Planet Earth - Autumn 2002
NERC's award-winning free magazine, Planet Earth, is aimed at non-specialists with an interest in environmental science.
This issue is no longer in print.
* Unless specified, all articles are less than 1MB in size.
250 million-year-old mystery of the 'Fungal Spike' (*1·4MB)How did one species thrive in a time when 6% of its fellow sea creatures were wiped out? Mike Stephenson and Clinton Foster think the scum of the earth may provide the answer.
A very big fish (*1·0MB)The one that got away - until now that is. A little known but gigantic fish, Leedsichthys problematicus, has been found in the Jurassic Oxford Clay, writes David Martill.
Seeing the good in the treesTrees in towns and cities are good for the air we breathe, but it seems that some trees are better than others. Nick Hewitt reports.
Saline ponds and secretive ciliatesIf anything can survive in an extremely salty pond it's a protozoon and a freshwater protozoon at that. Genoveva Esteban, Angel Baltanás and Bland Finlay explain.
Scent of a butterflyThe butterfly. A rare and gentle thing? Emma Napper explains how Britain's large blue butterfly may be rare but is anything but gentle. In fact to ensure its survival it gets away with murder.
The buzz of biodiversity down on the farmRichard Pywell has been combining satellite technology with wildlife surveys to improve biodiversity on a Yorkshire farm.
Disappearing zooplankton?Catch restrictions alone won't solve the global over-fishing crisis - we also need to know how marine productivity will be altered by climate change. Phil Williamson explains the importance of Zooplankton, and why some species are more important than others.
The rock dietNo, not a new fangled instant weight loss programme, but the ultimate raw material of our food. Fiona Fordyce and Chris Johnson explain how geochemists are helping people across the world find ways to deal with too much or too little of vital minerals in their diets.
Eating soilA fit of pica? Or an instinctive need for the nutrients? Whatever the reason many people throughout the world ingest soil. Barry Smith explains how they could be putting themselves at risk from toxic trace elements by doing so.
Promoting links with ChinaJohn Lawton, NERC Chief Executive, recently visited Beijing to look at ways of increasing scientific collaboration with China.
Bottoms up and heads downAndrew Parker updates us on his work developing ways to collect water in arid climates - inspired by a beetle with a knobbly back.