( a student of mine when i was a professor ) who has spent numerous years with boots on the ground working for nasa in antarctica, not sitting at a computer in an ivory tower in pennsylvania or washington state this is meant as a slur against academics of course, but is particularly ironic, since the authors of the paper have collectively spent over 8 seasons on the ice in antarctica, 6 seasons in greenland and one on baffin island in support of multiple ice coring and climate measurement projects. hays ’ one or two summers there, his personal anecdotes and misreadings of the temperature record, don ’ t really cut it. neither do rather lame attempts to link these results with the evils of “ computer modelling ”. according to booker ( for it is he! ) because a data analysis uses a computer, it must be a computer model – and probably the same one that the “ hockey stick ” was based on. bad computer, bad! the proprietor of the recently named “ best science blog ”, also had a couple of choice comments : in my opinion, this press release and subsequent media interviews were done for media attention. this remarkable conclusion is followed by some conspiratorial gossip implying that a paper that was submitted over a year ago was deliberately timed to coincide with a speech in congress from al gore that was announced last week. gosh these scientists are good. all in all, the critical commentary about this paper has been remarkably weak. time will tell of course – confirming studies from ice cores and independent analyses are already published, with more rumoured to be on their way. in the meantime, floating ice shelves in the region continue to collapse ( the wilkins will be the tenth in the last decade or so ) – each of them with their own unique volcano no doubt – and gravity measurements continue to show net ice loss over the western part of the ice sheet. nonetheless, the loss of the antarctic cooling meme is clearly bothering the contrarians much more than the loss of 10, 000 year old ice. the poor level of their response is not surprising, but it does exemplify the tactics of the whole ‘ bury ones head in the sand ” movement – they ’ d much rather make noise than actually work out what is happening. it would be nice if this demonstration of intellectual bankruptcy got some media attention itself. that ’ s unlikely though. it ’ s just not news.


theme : businesses are under increasing pressure from customers and governments to reduce their environmental impact. this ari examines the challenges and benefits of adopting an environmental plan. summary : the threat of climate change creates a responsibility on governments, organisations and citizens alike to play their part in reducing the impact of human activities on the environment. businesses that adopt an environmental plan can help their customers, increase their profitability, reduce the consumption of energy and materials ( and hence costs ), and enhance their reputations. in the wake of numerous political and policy initiatives on climate change, it is clear that businesses must increasingly respond by adopting environmental plans. this challenge can be seen as an opportunity or a burden. businesses that respond effectively and fully can expect to enhance their reputation with clients, employees, policy makers, opinion formers and the public. organisations that fail to respond to the growing expectations of society will fall behind those who recognise that all parties – government, business and consumers – are ‘ in it together ’. they will simply have to try to catch up later. however, the experience of eurostar suggests that, to be successful, businesses must recognise that the development and implementation of an environment plan requires top - level leadership and commitment, time and resources, employee engagement and ( most likely ) new skills. experts in this new field of business activity are few and difficult to recruit ; they may have to be ‘ homegrown ’. the media and public scepticism that surrounds the ‘ green ’ plans of many businesses means that an absolute commitment to honesty, rigour and transparency in all corporate and marketing communications is also required. it should also be recognised that many businesses find it difficult to estimate the monetary value of an environmental plan before embarking upon one. there may be little or no data on possible savings. in a review of sustainability developments, the sam group found that ‘ companies care about their brands and invest heavily into brand management, but few report that they are actually able to quantify the values of their brands and the returns on their brand investments ’ ( sam group, 2006 ). an environmental plan is thus a substantial commitment, but can be commercially difficult - to - quantify at the outset. in 2005 some of eurostar ’ s largest corporate clients began requesting data on the carbon dioxide ( co2 ) emissions generated as a result of business travel by eurostar ( brown, 2008 ). they were influenced by a growing range of political, legislative and other factors, broadly stemming from initiatives such as the us global reporting initiative and the uk ’ s carbon disclosure project, both


a result of business travel by eurostar ( brown, 2008 ). they were influenced by a growing range of political, legislative and other factors, broadly stemming from initiatives such as the us global reporting initiative and the uk ’ s carbon disclosure project, both launched in 2000. they wanted to collate and publish their emissions as part of corporate responsibility reporting, or had to do so if members of the ftse4good index series. eurostar already offered other commercial advantages over flying – shorter check - in times, faster journeys, better punctuality : > 90 % ‘ on time ’ compared with < 70 % for the airlines ( eurostar, press release, 13 / i / 2009 ), more convenient city centre - to - city centre travel, and more productive on - board working environments. but it was unable to provide any emissions data. conscious that it would be foolish to ignore pressure from corporate clients, and aware that governments were struggling to produce environmental policies, it realised there was a void that business could fill. it commissioned a detailed study to verify the emissions generated per passenger journey on each of its end - to - end routes. map 1. eurostar ’ s core routes the study would use all available specific data on energy generation and consumption, and actual passenger load factors for both eurostar and the airlines. it would have to be as detailed, robust and transparent as possible, in order to withstand any challenges from competitors, the media, environmental groups and / or other potential sceptics. it would also be critical to maintain the confidence of corporate clients and leisure travellers that the findings were reliable, and were produced by an author whose credentials could not be challenged. desk research indicated a preferred supplier who met the requirements. the consortium of paul watkiss associates ( watkiss ) and aea technology environment ( aea ) had previously worked for the european commission and uk government, and would be able to provide an independent assessment of eurostar ’ s environmental performance. the study team assembled detailed data on : the electricity supplied to the rail infrastructure in each territory ; power station emissions and transmission and distribution losses ; actual load factors for eurostar and the airlines ; energy consumption by the trains ; and specific emissions for the various types of aircraft and aircraft engines being used on the competing routes. they then began the task of calculating co2 emissions per passenger journey for eurostar and its competitors. eurostar published the results of the study in october ( watkiss, 2006 ). the key message was that a flight between london and paris or london and


began the task of calculating co2 emissions per passenger journey for eurostar and its competitors. eurostar published the results of the study in october ( watkiss, 2006 ). the key message was that a flight between london and paris or london and brussels generated 10 times more co2 emissions than an equivalent journey by eurostar. a passenger on a return flight between london heathrow and paris charles de gaulle would generate 122kg of co2, compared with just 11kg for the equivalent return journey by high - speed train. similarly, a round trip flight between london heathrow and brussels would generate 160kg of co2 per passenger, compared with 18kg of co2 for a return journey by eurostar ( eurostar, press release, 2 / x / 2006 ). updated research ( watkiss, 2009 ), using metered energy data from eurostar trains, showed return journey comparisons of 6. 6kg vs 107. 8kg for eurostar vs heathrow - paris by air ; and 8. 2kg vs 140. 6kg for eurostar vs heathrow – brussels by air ( eurostar, 2009 ). the study also pointed out that electrically - powered high - speed rail travel was ‘ future proofed ’ in that it would generate even less co2 per passenger journey in future as a result of more efficient trains, and eu directives to increase the amount of lower carbon, renewable energy generation. the simplicity of eurostar ’ s communication – ‘ ten times less co2 than flying ’ – ensured that the message quickly became established among and reported by transport, travel and specialist media. a powerful new communication and marketing storyline had been developed, adding ‘ environment ’ to eurostar ’ s repertoire of messages and creating further advantage over its competitors. at the same time, it was recognised that customers wanted the promise of future action : eurostar would have to develop an environmental action plan to further reduce its environmental impacts. developing an environmental plan in eurostar ’ s case, the development of its environmental plan, known as tread lightly, was based on an internal assessment of what the business could achieve, with sufficient commitment, within five years ( ie, by 2012 ). rather than select an external template for the plan, which in any case were in short supply in early 2006, eurostar preferred to assess what was practical and relevant to its own organisation. the three principles underlying the plan were to : - reduce usage wherever possible. - source supplies responsibly. - re - use or recy


supply in early 2006, eurostar preferred to assess what was practical and relevant to its own organisation. the three principles underlying the plan were to : - reduce usage wherever possible. - source supplies responsibly. - re - use or recycle what is used or produced. given that the large majority of eurostar ’ s environmental impact arises as a result of its train operations, it was decided that the first objective should be a reduction in co2 emissions per passenger journey. as well as being the most beneficial thing that could be done for the environment, it would also further increase eurostar ’ s communicable advantage over its competitors. this could primarily be achieved by a combination of ensuring increased passenger numbers per train, encouraging, training and providing the tools for eurostar drivers to adopt a more energy efficient driving style, and encouraging the rail infrastructure providers – network rail in the uk, rff in france, infrabel in belgium and eurotunnel – to seek lower carbon supplies of traction electricity wherever possible ( eurostar, like other train operators, does not have direct contracts with the suppliers of electricity on its routes ). after assessing eurostar ’ s degree of control over the various levers for change, it was decided that a 25 % reduction in co2 emissions per passenger journey by 2012, against a baseline of 2007, would be a tough but achievable target, based on changing driver behaviour, changing train components such as lighting and heating and in terms of the likely market conditions for passenger demand and electricity supply. it is worth noting, in terms of reducing emissions per passenger, that eurostar ’ s trains are of fixed length and cannot be reduced or extended depending on passenger loadings, unlike airlines which can deploy different sizes of aircraft depending on passenger demand. one of the most important, and arduous, tasks of launching an environmental plan is establishing the baselines from which progress can be measured. without this process, no plan can be considered credible. it was to take the team more than a year to visit eurostar ’ s sites, seeking electricity, gas and water meters, gathering data, establishing procurement patterns and measuring consumption. data is often hard to come by : shared offices rarely have individual meters for each tenant ; and in the case of eurostar ’ s new maintenance depot, big enough to contain eight 400m - long trains under one roof, there was no dedicated electricity meter from the neighbouring rail infrastructure. similarly, at the gare du nord in paris, which eurostar shares with sncf


