That Matt Hancock, who should be doing his job as an MP, may win I’m A Celebrity after his appalling handling of the pandemic & shameful sacking for breaking his own lockdown rules, is a damning indictment of the celebrification of politics & the British public’s amnesia.
Did you know there are over 11,000 wind turbines installed in the UK putting us 4th in Europe for wind energy generation!? As exciting as this sounds for our environment it poses an issue for bats migrating as they are often killed by #turbines#2021EBE
So what is an invasive species? According to @NatGeo an invasive species is an organism that is not native, to a particular area. They can cause great economic and environmental harm to the new area. #2021EBE
Did you know #invasivespecies have globally cost a minimum of $1.3 trillion. This is the equivalent of buying 742,857 of #Ferrari's most expensive model!! #2021EBE
Some scientists (myself included) try to avoid maths, but it can be useful! Mathematical modelling helps us to follow disease transmission & predict future outbreaks! This has previously been used to study the #Zika virus & is relevant today in monitoring COVID-19 #2021EBE
#pollinators are important for over 75% of global #crops. Their services are worth up to $577 billion globally! Thats 30x the annual revenue of #McDonalds in 2020. #2021EBE
#Urbanisation is also a large driver of #pollinatordecline. With the percentage of humans living in urban areas expected to increase from 55% to 70% by 2050 its more important than ever that we learn how to make our areas more pollinator friendly. #2021EBE
#Greenspaces can easily be implemented into even the most built up urban areas. Popular options include rooftop gardens, window boxes, railways and insect hotels in schools/gardens #2021EBE#savethebees
#Wildcats are the last native feline in the UK. They disappeared from England and Wales in the 1800s but are still found in Scotland. HOWEVER habitat loss, hunting and breeding with domestic cats (#hybridisation) has led to recent declines in wildcat populations #2021EBE
EXCITING NEWS…following a study by LSE #crabs, #octopus and #lobsters are now recognised as sentient beings in government policy decision making! Unfortunately, there will be no impact on shellfish catching or in restaurant kitchens but it’s a positive step forward #2021EBE
Transposable elements make up 31% of the genome of domestic #dogs. They produce the phenotypic variation responsible for different sizes in different breeds
Transposable elements (TEs) are sections of DNA which can move or “jump” to new locations in the genome. Despite originally being labelled “junk” DNA, TEs can alter the DNA sequence and drive changes which are important in evolution #transposableelements#2021EBE#genetics