREA © Véronique Huyghe

 

 


us

humans are great (example: your friend Dave) but let’s face it, there are now too many us here on the planet. of all the environmental problems we face, there are few that wouldn’t be helped by there being fewer of us, which makes the Optimum Population Trust’s new pop offsets such a good idea. much cheaper than planting trees, installing wind turbines or building solar arrays, they aim to reduce emissions by encouraging family planning and working on ways to stabilise population fairly. if it all sounds a bit suspect, their FAQ provides an in-depth breakdown of the reasoning

_animation by super/collider


win win

hot on the heals of last week’s good news about the Amazon, it’s great to see the government backing calls to reduce carbon emissions by cutting down on meat production and consumption. like bicycling, it’s a win win situation which would not only make us healthier but less carbon intensive too

_meat montage by artist unknown


power

it’s hard to know where to start when it comes to climate change, which is why we think Sandbag‘s idea of focusing on global power producers makes a lot of sense. the sector accounts for a third of all emissions, is relatively easy to regulate and could make a significant dent in the amount of CO2 we produce. of course, there’s lots we can still do personally, as highlighted by DIY Kyoto’s new 20TEN campaign, which stems from figures showing their customers have managed to save an average of 20% on electricity alone. if you’re in London next Monday evening, come find out more at our second Science Fair™ night

 

_a nuclear power station, yesterday


dense

we’ve been so busy programming our new Science Fair™ night and building our CultureLabel shop that we kind of slacked off a bit on the mailout, which is a shame because in the last three weeks the Tokyo Motor Show has come and gone with a bunch of new eco-cars, the awesome Settle Hydro community project have installed their green energy turbine and some beavers in Scotland have built a lodge. but we’re back just in time to tell you about an event this weekend in Suffolk that sees legendary nature sound recordists Chris Watson (who has worked on David Attenborough’s documentaries) and Bernie Krause (who also did the synth music in Apocalyse Now!) coming together for a unique collaboration curated by Russell Haswell and FasterThanSound. this is just a sample of Bernie’s work; you can hear more here

 

_image: edenpics.com _sound: Bernie Krause / wildsanctuary.com


glow

with this week’s Worldwide Star Count now on, the concerns of space-nerds and environmentalists come together with the issue of light pollution. showing just how much energy we waste throughout the night, skyglow blots out the stars, affects wildlife and can even mess with our sleeping and, um, mating habits. need-less.org has more on the problem and how you can help, plus a handy sky simulator to see what you’re not seeing

 

_image: Mexico City at night by Fernando Tomás


overshoot

this year, Friday marked Earth Overshoot Day – the annual date at which we’ve used up this planet’s resources and begin consuming those of a non-existent second earth. when first recognised in late 80s, the day fell pretty close to January 1, but is getting earlier every year. you can read more about the calculation here and take a quiz to calculate your own ecological footprint

 

_original earth image: NASA (Apollo 15)


shore

OK, so it’s not directly fighting climate change, but the great thing about the Marine Conservation Society‘s annual Beachwatch weekend is that you can actually get out there and do something tangible to help the environment. it’s all part of the larger International Coastal Clean Up, which last year saw nearly half a million volunteers collecting more than 6.8 million pounds of trash in 100 countries

 

_image: Alun ap Rhisiart


specimen

later today, Prince Charles and Sir David Attenborough will officially open the Natural History Museum’s new Darwin Centre, a 78 million pound state-of-the-art cathedral of nature housing over 20 millions specimens of plants and insects inside a giant concrete ‘cocoon’ designed by Danish architects CF Møller. inside, you’ll be able to watch scientists doing scientist stuff, learn about climate change’s effect on the natural world and marvel at what’s at stake

 

__Erythrina folkersii / coral tree © 2009 Natural History Museum, London


exponential

in the days leading up to today’sconference on new energy materials to fight climate change, we decided it was finally time to put pen to paper and sketch out an idea we had for self-replicating solar cells.

dropped into the Sahara, these miniature robots would mine sand to produce adjacent cells, then replicate exponentially, eventually covering hundreds of square kilometers. the discussions at the Royal Society promise to be a bit more realistic, but no less interesting. you can read our updates here or via Twitter

 

_concept for Self-Replicating Solar Cell (SRSC) by super/collider


nightlight

we wanted to tell you about Friday’s release of wild beavers in Scotland but due to overwhelming press interest the pictures didn’t arrive in time. so instead, we’d thought we’d preview the latest work from United Visual Artists, whose upcoming show at The Smithfield Gallery comprises a series of photos taken at various sites around the UK of a glowing, moon-like orb

 