s new maintenance depot, big enough to contain eight 400m - long trains under one roof, there was no dedicated electricity meter from the neighbouring rail infrastructure. similarly, at the gare du nord in paris, which eurostar shares with sncf domestic services, there was no disaggregation of the station ’ s electricity consumption for eurostar specifically. alongside its co2 target, eurostar assembled a 10 - point plan ( eurostar, 2007 ) designed to tackle all its other major environmental impacts. these were to : - separate, sort and recycle all on - board waste, including food waste. - replace train air - conditioning refrigerants with the less environmentally damaging chemicals by 2008, seven years before the 2015 deadline set by eu regulation 2037 / 2000 on ozone depleting substances. - help travellers reduce co2 emissions when accessing eurostar services by providing journey planner information and ticket sales for public transport options, and developing new travel initiatives and partnerships. - sort and recycle waste from all eurostar buildings, with the goal of zero disposal to landfill, and with 80 % of waste recycled by 2009. - ensure that lighting, heating and mechanical plant at stations, depots and offices are as energy efficient as possible, develop a ‘ switch - off ’ culture, and procure electricity from greener sources of energy. - re - use water from train - washing at eurostar ’ s train maintenance depot in the uk, and invest in rainwater collection to further reduce consumption ( eurostar does not control the sncf and sncb depots that it uses in france and belgium ). - reduce paper usage by switching to e - tickets and bar code ticketing downloaded to mobile phones, undertake direct marketing via email and web - based information, and where paper use is unavoidable, source from sustainable forests or recycled paper, and recycling all used paper. - ensure on - board disposable items ( eg, cups, plates, napkins ) are either biodegradable ( made from maize extract ) or fully recyclable. - refurbish or ‘ de - brand ’ and recycle used staff uniforms. - source on - train food locally in the uk, france or belgium wherever possible, including organic suppliers, or fairtrade for overseas supplies. eurostar decided not to focus its efforts on a more formalised environmental management system ( ems ). it was felt that this could delay the important task of making actual progress in tackling environmental impacts


organic suppliers, or fairtrade for overseas supplies. eurostar decided not to focus its efforts on a more formalised environmental management system ( ems ). it was felt that this could delay the important task of making actual progress in tackling environmental impacts and embedding change within the business. it could also have been a burdensome bureaucratic process for a medium - sized business, and it also felt that the rigorous and transparent approach that eurostar adopted would in itself be sufficient to reassure clients, journalists and other parties of the rigour of the plan. the development of an ems based on iso 14001 for the premises over which eurostar has full control – ie, its uk offices – was put in progress during 2009. by this time it was felt that a formal system would have a number of benefits, adding value to the efforts now underway, further clarifying accountabilities and measurements, responding to the growing enquiries from corporate clients and reducing the risk, from a reputational point of view, of being found to be non - compliant. eurostar is hoping to achieve certification by the end of 2010. some of eurostar ’ s airline competitors already offered travellers the opportunity to offset the carbon emissions from their journeys. the money is used to buy credits in carbon - reducing schemes, most often in the developing world, that would otherwise not have gone ahead without the additional funding. british airways was one of the first uk airlines to introduce such a facility in 2005, but failed to market it properly ( house of commons environmental audit committee, 2007 ). more widely, studies have shown that few airline passengers understand or take up airlines ’ offsetting options ( hooper et al., 2008 ). eurostar decided it should be the responsibility of the travel provider, not the traveller, to offset journey emissions. it would become the first train operator in the world to make all journeys carbon neutral, at no extra cost to passengers. eurostar believed that the relatively small additional expenditure involved in purchasing carbon offsets, would be far outweighed commercial gain from the communication of carbon neutral journeys. it was thus necessary to establish a rigorous carbon offsetting programme. emissions to be taken into account included : - electricity consumed along each route from station to station – based on readings from an on - board meter –. - electricity consumed for auxiliary functions, ie, heating and lighting. - transmission and distribution losses of electricity supplied to the routes. - leakage of greenhouse gases from air - conditioning and refrigeration units on board. eurostar hoped initially that


. - electricity consumed for auxiliary functions, ie, heating and lighting. - transmission and distribution losses of electricity supplied to the routes. - leakage of greenhouse gases from air - conditioning and refrigeration units on board. eurostar hoped initially that it might be possible to find offsetting projects in its core cities, but it quickly became apparent that the necessary additionality requirements could only be met through credible schemes in the developing world. given the controversy surrounding carbon offsetting ( wwf et al, 2006 ), it was also decided that eurostar ’ s approach should be as rigorous as possible, and assured by a credible third party. requests for information were sent to every carbon offset credit supplier in the uk, france and belgium – a total of 17 organisations –. after due diligence, carbon clear – a uk - based company – was selected because of its robust and positive approach, and alignment with eurostar ’ s own aims. it was agreed that all projects should be accredited either through the clean development mechanism ( cdm ), voluntary carbon standard ( vcs ) or voluntary gold standard ( vgs ) criteria. eurostar aimed to target small - scale projects delivering energy that was either renewable or that used sustainable supplies of fuel combined with energy efficiency, and that had wider social and economic benefits. the credits would need proved additionality ( in other words, the projects would not have gone ahead without money from selling carbon - offset credits ), robust methodology and third - party verification. the credits used would also be for projects that were already delivered ; eurostar would not use future credits to offset past emissions. the credits are verified and issued by governing bodies, and eurostar ’ s were further audited by a third party, bureau veritas, to gain assurance on the carbon - neutral status that was then communicated via eurostar ’ s website and tread lightly annual report. this assurance work audited both the data and the processes that were adopted by eurostar to provide carbon - neutral journeys, thus providing maximum rigour and transparency and minimising the opportunity for sceptics to attack eurostar. indeed, companies needed to be vigilant for attacks. complaints to the uk ’ s advertising standards authority about green marketing more than quadrupled in 2007 compared with the previous year ( asa, 2007 ). in 2008, four complaints against eurostar disputed its claim to offer ‘ carbon neutral journeys ’ ( asa, 2008 ). the rigour of eurostar ’ s approach led the asa, in a benchmark ruling, to dismiss the complaint


2007 ). in 2008, four complaints against eurostar disputed its claim to offer ‘ carbon neutral journeys ’ ( asa, 2008 ). the rigour of eurostar ’ s approach led the asa, in a benchmark ruling, to dismiss the complaint, saying ‘ eurostar had done all it could to offset the carbon emissions generated by its train journeys in a robust and verifiable manner ’ ( asa, 2008 ). other high - profile companies including british gas, shell, lexus and ryanair all faced adverse publicity as a result of complaints against them that were upheld. the final communications need was to seek the endorsement of independent third parties, to add credibility to the plan. eurostar approached the environmental campaign group friends of the earth ( foe ), which covers england and wales, and which was already supporting the use of train over plane for cross - channel journeys, to see if it would be interested in supporting eurostar ’ s plan. this would be an unusual move for foe, which had only entered one previous partnership with a commercial business, the co - operative, a long - established ethical bank. foe is in principle opposed to offsetting but it was sufficiently reassured by eurostar ’ s approach to the subject, as well as strongly supportive of the far less environmentally - damaging alternative to air travel that high - speed rail offered, that it agreed to support the plan. the partnership led to eurostar supporting foe ’ s ‘ the big ask ’ campaign for an ambitious climate change act for the uk ( www. foe. co. uk ). the partnership meant foe could gain inside experience of a business seeking to implement an environmental plan, whilst eurostar subjected itself to the pressure of a ‘ critical friend ’. in france and in belgium, it was decided not to seek endorsement from environmental non - governmental organisations ( ngos ). in these countries, ngos tend towards a politically - aligned stance which meant eurostar considered them less suitable as possible partners. in the uk, eurostar secured further public endorsement from marks & spencer, a leading retailer which had just launched its own well - received environmental ‘ plan a ’ ( www. marksandspencer. com ). the support of two further uk environmental groups – forum for the future and transport 2000 – meant that when tread lightly was launched, eurostar would be flanked by a broad array of third parties. internal and external communication of the tread lightly plan for a consumer - facing business, a first principle of any communications campaign is a consistent and coordinated approach to both external and internal communications. it is


high - profile launch in april 2007 of ‘ we ’ re in this together ’ ( www. planetark. org ) – a group of major uk consumer businesses backed by the prime minister, tony blair –. as a relatively small consumer brand, eurostar was concerned that its messages would be buried under those of much bigger companies and it decided it was better off following its own communications strategy. although it was recognised that the launch of yet another corporate environment plan was likely to be of limited immediate interest to journalists, this was not of major concern. eurostar held the view that the development of a solid environmental reputation would and should take time and substantive progress, not just ‘ green claims ’ ( or ‘ greenwash ’ ). on 17 april 2007 eurostar unveiled tread lightly ( eurostar, 2007 ). it announced that carbon - neutral journeys would begin on 14 november 2007, the same day as the launch of services from its new london terminal at st pancras international, following an overnight relocation from waterloo. a special ‘ green train ’ carrying invited 450 guests with strong economic credentials would be the first service to depart, adding further communications weight to eurostar ’ s biggest change since operations began in 1994. eurostar ’ s first tread lightly report was published in april 2009 ( eurostar, 2009 ). it revealed that eurostar had achieved a 31 % reduction in co2 emissions per passenger journey, beating its target of 25 %, thanks mainly to a switch by eurotunnel to lower - carbon electricity from france and higher passenger - load factors. the global recession led eurostar to warn that emissions per journey were likely to increase in 2009 ; nevertheless, the target was raised to a 35 % reduction per journey by 2012. eurostar also communicated progress against the targets of its 10 - point plan, seeking to be transparent about both what had gone well, and less well. for instance, eurostar claimed to have made good progress on enabling travellers to reduce their co2 emissions when making journeys that connect with eurostar services. but progress with recycling the waste from on board its trains had proved slower than expected. it is widely recognised that corporate environmental reports are unlikely in themselves to achieve major press coverage. whilst eurostar deliberately made its report just six pages long in order to appeal directly to customers and the media – in stark contrast to many lengthy corporate responsibility reports –, the primary role of the report should be to act as a foundation for future media and stakeholder communications. communication via the internet is now a vital tool for reputation enhancement. eurostar ’ s


