Cress and matchsticks could help prevent floods

As well as playing an important part in sandwiches and salads, cress is now being used to help develop new methods of flood prevention. Researchers at the University of Hull are growing mini cress forests, planting matchstick log jams and using a rainfall simulator to test natural flood prevention methods. Scientists have created a scaled-down […]

Google makes Street View air pollution data available

Google is now sharing air pollution information gathered by sensors on its Street View cars. The project originally aimed to detect methane leaks from old gas pipes and other sources so they could be closed off – the greenhouse gas is around 84 times more potent than carbon dioxide. Other sensors now also measure levels […]

Energy waste in households research gets funding

Bath University has secured a grant of £1.5 million from the Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council for research into energy efficient behaviour. Academics are investigating attitudes to energy use in the home and aim to design an innovative ‘smart system’ to change habits and reduce energy-driven carbon emissions. The team says the UK’s move […]

Government pledges millions toward climate research

The Government today invested £60 million in the Met Office Hadley Centre’s Climate Programme to support “mitigation and adaptation actions”. The funding is aimed at improving collaborations between the Met Office and UK academic institutions, as well as to help Government, business, local authorities and other organisations understand the threats and opportunities of climate change. […]