Every so often there’ll be a news story like the massive decline in hedgehogs. The population is down by a third since the millennium. It’s obviously bad news but how much of a national priority should hedgehogs be? The Aspen hoverfly is down to 13 8 locations in Scotland. I can see this is a [...]

Robin Ince turned up at Ludlow on Friday as part of his tour The Importance of Being Interested. Ludlow, by and large, did not. It was Ludlow’s loss because they missed an entertaining evening. If you’re not sure who he is, Robin Ince is the sane voice on the Infinite Monkey Cage, the BBC’s science/comedy [...]

It’s well-known that plants can affect how the brain works. Take the right plant in the right dose and you can have an altered perception of reality. But if plants can affect the brain, can they also affect the part of the body that a lot of people think with as well? What plants could [...]

Mars One has launched a project to put humans on Mars by cutting out one of the biggest costs of the mission. Putting a human into space is easy. A lot of expense is cut out if you don’t plan to bring them back alive. The target first launch is 2016. It’s highly ambitious and [...]

If you’re looking to show doubters that plants are fascinating then a good starting point is Daniel Chamovitz‘s What a Plant Knows. I was a bit wary of the book at the title made it sound a bit twee. In fact the book is an accessible and extensive exploration of how plants react to their [...]

Today is Fascination of Plants Day. To celebrate we’ll have a few posts out today. At midday we have a review of What a Plant Knows by Daniel Chamovitz, a book that shows how fascinating plants can be. At 17:00 there’s news of why the people applying for the Mars One reality programme had better [...]

A company is seeking approval for a new GM potato. What might surprise you is why we do need a new potato.