Extinction: Where Will It Stop?

The 2009 edition of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Red List of Threatened Species was released yesterday, and the news wasn’t good: out of 47,677 assessed species, 17,291 (36 percent) are threatened with extinction.

These include 21% of all known mammals, 30% of amphibians, 70% of plants and 35% of invertebrates. The breakdown of the endangered species’ status on the new IUCN list is as follows:

• Extinct: 809
• Extinct in the Wild: 66
• Critically Endangered: 3,325 (of these, 257 species are listed as “possibly extinct”)
• Endangered: 4,891
• Vulnerable (to extinction): 9,075
• Near Threatened: 3,650

Last year’s list assessed 44,838 species; information on more than 2,800 additional species has been added in 2009. This includes more than 1,300 previously unassessed dragonflies and damselflies, of which the IUCN recently completed a major new study.

Amphibians seem to be facing the greatest threat, with 1,895 of 6,285 assessed species in danger of extinction. One amphibian species, the Kihansi Spray Toad (Nectophrynoides asperginis), has been moved from the IUCN’s critically endangered list and is considered extinct in the wild. This toad was only found in the Kihamsi Falls area of Tanzania and its population has crashed from a high of about 17,000 in recent years. Conservationists suggest that this is as a result of a dam being constructed upstream from the toad’s habitat, which resulted in a 90% reduction in the flow of water.

“These results are just the tip of the iceberg,” said Craig Hilton-Taylor, manager of the IUCN Red List Unit, in a prepared statement. “There are many more millions [of species] out there which could be under serious threat.”

For further information, visit www.iucn.org

posted by Kathy & Sophie

FAWC’s new report on farm animal welfare in GB

The Farm Animal Welfare Council (FAWC) reviews the welfare of farm animals on agricultural land, at markets, in transit and at the place of slaughter; and advises the Government of any legislative or other changes that may be necessary. It has just published it’s report on ‘Farm Animal Welfare in Great Britain : Past, Present and Future’ (October 2009).

In this landmark Report, FAWC has examined the effectiveness of British policy on farm animal welfare since the Brambell Report in 1965 and sets out a strategy that will lead to improvements in welfare over the next 20 years.

The main conditions that FAWC believe to be necessary for ethical consumerism and improved farm animal welfare are:

i. The Government to act as the guardian of farm animal welfare

ii. Standards for a good life to be defined by an independent body

iii. Minimum welfare standards to be defined by an animal’s quality of life

iv. Stockmen to be educated and trained to a high standard about animal welfare

v. Welfare assessment to be valid, feasible and rigorous with independent audit

vi. The food supply chain to show due diligence with marketing claims verified

vii. Citizens to be educated about food and farming from childhood

viii. Animal products to be labelled according to welfare provenance to provide consumer choice.

To read the full report go to http://www.fawc.org.uk/pdf/ppf-report091012.pdf

posted by Steph

Want a fun day out during half term?

Manchester Science Festival 2009

From 24th October – 1st November, explore, discover and enjoy over 150 science events for both families and adults taking place at venues across Greater Manchester.

 

This year’s festival themes are Manchesticity, Mind and body, Our planet and beyond, and Bright ideas. The Festival programme is now available online at www.manchestersciencefestival.com and bookings can be made for events where numbers are limited – vistit the website to browse this year’s themes, use the search options or view the whole programme.

There’s walks, talks, workshops, shows, comedy, exhibitions and more all in the name of science. Enjoy!

Visit www.manchestersciencefestival.com for more information.

posted by Sophie

New equine pain management website

 

Internal organs

This website provides up-to-date advice and guidance on the subject of equine pain management. Written by equine vets for horse owners, it has been divided into easy-to-use reference sections that cover a variety of topics including assessment, diagnostic and treatment methods. You can download a series of anatomy charts to help you define the parts of your horses’s body. There are also a series of notes to help you read about some of the main procedures and treatments that your horse might undergo during a visit to the vet. For example: ’sedating your horse,’ ‘diagnosing lameness using nerve blocks.’ In addition there is a very useful glossary to help you understand the terminology.

 If you would like to find out more, please go to http://www.equinepainmatters.com/

 Posted by Steph

New Health & Safety books website

From 1 September 2009….

The Health & Safety Executive has made the content of approx. 230 of their priced publications freely available through their HSE Books website. These mainly include HSE’s ‘HSG’ and ‘L’ series of publications.

The content of these priced publications are now freely available in PDF format. Printed hard copies can also be purchased through the new website. The option to view a PDF is shown under the paragraph headed ‘Downloads’ on the relevant page for each publication within the new site.

