Brian May is best known as lead guitarist for the rock band Queen. But as Lesley Docksey discovers, he is also an astrophysicist, and a committed - and highly effective - advocate for Britain's wild animals, including badgers put at risk by England's cull programme.
Brian May - from rock star to badger champion Lesley Docksey | 10th March 2014 Comment Natural World Health Farming brian-may.png Brian May is best known as lead guitarist for the rock band Queen. …
Can organic farming feed the world? Ed Hamer and Mark Anslow say yes, but we must farm and eat differently
… organic yields would compare. Research by the University of Essex in 1999 found that, … centralised food system. A study by the University of Surrey shows that food from … controls. According to a 2006 report by the University of Essex, organic farming in the UK …
Last week, Channel 4 aired a documentary by controversial film-maker Martin Durkin. Entitled 'The Great Global Warming Swindle', the film suggested that a combination of factors has led us to mistakenly believe that our emissions of carbon dioxide are causing the planet to warm, and that in fact, natural cycles, solar activity and disaffected radicals were to blame.
… Professor in Quarternary Science at Exeter University and a Senior Research Associate at Oxford University... 3. Booming and cooling... A core …
Can organic farming feed the world? Ed Hamer and Mark Anslow say yes, but we must eat and farm differently
… organic yields would compare. Research by the University of Essex in 1999 found that, … centralised food system. A study by the University of Surrey shows that food from … controls. According to a 2006 report by the University of Essex, organic farming in the UK …
The claims for biofuels make it seem truly a wonder crop. Mark Anslow separates the wheat from the chaff
… of Ecology and Agriculture at Cornell University in New York, and his colleague, … Life Programme at George Washington University Law School, every dollar of ADM’s …
To live sustainably we must learn to live with wildlife, Patrick Barkham argues in his book Badgerlands. To do this we have much to learn from our ancestors - but we must also discard their barbaric practices and outrageous myths that, even today, some are so keen to perpetuate.
… always wanted to be a writer and following university he got a job as a junior writer and …
England's 2013 badger culls collapsed in chaos - a severe blow to Owen Paterson and his Department, Defra. Now Lesley Docksey lifts the lid on the disgraceful fiasco to expose Paterson's fantasy world of 'science' ...
Failure upon failure - the collapse of the badger culls Lesley Docksey | 18th December 2013 News Badgers Farming Politics Badger Cull DEFRA badger-girls.png England's 2013 badger culls collapsed in …
With the 6th International Conference on Bovine TB under way today in Cardiff, Lesley Docksey reports on Defra's latest statistics. BTB in England is falling - and it's falling fastest where the strongest biosecurity measures are in place, confirming the experience of Wales and Scotland.
… in wildlife." At a debate held at Bristol University in May on the policy of badger …
The Ecologist harnessed the power of several luminaries from the renewables world to find out why a wholly renewable future seems no closer than before.
… by Professor David Mackay, a Cambridge University physicist and author of a …
'We need to look at the best scientific evidence' on badgers and bovine TB, says Environment Secretary Liz Truss. But as Lesley Docksey writes, the 'best scientific evidence' appears to mean only that which supports the cull - and there's precious little of it!
… Guardian reported , Robbie MacDonald from the University of Exeter said "The model is …
It has taken just one year for the land-based biofuels (agrofuels) bubble to inflate and burst. In February 2007, the Ecologist was almost alone in pointing out that growing energy crops for car fuel was ecological nonsense; now the tide of academic studies showing that agrofuels are neither energy - nor carbon-efficient seems unstoppable.
… energy returns. Dr Krassen Dimitrov of the University of Queensland in Australia, an …
Storms, floods, tidal surges, a failed badger cull, GMO controversies ... then Owen Paterson, widely considered the worst Environment Secretary we have ever had, vanished. Lesley Docksey wonders - will he ever return?
… hanging in midair. Dr Rob Thompson, from the University of Reading's Department of …
A house built with straw could cost as little as £70,000 to build - and some are still standing after 140 years. Barbara Jones' fantastic book Building with Straw Bales reveals all you need to know
… eco building material A new project at Bath University shows that building with straw is …
Slowly the incidence of bTB in Cumbria has increased without any real outcry from the agricultural lobby. Why then, at the beginning of this month (August), has all of this information suddenly become news asks LESLEY DOCKSEY
… is hope. Recent research by a Nottingham University team has developed a new bTB blood …
Al available science indicates that badgers have little if anything to do with bovine TB in cattle, writes Lesley Docksey. This is reflected in Wales's consultation on its 'refreshed TB Eradication Programme'. We must hope that Northern Ireland's bTB Eradication Strategy will be equally science based - and ready to campaign hard if it relies on cruel, ineffective and expensive badger culls.
… badgers. But Dr Paul Benham of Reading University was researching the known 'mutual …
Thirty years ago, there was no evidence that badgers spread bovine TB among cattle, writes Lesley Docksey. Nor is there now. Yet badgers are still being slaughtered in a futile attempt to control the disease. This timely republication of Richard Meyer's 1986 book reveals the belligerent ignorance of the officials, politicians and farmers driving the failed policy.
… Dr Meyer mentions Dr Paul Benham of Reading University who was researching the known …
We can all agree on what the problem is, it’s settling on a solution that’s the difficult part. Mark Anslow explores the complicated world of deforestation
… still: a report by researchers at Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden in December …
British officialdom and those they serve are obsessed with the killing of wildlife, writes Lesley Docksey. It seems that whatever the 'problem', from bovine TB to the serendipitous arrival of beavers in Devon, the reflex is the same - to kill wild animals. But increasingly, the British people aren't having it. And our fightback is making waves ....
… in grouse-shooting ... " A study by Exeter University revealed just how much we need our …
Number 10 is seeking an 'escape plan' for a badger cull gone disastrously wrong under Owen Paterson's direction. Lesley Docksey reports on a likely end to the cull - and to Paterson's ministerial role.
… in 2012, none showed signs of bTB. The Durham University study showed that of nearly 400 …
The recent U-turn by of some of the UK's leading environmentalists - and one-time nuclear energy opponents - on the issue of nuclear energy, has caused vigourous debate in the media. Their reasoning is that we simply don't have the capacity to produce enough renewable energy to meet our needs. But as this comprehensive Ecologist report from 2007 shows the UK is really a renewable energy powerhouse.
The future of energy is renewable Jon Hughes Mark Anslow | 27th February 2009 News Renewable Energy Energy Oil UK Coal Gas Climate Change Global Warming Carbon Dioxide Carbon Dioxide Global Warming …