– in stark contrast to many lengthy corporate responsibility reports –, the primary role of the report should be to act as a foundation for future media and stakeholder communications. communication via the internet is now a vital tool for reputation enhancement. eurostar ’ s report was also made available direct to travelling passengers in the days after publication. the website has a link from its front page to its environmental section, where there is detailed information on the tread lightly plan and what has been achieved ( www. eurostar. com ). the site also links to a third - party assurance statement from bureau veritas. many organisations make environmental claims on their websites ; what differentiates the best is the transparency and third - party verification that lies behind the reported progress. unfortunately, too many businesses say they are environmentally responsible but fail to provide any evidence that they are measuring the progress they claim to be making. benefits, challenges and future of the tread lightly initiative in implementing a corporate environmental plan, it is important to be clear about the purpose. the primary objective of tread lightly was reputational, given that the short - term commercial benefits were hard to quantify. three years later, the plan has enhanced brand reputation among consumers, the media, stakeholders and staff alike. it has created greater competitive advantage over the rival airlines, positioned eurostar as a world leader on environment in the rail sector, and strengthened high - speed rail travel as the ‘ natural choice ’ for cross - channel journeys. and by becoming the first train operator in the world to make all journeys carbon neutral, it has a claim that no competitor can seize. from a level of very limited environmental activity before 2006, eurostar rose to become recognised as a leading company ( and transport - sector leader ) in all three countries of operations. in both may 2008 and may 2009 it was rated among the top 50 green companies in an independent study for the uk ’ s biggest selling quality newspaper ( the sunday times, 2008 & 2009 ). in addition, eurostar and / or high - speed rail travel have become frequently recommended in the british press as the environmentally - preferred alternative for short - haul travel between the uk and continental europe, both for business trips to paris and brussels, and for longer leisure journeys to destinations across belgium, france, germany, the netherlands and beyond ( millward, 2010 ). internally, there is now a high level of awareness of tread lightly among eurostar staff. in employee surveys conducted by the sunday times in 2008 and 2009, the score for ‘ i receive regular communication on environmental issues from my employer


has proved to be a successful way of building an environmental reputation at low cost and in a small number of years. it has created a foundation for eurostar ’ s future marketing and media communications that should further enhance the brand ’ s reputation. what is surprising is the number of organisations who are missing the opportunity to develop their own environmental reputation, and who continue to run a serious risk of losing out to competitors that will surely, sooner or later, recognise that taking environmental action represents a long - term competitive advantage. conclusions : this paper has set out how eurostar conceived, developed and has implemented its environmental plan tread lightly ( known as voyage vert in france and belgium ), and the challenges and benefits that it has brought to the business. the plan has involved a number of commitments, challenges and upfront costs including : - recruiting a new, dedicated team with appropriate expertise. - ensuring full commitment of the ceo and management group, and engagement and motivation of staff. - measuring ( or ‘ benchmarking ’ ) energy and materials use in order to establish starting points for the subsequent measurement of progress. - dealing with the lack of direct control over some facilities used by eurostar ( stations, depots and offices in france and belgium, and electricity supplied to the infrastructure ). - identifying and purchasing high - quality credits in co2 offsetting projects in the developing world. however, the plan has been successful in a number of ways, including : - tackling and reducing environmental impacts, including co2 emissions, use of materials, waste, etc. - significantly enhancing the reputation of eurostar as a business that is a pioneer in the responding to climate change. - raising awareness of high - speed rail travel as a less environmentally damaging alternative to air travel for short - haul journeys within europe. - improving procurement, reducing costs and increasing sales, such that the plan has been more than justified by the return on investment ( roi ). - creating a new culture of environmental awareness and staff engagement within eurostar. it is clear that stakeholders, clients and customers alike now expect businesses to play their part in tackling climate change. it is hoped that other companies will benefit and draw confidence from eurostar ’ s experience in developing and implementing an environmental plan, and create their own in order both to demonstrate responsibility, and achieve reputational and commercial advantage. director of corporate communications, eurostar, 2006 - 2009 advertising standards authority ( 2008 ), ‘ asa adjudication on eurostar group ltd ’, 4 / vi / 2008, www. asa. org. uk /


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flights generate ten times more carbon dioxide emissions than eurostar ’, press release, 2 / x / 2006, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / press _ release / press _ archive _ 2006 / 02 _ 10 _ 06 _ environment. jsp. eurostar ( 2007, revised 2009 ), ‘ 10 commitments ’, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / environment / commitments. jsp. eurostar ( 2007, revised 2009 ), ‘ tread lightly ’, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / environment / tread _ lightly. jsp. eurostar ( 2010 ), ‘ eurostar releases annual figure for 2009 ’, press release, 20 / i / 2010, http : / / www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / press _ release / eurostar _ annual _ figures _ 2009. jsp. friends of the earth ( 2005 ), ‘ the big ask ’, www. foe. co. uk / campaigns / climate / news / big _ ask _ history _ 15798. html. hooper, p., b. daley, h. preston & c. thomas ( 2008 ), ‘ an assessment of the potential of carbon offset schemes to mitigate the climate change implications of future growth of uk aviation ’, manchester metropolitan university, www. omega. mmu. ac. uk / downloads / final - reports / 5 % 20final % 20report % 20potential % 20carbon % 20offsetting % 20to % 20mitigate % 20climate % 20change % 20 % 20implications. pdf. hughes, m. ( 2008 ), ‘ an open passenger market beckons ’, railway gazette, 19 / ii / 2008, www. railwaygazette. com / news / single - view / view / 10 / an - open - passenger - market - beckons / browse / 5. html. marks & spencer ( 2007 ), ‘ plan a ’, january, http : / / plana. marksandspencer. com / about. millward, d. ( 2010 ), ‘ madrid, cologne, frankfurt and amsterdam set to be a train trip away ’, the daily telegraph, 21 / i / 2010, www. telegraph. co. uk / travel / travelnews / 7036907 / madrid - cologne - frankfurt - and


cologne, frankfurt and amsterdam set to be a train trip away ’, the daily telegraph, 21 / i / 2010, www. telegraph. co. uk / travel / travelnews / 7036907 / madrid - cologne - frankfurt - and - amsterdam - set - to - be - a - train - trip - away. html. official journal of the european union ( 2007 ), ‘ directive 2007 / 58 / ec of the european parliament and of the council ’. 23 / viii / 2007, http : / / eur - lex. europa. eu / lexuriserv / lexuriserv. do? uri = oj : l : 2007 : 315 : 0044 : 0050 : en : pdf. reuters ( 2007 ), ‘ uk companies unite to help fight climate change ’, 24 / iv / 2007, www. planetark. org / dailynewsstory. cfm / newsid / 41536 / story. htm. sam group ( 2006 ), ‘ results of the djsi review 2006 ’, press release, 6 / ix / 2006, http : / / www. sustainability - index. com / 07 _ htmle / news / pressreleases. html. the gold standard foundation ( no date ), ‘ how we got started ’, www. cdmgoldstandard. org / about - gold - standard. 62. 0. html. the sunday times ( 2008 & 2009 ), ‘ best green companies ’, www. business. timesonline. co. uk / tol / business / related _ reports / best _ green _ companies /. vcs association ( 2008 ), ‘ about the vcs ’, www. v - c - s. org / about. html. watkiss, p. ( 2006 ), ‘ a comparison of the co2 emissions from eurostar vs. short haul air ’, eurostar, unpublished, executive summary available from eurostar. emissions comparison table, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / travel _ information / before _ you _ go / green _ eurostar. jsp. watkiss, p. ( 2009 ), ‘ update of eurostar co2 emissions using energy logging train data ’, eurostar, february, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / environment / greener _ than _ flying. jsp. wwf ( no date ), ‘ gold standard ’, www. panda. org / what _


