posted by admin on Jul 1

Could this pretty blue flower really be at the forefront of fighting crime?

Would you believe it if I said that a piece of pollen from a garden plant could be the key evidence in a murder trial – dating back from the 1950′s?

I wouldn’t have thought it possible myself a few years ago, yet with the growing science of forensics in general and now more specifically forensic ecology – it is all so very true!

photo credit: ChodHound

Pollen Power:
In exactly that same way that we can date particles from history to tell a Bronze Age barrow from an Iron Age settlement; or work out what the age of a pre-historic grain store is – we can find out what plants you have in your garden from their residue on your shoes.

Every habitat in the world has a unique botanical footprint – and sometimes they just need a few spores or pollen fibres to work it out.

For example forget-me-not pollen can last 1000′s of years before degrading – a perfect place to look to link a person to a place.

It’s just one step on from identifying clothing materials and other products really – however, pollen can be so small that even a change of clothes won’t quite get rid of them all!

They can travel on your hair, skin and shoes as well as pass into your nasal cavity or ears – places you least expect to look for more traditional fingerprints.

And whole plants can be used too. New shoots on trampled plants, or germinating seeds on dumped clothing can help to date the time of last disturbance – even if it was months or even years ago.

Hair Of The Dog:
And it’s not just plants that are getting in on the action – pets and furniture can also give away a criminal! Those few cat hairs on your coat or the fibres from your carpet could plant you firmly at the scene of a crime these days – with virtually no argument!

These mostly microscopic particles – things that we don’t even think about day to day – that can be found and used by forensic scientists in all aspects of our life.

They can trace virtually anything to virtually anywhere – usually just at the click of a button!

photo credit: Svadilfari

posted by admin on Jun 8

Only 2.5% of the Earth’s water is fresh – and a third of that is frozen solid!

However, humans and animals can only drink fresh water – and you can’t water plants or crops with salt water either – so where are we supposed to get our extra water from?

Up until recently, there was only the process of either brute distillation or reverse osmosis available to take the salt out of sea water – both were very energy demanding and cost a lot of money for the ‘fresh’ water. As a result there weren’t many such plants across the globe.

So to keep getting water (rather than start to use less) most people just kept diverting rivers and making more and deeper wells to drain the planet of water to feed our rising population and demand for water.

Regardless of what we use it for – we need water, and due to our endless demands – we are now prepared to pay for it. Needless to say as a result of this – more companies are happy to extract water from even deeper or to dabble with alternative desalination processes.

There are currently 3 new alternatives for purifying sea water, and it is still to be seen which one will become the successor to reverse osmosis over time.

Forward Osmosis:
Rather than making the salt stay behind during the processing – they are encouraging the water the pass through the membrane.

Basically, the process of osmosis is where the concentration of a certain ‘thing’ needs to equal itself out and so spreads from where there is a lot to where there is little – to reach a balance.

A good example of this is milk in coffee. You add the milk to the top – but it doesn’t stay there – it spreads out until the coffee takes on a slightly lighter colour. Same with adding a dye to a jug of water. Half the jug doesn’t stay clear water – it all takes on a touch of the dye.

So, forward osmosis hopes to do just that. By having salt water (separate salt and water molecules) on one side of a membrane and a type of ‘modified’ salt on the other side – they can make the water molecules move over to the other side to balance themselves out.

The result is salt water left on one side and pure water (and modified salt) on the other. Remove the modified salt and you have drinkable water.

Modified Membranes:
The remaining 2 methods both rely on alternate membranes rather than a change in process.

By using nano-technology to hold a electrical charge, these membranes hope to repel the salt molcules allowing only the water molecule through.

Nanotubes – Using carbon technology to hold an electrical charge to hold back the salt molecules as well as funnelling the water through reduced friction tubes.

Biomimetics – Using cells which are naturally found in animal tissue to repel the salt molecules and efficiently transport the water molcules as in a living animal.

However, getting the fresh water isn’t the only problem to consider – as desalination leaves behind a huge pile of concentrated salt water with nowhere to go!

Release it back into the sea and you are raising the salinity for your future desalinations!

posted by admin on Mar 9

Here are some more great eco inventions that make things easy!

I have said in previous articles that eco inventions should be the same – if not better at doing something than existing (and not so green) alternatives.

We shouldn’t expect people to go out of their way to achieve something green – it should be given naturally – and without losing quality or offering less.

So, in that vein, here are a handful of eco ideas that I think can make your life not only greener – but easier too!

The Hundred Dollar Laptop:
This invention caused a stir when it was launched back in 2005 – the XO – but it had since been improved and improved again – now the XOXO.

It can now be charged by many means including solar; it uses only a fraction of the energy of a normal laptop; has black and white mode for use in bright sunshine; instant connection to the network and touch-screen keyboards!

Folding Bikes:
Rather than the rather bulky folding bikes that have been around in the past – the Strida 3 folds up into a wheeled walking stick! This way, you can easily cycle when the conditions are right/safe/dry, but fold up your wheels when things get too busy/congested/wet!

Easy to carry on and off of public transport too – and you can leave it in your hallway when you get home without hitting you shins on the pedals!

Whole House Switch:
There is a lot of talk about making sure that nothing electrical is left on stand-by and switching this and that off all the time – but it’s not easy keeping on top of everything the family use in the morning before heading off to work yourself. So in comes the One Switch.

One single switch that will switch off all your non-essential electricals by your front door. No need to run around your bedrooms and offices looking for red lights to eliminate – just one click and your electricity use is virtually set to zero!