HSE has from the outset, made some 50 or so of the most popular titles freely available in ‘printer friendly’ format. The remaining titles will be converted to this format by 31 March 2010.

Posted by Steph

New Blood – attracting the best young people to agriculture

The great outdoors

A new 62-page report was commissioned and published in June 2009 by the Royal Agricultural Society of England. It examines future manpower needs of the agricultural sector in the UK, and public perceptions of farming as a career. It discusses image, training and recruitment problems and possible solutions, including the experiences of other countries.

For more information go to http://www.rase.org.uk/about_RASE/news/latest_news/NewBloodReport.pdf

Posted by Steph

British Library puts 19th-century news online

The British Library has put two million digitised pages from 19th century newspapers online, taking historical research out of its dusty reading rooms into people’s homes.

The pay-as-you-go service brings a century of history to life and offers a first hand insight into life between 1800 and 1900, covering topics such as slavery and its abolition, Chartism, the Sepoy Mutiny, the Bryant and May match girls’ strike, sex and scandal, the Napoleonic wars, the Crimean war and the Whitechapel murders.

The database allows you to search millions of articles from 49 local and national newspaper titles for free using keywords. The site also contains 1000’s of illustrations, maps, tables and photographs. With this service you can print, email, download, and save articles and page images, and also explore bonus content, including biographies, publication histories, and timelines.

View complete articles from the  Penny Illustrated Paper and The Graphic  free of charge or alternatively, buy a 24-hour pass for £6.99 allowing you to view up to 100 articles, or a seven-day pass with 200 article views for £9.99

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/8104099.stm

For more information and to check out the database for yourself, visit http://newspapers.bl.uk/blcs/

posted by Sophie

SPLAT Arts Festival is coming!

 

 

 

 

 

SPLAT Festival - an annual non-profit week-long celebration of Student Performance, Literature Art & Theatre at the University of Warwick - is dedicated to creating opportunities for all to pursue their creative talents. SPLAT is the first and largest student run arts festival in the world and all the events are open to the public.

Highlights of the SPLAT ‘08 programme included a night-time promenade performance of A Midsummer Night’s Dream, an international break-dancing competition, and an open-air cinema. A number of productions also went on to receive 4 & 5 Star reviews at the Edinburgh Fringe. 

Taking place this year from Sunday 21st to Thursday 25th of June, University of Warwick students and members of the local community alike can enjoy over sixty-five free events taking place in venues across the University campus and in the Warwick Arts Centre.

Here is just a small selection of the events on offer over the 5 days:

Theatre -

• Theatre and Playwriting Today: a panel discussion – a lively debate about contemporary theatre and playwriting. Bring your questions to Director Tom Cornford and Playwright Amanda Whittington.
• Someone Who’ll Watch Over Me - Frank McGuinness’s moving play about three men, held hostage in a single cell, thrives on its dark sense of humour. Gritty, humorous and heart-breaking, McGuinness’s play is an exploration of the outer corners of the human condition.

 Art –

• Mask Making – where anyone can come to create masks. Instructions and materials will be provided as well as information on different types of masks. An exhibition of the masks created will follow.
• Photosoc Exhibition - view a selection of the fantastic pictures produced by members of the University’s Photo Society. 
• Anime, Manga & Cosplay – interested in art, animation, costume design? Check out the exhibition on anime and manga, a Japanese art movement, and discover cosplay, where people create costumes of manga and video game characters and masquerade them. 

Film –

• Cinema Outdoor Screening: Monsters Inc. 
• Shootout Showcase - big-screen showing of all fourteen shortlisted films from the Shootout short film competition. Shootout is an extreme film-making competition which challenges Warwick University staff, students and alumni to make a film of no more that 4 minutes in 24 hours using a brief which is not revealed until the start of the 24 hour period. Films are judged by film industry professionals who will be at the Gala Awards Ceremony, held towards the end of the festival, to introduce the films.

Music –

• Drum Parade – a carnival style parade.
• Revelation Rock-Gospel Choir – a mix of contemporary gospel, pop and rock songs guaranteed to get everyone clapping along! 
• Almost Acoustic – the sounds of some of Warwick’s finest musicians in this acoustic and unplugged celebration of music.
• String Orchestra concert
• The Big Band Concert

Dance –

• CRUNK’D: The Darker Side of Dance – Street Vibe showcase their most energetic routines and provide you with an insight into the origins of street dance.
• Irish Dancing Performance 
• Salsa Performance 
• Belly Dance Workshop – a two hour belly dance workshop for all levels of experience. 

