25th January 2020

Technology Nobel Prize-winning scientist Frances Arnold retracts paper

Technology Nobel Prize-winning scientist Frances Arnold retracts paper

Technology

Technology Frances Arnold in her laboratoryImage copyright
Millennium Prize

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Prof Arnold works in the department of chemical engineering at Caltech

American scientist Frances Arnold, who won the Nobel Prize for chemistry, has retracted her latest paper.

Prof Arnold shared the award with George P Smith and Gregory Winter for their research on enzymes in 2018.

A subsequent paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams was published in the journal Science in May 2019.

It has been retracted because the results were not reproducible, and the authors found data missing from a lab notebook.

Reproduction is an essential part of validating scientific experiments. If an experiment is a success, one would expect to get the same results every time it was conducted.

Prof Arnold came forward with the news herself on Twitter on 2 January.

“For my first work-related tweet of 2020, I am totally bummed to announce that we have retracted last year’s paper on enzymatic synthesis of beta-lactams. The work has not been reproducible,” she tweeted.

“It is painful to admit, but important to do so. I apologize to all. I was a bit busy when this was submitted, and did not do my job well.”

That same day, Science published a note outlining why it would be retracting the paper, which Prof Arnold co-authored with Inha Cho and Zhi-Jun Jia.

“Efforts to reproduce the work showed that the enzymes do not catalyze the reactions with the activities and selectivities claimed. Careful examination of the first author’s lab notebook then revealed missing contemporaneous entries and raw data for key experiments. The authors are therefore retracting the paper.”

The announcement is the latest example of the “reproducibility crisis” facing the sciences.

In October 2018, the journal Nature wrote online that there was “growing alarm about results that cannot be reproduced”.

An earlier survey conducted by the journal found that more than two-thirds of researchers had tried and failed to reproduce another scientist’s experiments.

Reaction to Prof Arnold’s tweets was mostly positive, however, as her colleagues commended her honesty.

“Can I please express my respect for you bringing this to everyone’s attention. This shows that anyone can make an honest mistake and acting to correct that is the best response. Thank you,” wrote Dominique Hoogland, a researcher at King’s College London.

Prof Arnold is a widely respected chemical engineer, whose work pioneering “directed evolution” won her the €1m (£0.8m) Millennium Technology Prize in 2016.

She is also on the board of directors for Google’s parent company Alphabet.

24th January 2020

In_pictures Tinder to add panic button and anti-catfishing tech

In_pictures Tinder to add panic button and anti-catfishing tech

In_pictures

in_pictures Tinder's new verification feature.Image copyright
Tinder

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Tinder aims to crack down on “catfishing” with its new verification feature

Tinder is adding a panic button and other safety features to the dating app.

The new functions will include emergency assistance, location tracking, and photo verification.

Tinder will offer the features first in the US from 28 January, but didn’t say when they will be available globally.

Parent company Match Group – which also owns PlentyOfFish, OkCupid and Hinge – aims to roll out the features on its other dating platforms later this year.

Match Group said it had invested in Noonlight, which provides the online emergency response services and personal safety products that Tinder will use.

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Tinder

Noonlight’s technology will enable users to alert emergency services and transmit highly accurate location data.

Before meeting someone, users will be able to save information about the person and when the date is taking place.

If they then hit the panic button emergency services will be alerted with the details, along with accurate location data.

The app’s new photo verification feature will help users avoid so-called “catfishing”, when someone uses a fake identity online.

It will employ human-assisted Artificial Intelligence (AI) to check that profile pictures uploaded to app, with users asked to verify their identity by taking several real-time selfies.

Match Group chief executive Mandy Ginsberg said it will be the first dating company to invest in an emergency response service.

“A safe and positive dating experience is crucial to our business,” she said.

“We’ve found cutting-edge technology in Noonlight that can deliver real-time emergency services – which doesn’t exist on any other dating product.”

