Alarm Bells Should Help Us Refocus

New alarm bells

Some species do appear to practise construction skills — birds in particular — and to require some mental flexibility in starting the process. But ultimately, animals build the way they do because they are genetically programmed to do so, Hansell concludes. But evolution can lead to surprising results. Hansell notes that most of our closest primate relatives create little more than temporary sh...

Alarm bells louden

Previous progress towards instituting carbon emission caps in the US have been derailed by fears (voiced most prominently by the current administration) that such regulations would stifle the American economy. There has been progress, however, as exemplified by the bipartisan support for the Lieberman– Warner Climate Stewardship Act, which, while not reaching a full vote by the Senate this year...

Foot and mouth alarm bells

Biologists’ alarm bells ring louder

climate change. It suggested that the action plan agreed in Scotland in July “fell far short of a strategy to stop the rise in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.” Frustration at the lack of action on climate change was expressed by John Lawton, head of Britain’s Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution who, in the wake of hurricane Katrina, criticised US policymakers and told journalists he...

Alarm bells ring over bird flu threat

Recent cases of bird flu infecting humans in southeast Asia have raised fears about the possibility of a new strain of human flu that could spark a pandemic. The new outbreaks of the influenza virus (strain H5N1) in poultry in Asia were linked by sporadic reporting of human cases of infection with this virus in Vietnam and Thailand last year. By the end of last month, there had been 54 cases of...