E-Wash:
Washing with nuts instead of detergent! This slim-fit washing machine is designed specifically to work with soap nuts rather than detergents and conditioners etc – making it a great eco-friendly alternative to most large washers and driers.

It holds the same load but fits into a smaller space – leaving more room in the home for other things – plus you can get by with as little as 1kg of soap nuts washing your clothes for a whole year! Double bargain!

Can you think of any more?

posted by admin on Feb 22

How about something unusual to give as a gift – 60,000 years of their history!

A simple and painless swab on the inside of a mouth is all it takes to find out where you ancesters came from soon after they started on the journey of a lifetime!

So instead of buying the lastest DS game for your nephew, or the newest version of the iPad for your godson – why not let them see something far more interesting and unusual: their family’s past!

Genographic Studies.
It is currently believed that all humans alive today were originally from the exact same place in Africa.

It is also believed that around 60,000 years ago, these early humans decided to move to new pastures, and set off on what turned out to be the journey of mankind.

They may have originally been just looking for better food or water supplies not far from their family, but the journey didn’t stop, and humans spread across virtually the whole globe – changing as they went.

Some set up permanent homes in river mouths or forests and others kept travelling, until we get to today – with many thousands of different cultures, languages and individual traits and preferences alive on almost every continent.

So which path did your family take?

Take The Test!
It is now very easy and relatively cheap to get a detailed history of your past. Where your ancesters have been – or still are – and which branches of your family gave you most of your personal genes today.

Whether you think you know your past – you are from an isolated community – or you have absolutely no idea what your past will hold – you can all take part in this unique not-for-profit and internationally shared research project.

Your initial test is totally separate from the International Study and so you can receive your results and keep them to yourself forever – you are not obliged to share anything about yourself.

However, if you do want to be a part of the larger project – any data you give will be treated anonymously and securely as with any other personal details.

Obviously, offering your results to the wider science community may well have benefits to us all in terms of understanding human evolution, migration, settlement and cultural distinctions.

And it could also give you a chance to learn about other cultures and communities around the world – for example, if you find out your ancestors came through Turkey or Asia etc, you may be inclined to read more about those areas – maybe even inspiring you to travel……. and to learn!

More information about the project can be found on the National Geographic Site in many different languages and answering a myriad of related questions – go to their link: Genome Study to find out more……

photo credit: Alex E. Proimos

posted by admin on Jan 28

It’s not just genetically modified foods that are being manipulated!

The argument for and against GM foods, as they are known, is a raging one. The ‘Againsts’ are asking “why should scientists tamper with nature” (by adding bits of fish proteins to tomatoes for example) – but then the ‘Fors’ are saying “why should scientists not try to ‘invent’ food that is more nutritious, disease resistant and with a longer shelf life?”

However – there is now a new way to manipulate processed food without necessarily modifying the original ingredients: nano particles.

NanoTechnology:
These ‘nano’ particles are inbetween the atomic level and molecular level and nanoparticles of known substances act differently to their ‘normal’ counterparts – for example; nano particles of gold have a different melting point to a slab of gold.

These particles can be used to change the properties of other particles and can therefore be very useful for solidifying, or liquifying certain solutions etc.

There is much debate about the implications of using nanoparticles in the future – as with medicine, biomaterials and foods – due to the fact that nanoparticles can pass through cell walls with ease – including into the brain. As a result there is much debate as to their uses and regulation – particularly as they have unproven effects on the body.

Nano Foods:
So, would it then surprise you to find out that there are already food products and toiletries on the market containing nanoparticles – whether you knew it or not!

Nanoparticles – like nano-silver – can be great in the product they are made for, improving its qualities many times over – but it’s what happens after these particles leave the product that they become a hazard.

photo credit: Akira Ohgaki

As always, when eaten in the form of a highly nutritious and long-lasting product – it eventually has to come out of that product – as we all know ‘what comes out doesn’t look at all like what went in’. So where do these nanoparticles go as they don’t usually break down very easily?

The first answer is that they don’t go anywhere. They may move themselves across the digestive wall, travel around your body and settle somewhere forever. Whether they are in a ‘good place’ or a ‘bad place’ isn’t necessarily the worst thing to worry about – it’s what they do when they get there – and how much you eat that can cause the problem.

The second scenario is that you excrete them and they head off into the sewers and landfill. Now usually, nanoparticles are added to food to prevent bacterial growth and decay – so they aren’t going to degrade easily alongside other waste. And what if they stop the other waste from degrading too?

Just as excessive polystyrene is great for protecting products – but a nightmare to dispose of; nanofoods may well be the greatest answer to food preservation and improved nutrition. However, if their consumption causes health issues and their disposal causes pollution and disruption – then are the initial benefits worth while?

People Say:
Unfortunately, consumer trends are what can influence whether a product is successful or not – so by keeping your ingredients ‘under the radar’ you can just about put anything in them.

In the same way that companies use various other words to describe palm oil other than actually saying ‘our product contains palm oil’ – they are still selling crates and crates of their products – even though consumers ‘hate to see the rainforests being burnt down’.

However, in Europe, GM foods hit the headlines and now hardly any companies at all can sell GM foods anywhere. People spoke their mind and they stuck to their guns. However, people in other countries weren’t so bothered by it all and so regularly buy genetically modified foods.

So why not eat nano foods too? Is the risk that great?

Lets be honest: we know that smoking can lead to all sorts of long-term illnesses and even death – but millions of people world-wide still smoke.

Fancy a packet of nano-peanuts with that!