Match Group did not say how much it had invested in Noonlight.

Dating companies and other online platforms, have been criticised for not doing enough to protect their users.

In 2018 UK police said the number of recorded sexual offences involving online dating sites and apps had almost doubled compared to four years earlier.

In recent months Uber and Airbnb announced new safeguards in the wake of questions over their safety issues measures.

24th January 2020

Environment Malaysia returns 42 containers of ‘illegal’ plastic waste to UK

Environment Malaysia returns 42 containers of ‘illegal’ plastic waste to UK

Environment

environment Malaysia's environment minister Yeo Bee Yin (second left) inspects a container of plastic wasteImage copyright
AFP

Image caption

Malaysia’s environment minister Yeo Bee Yin (second left) inspects a container of plastic waste

Malaysia is returning 42 shipping containers of illegally imported plastic waste to the UK, its environment minister has announced.

Yeo Bee Yin said Malaysia would take “steps to ensure” the country “does not become the garbage dump of the world”.

She added Malaysia had sent back 150 containers to their country of origin.

The UK government said it received a request from Malaysian authorities last year to repatriate the waste and some containers had already arrived back.

An Environment Agency spokesman said: “We continue to work with the shipping lines and Malaysian authorities to ensure all waste is brought back as soon as possible.”

He added the government was also “working hard to stop illegal waste exports from leaving our shores in the first place”.

The South East Asian country has seen a sharp rise in foreign plastic waste since China – once the world’s largest importer – announced a ban in 2017.

Malaysia said a total of a total of 3,737 metric tonnes of unwanted waste had been sent back to 13 countries, including 43 containers to France, 42 to the UK, 17 to the United States, and 11 to Canada.

The authorities hope to send back another 110 containers by the middle of 2020 – with 60 of those going to the US.

Image copyright
Reuters

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Waste at an illegal plastic recycling factory in Malaysia

Many wealthy countries send their recyclable waste overseas because it is cheap, helps meet recycling targets and reduces domestic landfill.

The European Union is the largest exporter of plastic waste, with the US leading as the top exporter for a single country.

A growing number of countries across South East Asia, such as Indonesia and the Philippines, have returned unwanted waste over the last 12 months.

Image copyright
AFP

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Malaysia’s environment minister Yeo Bee Yin has previously singled out the UK for its plastic waste

Last year the UK was singled out by Malaysia’s environment minister, who said: “What the citizens of the UK believe they send for recycling is actually dumped in our country.”

The UK Environment Agency said the returned waste was the responsibility of the private companies that exported it and it must be handled according to UK regulations.

A spokesman added that anyone found guilty of exporting waste illegally could face a two-year jail term and an unlimited fine.

24th January 2020

Environment Trump decries ‘prophets of doom’ on environment

Environment Trump decries ‘prophets of doom’ on environment

Environment

President Trump attacks activists at the World Economic Forum in Switzerland, with Greta Thunberg in the audience. Also: there’s a warning against a cover-up as China virus cases jump, and what did a man and two dogs find on a beach?

24th January 2020

Environment Plug-in and sail: Meet the electric ferry pioneers

Environment Plug-in and sail: Meet the electric ferry pioneers

Environment

environment Thomas Larsen captains Ellen the world's biggest electric ferryImage copyright
Adrienne Murray

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Thomas Larsen captains Ellen, the world’s biggest electric ferry

“Have a pleasant journey,” blurts the tannoy, as the engines ramp up and we pull away from the harbour in Fynshav, southern Denmark.

I’m aboard Ellen, an electric-powered ferry, sailing to the island of Ærø, in the west Baltic Sea.

On the ship’s bridge, Captain Thomas Larsen stands behind a panel with controls and electronic charts. “What I can see on these two screens is a power management system,” he points out. “It shows me all my batteries. And how far I can expect to go.”

“The main difference is that I don’t have a full fuel tank. I need to think a lot about how I’m using my power.”

