1. The Natural History Museum in London has published its autumn programme of events and activities. It’s here.
The museum says:
- See award-winning nature photography, learn about some of the world’s most venomous creatures and dive into the evolutionary history of the whale. Exhibitions are open until 22.00 on the last Friday of October and November.
- Explore one of London’s most iconic buildings by night, catch a killer at a murder-mystery evening, pull an all-nighter or dance the night away in the Museum’s Hintze Hall.
- Uncover fascinating and bizarre facts about Museum specimens and collections, the crucial work of our scientists, and in our latest exhibitions.
2. The Academic Network on Global Education & Learning (ANGEL) – a new forum for academics and researchers in global education – will launch its website in the coming weeks, and you can discover more about the aims and remit of the project in this leaflet.
If you want to receive information about ANGEL activities and membership, please click here to register interest. Just add ‘ANGEL’ to th mailing preferences.
3. Here’s recent output from the Environmental News Network:
4. The world’s largest scientific archive of animal signal recordings, the Macaulay Library of Natural Sounds, is partnering with other institutions to co-curate and digitize an enormous archive of animal audio and video recordings from the library’s vaults. The analog material in the library’s collection at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology includes recordings of mainly birds, but also frogs, fish and insects that are used by animal behaviorists to study birds and other animals from all over the world, including some that are now extinct, such as the imperial woodpecker. Accessible digital audio recordings of animal signals will make it easier for researchers to investigate a host of scientific questions, including what can scientists learn about the responses of animals to anthropogenic noise and other human activities. By providing a useful co-curation system and encouraging collection of recordings along with physical specimens, this project is expected to transform the way researchers collect and use biological specimens in the future.
5. Blue carbon is the carbon stored in coastal and marine ecosystems. Coastal ecosystems – mangroves, salt marshes and seagrass meadows – sequester and store large quantities of blue carbon in both the plants and the sediment below. Carbon sequestered in coastal soils can be extensive and remain trapped for very long periods of time (centuries to millennia) resulting in very large carbon stocks. In fact, total carbon deposits per square kilometre in these coastal systems may be up to five times the carbon stored in tropical forests. By sequestering and storing significant amounts carbon from the atmosphere and ocean, coastal ecosystems help mitigate climate change. On the other hand, the conversion and degradation of these ecosystems can cause a significant release of CO2 to the ocean and atmosphere. Read on here.
6. The latest edition of NHBS Grapevine features a new photographic guide for entomologists living in or visiting Southern Europe; a new nest box price list, available to download as a pdf or to order by post; and an illustrated field guide to the Birds of North America. Further highlights include: an interview with David Cobham, author of Bowland Beth; a guide to key areas of biodiversity in Iraq; and a practical handbook on orchid conservation.
7. Can better architecture lead to a better scholastic experience? Well, some Finnish educators believe so – and they are not alone. The Mother Nature Network has a feature on this question. It says:
“In Finland, many students who recently headed back to class from kesäloma — summer vacation — were left in an even more disoriented state . While the actual buildings that many pupils returned to remained the same, the interiors of said buildings had been dramatically revamped: walls torn down, desks and chalkboards hauled away and the entire notion of what students thought an academic setting should look like turned on its head. …”
8. Treehugger.com is a North American website that says it “is the leading media outlet dedicated to driving sustainability mainstream. Partial to a modern aesthetic, we strive to be a one-stop shop for green news, solutions, and product information. We publish an up to the minute blog, weekly and daily newsletters, and regularly updated Twitter and Facebook pages.” It is certainly a lively, up-to-the-minute read.