, www. eurostar. com / uk / uk / leisure / about _ eurostar / environment / greener _ than _ flying. jsp. wwf ( no date ), ‘ gold standard ’, www. panda. org / what _ we _ do / how _ we _ work / businesses / climate / offsetting / gold _ standard /. wwf - uk, friends of the earth, greenpeace ( 2006 ), ‘ joint statement on offsetting carbon emissions, august, http : / / www. wwf. org. uk / filelibrary / pdf / august06. pdf. eurostar is the operator of high - speed rail passenger services between the city centres of london, paris and brussels via the channel tunnel ( www. eurostar. com ). in 2009 it carried some 9. 2 million passengers and now has a market share on both the london - paris and london - brussels routes of more than 80 % ( railway gazette, 30 october 2009 ). eurostar operates a fleet of 27 inter - capital class 373 high - speed trains, with a maximum running speed of 300 km / hour ( 186 miles / hour ). although related to the tgv family of trains, the class 373s are complex and have four different power systems and four different signalling systems so they can run on the different infrastructures of each of the three countries of operation – belgium, france and the united kingdom - and in the channel tunnel. the structure of the eurostar business is unusual. it is an unincorporated joint venture of sncf ( french railways ), eurostar uk ltd - owned by london & continental railways, in turn wholly owned by the uk ’ s department for transport - and sncb ( belgian railways ). legally each of the partners is responsible for running eurostar services on its own territory, although the strategic and commercial direction of the company is set and controlled by a single management team based in london. with the advent of open access for international rail passenger services in the european union from january 2010 ( railway gazette, 19 february 2008 ), ( directive 2007 / 58 / ec of the european parliament and of the council ), the business will become a single corporate entity in the course of 2010. this move is intended to put the business on a level playing field with future competitors, expected to include deutsche bahn ( german railways ) among others ( business week, jan 2010 ). british airway ’ s projects include a wind farm in mongolia and small - scale hydro - electric power plants in brazil and


level playing field with future competitors, expected to include deutsche bahn ( german railways ) among others ( business week, jan 2010 ). british airway ’ s projects include a wind farm in mongolia and small - scale hydro - electric power plants in brazil and china. this commitment would cover all trains operating in passenger service, but exclude the small number of journeys involving empty rolling stock, and train movements to, from and in maintenance depots. carbon offsetting standards are vital as they provide assurance that the purchaser is buying a real emissions reduction. a number of standards exist, some of which were more suitable for small purchasers such as eurostar. the cdm gold standard was created to meet the requirements of the kyoto protocol for certified emissions reductions. it has a strong focus on sustainable development benefits and restrictions on technology types ( no forestry, large scale hydro or energy from waste projects ), ( www. cdmgoldstandard. org ).. the vcs was developed by the climate group, world economic forum and international emissions trading association for exclusive use on the voluntary offsetting market. it is based on the cdm framework ( www. v - c - s. org ). the vgs was launched by non - profit organisation wwf - uk in 2006 and is a simplified version of the cdm gold standard. it is only available in developing countries and focused on renewable energy and energy efficiency projects with strong sustainable development benefits ( www. panda. org ).


john h. chafee national wildlife refuge, ri fish and wildlife service located within the picturesque narrow river on the southern coast of rhode island, this refuge is comparatively small in size, but big in protecting the unique features of this area. at 317 acres, the john h. chafee national wildlife refuge provides habitat for the largest black duck population in rhode island, and is recognized under international agreements as a critically important area for this species. the scenic vistas offered by the refuge and surrounding areas is well noted and attracts people from throughout the region. originally named the pettaquamscutt cove national wildlife refuge in 1988, it was renamed the john h. chafee national wildlife refuge in 1999, in honor of the late senator who was a leading conservationist in the nation, and a strong supporter of the refuges in rhode island. this unique national wildlife refuge is administered as part of the rhode island national wildlife refuge complex which manages all five of the national wildlife refuges in rhode island, headquartered in charlestown, rhode island. the new kettle pond visitor center and headquarters located in charlestown, ri, which opened in october 2005, celebrates the john h. chafee national wildlife refuge and all of the other refuges in rhode island. this facility contains interactive exhibits, displays, a sales area, classrooms for special events, and knowledgeable people where visitors can come and explore the refuges and learn about the wildlife resources and coastal environments of each refuge. the refuge contains expansive saltmarsh habitats and adjacent uplands which teem with a variety of wildlife including great egrets, herons, and several species of plovers and other shorebirds. directions : the refuge is located in the towns of narragansett and south kingstown, washington county, rhode island. virtually all refuge lands are not readily accessible by road. taking a canoe or kayak across pettaquamscutt cove and in the lower narrow river is the easiest way to experience the refuge. exceptional viewing of the refuge can be had from the sprague bridge in narragansett on boston neck road, or on middlebridge in narragansett.


the immediate threat of eruption at mt tongariro has passed but there remains a chance of another sudden eruption within the next two weeks, gns science says. twenty - four hours after the eruption from the mountain ' s te maari crater, gns science has cancelled its national advisory. however, it says there remains a ` ` significant probability of a sudden eruption within the next week ' '. should a further eruption occur, a new national advisory or warning would be issued, gns science said. signs of volcanic activity settled overnight but experts continue to monitor the mountain for changes. thick grey smoke, gas and ash spewed 4km into the sky from te maari vent on the western side of the mountain during the unexpected eruption just before 1. 30pm yesterday. it is the same place where tongariro erupted in august, for the first time in more than a century. yesterday ' s activity prompted an aviation red alert, which has since been dropped to orange. ash in the sky above the mountain also dissipated overnight. experts planned aerial observation to check how much gas was in the atmosphere and any other changes, said gns science duty volcanologist nico fournier. scientists have predicted that another eruption of similar size could be expected at any time during the next few weeks, though the activity was not expected to escalate. ` ` at the moment there are no such signs. it doesn ' t mean as we saw yesterday or in august that an eruption could not happen ; it ' s quite possible, ' ' said dr fournier. ` ` it ' s a sign of concern for any volcanoes when they don ' t provide us with any warning. ' ' the department of conservation has closed the tongariro track, which was not expected to be reopened for at least three days. dr fournier advised anyone planning to go to mountains in the area to first check with the department of conservation for any safety updates. groups of school children and trampers were on the mountain to walk the tongariro crossing when the volcano burst into activity, sending many into shock and awe. conditions on the mountain were today largely back to what they were before the eruption, with the volcano emitting some steam and gas at the same level it was before the august activity, said dr fournier. ` ` if the roads are open it ' s pretty much deemed safe and everybody ' s in touch with us. ' ' yesterday ' s activity has also affected flights to and from taupo, rotorua or gisborne airports. ten air new zealand


queensland ’ s central highlands consist of a broad band of weathered sandstone plateaus, thickly wooded and spectacularly sculpted into sheer cliffs and pinnacles. it ’ s an extraordinarily primeval landscape, and one still visibly central to aboriginal culture, as poor pasture left the highlands relatively unscathed by european colonization. covering a huge slice of the region, the fragmented sections of carnarvon national park include carnarvon gorge and mount moffatt : carnarvon gorge has the highest concentration of aboriginal art and arguably the best scenery, while mount moffatt is harder to reach but wilder – you can ’ t drive directly between the two sections, though it ’ s possible to hike with the rangers ’ consent. carnarvon creek ’ s journey between the vertical faces of the gorge has created some magical scenery, where low cloud often blends with the cliffs, making them appear infinitely tall. before setting off between them, scale boolimba bluff from the takarakka campsite for a rare chance to see the gorge system from above ; the views from the “ roof of queensland ” make the tiring 3km track worth the effort. the superb day - walk ( 19km return from the ranger station ) into the gorge features several intriguing side - gorges. the best of these contain the moss garden, a vibrant green carpet of liverworts and ferns lapping up a spring as it seeps through the rockface, and alijon falls, which conceal the enchanting wards canyon, where a remnant group of angiopteris ferns hangs close to extinction in front of a second waterfall and gorge, complete with bats and blood - red river stones. carnarvon ’ s two major aboriginal art sites are the art gallery and cathedral cave, both on the gorge track, though if you keep your eyes open you ’ ll spot plenty more. these are queensland ’ s most documented aboriginal art sites, though the paintings themselves remain enigmatic. a rockface covered with engravings of vulvas lends a pornographic air to the art gallery, and other symbols include kangaroo, emu and human tracks. a long, wavy line here might represent the rainbow serpent, shaper of many aboriginal landscapes. overlaying the engravings are hundreds of coloured stencils, made by placing an object against the wall and spraying it with a mixture of ochre and water held in the mouth. in addition to adults ’ and children ’ s hands there are also artefacts, boomerangs and complex crosses formed by four arms, while goannas and


against the wall and spraying it with a mixture of ochre and water held in the mouth. in addition to adults ’ and children ’ s hands there are also artefacts, boomerangs and complex crosses formed by four arms, while goannas and mysterious net patterns at the near end of the wall have been painted with a stick. cathedral cave is larger, with an even greater range of designs, including seashell pendant stencils – proof that trade networks reached from here to the sea – and engravings of animal tracks and emu eggs. read more curved throwing sticks were once found throughout the world. several were discovered in tutankhamun ’ s tomb, hopi indians once used them, and a 23, 000 - year - old example made from mammoth ivory was recently found in poland. since that time the invention of the bow and arrow superseded what aborigines call a boomerang or karli, but their innovation of a stick that returns has kept the boomerang alive, not least in people ’ s imaginations – they were originally used as children ’ s toys but were then modified into decoys for hunting wildfowl. the non - returning types depicted in carnarvon gorge show how sophisticated they became as hunting weapons. usually made from tough acacia wood, some are hooked like a pick, while others are designed to cartwheel along the ground to break the legs of game. thus immobilized, one animal would be killed while another could be easily tracked to meet the same fate. besides hunting, the boomerang was also used for digging, levering or cutting, as well as for musical or ceremonial accompaniment, when pairs would be banged together. at carnarvon gorge, the long, gently curved boomerangs stencilled on the walls in pairs are not repetitions but portraits of two weapons with identical flight paths ; if the first missed through a gust of wind, for instance, the user could immediately throw the second, correcting his aim for the conditions.


