Environment

Volcanic eruptions are incredibly dangerous, especially those from volcanoes with magma containing a high percentage of silica, as this tends to give rise to more explosive eruptions. Scientists have been looking for ways to better predict the possibility of these eruptions, with one technique centering on tracking the way in which the magma within the volcano has been heated in the past.

Many of us can now control our household devices remotely, turning our central heating on or off on our way to work, or programming lights to come on when we are away from home. Now, engineers at Cornell University are looking to extend this type of technology by creating intelligent infrastructure which can monitor underground pipework.

A smart home contains amongst other things, a high definition television, DVD player, mobile phone, washing machine, home security, home theater, entertainment, thermostat regulation and every other electrical machine you can imagine.

Next time you watch a flock, or mummuration of starlings swoop high and low in perfect unison, or a flock of geese migrating to new feeding grounds, imagine a similar scene but with drones instead of birds. It might sound far-fetched but it’s likely to be a reality in the not-too-distant future, as scientists have been working on developing software inspired by nature in order to allow a swarm of unmanned drones to carry out aerial surveys.

Worldwide, our oceans are at risk of being damaged by the effects of climate change. Many of us are aware that this includes increased temperatures at the surface of the ocean, but another less well-known effect is ocean acidification. This increase in acidity happens as a result of our oceans taking in carbon dioxide from the atmosphere.

The majority of climate scientists now agree that the warming of our climate observed over the last century is most likely down to human activities. The question now, is how do we go about dealing with these consequences?

The Larsen Ice Shelf is located on the north-western side of Antarctic Peninsula, extending out towards South America. The ice shelf is made up of a number of distinct segments, which have steadily been breaking up since the 1990s. Now, one section of the ice shelf, known as Larsen C, looks set to be on the brink of collapse.

The ill-effects of climate change are a horrific dream which will soon become a reality in our near future. In fact, some of these consequences are already being witnessed. One of the root causes of our changing climate is man and his whims. It has been predicted by researchers that sea levels are rising at an exponential rate, with the major contributing factor leaning towards global warming.

Urban beehives are becoming more and more popular, offering people living in the city a chance to reconnect with nature and their communities whilst producing a sustainable local product and protecting our dwindling bee population. One concern though, is that the levels of pollutants and contaminants may be higher in honey produced by bees living in urban areas.

“Water is the driving force of all nature” yet today, 85% of the world’s population reside in some of the driest regions on the planet where millions suffer from a scarcity of water. The United Nations has predicted that availability of this elixir-of-life is only going to decrease in the future, if immediate action is not taken.

Located just off the Welsh coastline, the new wind farm, known as the Burbo Bank Extension, has recently installed the tallest and most powerful wind turbines in world. In order to claim this title, the sheer size and scale of these turbines is incredible – each blade is 80 metres long and the turbines themselves tower at some 195 metres above the sea.

All sorts of trash ends up in our oceans, with a lot of it floating in currents before ending up in five huge floating ‘garbage patches’. Within these patches, there’s estimated to be up to five trillion pieces of plastic, ranging from small plastic bottle tops to huge fishing nets. All of this impacts oceanic