Author Archives: Rebecca Nesbit
Species of the Week: the Coelacanth
Many species of Coelacanth, a primitive fish, are present in the fossil record, but they were thought to have gone extinct with the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. Then, in 1938, a museum curator on a South African fishing trawler caught a living species: Latimeria chalumnae. Decades later, in 1998, a second species, L. menadoensis, … Continue reading
GM crop debate: where to go from here?
On Sunday I donned my ‘Don’t Destroy Research’ badge and joined Sense About Science at the Take the Flour Back protest. Take the Flour Back had pledged to ‘decontaminate’ a GM crop trial at Rothamsted Research by entering the field and destroying the crop. Our aim was to show support for the scientists who had … Continue reading
Amazing plant facts from PlantSci
The Society of Biology hosted its first academic conference this week, which was a huge success. I certainly learnt a lot from the talks at PlantSci 2012, and thought I’d share some of my top facts. The conference opened with an inspiring address from Professor John Beddington, the Government’s Chief Scientific Advisor. He spoke of … Continue reading
Species of the week: The Green Turtle
The green turtle, Chelonia mydas, occurs throughout tropical waters and, to a lesser extent, in subtropical seas as well. They nest occurs in more than 80 countries worldwide. Green turtles are slow growing and long lived; those that reach maturity may live to be 80 years old. Fully grown they are approximately 69 to 79 … Continue reading