rabies in south carolina rabies ( lyssavirus ) is a deadly animal virus that attacks nerves in the spinal cord and brain. the virus can be passed to a healthy animal or a person if saliva from an animal with late - stage rabies gets into a wound or cut. in south carolina, rabies is most often found in : it is also common in coyotes. rabies is almost never seen in squirrels, opossums, mice, rabbits and chipmunks. each year, from 15, 000 to 39, 000 americans are vaccinated for rabies as a precaution after being bitten by animals – mostly unvaccinated dogs. u. s. death rate low thanks to vaccines very few americans die from rabies – on average, only 1 - 2 per year since 1990. in less developed parts of the world, it ' s different. about 50, 000 people – most of them children – die from rabies annually. the u. s. death rate from rabies is low thanks to pet vaccination campaigns and highly effective human rabies vaccinations for those who come in contact with rabies. some states have also started vaccinating wild animal populations through vaccine - laced food. by keeping your pet ' s rabies vaccination up to date, you help protect yourself, your family and your neighbors. report animal bites to dhec if you ' re bitten or scratched by a wild, stray or unvaccinated animal care for the wound properly and contact your healthcare provider. the healthcare provider is required to report the incident to dhec. if your child is bitten and you do not seek medical treatment for the wound, you are required to contact your local dhec public health department to report the bite by the end of the following business day. healthcare providers and veterinarians : healthcare providers, make sure to report all animal bites to dhec. for additional information, contact : ( 803 ) 896 - 0655 fax ( 803 ) 896 - 0645


the northern lights : the true story of the man who unlocked the secrets of the aurora borealis by lucy jago. alfred a. knopf, $ 24, 297 pages. the chapel hill news april 28, 2002 honoring an overlooked scientist by phillip manning " it ' s easy to recognize pioneers, " a venture capitalist once told me, " they have arrows in their backs. " in fact, pioneers in high - tech businesses often don ' t get their due. followers routinely reap the rewards of the original inventor ' s sweat and imagination. in scientific research, though, i thought accomplishment might be rewarded more fairly. silly me ; the awarding of prizes for research is an intensely political process, and groundbreaking scientists sometimes fare no better than pioneers in business. in the " the northern lights " ( knopf, $ 24 ), lucy jago tells the sad story of kristian birkeland ( 1867 - 1917 ), the norwegian physicist who devoted his life to discovering the source of the northern lights. the lights, of course, are mysterious streamers of red and green fireworks that sometimes fill the polar skies. as a youth, birkeland learned that the earth was a magnet and that auroras are usually seen near the poles, where the lines of magnetic force are concentrated. he also learned that the lights appeared when that magnetic field was disturbed. birkeland wanted to know what disturbed it. he trained as a physicist, specializing in electricity and magnetism, and published his first scientific paper when he was 18. at age 31, he was a respected professor at the university in his hometown of oslo. a year after his appointment, birkeland was slogging up a mountain north of the arctic circle. accompanying him were four assistants and a sled full of scientific equipment pulled by reindeer. during that long, dark winter, punctuated only by spectacular auroras, birkeland worked like a frenzied man, often poring over data from his instruments for 36 hours without sleep. when spring arrived, birkeland had a good idea about the source of the northern lights. the norwegian government had financed the expedition, but birkeland was a inept accountant, losing receipts and generally making an administrative mess. as a consequence, norway was reluctant to fund further research. birkeland ( like most scientists ) hated chasing grants, so he decided to circumvent the need for them. he decided to get rich. at a dinner party, he met sam eyde, an engineer with political skills,


research. birkeland ( like most scientists ) hated chasing grants, so he decided to circumvent the need for them. he decided to get rich. at a dinner party, he met sam eyde, an engineer with political skills, big ambitions, and a streak of vindictive deceitfulness that would torpedo birkeland ' s chances to be recognized for his achievements. eyde had bought several waterfalls in norway to furnish cheap power to make fertilizer. the concept was simple : build an electric - arc furnace that would combine the nitrogen and oxygen in air to produce nitrogen dioxide, which would then be dissolved in water and passed over limestone to make calcium nitrate, a common fertilizer. all eyde needed was a partner who could make the furnace, and because birkeland had that expertise, they joined forces. working night and day for almost six months, birkeland designed and built the furnace, using his knowledge of electromagnets to create a fiery, circular spark so powerful that would oxidize nitrogen. when the prototype furnace finally performed properly, the exhausted birkeland shouted to his assistant, " good! now we are getting rich. " he was right. the process for making fertilizer led to a large, profitable company. soon, birkeland and eyde were both rich. furthermore, the nobel committee wanted to nominate birkeland for the prize in chemistry. eyde, however, was jealous and used his political contacts to sabotage the nomination. the long hours and intense work had taken its toll on birkeland. he began taking veronal, a common but addictive sedative, for his insomnia and depression, which he washed down with rivers of whiskey. finally, though, he had the money to pursue his dream of finding the source of the northern lights. from his work in the arctic and with a lab now equipped with sophisticated equipment, birkeland was able to pinpoint the source of the magnetic disruptions that produced the polar fireworks. the northern lights, he concluded, were caused by charged particles emitted by the sun, usually associated with sunspots and solar flares. however, birkeland ' s papers on the subject were ignored ; most scientists believed that space was empty. the idea of a " solar wind " seemed farfetched. the lack of recognition further depressed birkeland. he increased his doses of veronal and whiskey, and his health continued to deteriorate. he became paranoid, took even more veronal


one geoengineering proposal involves painting buildings white on a massive scale, to reflect sunlight [ london ] decisions on whether and how to use massive technical solutions known as ' geoengineering ' to mitigate or reverse climate change must involve developing countries, a session on geoengineering governance at the planet under pressure conference agreed yesterday ( 28 march ). geoengineering proposals have included reflecting sunlight away from the earth by spraying ocean water into clouds or loading the stratosphere with sulphate aerosols, bioengineering crops to be paler and more reflective of sunlight, managing solar radiation and removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. although geoengineering research groups are emerging in africa, china and india, the controversial discipline is dominated by a small number of organisations in north america and europe, the meeting heard. " it ' s very important that people with knowledge and understanding of science and the climate change challenges faced by developing countries are involved in setting the agenda for research, " jason blackstock, a visiting geoengineering expert at the institute for science, innovation and society at the university of oxford, united kingdom, told scidev. net. the issues faced by vulnerable populations " should be front and centre in the conversation about the technologies and the governance structures that are going to evolve, " he said. andy parker, a senior policy officer at the royal society of london, the uk ' s science academy, which issued a report on research governance for managing solar radiation in december, said the effects of deploying such technology " will not be localised " and that there are many unknowns. for example, he said, scientists do not know how geoengineering could impact rainfall patterns around the world. and while the royal society ' s report did not make specific governance recommendations — " it is too early " for these, parker said — it did highlight the need for open and inclusive dialogue. parker added that meetings held over the past year in china, india and pakistan had registered a " general and healthy scepticism " in geoengineering, and had not regarded geoengineering as a useful or quick technical fix. he said these meetings had also been characterised by a " genuine desire to cooperate " on research and governance and a wide appreciation of open discussions on geoengineering, rather than " being told what to think " by the developed world. the royal society is now funding a geoengineering meeting in africa, in association with the african academy of sciences and twas, the academy of sciences


geoengineering, rather than " being told what to think " by the developed world. the royal society is now funding a geoengineering meeting in africa, in association with the african academy of sciences and twas, the academy of sciences for the developing world. it is expected to be held later this year in ethiopia. kathy jo wetter is a researcher at the action group on erosion, technology and concentration ( etc ), a non - governmental organisation based in canada which has held workshops on new technologies in ethiopia, south africa and uganda. she told scidev. net : " the technology that people in our workshops were most interested in was geoengineering, because they say, ' we never hear about this... we don ' t want our first experience of this to be when it ' s there at our doorstep '. " although there are mechanisms in place that govern how people use technologies, blackstock said, there are no international research frameworks in place to assess early stage technologies and the best way to develop them. he suggested that the international council for science ( icsu ) or the future earth alliance may be able to develop such a framework. gordon mcbean, a climatologist at the university of western ontario and president elect of icsu, agreed that the organisation could address this issue, and told scidev. net that he was involved in discussions at the conference to consider this. although governance of new technologies has not been included in the first draft of the outcome document for the un conference on sustainable development ( rio + 20 ), the latest negotiating draft for the june meeting does refer to technology assessment, said wetter. if that reference stays in the final draft, it may help fill the " vacuum of technology assessment that exists within the un system right now ", she said. all scidev. net material is free to reproduce providing that the source and author are appropriately credited. for further details see creative commons.