Comedy –

• WORDS with A.L.Kennedy – Join award-winning author and stand-up comedian A.L. Kennedy for a night of comic theatre.
• The Comedy Society’s Student Showcase - a two hour gig full of the finest comedians Warwick University has to offer. 

Writers Workshop –

• Workshop of the World: a poetry workshop – poetry workshop with David Morley, award-winning poet and Director of the Warwick Writing Programme. All are welcome, sign up online.
• Writing for the Theatre – a workshop on writing for the theatre led by playwright Amanda Whittington; sign up online.

Author Talk –

• The Science of Discworld - Ian Stewart is joint author of the UK bestselling series The Science of Discworld I, II, and III (with Terry Pratchett and Jack Cohen), and has published more than 80 other books. A prize-winning scientist, Stewart hosts this fun and stimulating event on the Science of Discworld for children.
• The Life & Work of Mervyn Peake – Sebastian Peake, the son of the late Mervyn Peake who wrote the highly celebrated “Gormenghast” series, will talk about his father’s work.
• Gregory Norminton: the strange future of publishing – Author of four novels including The Ship of Fools (‘a Canterbury Tales for the new millennium’ – The Times), Gregory will talk about his books and the future of publishing industry.

 …In addition to a fashion show, a magic and illusion show and martial arts demonstrations and workshops.

For further information and to view the full event listings by date, venue or type, visit www.wsaf.org.uk 

posted by Sophie

Attention Art Students!

Andy Warhol’s portrait of David Hockney, part of ‘Pop Life: Art in a Material World’ at Tate Modern, London.

 

Tate Modern’s big autumn show- Pop Life: Art in a Material World- will examine how artists such as Tracey Emin and Damien Hirst have become part of celebrity culture, and will look at the legacy of Andy Warhol’s declaration that “good business is the best art”. The exhibition, three years in the planning, will look at subsequent artists at their most self-aggrandising.

Tate Modern’s chief curator Sheena Wagstaff said they wanted to pinpoint the moment in the 1980s when “a key aspect of late Warhol became a thrilling legacy for subsequent generations of artists”. The show will explore how, after Warhol, artists have not only commented on the mass media culture of the last 30 years, but have been very much a part of it, infiltrating the cult of celebrity.

The show begins with Warhol, the fright-wigged, pale and vacant-looking pop artist who inspired so many. “Artists took permission from Warhol to treat the persona as part of the art itself,” says Catherine Wood, one of the show’s curators. “By the 80s, Warhol was licensing his aura. People would pay for him to turn up to parties and sometimes he would send doubles to effect the same demeanour. He treated the idea of the aura almost like a perfume brand.”

The career of Damien Hirst, one of the most successful of all self-publicising artists, will also feature heavily in the Tate Modern show. It will chart his career from the breakthrough Freeze exhibition in 1988, which introduced the YBAs to a global audience, to the convention-defying sale he organised last year at Sotheby’s.

- Pop Life: Art in a Material World at Tate Modern, October 1st 2009 – January 17th 2010

taken from: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/may/12/tate-modern-warhol-artists

posted by Sophie

Film and Television Studies Symposium

The Department of Film and Television Studies at the University of Warwick  is hosting a Film and Television Studies Symposium on Friday 20th March 2009. The one-day event, entitled ‘Making and Remaking Television Classics’,  is open to all and will tackle the notion of the ‘television classic’. The aim of this event is to open up the broad question ‘what is a television classic?’ and the day will feature both papers and shorter clip-based presentations from a variety of invited speakers. Significant discussion time is built into the day, in the hope of encouraging wide-ranging discussion on a subject. Speakers include Kim Akass, Rebecca Barden, Janet McCabe, John Caughie, John Corner, Lez Cooke, Glyn Davies, Christine Geraghty, Jason Jacobs, Sarita Malik, Robin Nelson and Helen Piper. The event’s location at Warwick University is yet to be announced. Tickets are priced at £35/30 (student) and those wishing to attend must register first online.

For further information and to register for tickets, visit www.warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/film/researchnews/tvclassics

- Don’t forget to check out the great range of books and magazines relating to film and television studies and Leamington LRC!

posted by Sophie

Colleges On Camera Competition For Students

Colleges on Camera is a national competition to celebrate the major investment being made in creating inspirational college facilities in which to learn. The winner will capture a striking image which brings to life what this ‘Building Colleges for the Future’ investment really means to them and their college. Essentually, students have to capture the spirit of their college in one shot.

