A new role for livestock guard dogs

Livestock guard dogs, traditionally used to protect farm animals from predators, are now being used to protect the predators themselves A For thousands of years, livestock guard dogs worked alongside shepherds to protect their sheep, goats and cattle from predators such as wolves and bears. But in the 19th and 20th centuries, when such predators […]

Adapting to the effects of climate change

A All around the world, nations are already preparing for, and adapting to, climate change and its impacts. Even if we stopped all CO2 emissions tomorrow, we would continue to see the impact of the CO2 already released since industrial times, with scientists forecasting that global warming would continue for around 40 years. In the […]

Robots and us

Three leaders in their fields answer questions about our relationships with robot When asked ‘Should robots be used to colonise other planets?’, cosmology and astrophysics Professor Martin Rees said he believed the solar system would be mapped by robotic craft by the end of the century. ‘The next step would be mining of asteroids, enabling […]

To Britain

Mark Rowe investigates attempts to reintroduce elms to Britain A Around 25 million elms, accounting for 90% of all elm trees in the UK, died during the 1960s and ’70s of Dutch elm disease. In the aftermath, the elm, once so dominant in the British landscape, was largely forgotten. However, there’s now hope the elm […]