now, scientists with the lawrence berkeley national laboratory have demonstrated the first technique that provides dynamic control in real - time of the curved trajectories of airy beams over metallic surfaces. this development paves the way for fast - as - light, ultra - compact communication systems and optoelectronic devices, and could also stimulate revolutions in chemistry, biology and medicine. the key to the success of this work was their ability to directly couple free - space airy beams – using a standard tool of optics called a “ grating coupler ” – to quasi - particles called surface plasmon polaritons ( spps ). directing a laser beam of light across the surface of a metal nanostructure generates electronic surface waves – called plasmons – that roll through the metal ’ s conduction electrons ( those loosely attached to molecules and atoms ). the resulting interaction between plasmons and photons creates spps. by directly coupling airy beams to spps, the researchers are able to manipulate light at an extremely small scale beyond the diffraction limit. the movie shows the computer - based dynamical control of the trajectory and peak intensity position of plasmonic airy beams achieved by berkeley lab ’ s xiang zhang. “ dynamic controllability of spps is extremely desirable for reconfigurable optical interconnections, ” says xiang zhang, the leader of this research. “ we have provided a novel approach of plasmonic airy beam to manipulate spps without the need of any waveguide structures over metallic surfaces, providing dynamic control of their ballistic trajectories despite any surface roughness and defects, or even getting around obstacles. this is promising not only for applications in reconfigurable optical interconnections but also for precisely manipulating particles on extremely small scales. ” examples of the dynamic control of the plasmonic airy beams shows switching the trajectories to different directions ( a, b ) and bypassing obstacles ( gray solid circle in c ). left panels are numerical simulations, right panels are experimental demonstrations ( courtesy of zhang group ) zhang, a principal investigator with berkeley lab ’ s materials sciences division and director of the university of california at berkeley ’ s nano - scale science and engineering center ( sinam ), is the corresponding author of a paper published in the journal optics letters. the paper is titled “ plasmonic airy beams with dynamically controlled trajectories. ” coauthoring the paper were peng zhang, sheng


. ( photo by roy kaltschmidt ) “ the direction and speed of the displacement between the incoming light and the cubic phase mask can be controlled with ease simply by displaying an animation of the shifting mask pattern as well as a shifting slit aperture in the spatial light modulator, ” peng zhang says. “ depending on the refresh rate of the spatial light modulator this can be done in real time. furthermore, our spatial light modulator not only sets the plasmonic airy beam into a general ballistic motion, it also enables us to control the airy beam ’ s peak intensity at different positions along its curved path. ” the ability of the spatial light modulator to dynamically control the ballistic motions of plasmonic airy beams without the need of any permanent guiding structures should open doors to a number of new technologies, according to xiang and peng zhang and their collaborators. for example, in nano - photonics, it enables researchers to design practical reconfigurable plasmonic sensors or perform nano - particle tweezing on microchips. in biology and chemistry, it allows researchers to dynamically manipulate molecules. says sheng wang, second lead author of the optics letters paper, “ the ultrafine nature of spps is extremely promising for applications of nanolithography or nanoimaging. having dynamic tunable plasmonic airy beams should also be useful for ultrahigh resolution bioimaging. for example, we can directly illuminate a target, for example a protein, bypassing any obstacles or reducing the background. ” adds third lead author yongmin liu, “ our findings may inspire researchers to explore other types of non - diffracting surface waves, such as electron spin waves, in other two - dimensional systems, including graphene and topological insulators. ” this work was supported by the u. s. army research office, the u. s. air force office of scientific research, and the national science foundation nanoscale science and engineering center.


scientists have long held theories about the importance of proteins called b - type lamins in the process of embryonic stem cells replicating and differentiating into different varieties of cells. new research from a team led by carnegie ' s yixian zheng indicates that, counter to expectations, these b - type lamins are not necessary for stem cells to renew and develop, but are necessary for proper organ development. their work is published 24 november by science express. nuclear lamina is the material that lines the inside of a cell ' s nucleus. its major structural component is a family of proteins called lamins, of which b - type lamins are prominent members and thought to be absolutely essential for a cell ' s survival. mutations in lamins have been linked to a number of human diseases. lamins are thought to suppress the expression of certain genes by binding directly to the dna within the cell ' s nucleus. the role of b - type lamins in the differentiation of embryonic stem cells into various types of cells, depending on where in a body they are located, was thought to be crucial. the lamins were thought to use their dna - binding suppression abilities to tell a cell which type of development pathway to follow. but the team - including carnegie ' s youngjo kim, katie mcdole, and chen - ming fan - took a hard look at the functions of b - type lamins in embryonic stem cells and in live mice. they found that, counter to expectations, lamin - bs were not essential for embryonic stem cells to survive, nor did their dna binding directly regulate the genes to which they were attached. however, mice deficient in b - type lamins were born with improperly developed organs - including defects in the lungs, diaphragms and brains - and were unable to breathe. ' our works seems to indicate that while b - type lamins are not part of the early developmental tissue - building process, while they are important in facilitating the integration of different cell types into the complex architectures of various developing organs, ' kim, the lead author, said. ' we have set the stage to dissect the ways that a cell ' s nuclear lamina promote tissue organisation process during development. '


keeping your baby fat turns out to be a good thing, as long as it is " brown fat " — the kind that burns calories, according to a study that found adults have much more of this type of fat than previously thought. the results, which suggest a new way to treat obesity, were presented at the endocrine society ' s 91st annual meeting in washington, d. c. brown fat burns off calories and generates heat in babies and small mammals. most of our body fat is white fat, which also provides insulation but stores calories. it becomes " bad " fat when you have too much. the " good " fat — brown fat — was considered essentially nonexistent in human adults. " we now know that it is present and functional in adults, " said the study ' s lead author, aaron cypess, md, phd, mmsc, of the joslin diabetes center in boston. " three ounces of brown fat can burn several hundred calories a day. " for the first time, the researchers were able to measure patches of brown adipose tissue — brown fat — in people, thanks to a high - tech imaging method that combines positron emission tomography and computed tomography, called pet / ct. by evaluating biopsy tissue of what appeared to be brown fat on pet / ct scans in some patients who had neck surgery, the authors confirmed that they were, indeed, looking at stores of brown fat. more than 1, 970 study participants had pet / ct scans, from mid - skull to mid - thigh. brown fat ( when it could be detected ) was located in an area extending from the front of the neck to the chest. of the subjects who had detectable brown fat, about 6 percent had 3 ounces or more of the fat. " we believe that this percentage greatly underestimates the number of adults in the population who have a large amount of brown fat, " said cypess, whose results were published in the april 9 issue of the new england journal of medicine, along with those of two other independent studies of brown fat in adults. that is because one of the other studies found that pet / ct can detect much more brown fat if people are in a room cooled to 61°f. likewise, cypess and his colleagues found that people who underwent pet / ct in the winter had more brown fat activity than those scanned in the summer. they also discovered that brown fat is most abundant in young women and least frequent in older,


cold spring harbor, n. y. ( tues., june 1, 2010 ) - - gel electrophoresis is one of the most important and frequently used techniques in rna analysis. electrophoresis is used for rna detection, quantification, purification by size and quality assessment. gels are involved in a wide variety of methods including northern blotting, primer extension, footprinting and analyzing processing reactions. the two most common types of gels are polyacrylamide and agarose. polyacrylamide gels are used in most applications and are appropriate for rnas smaller than approximately 600 nucleotides ( agarose gels are preferred for larger rnas ). " polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis of rna " describes how to prepare, load and run polyacrylamide gels for rna analysis. the article is featured in the june issue of cold spring harbor protocols and is freely available on the journal ' s website. it is part of a suite of basic rna protocols included in this month ' s issue that provide an early preview of the forthcoming rna : a laboratory manual due later this year from cold spring harbor laboratory press. the rapid pace of technological progress in biological imaging has provided great insight into the processes of embryonic development. but for higher organisms with opaque eggs or internal development, optical access to the embryo is limited. while various embryonic culture methods are available, vertebrate development is best studied in an intact embryo model, one in which the natural environment has not been disrupted. in the june issue of cold spring harbor protocols, paul kulesa and colleagues from the stowers institute for medical research present " in ovo live imaging of avian embryos, " a detailed set of instructions for time - lapse imaging of fluorescently labeled cells within a living avian embryo. during the procedure, a hole is made in the shell, and a teflon membrane that is oxygen - permeable and liquid - impermeable is used to provide a window for visualization of the embryo via confocal or two - photon microscopy. imaging can take place for up to five days without dehydration or degradation of the normal developmental environment. as one of june ' s featured articles, the protocol is freely available on the journal ' s website.


mar. 21, 2008 a new genetic analysis suggests that the parasitic worm schistosoma mekongi is more widespread than previously thought. according to the study, the human population at risk of infection could be up to 10 times greater than previously estimated. furthermore, it posits an increased possibility of the spread of the parasite across laos and vietnam. schistosomiasis, a parasitic disease which affects over 200 million people worldwide, is caused by several flatworm species of the genus schistosoma. in the mekong river basin in south - east asia, the disease is transmitted by the species schistosoma mekongi. a mass treatment program in the mid - 1990s greatly reduced the prevalence of the disease and encouraged optimism regarding the control of s. mekongi infection. however, based on the implications of this new study, the control of mekong schistosomiasis could be problematic. researchers stephen w. attwood of china ' s sichuan university, farrah a. fatih of london ' s natural history museum, and e. suchart upatham of thailand ' s mahidol university analyzed dna sequences of sample organisms collected from the mekong river and its tributaries in cambodia, laos and malaysia. they found, contrary to the previously held belief that s. mekongi is confined to a small section of the lower mekong river, that organisms collected in its tributaries across cambodia were also of the species s. mekongi. the range of the snail intermediate host and the ecological conditions for potential transmission were also shown to be much broader than once thought. prior to this study it was also assumed that s. mekongi originated in yunnan, china, migrated southwards across laos and into cambodia, and later became extinct in laos due to conditions unsuitable for transmission. however, attwood and colleagues ' analysis suggested a more recent, and ongoing, migration northwards from vietnam, towards cambodia and laos. according to the authors, further work is required into this problem, as, if we have no reason to assume that ecological conditions in laos are unsuitable for transmission, we may expect the future spread of this disease northwards into laos. journal reference : attwood sw, fatih fa, upatham es ( 2008 ) dna - sequence variation among schistosoma mekongi populations and related taxa ; phylogeography and the current distribution of asian schistosomiasis. plos negl trop dis 2 ( 3 ) : e200. doi : 10.


