I remember my geography teacher saying that the next world war would be about water. There have been a few issues already, but as Egypt rejects Nile water agreement I think we can probably see this a key moment in history. Switzerland, which has the largest reserves of fresh water, must be getting nervous. And it [...]
Here’s some figures for renewable power generation in 2006: 62.9% – Austria 48.7% – Sweden 29.9% – Portugal 17.1% – Slovak Republic 19.2% – Romania 17% – Denmark 12.4% – France 4.6% – UK In November 2009, Spain generated 53% of its demand from wind alone last week (it was a bit windy). So if [...]
I finally got around to watching A Farm for the Future (available on Google Video) a few nights ago, and found it to be a great introduction to the concepts of permaculture. Key things to realise (some not from the programme): Current methods of farming will not continue to feed you during your lifetime. We [...]
New ID cards are supposed to be ‘unforgeable’ – but it took our expert 12 minutes to clone one, and programme it with false data
I’ve just been watching ‘The World According to Monsanto’. It’s pretty compelling stuff. As one of the contributors says, “Seed is more powerful than bombs, more powerful than guns” and given that, you’d have thought that we’d be a little more careful about what we do it. 70% of the food in the USA contains [...]
It’s tempting to think that DNA databases are OK, because it’s just a way of uniquely identifying someone, just like a long number which no one else has, which is intrinsically linked to you. If you believe that, I can see why you think you may have nothing to worry about. But the problem is [...]
1. It permits lazy policing If you have someone’s record on file, you’re more likely to assume he’s a criminal. And if that DNA matches a sample which has been discovered during the investigation… well it’s jolly tempting to think that you might have your man. A connected spate of lazy policing happened recently. Having [...]
Anyone who studied a little genetics in high school has heard of adenine, thymine, guanine and cytosine – the A,T,G and C that make up the DNA code. But those are not the whole story. The rise of epigenetics in the past decade has drawn attention to a fifth nucleotide, [...]. And now there’s a [...]
The good news for Britain’s energy supply is that the sheer scale of the recession has cut our electricity demand and carbon emissions. An impending energy security crunch has been postponed.The bad news is that the recession will almost certainly delay investment in Britain’s energy infrastructure and encourage complacency. [...] For the past two decades [...]
Economics has a great deal to answer for. A short while ago some people tried to work out what should be done with the economy. They wanted to formalise it and build in growth and progress as a goal. All very noble and worthwhile, and really very effective when you look at where we are [...]
