Retired Professor of Zoology. Studied aggression but becoming an ecogrumpy
Joined June 2010
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2,695 Photos and videos
20 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 17. Hazel professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Hazel is used for woven baskets, fence 'hurdles' and walking sticks. The thinner sticks are used to support beans and other garden plants.
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20 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Bamboozled? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Developments, such as one in Pachgaon village (Maharashta, India), may serve as a model for some parts of the world. Giving the villagers 'forest rights' protects the jungle, and the jungle provides them with a living.
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19 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 16. Hawthorn professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… As Hawthorn wood is strong and closely-grained, it's often used for carving. This wood is also employed to make tool handles, as well as other small household items.
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19 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Malaria: A Growth Area professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Globally, in 2023, there were 263 million malaria cases.600,000 people (predominantly young children) died. This death rate from malarial infections, constituted a rise for the fifth consecutive year.
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18 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Birder's Bonus 241 professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Noted a Curlew (Numenius arquata) on the Loughor estuary at Bynea.
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18 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Season's Greetings and an Excellent 2025 From Deep... professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Things are not looking great! Many of the trajectories seem downwards. But you never know, surprises can (and do) happen!
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18 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 15. Goat willow professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Goat willow wood is good fuel & can be used to generate charcoal. It also makes paper pulp. As it's lightweight & flexible, willow wood is used in the manufacture of basketry, furniture and craft work.
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18 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Tundra Turning professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… For millennia, the Arctic tundra has served as a carbon 'sink', trapping organic material for extended periods. Wildfires in this region, have now converted it into a net source of carbon dioxide emissions.
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17 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 14. Gingko biloba professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Gingko biloba wood is used for carvings, cutting boards and furniture. It can also make turned objects, such as chess sets.
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17 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: The Monarch is Dying? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… The US Fish and Wildlife Service is finally worried the Monarch butterfly. The Endangered Species Act would give it extensive protections. Otherwise, it seems unlikely to survive climate change.
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16 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: World Leading On the Environment? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Globally, there's a marked rise in suppression of dissenters, as climate, biodiversity and pollution crises all loom. Australia and the UK appear to be in 1st and 2nd place in the arrest charts?
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16 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 13. Maple professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Maple wood is used for heavy-duty flooring, like bowling alleys & dance floors. It's suitable for kitchen tables, butcher blocks & cutting boards. It's also a popular choice for high-end furniture & veneers.
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15 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Seeing the Changes 2104 professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Funnel fungi (Clitocybe spp) at Bynea.
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15 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Variable Woods professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… A variety of different woods in a Swedish sampler (given to me after examining a PhD thesis). It fits in with the Woodentops series.
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15 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 12. Eucalyptus professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Eucalyptus wood is extensively used in Australia as fuel. This timber is also commonly employed in buildings (making support beams etc.) and as fencing.
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15 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Where's the Beef (From)? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… There's a suggestion that a FTA agreement might be signed between the UK & US governments. The US officials say an agreement depends on UK willingness to take their prime beef. A 'slippery slope'?
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14 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 11. Elder professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Elder branches contain a soft pithy core. This can be removed, to create hard, easily-polished, hollow pipes. These are used to manufacture whistles, pipes, bagpipe chanters and other musical instruments.
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14 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: What the Punter Wants? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… The UK Prime Minister has ordained that "a human being wanting to have a house" must take priority over the environment. This is only sustainable in the short term?
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13 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Wooden Tops 10. Elm professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Elm is strong & durable, with a tight-twisted grain, making it resistant to water. It's been used to make boats, furniture, wheel hubs, wooden water pipes, floor boards & coffins.
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13 Dec 2024
Professor P.Brain's blog: Cutting Woodland For Bottled Water? professorpbrainsblog.blogspo… Danone is planning to cut down a woodland of circa 450 trees planted by primary school children almost 20 years ago. It wants to expand its bottling factory in Harrogate. Wrong priorities?
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