Category: News

MP playing air guitar whilst the important subject of Army cuts was being discussed.

Most people notice a distinctive smell in the air after it rains. It’s frequently linked with spring, as the smell of fresh cut grass is associated with summer. You’ll find it in a lot of poetry and also on many inspirational lists of things to be happy about. But what causes it?

As it turns out, the smells people associate with rainstorms can be caused by a number of things. One of the more pleasant rain smells, the one we often notice in the woods, is actually caused by bacteria! Actinomycetes, a type of filamentous bacteria, grow in soil when conditions are damp and warm. When the soil dries out, the bacteria produces spores in the soil. The wetness and force of rainfall kick these tiny spores up into the air where the moisture after a rain acts as an aerosol (just like an aerosol air freshener).

In the early 1800s more than 65 million bison roamed North America, now their numbers have been reduced to approximately 3900. Bison in the U.S. are mostly confined within the perimeter of Yellowstone National Park but heavy snows in recent years have led them to roam to lower elevations where it is easier to forage for vegetation.

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Computers in the future may…perhaps only weigh 1.5 tons.
– Popular Mechanics, 1949.

According to the Mayan Calendar the world will end in 2012, but there might be another explanation….

After a year and a half of non-stop traveling with Human Planet, it appears that for me this particular journey is now over.

It’s been an amazing experience and one that has brought me into contact with our incredibly diverse species across almost every inhabitable environment on the planet. I’m sure you won’t be too surprised to learn that I can report back that human beings are the same the world over… individuals dealing with their own versions of personal struggles to secure food, find a mate, put a roof over their heads and protect their offspring.

I’m also sure that you won’t be too shocked to discover that no matter where I went in the world, doors were opened to me, food was shared with me, knowledge was exchanged freely and help was offered unconditionally.