_image: Deus by UVA

_image: Deus by UVA

_image: Deus by UVA


aquarids

two good reasons to get up in the wee small hours of tomorrow morning: the dawn chorus is at its peak, as is the Eta Aquarids meteor shower. the best time to witness both starts around 4am, once the bright moon has set but before the sun starts to rise. as it does, you’ll be treated to the odd shooting star and the unbelievably loud and complex spring symphony of birds calling for a mate

 

_Eta Aquarids colourgrammes from radiometeor.plus.com


green

with UK Aware opening today, we’ve been thinking about all things green – and specifically the colour.
to find out exactly what “eco green” is these days, we took a look at what some of the big players use. although far from comprehensive, this composite of green colour codes used by Treehugger, The Green Party, the World Wildlife Fund, The Guardian Environment Network, Discovery’s Planet Green, the UK Green Building Council and Ecover shows the average is a pale, slightly yellow green – with the crisp, popping greens used by Treehugger and WWF offset by more old school earthy shades traditionally associated with the environmental movement. it’s RGB 148-201-61, if you’re curious

 

_image: a colour composite of seven different green logos


comeback

congratulations to Zara Mirza, who won our Materiology competition, and also to the long-tailed tit (pictured), which has made a comeback and reached the top ten list of birds spotted during the RSPB’s Big Garden Birdwatch. the full results are here, or for more wildlife-spotting survey action, check out the RSPB’s ThamesWatch and ‘Mind the Bird’ programs or the British Waterways Wildlife Survey

 

_illustration: Mike Langham / rspb-images.com


songbird

people across Britain – including you – are being invited to take an hour this weekend to sit, pen and paper in hand, counting birds. now in its thirtieth year, the RSPB‘s Big Garden Birdwatch draws on observations from thousands of backyards, balconies and city parks to form an overall picture of bird numbers in the UK. a nice break from the winter gloom, it’s a good excuse to get outside and relax to the soothing sound of birdsong, like this Cetti’s Warbler sample from über-birders The Sound Approach

songbird

 

_image: a wren (Sue Tranter/rspb-images.com)


sketch

remember Edwyn Collins? he’s back, but with birds instead of music. after suffering a brain haemorrhage in 2005, he began sketching them to help with his recovery. according to the press release, he was always interested in it, but “bird illustration soon became incompatible with the life of a pop star”. as it does. Collins’ work will be on show at the Smithfield Gallery from next week

 

_drawing: Edwyn Collins


bird of prey

despite the recent loss of a female who crashed into a building near London Wall, the RSPB is going ahead with its Peregrine Falcon watch at Tate Modern. starting this weekend, they’ll be on hand with telescopes to point out the birds, who nest in the Herzog & de Meuron designed chimney at the gallery. as the RSPB’s Tim Webb explains, “these magnificent birds have taken to London in a big way. we now have half a dozen breeding pairs living wild in the capital and probably double that in single birds”

 


alphabet

we first discovered Present&Correct when they crafted a series of handmade envelopes using old science textbooks and the like. now, they’ve expanded to all manner of paper goods, including this A to Z of endangered species. “I have a few favourites,” says P&C’s Neal Whittington of the list. “The otter seems to be liked by everyone… he has a certain charm – as if he should be wearing a bowler”

congratulations to Sue Man, who won our poster competition by naming her favourite endangered species: “The frog one, simply cos it looks old and desperately looking for a smoke”

 

_poster: Present&Correct


habitat

in case you missed artist Brandon Ballengée’s nature hike at the Artists Airshow a few weekends back, you’ll be pleased to know he’s doing it again. the artist/stroke/biologist is best known for mixing serious field study with art, like this series, in which he collected specimens from fish markets in New York in order to study biodiversity and changing marine populations

 

_images from The Ever-Changing Tide


airborne

this weekend, strange goings-on will be going on above Gunpowder Park as the Artists Airshow takes fight. curated by The Arts Catalyst and now in its second year, the event will feature experimental and artistic aircraft, a symposium, inflight films and a midnight nature walk led by Brandon Ballengée, whose work combines field study with art

 


one off

with a new book about his long life coming out today, things are looking up for Lonesome George – the last remaining giant tortoise from Pinta Island in the Galapagos. long thought fated to live out his days alone, hope has arrived with news that a genetically similar tortoise has been found on a nearby island

 


eco city

the RSPB‘s new centre at Rainham Marshes is just one of the projects featured in ‘Sustainable London’, a new exhibition at NLA. the building is – as you’d expect – über ecofriendly, with locally sourced materials, a heat exchanger, sheep wool insulation, a rain harvesting tank, solar cells plus natural vents on the roof

 

_photo: James Brittain