july 5, 2008 in the first study of its kind, using sophisticated methods to measure body composition, the nationally known commercial weight loss program, weight watchers, was compared to gym membership programs to find out which method wins in the game of good health. a university of missouri researcher examined the real - life experiences of participants to determine which program helps people lose pounds, reduce body fat and gain health benefits. the answer is that both have pros and cons and that a combination of the two produces the best results. participants who attended weight watchers for 12 weeks lost an average of 5 percent of their body weight, or about nine pounds. however, steve ball, assistant professor of exercise physiology in the mu college of human environmental sciences, found that a large percentage of the lost weight was lean tissue and not fat. “ participants ’ body fat percentage did not improve at all because they lost a much higher percentage than expected of lean tissue, ” said ball, mu extension state fitness specialist. “ it is advantageous to keep lean tissue because it is correlated with higher metabolism. losing lean tissue often slows metabolism. what your body is made of is more important than what you weigh. ” the majority of other weight watcher studies had not considered body fat percentage change and only focused on body weight. “ this is one aspect of our study that makes it unique, ” ball said. “ we used a sophisticated measure of body composition – the bod pod – to look at what type of weight was lost : lean or fat. ” in addition, ball said the study was novel because computer tomography ( ct scans ) were used to investigate changes in abdominal fat, which is more predictive of cardiovascular disease. although the fitness center group lost very little weight, they probably improved their health because they lost a significant amount of intraabdominal fat ( fat around vital organs ). these results imply that exercise may have positive influence on the metabolic syndrome despite the number on the scale, ball concluded. ball also found that group support is very important. most of the weight watchers participants stuck with the program during the duration of the study, while many of the fitness center participants quit. “ these results imply that overweight, sedentary women joining a fitness center with the intent of weight loss or body fat change will likely fail without support and without altering their diets, ” ball said. “ nearly 50 percent of people who start an exercise program will quit within six months. ” “ this study attempted to discover what takes place in the real world when overweight


june 25, 2009 we all know why starbucks puts boxes of breath mints close to the cash register. your morning latte can create a startling aroma in your mouth, strong enough to startle your co - workers too. but intriguing new research from tel aviv university by breath specialist prof. mel rosenberg of tau ' s sackler faculty of medicine finds that a coffee extract can inhibit the bacteria that lead to bad breath. new laboratory tests have shown that the extract prevents malodorous bacteria from making their presence felt — or smelt. " everybody thinks that coffee causes bad breath, " says prof. rosenberg, " and it ' s often true, because coffee, which has a dehydrating effect in the mouth, becomes potent when mixed with milk, and can ferment into smelly substances. " but not always. " contrary to our expectations, we found some components in coffee that actually inhibit bad breath, " explains prof. rosenberg. the findings were presented last month to members of the international society for breath odor research in germany by yael gov, a researcher in prof. rosenberg ' s laboratory. a " taster ' s choice " for stopping bad bacteria in the laboratory, the team monitored the bacterial odor production of coffee in saliva. in the study, three different brands of coffee were tested : the israeli brand elite coffee, landwer turkish coffee, and taster ' s choice. prof. rosenberg expected to demonstrate the malodor - causing effect of coffee in an in vitro saliva assay developed by dr. sarit levitan in his laboratory. to his surprise, the extracts had the opposite effect. " the lesson we learned here is one of humility, " says prof. rosenberg. " we expected coffee would cause bad breath, but there is something inside this magic brew that has the opposite effect. " prof. rosenberg would love to isolate the bacterial - inhibiting molecule in order to reap the biggest anti - bacterial benefits from coffee. " it ' s not the raw extract we will use, he says, " but an active material within it. " his latest discovery could be the foundation for an entirely new class of mouthwash, breath mints and gum. purified coffee extract can be added to a breath mint to stop bacteria from forming, stopping bad breath at its source, instead of masking the smell with a mint flavor. prof. rosenberg is a successful scientist and inventor who has already developed a popular mouthwash sold widely in europe, a pocket - based breath test, and an anti - odor chewing


dec. 5, 2012 engineers at the university of sheffield have developed a new technique for delivering stem cell therapy to the eye which they hope will help the natural repair of eyes damaged by accident or disease. this could help millions of people across the world retain - - or even regain - - their sight. in research published in the journal acta biomaterialia, the team describe a new method for producing membranes to help in the grafting of stem cells onto the eye, mimicking structural features of the eye itself. the technology has been designed to treat damage to the cornea, the transparent layer on the front of the eye, which is one of the major causes of blindness in the world. using a combination of techniques known as microstereolithography and electrospinning, the researchers are able to make a disc of biodegradable material which can be fixed over the cornea. the disc is loaded with stem cells which then multiply, allowing the body to heal the eye naturally. " the disc has an outer ring containing pockets into which stem cells taken from the patient ' s healthy eye can be placed, " explains epsrc fellow, dr ilida ortega asencio, from sheffield ' s faculty of engineering. " the material across the centre of the disc is thinner than the ring, so it will biodegrade more quickly allowing the stem cells to proliferate across the surface of the eye to repair the cornea. " a key feature of the disc is that it contains niches or pockets to house and protect the stem cells, mirroring niches found around the rim of a healthy cornea. standard treatments for corneal blindness are corneal transplants or grafting stem cells onto the eye using donor human amniotic membrane as a temporary carrier to deliver these cells to the eye. for some patients, the treatment can fail after a few years as the repaired eyes do not retain these stem cells, which are required to carry out on - going repair of the cornea. without this constant repair, thick white scar tissue forms across the cornea causing partial or complete sight loss. the researchers have designed the small pockets they have built into the membrane to help cells to group together and act as a useful reservoir of daughter cells so that a healthy population of stem cells can be retained in the eye. " laboratory tests have shown that the membranes will support cell growth, so the next stage is to trial this in patients in india, working with our colleagues in the lv prasad eye institute in hyderabad, " says


cells can be retained in the eye. " laboratory tests have shown that the membranes will support cell growth, so the next stage is to trial this in patients in india, working with our colleagues in the lv prasad eye institute in hyderabad, " says professor sheila macneil. " one advantage of our design is that we have made the disc from materials already in use as biodegradable sutures in the eye so we know they won ' t cause a problem in the body. this means that, subject to the necessary safety studies and approval from indian regulatory authorities, we should be able to move to early stage clinical trials fairly quickly. " treating corneal blindness is a particularly pressing problem in the developing world, where there are high instances of chemical or accidental damage to the eye but complex treatments such as transplants or amniotic membrane grafts are not available to a large part of the population. the technique has relevance in more developed countries such as the uk and us as well, according to dr frederick claeyssens. " the current treatments for corneal blindness use donor tissue to deliver the cultured cells which means that you need a tissue bank. but not everyone has access to banked tissues and it is impossible to completely eliminate all risks of disease transmission with living human tissue, " he says. " by using a synthetic material, it will eliminate some of the risk to patients and be readily available for all surgeons. we also believe that the overall treatment using these discs will not only be better than current treatments, it will be cheaper as well. " the research is supported by a wellcome trust affordable healthcare for india award to the university of sheffield and the lv prasad eye institute, where the work is led by associate director and head of clinical research, dr virender sangwan. the work has also been supported through a research fellowship for dr ortega from the engineering and physical sciences research council ( epsrc ). other social bookmarking and sharing tools : - ilida ortega, anthony j. ryan, pallavi deshpande, sheila macneil, frederik claeyssens. combined microfabrication and electrospinning to produce 3 - d architectures for corneal repair. acta biomaterialia, 2012 ; doi : 10. 1016 / j. actbio. 2012. 10. 039 note : if no author is given, the source is cited instead.


a routine construction dig has turned up a fossil skull that is giving scientists a better glimpse inside the head of our ancient predecessor homo erectus. according to a report published today in the journal science, the find suggests that the h. erectus population that occupied the island of java was isolated from other asian populations and probably made only minimal genetic contributions to the ancestry of modern humans. so far, more than 20 hominid skull fossils have been found at sites in java. the latest, dubbed sm 4 ( see image ), was recovered from the bed of the solo river in central java and is one of the largest yet discovered on the island. hisao baba of the university of tokyo and his colleagues analyzed the skull, comparing it to previously discovered specimens. they found that sm 4 shares certain characteristics, such as a flat top, with skulls dating to more than a million years ago. but sm 4 also exhibits similarities to much younger fossils from eastern java - - the shape of a nerve opening near the temple, for example. the researchers thus conclude that sm 4 is an intermediary between earlier and later javanese h. erectus. this indicates that the species lived on the island continuously for more than a million years, contrary to the hypothesis that distinct, consecutive migrations to the area occurred. sm 4 also presents the best look yet at a particular feature of h. erectus ' s head known as the cranial base, a bony shelf behind the eyes that helps to support the brain. using computer imaging to probe the skull ' s interior, the team found that the cranial base is surprisingly modern in being sharply angled, or flexed. this, the researchers note, suggests that the larger brains of modern humans evolved independent of changes to the support on which they rest.


