News - Page 5

How do you give?

by Natasha Neill, Executive Officer at the Society of Biology Many members will be aware that the Society of Biology recently launched our shop, a place to buy your Society branded goodies and celebrate your membership. Another element of the shop, the support it offers us as an organisation, is crucial to our work, but sometimes difficult for a learned society to communicate. Its important for members to understand the wider work that we do. We aim to influence science education policy, ensure that advice on careers is available for students and that the next generation of scientists are inspired not scared, of biology and its wonders. I’m responsible for fundraising at the Society, so started with fact finding and researching; trying to find advice and guidance that would fit our niche. I recently read It ain’t what you give it’s the way that you give it by Caroline Fiennes, who has…

The attack of an army ant

Student Samantha Hodgson studies at the University of Gloucestershire, and is writing about the swarm raiding technique of army ants ahead of our 24 hour lecture on ants and bees, hosted by Professor Adam Hart. Army ants are unparalleled in the animal world when it comes to raid strategy. They are capable of capturing tens of thousands of prey in a single day using a terrifying swarm tactic to cover the largest area possible. Eciton burchellii, found in the neotropical forests of central and South America, is a nomadic species with no fixed nest. Instead, the enormous colonies; often over 500,000 strong, travel to a different location every night. Raid parties are released from the colony to gather food. As many as 200,000 individuals are involved in the war-like ‘swarm raids’ used to capture their prey. The foraging troops branch out and spread to cover an area up…

Sometimes you need your own space – DIY for solitary bees

In advance of Professor Adam Hart’s 24 hour lecturethon, David Urry from the Society of Biology shares his experiences of building a bee hotel. I am not the most practically minded person in the world, but I do enjoy a bit of D.I.Y. After coming across an old picture frame and backing board in the garage, I did what any amateur naturalist (and even more amateur handy man) would do, and decided to convert it into a bee hotel for solitary bees and insect overwintering site. There are over 200 species of solitary bee in the UK, most of which go largely unnoticed to the untrained eye. Normally slightly smaller than their social cousins, they are no less active and ubiquitous and are common visitors to gardens and parks all over the UK. Within the 200 species found, a variety of life history strategies are represented as different species go…

Behavioural Genetics: who are you?

Dr Claire Hastings introduces the field of Behavioural Genetics ahead of the Royal Institution debate entitled: “The good, the bad, and the genetically predetermined” on the 15th October, during Biology Week 2013. Your genome contains all the instructions for building you. This includes genes that affect your behaviour: from learning and memory, eating and sleeping or mating behaviour and personality. Within the human population there is variation in these genes, resulting in the behavioural differences we observe in each other. Genes that affect behaviour are a huge part of what makes you, you. They often provide you with more of a sense of self than the genes involved in your physical appearance such as height or eye colour. So who are you? Are you the simply sum total of your genetic material? Is your behaviour predetermined by your genes? Or is there more to it? Scientists have been working to answer these questions for…

Would you like termites with that?

Lauren Hoskin is a recent graduate in microbiology. She is interested in a career in science communication and writes for her own blog, Science Says as well as for the Student Hubs blog. Many problems faced by humans do not have simple answers, especially in the area of food security. How will we feed nine billion people in 2050? How do we make sure food is distributed equally? The list goes on. But there is one solution to the ever-growing problem of meat production which could help to reduce carbon emissions. PROteINSECT, launched in early 2013, is a Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA)-led project which has started to look at the idea of insects as animal feed. Rearing fly larvae on a range of organic waste and using them as a source of cheap and nutritious protein for animals would help to use waste effectively and improve land efficiency….

Bioscience to Biosecurity; the Policy Lates talks

Policy Lates is a discussion series from the Society of Biology‘s policy team, held at our HQ at Charles Darwin House. We bring a panel of experts together for an informal debate on a contemporary science policy topic, with lots of time for audience questions and convivial discussions. In July 2013, Policy Lates looked into the issue of biosecurity in the life sciences, and the potential for intentional or accidental harm coming from new technologies and discoveries. Talks from the debate, entitled ‘Bioscience to bioweapons: how do we benefit from open dual-use research whilst avoiding misuse?’, are now available: Professor Malcolm Dando FSB (Chair) Professor of International Security, Division of Peace Studies, School of Social and International Studies, University of Bradford. Professor Wendy Barclay Chair in Influenza Virology, Department of Medicine, Imperial College London. Daniel Grushkin Freelance journalist; vice-president and co-founder of Genspace community biology laboratory, New York….

Chewing off her wings – the queen ant’s rite of passage

By Rebecca Nesbit from the Society of Biology There has been a long, slow build up to flying ant day this year. The first sightings of winged black garden ants came early, with hundreds of records for the flying ant survey already in by the third week of July. The first major flying ant day, however, was Friday 26th July, though even this turned out to be a prelude to the mass emergence on Thursday 1st August. For me, this protracted spell of flying ant sightings has been an opportunity to witness some fascinating behaviour as part of one of the summer’s greatest spectacles. On 26th July, I was excited to find some flying ants on the outside of the Society of Biology office. The tiny males were in search of fat new queens to mate with – I even saw two males trying simultaneously to mate with one queen. The next stage of…

The meadows of Transylvania – a biodiversity hotspot

Dr Barbara Knowles FSB, Senior Science Policy Adviser at the Society of Biology, devotes much of her time to preserving Transylvania’s hay meadows. Dr Laura Bellingan FSB, Head of Policy at the Society of Biology, visited her recently and has written about her experience: If I’m asked to think of biodiversity hot-spots worthy of conservation, wilderness areas with sparse if any human populations tend to come to mind. Certainly, long-established farmland wouldn’t be my first guess. However, as surprisingly often is the case, the seemingly obvious answer is wide of the mark! It is indeed true that an island of biodiversity, with statistics that rival wilderness areas has been created by centuries of dairy farming in rural Transylvania. My colleague Barbara Knowles visited this area almost five years ago. She was so enchanted by its unique and complex ecology, natural beauty and friendly people that she has devoted…

Can gulls get drunk on ants?

Rebecca Nesbit from the Society of Biology has been working on the flying ant survey On Friday I received a phone call asking ‘are seagulls in Devon acting weirdly because of flying ants?’. The answer was very likely yes – flying ant day is a special day for gulls, and for many people the excited squawking of feasting gulls is the first sign of flying ant day. The next question, however, was ‘could seagulls be made delirious by formic acid from the ants?’. Gulls have apparently been hit by cars because they are ‘stupefied’ and wandering onto roads. The popular press are answering this second question in increasingly dramatic ways: gulls are made ‘yobbish’ by ants apparently! But the real answer has to be the scientist’s favourite of ‘maybe’. I haven’t found any studies confirming that formic acid is causing the gulls’ behaviour, but we do know that Lasius niger (the black…

“Sorry James, this is not my cup of tea”

Guest post by Dr James Revill, Research Fellow with the Harvard Sussex Program, SPRU, University of Sussex. The issues raised in James’ post will be discussed at our ‘Bioscience to Bioweapons’ Policy Lates event next Thursday, and on Twitter with the hashtag #PolicyLates. The strategic use of disease in warfare has been subject to a long standing and cross-cultural taboo that condemns the hostile exploitation of biology as the act of a pariah. In short, biological weapons are simply not cricket. However, such disapproval is not fixed but context dependent and remains malleable to engineered erosion by governments and other groups . This is a particular concern in light of the twin challenge posed by the changing capacity and geography of bioscience and the evolving perceptions of security, including the perceived rise of terrorism and new wars in the 21st Century, on the other. Such circumstances have been converging to once again…