Academic Research – The Green Guide

Rhinoceros are threatened so severly by an illegal trade in their horns that tourists are advised not share the locations they spotted the animals in, so poachers cannot easily locate them. Credit: Christoph Fink

Putting a conservation finger on the internet’s pulse

Editor 12th November 201915 Views 4 min read

Social media is a rich vein of data for researchers to discover important trends in human environmental behaviour. But analysing this staggering quantity of data is a major challenge — until now

Pink coloured water during the salt evaporation process in salt field of Fuencaliente, La Palma, Canary Islands. The pink color is caused by a halophilic bacteria (single cell life form) which thrives in water with a high salinity (September 2018).

Bacteria may contribute more to climate change as our planet heats up

Editor 12th November 201920th November 20199 Views 4 min read

By releasing more carbon as global temperatures rise, bacteria and related organisms called archaea could increase climate warming at a faster rate than current models suggest. T

An illustration of the Mersey tidal barrage concept

New designs show tidal barriers can provide more benefits than just clean energy

Editor 24th September 20199th December 201916 Views 3 min read

An ambitious new Mersey barrage concept shows how tidal energy projects can offer many benefits to society in addition to clean renewable energy.

Macroalgae like this seaweed sequester carbon and can sink to deep depths of the ocean.

Seaweed sinks deep, taking carbon with it

Editor 22nd September 201923rd September 201932 Views 2 min read

Seaweed may be a quiet achiever when it comes to mitigation of greenhouse gases, with it now shown to travel far and deep beyond coastal areas and thus to play a key role in sequestering carbon from the atmosphere.

The type of vegetation and land use plays an important role in water retention and runoff in the landscape. Photo © Lukas Kleine, IGB

‘Planting water’ is possible – to protect against droughts and floods

Editor 11th September 201914th September 201931 Views 2 min read

As the water regime of a landscape shifts more and more between the extremes of drought or flooding, the type of vegetation and land use plays an important role in water retention and runoff.

How did elephants evolve such a large brain? Climate change is part of the answer

Editor 4th September 201920th September 201912 Views 5 min read

Elephants have long captivated our attention, partly because of their sheer size and majesty. But we’re also struck by their complex behaviour. In some ways, we’re fascinated because this behaviour echoes our most humane feelings. For instance, elephants have repeatedly been observed using tools and grieving their dead.

Women harvesting tea by hand in plantations in Nandi Hills, in the Western Kenya highlands. Adopting more sustainable farming practices in India, such as by reducing irrigation, might actually adversely affect levels of rainfall in East Africa. By Jen Watson/Shutterstock

Increasing danger of ‘unexpected implications’ as climate risks converge

Editor 26th July 201920th September 20199 Views 4 min read

If India’s water-short farmers were to adopt more efficient methods of irrigation, cutting evaporation from their fields, farmers in East Africa might see less rainfall – and worsening drought – within five years, scientists have warned.

The Universal Memory device could replace the $100bn market for Dynamic Random Access Memory (DRAM), which is the ‘working memory’ of computers. Photo by Adi Goldstein on Unsplash

New computer memory uses quantum mechanics to massively reduce energy use

Editor 24th June 201918th September 201951 Views 2 min read

A new type of computer memory which could solve the digital technology energy crisis has been invented and patented by Lancaster scientists. The electronic memory device promises to transform daily life with its ultra-low energy consumption.

World’s first research hub to create living buildings launches

Editor 24th June 201918th September 201917 Views 2 min read

Experts from Newcastle and Northumbria Universities are to develop new technologies to revolutionise how buildings are constructed and how they operate. The new hub will include The OME, an experimental biological house, which will be built on Newcastle University’s campus. A living lab, the OME will be used as an experimental facility to test and showcase the hub’s ground-breaking research.

Chimney stack: a resin developed by a team at Swansea University could help improve carbon capture materials. Credit Veeterzy.

Could a simple glue be the solution to carbon capture at power stations?

Editor 24th June 201918th September 201916 Views 4 min read

Is glue the answer to climate change? Researchers at the Energy Safety Research Institute (ESRI) at Swansea University have proven that it could certainly help. They have developed a new material capable of capturing the greenhouse gas carbon dioxide (CO2) with the key ingredient being a common epoxy resin you probably have at home.