obviously, birds sing. but mice? [ mice song sound. ] that ’ s a mouse song. researchers have known about these high - pitched squeaky songs for years. but they only recently discovered that mice can learn the songs of other mice. such vocal learning is a rarity among animals. we know of only three kinds of birds — parrots, hummingbirds and songbirds — and some mammals — like humans, whales, dolphins, sea lions, bats and elephants — that have demonstrated the ability to learn the vocal patterns of other animals. that is, until now. scientists at duke university observed that when two male mice of different lineages were kept together, the animals gradually learned to match the pitch of their songs to one another. and when the researchers examined the mice, they found that the rodents can also form the correct brain - to - vocal - cord connections to control the sounds they make. the research is published in the journal plos one. [ gustavo arriaga, eric p. zhou and erich d. jarvis, of mice, birds, and men : the mouse ultrasonic song system has some features similar to humans and song - learning birds ] the mouse songs are admittedly primitive. but the findings left scientists on a high note. — gretchen cuda kroen [ the above text is a transcript of this podcast. ]


- a spinal cord injury can happen to anyone at any time. - there are 600 new spinal cord injuries every year in ontario ( more than one a day ) and current estimates indicate that there are approximately 33, 140 ontarians living with spinal cord injury. ( urban futures institute report, 2010 ) - in canada there are more than 1, 500 new spinal cord injuries per year. there is an estimated 86, 000 people living in the country with spinal cord injuries. ( # s based on research by the urban futures institute, 2010 ) - spinal cord injury is one of the most traumatic events to occur in an individual ’ s life. - spinal cord injury affects family, friends, employers, community and the health care system. - people can, and do, make a positive adjustment to life with a spinal cord injury given the right supports at the right time. - on average, it takes 2 to 3 years to attain sufficient independence following a spinal cord injury. - intensive psycho - social support is a critical component to rehabilitation from the onset of injury, through acute hospitalization, rehabilitation and transition to community living. - it is estimated that the annual economic burden of traumatic sci in canada is approximately $ 3. 6 billion, of which $ 1. 8 billion is associated with direct health care costs. ( urban futures institute report, 2010 ) - the top causes for traumatic spinal cord injuries in ontario are : - unintentional falls – 43. 2 % - motor vehicle accidents – 42. 8 - in ontario, males represent 68. 4 % of traumatic spinal cord injuries. women represent 31. 6 %. - in ontario, the highest incidence of traumatic injury is to individuals in the age range of 20 - 29 and to also, those over 70 years of age. - problems related to pain, mobility and agility affected the largest number of adults. nearly 3 million adults aged 15 and over, or 11 % of this age group, reported one of these limitations. ( pals 2006 ) - disabilities related to mobility were present in less than 2 % of people between the ages of 15 and 24, but affected about 44 % of individuals aged 75 and over. ( pals 2006 ) - ontario reported a disability rate ( 15. 5 % ) slightly higher than the national rate. ( pals 2006 ) - it is estimated that 90 % of what we know about spinal cord injury has been discovered in the last 20 years. ( rick hansen institute ) - sci info - regional offices - get involved - looking forward to seeing members and other key stakeholders at


have you been worrying over how much the rich have to pay in taxes? did you experience a warm glow of relief on learning that the french actor gerard depardieu has escaped his tax liabilities as a french citizen by acquiring a shiny new russian passport? no, i thought not. yet the debate about how much the rich should pay has dominated the proceedings of american policymakers in recent weeks and looms large in the political agenda of a number of countries. in britain there is uproar over how big multinational corporations, notably starbucks and amazon, managed to avoid paying british corporation taxes due to the structure of their billing and licensing agreements. this row flared again when sir martin sorrell, the chief executive of the global advertising conglomerate wpp, said the amount multinational companies need to pay in taxes was " a question of judgment ". although statements of this kind are provocative, few issues excite the kind of passion aroused by taxation. on one side are those who see taxation as a means of redistributing wealth and the social responsibility of the better off to contribute more to society. in contrast are those who say taxes lead to big government and an erosion of personal freedom. moreover, a high tax regime provides a disincentive to enterprise. while this debate is under way it is hard to find uncontested evidence for the view that the rich pay proportionately less of their income in taxes than ordinary citizens. this is particularly the case in america which has a fiendishly complicated tax regime, compounded by the imposition of both federal and local taxes. the advocates of less tax for the rich have come up with some impressive charts showing how in terms of absolute income ( that is minus such things as charity donations and other ways of reducing the top - line income figure ) the rich pay a higher percentage of tax than anyone else. critics dismiss this data, pointing out that actual income is what counts and that the " defend the rich " camp tend to focus on federal taxation, whereas the real source of inequality is derived from including both state and federal taxes, producing a picture that shows the highest tax burden falling on the so called squeezed middle class. moreover, rich people get most of their money from dividends and capital gains, usually taxed at a lower rate than payroll income. in hong kong, of course, there is no capital gains or dividends tax at all, which is why those who own companies take most of their remuneration from dividend payments. thus local rich people pay a far smaller proportion of their


. in hong kong, of course, there is no capital gains or dividends tax at all, which is why those who own companies take most of their remuneration from dividend payments. thus local rich people pay a far smaller proportion of their income to the government than the middle class. the simplicity and modesty of the local taxation system makes it more transparent. the highest level of income tax is just 17 per cent, which is very low by global standards but even this amount seems too demanding for practically every well off person in hong kong. at this point the defend - the - rich camp will point out that, while dividends are not taxable, corporate taxes are a percentage point higher than income tax rates. yet the scope for minimising corporate tax liability is considerably greater than that for personal tax liability even though dividends are " above the line " for corporate tax liability. at the end of the day the system ensures that the rich pay a far smaller proportion of their real income in taxes than middle class people, who have no company to pay them dividends. ironically, this means that the highest taxpayers tend to be people like the civil servants who administer the tax regime. no one likes to pay taxes but there is such a thing as obligation to society. in the heat of the tax debate this basic concept seems to get lost. the incentive to fulfil this obligation is more acceptable in places where citizens have better control over their governments.


the river otters are found throughout alaska, canada and the northern united states, and are hence named the north american river otter. they are slightly larger than our native european otter and are probably the most numerous otter species in the wild. they live in a variety of habitats, but spend most of their time in or near streams, rivers, lakes and coastal marshes. their diet is similar to european otters, eating mainly fish, amphibians and crustaceans. | north american river otters can be found alone or in pairs, but often socialise in larger groups. litters of up to 5 cubs can be born each spring and are reared by the mother. the young otters will stay with their mother for at least a year before they are finally ready to look for their own territory. | lewis and isla, the otters, are excellent ambassadors to help sea life promote otter conservation as they are more active during the day than our native european otter. hopefully, with a better understanding of otters and the dangers facing them, we can all do our bit to help the plight of our own native otters and their relatives around the world. | spotted!!! - there has been many spottings of a wild otter over the years by the members of staff, while having a daily morning meeting there has been a sighting of an otter twice in three days! the sanctuary assume that it is the same otter as it is frequenting the same area and hopefully it will keep returning for both staff and visitors to enjoy. | | if you would like more information, or would like to adopt the otters, lewis and isla, | ¦ otters news archives ¦ meet the otters ¦ lewis and isla photos ¦ how can you help? ¦ | ¦ introduction ¦ seal hospital ¦ aquarium ¦ resident seals ¦ seal rescue ¦ animal adoption ¦ ¦ photo & video gallery ¦ press releases ¦ news updates ¦ visitor ' s information ¦


( sen ) - china will launch an unmanned lunar rover in the second half of 2013, according to the state administration for science, technology and industry for national defence, reported the xinhua news agency this week. chang ' e - 3 will be china ' s third moon orbiter and has the aim of landing a robotic rover on the lunar surface. the lunar program ' s chief scientist said chang ’ e - 3 will land on the moon and explore its surface. it is expected to lift off from the xichang satellite launch center in southwest china. china ' s first two lunar probes, chang ' e - 1 and chang ' e -, 2 launched in 2007 and 2010 respectively and successfully entered the moon ' s orbit. chang ' e - 1 gathered a complete map of the moon whilst chang ' e 2 captured a higher resolution map, with images released in february this year. the chang ' e probes, named after the chinese goddess of the moon, are part of a three phase plan - orbit, land, return. phase 1 was achieved with the first two chang ' e probes. next year ' s mission is part of the landing phase. the third phase of china ' s chang ' e mission is to return lunar samples to earth. progress towards the third stage of china ' s lunar exploration - returning moon samples to earth - was also given a boost this week with the news that its powerful new rocket engine tested successfully. the new liquid oxygen and kerosene engine will generate 120 tons of thrust and will be used to power its next generation of rockets. the current engine powering its long march rockets have a 75 ton thrust. the new engine will be fitted to the long march 5 rocket which is expected to have its maiden flight in 2014. the long march 5 launch vehicle is being designed to lift 25 tons of payload to near earth orbit and 14 tons to geostationary orbit. in addition to its robotic exploration of the moon, china are also planning to send humans to the moon, a fact revealed by their official paper released in december 2011 which set out its long term plans for space exploration. the section entitled human spaceflight stated that “ china will conduct studies on the preliminary plan for a human lunar landing ”. china recently demonstrated its space technology when its shenzhou spacecraft docked with tiangong - 1, its orbiting space lab.