Tagged With: insects
Myth of the ‘pied piper’ butterfly
Dr Rebecca Nesbit MRSB offers some background to the free Biology Week event ‘Insect and bird migration: revealing the mysteries of flight’. It’s that time of year again – the swallows are collecting on the telegraph wires ready to escape the cold that’s coming our way. It’s a sad spectacle for anyone lamenting the end of … Continue reading
Lords recommend field trial for GM insects
By Jackie Caine, policy manager at the British Ecological Society. This blog was originally posted on the British Ecological Society blog. In December, while the British Ecological Society was busy at our Annual Meeting in Edinburgh, the Lords Science and Technology Select Committee published their report on GM Insects, an inquiry to which the BES … Continue reading
Hooke, my hero. Micrographia, my Bible.
By Cath Hodsman, entomological artist. The Royal Society of Biology is running an insect life-cycles microscopy art course in partnership with Cath Hodsman on 23rd October 2015. This year celebrates a landmark anniversary that has helped define me as both a person and a professional. It is 350 years since the scientist Robert Hooke published … Continue reading
Drawing the invisible: the value of scientific entomology and microscopy art
Cath Hodsman is a skilled and widely acknowledged British wildlife artist, specialising in entomology. She is also one of the most technically accomplished and accurate natural history artists, who counts The Natural History Museum, London amongst her many prestigious clients. Cath will be running the Society of Biology’s Anatomical Painting Course in November. Biology and … Continue reading
In celebration of (tasty) grasshoppers
By Rebecca Nesbit, press officer at the Society of Biology, co-ordinator of the flying ant survey and BioArtAttack competition, and keen entomophagist. There is a lot to celebrate about insects, not just the services they provide for us, but the incredible feats they accomplish. As National Insect Week draws to a close, it is a … Continue reading
Everyone’s a scientist – and here are some places to start
by Rebecca Nesbit, co-ordinater of the Society of Biology’s flying ant survey As flying ants take to the skies and the suntan cream is finally needed, it seems like time to share information on the many ways to get involved with citizen science projects. Collecting data about when and where different species can be found … Continue reading
So what IS the point of wasps?
Mark Leach, the Society of Biology’s membership marketing manager, has been wondering what wasps are actually for. As the summer (and hopefully the drier weather) approaches, this heralds the time of the year when wasps, ants and the children next door threaten the peace and tranquillity of British alfresco dining. But what are wasps actually … Continue reading
Are robot animals the future?
Michelle Reeve from the Royal Veterinary College is trying to make an eight-legged robot as part of her PhD As a child, did you dream of a future world where robots were part of our everyday life? With robots such as Johnny 5, Terminator’s T-800, and of course R2-D2 and C-3PO as major characters in … Continue reading
Would you like termites with that?
Lauren Hoskin is a recent graduate in microbiology. She is interested in a career in science communication and writes for her own blog, Science Says as well as for the Student Hubs blog. Many problems faced by humans do not have simple answers, especially in the area of food security. How will we feed nine … Continue reading
The damsel and the dragon
Mark Leach is the Marketing Manager at the Society of Biology Not being a biologist by trade means that my working day at the Society often provides opportunities for impromptu learning. As they say, ‘every day’s a school day’! A chance office conversation about the visit of a ‘weird blue dragonfly’ to my garden quickly … Continue reading