A prestigious panel of experts will be judging the entries and the finalist’s work will be published in leading magazine The Architects’ Journal. The Winner will also receive over £2,500 worth of photography equipment, including an Apple Mac Book and a Nikon D90 camera, lens and tripod.

- Why not check out the extensive collection of books on photography in the Leamington LRC for tips!

How to enter: Just send an image capturing how your new building inspires you and your fellow students. Send your images to collegesoncamera@cohnwolfe.com OR Colleges on Camera, Cohn & Wolfe, Lynton House, 7-12 Tavistock Square, London WC1H 9LT

All entries must include the entrant’s full name, college name, age, a contact telephone number and 50 words explaining why they decided to enter the image. Only one entry per person is permitted with a maximum of three images per entry. Any image that has been digitally manipulated will not be considered.

The deadline for entries is 5pm on Friday 13th March. For more information, read the Colleges On Camera factsheet in Headlines (edition 476, 2nd March 2009; find Headlines on the College intranet site under ‘Publications’) or alternatively, contact Ali Hicks on 020 7331 5372 or alison.hicks@cohnwolfe.com

posted by Sophie

Amazing Arts Council Giveaway!

The Arts Council England has just launched a new scheme in which young people aged 25 or under can see selected theatre productions for free! Whether your an Arts student or simply fancy a cheap night out, its a great deal.

The scheme offers thousands of free theatre tickets to anyone under 26 for all sorts of theatre events including comedy, tragedies, musical theatre, dance, modern mime, plays, circus and much more. There are more than 200 venues participating throughout England, local participating theatres include:

• Playbox Theatre, Warwick
• Warwick Arts Centre, Coventry
• Belgrade Theatre, Coventry
• Royal Shakespeare Theatre, Stratford upon Avon
• Birmingham Hippodrome, Birmingham

For more information, go to www.anightlessordinary.org.uk - happy theatre going!

posted by Sophie

Stems Cells for Horses: Equine Regenerative Medicine

It seems stem cells are always in the news these days, but it’s not often that you come across any discussions about their application to veterinary medicine. You’re in luck, dear reader, because I’ve just been turned on to two new resources by our good friends over at Intute.

The first is a Royal Veterinary College Podcast on equine stem cells, where Roger Smith, Professor of Equine Surgery at the RVC describes how stem cell research can be used in order to improve the treatment of tendon disease in horses.

The second resource is a freely available full-text publication produced by the Center for Equine Health, UC Davis School of Veterinary Medicine. ‘Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine in Horses’ is a special issue of the ‘Horse Report’ dedicated entirely to this subject. It describes in detail the potential uses for stem cells in equine medicine and includes a veterinary case study presented to the UC Davis teaching hospital of a mare with a severe fracture of her right front long pastern bone.

posted by Brooke

Animal Science Image Gallery

The Animal Science Image Gallery  (ASIG) is a collaborative project of the USDA National Agricultural Library and the American Society of Animal Science (ASAS). ASIG provides an extensive collection of animal science images, animations, and video for classroom and outreach teaching and learning. There is the facility to search for images, or alternatively browse by the following subjects: companion animals, beef cattle, dairy cattle, genetics, horses, ethology, nutrition, poultry, reproduction, sheep and goats, pork industry, and other species. For each image there is associated metadata which includes image creator, source, image rights, date of creation, and description. Detailed information is provided on how to download images, how to submit an image to this collection, copyright and use information, and the peer-review process.

posted by Brooke

Woah… Have You Seen WikiVet?

I’ve just had my socks knocked off! WikiVet is seriously best thing since to happen to veterinary nursing since the syringe pump for the paediatric ICU. The revising veterinary nursing student, lecturer looking for some high quality resources or any other animal health professional who wants detailed information in an easy to use format only has to make one stop in cyberspace from now on. 

From the press release: This website is designed to provide a comprehensive online knowledge-base for veterinary students, nurses and graduates world-wide launched Thursday 9 October 2008, in a partnership between the Higher Education Academy, Joint Information Systems Committee (JISC) and UK veterinary schools.

Covering the entire veterinary curriculum, WikiVet (http://www.wikivet.net/) has been created in a similar way to its big brother Wikipedia, but with three distinct differences.  Firstly all the content relates specifically to the veterinary curriculum. Secondly all the content has been authored by vets and vet students and is peer reviewed by subject specialists at one of the participating veterinary schools. Finally access to the site is restricted to the veterinary community in order to ensure that the general public is not able to view or edit the content.

To have a play on the website, you’ll need to register. For a limited time only, WikiVet invites academics and other interested parties to have a look by using the login ‘launch’ and the password ‘press’.

posted by Brooke