Young people and cars: bicycles, computers and smartphones are better

Young people and cars: bicycles, computers and smartphones are better

Smartphones and bicycles instead of cars. This is what teenagers these days prefer, while, on the contrary, in former times, young people craved to pass their driving test and get a car, as a means to become more independent adults.   So, it’s not due to diesel emissions scandal that Germans don’t drive as they did

Trekking in the footsteps of wolves

Trekking in the footsteps of wolves

Wolves (Canis lupus italicus) disappeared from the Alps in the early 20th century. In the late 1980s, however, some specimens native to Abruzzo’s Apennines range began to move from central Italy to the North, given the abundance and variety of preys available there and the increase in woodlands. So, in 1992, many years after their disappearance, two

Why melting ice affects us all

Why melting ice affects us all

In 40 years, the Arctic will run out of ice during summer months, as proven by the lowest icecap winter extension ever registered by satellites last March. It is a phenomenon involving half of the Arctic ice.     These are some of the effects caused by the on-going climate change, documented by WWF in

Coal’s inexorable decline: a mine worth millions is sold for a dollar

Coal’s inexorable decline: a mine worth millions is sold for a dollar

The collapse in coal prices is real. The “Isaac Plains” coking coal mine in Australia, valued at 860 Australian dollars (about $631 million) three years ago has been sold for $1. According to Bloomberg, the Brazilian mining group Vale SA and Japan’s Sumitomo Corp. offloaded the “Isaac Plains” mine for just $1, selling it to

How climate change changes music

How climate change changes music

Since 2009 Karen Aplin is a researcher in the Physics division at Oxford University. Before getting to manage the teaching laboratories of this renowned English university, Karen obtained a doctorate degree in atmospheric physics at the Department of Meteorology at the University of Reading, but also a diploma in music performance from Trinity College, London.   Metheorology

Be careful what you wear. Greenpeace’s campaign against PFCs in outdoor clothing

Be careful what you wear. Greenpeace’s campaign against PFCs in outdoor clothing

Greenpeace is asking for the elimination of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs), lab-made chemical substances widely used in the production of sports and outdoor apparel such as jackets, trousers,and shoes, in order to make them waterproof. The request by the environmental organisation derives from the persistent and hazardous traits of such substances. In June and July, volunteers and