Author Archives: Rebecca Nesbit
Are neonicotinoids distracting us from the bigger picture?
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology The much awaited vote by EU member states on the potential neonicotinoid ban takes place on Monday. There has been strong environmental lobbying to encourage Environment Minister Owen Patterson to vote in favour of a ban, but to what extent is the fate of bees really hanging on this … Continue reading
Inspiring future generations (and feeding them)
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology People will fight passionately for medical advances, and indeed science has done a huge amout to save lives and reduce suffering caused by health problems. But the point was made at UK PlantSci 2013 that, ultimately, this is only valuable if we can feed people. I don’t think there … Continue reading
No single answer – messages from PlantSci
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology This week I’m lucky enough to be at UK PlantSci 2013 in Dundee – the 2nd conference of the UK Plant Sciences Federation. The conference opened this morning with a keynote talk from Professor Charles Godfray, who spoke very convincingly about the need for food production to become radically … Continue reading
Flying Ant Survey – spread the word!
The weekend’s sunshine made it almost possible to imagine the summer flying ant season, so we’re gearing up for a second flying ant survey and are hoping to enlist even more support. We need data from multiple years to help us understand whether the pattern we saw in 2012 (two peaks in flying ant activity) … Continue reading
MPs’ thoughts on academic career paths
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology From a potential ban on neonicotinoids to the importance of the EU, there were some provocative questions at last week’s Voice of the Future. There were many times when I had my preconceptions challenged by the MPs’ answers, and many issues I hadn’t stopped to consider. This Storify (below) … Continue reading
Climate Week: biology, art and inspiration
By Rebecca Nesbit At the Society of Biology we are firm believers that biological research is fundamental to tackling the world’s challenges, and climate change has to be near the top of the list. Biology will help make predictions and provide solutions, but that is only part of the story. Technology and the behaviour of … Continue reading
Lung-on-a-chip
In the news this week has been an interesting approach to replicating human disease in a ‘lung-on-a-chip’ device. The lung-on-a-chip, which is about the size of a USB stick, contains hollow channels lined with living human cells. Applying a vacuum to two channels along the side of the chip allows it to recreate the way … Continue reading
NHS Choices website becomes ‘neutral’ on homeopathy
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology * since I wrote this post, the NHS Choices website has been modified again with the introduction of a sentence stating that a Government report said homeopathic remedies perform no better than placebos The ongoing debate about whether homeopathy should be provided on the NHS has again stirred up … Continue reading
It’s Darwin Day – a celebration for everyone
by Rebecca Nesbit, Society of Biology I arrived in the office this morning to the excellent news that three of our Fellows, including our President Dame Nancy Rothwell, made the top 20 of the Women’s Hour Power List. This was fantastic recognition of the contribution scientists make to our society, and appropriate on a day … Continue reading
Bad news for pollination – a decline in Britain’s larger moths
by Rebecca Nesbit ‘Moths are declining rapidly in the UK’ was, unsurprisingly, the message from the State of Britain’s Larger Moths report launched last Friday by Butterfly Conservation. In a week when the controversial topic of bees and neonicotinoids was headline news, it was interesting to hear about the fates of a different group of … Continue reading