As we talk an alarm starts beeping. “Oh this tells me I do not have power for a new return trip without recharging,” Captain Larsen says calmly.

Powered entirely by batteries, Ellen is something of a Tesla among ferries. Fully charged, the 60m vessel can sail 22 nautical miles with up to 200 passengers and 30 cars onboard.

Image copyright
Adrienne Murray

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Ellen has a range of 22 nautical miles

That’s a roughly 40km (25-mile) round-trip, and seven times further than other electric ferries.

Ellen replaces an older diesel-powered vessel, and in the onboard cafe passengers welcome the change.

“It doesn’t make so much noise. And no smoke from the diesel – it’s good,” one traveller tells me.

“It’s very quiet. You don’t feel anything. It’s a great idea also for the environment,” says another.

“Ferry shipping in general is very dirty business,” says Halfdan Abrahamsen, an information officer from Ærø EnergyLab, as he shows me around.

More Technology of Business

Ships usually use marine diesel or heavy fuel oil, “which is just about the bottom of the food chain when it comes to product from refineries,” says Mr Abrahamsen.

The only oil onboard Ellen is for the gearbox and in the kitchen for making French fries, he says.

The emission-free ferry is expected to reduce CO2 emissions by 2,000 tonnes a year. It’s part of an EU-backed project to develop green ferries for longer routes.

Beyond a set of heavy metal doors, lies the engine and two battery rooms, where 840 lithium-ion batteries supplied by Swiss firm Leclanché, are stacked from floor to ceiling.

Image copyright
Adrienne Murray

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Two battery rooms house 840 lithium-ion batteries

Totalling 4.3MWh, it has the biggest battery capacity of any ship at sea and equivalent to the average amount of electricity a UK household consumes each year.

And that means it can sail further than any other electric ferry operating at the moment, according to Kimmo Rauma, vice-president of Danfoss Editron, the Finland-based company behind the electrical propulsion and charging technology.

After a 70 minute voyage, Ellen arrives at the harbour in Søby and moors alongside the charging station.

A mechanical arm plugs in and recharges the batteries in less than 25 minutes with clean energy supplied by local wind turbines.

Ellen is not fully operational just yet, and it hasn’t all been smooth sailing. Building a boat with so many batteries is complex and since being launched some battery cells have been replaced.

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Adrienne Murray

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Trine Heinemann says Ellen’s running costs are a quarter that of a diesel ferry

“They’re getting lighter and more energy dense, but they’re still heavy,” Trine Heinemann, the E-Ferry project coordinator explains, as we stand on the dockside.

“The more energy you need, the more batteries you need, the more weight you add. You then have to start thinking about how do we take other weight away from the ship? How do you build the most energy-efficient ship?”

A lower resistance design and more lightweight materials were used, contributing to Ellen’s low running costs.

“We are paying maybe 25% of what you would pay for running a similar diesel vessel.” says Ms Heinemann. “So that’s the significant saving.”

Maintenance costs are much lower too. A diesel engine has about 30,000 moving parts, in an electric motor it’s just the bearings that need maintenance, Dr Rauma says.

Image copyright
Adrienne Murray

Image caption

The green box on the right recharges Ellen’s batteries

The ferry has cost €21.3m (US$23.6m; £18.3m), with the EU’s Horizon 2020 programme funding €15m.

“It’s maybe 40% more expensive than a conventional diesel vessel,” Ms Heinemann says.

“Then you still have the transformer and the electrical infrastructure. So in terms of establishing an electrical vessel, we are looking at a significantly higher cost.”

So while battery power is certainly greener, is it commercially viable? The team believes so.

“Some say within 14 months you break even and then it’s saving from then on. We’re being a little bit more conservative and saying maybe four or five years,” says Ms Heinemann.

At Søby Shipyard, where Ellen was built, chief executive Roar Falkenberg thinks costs will come down.

“Ellen was a prototype. I think when we build the next Ellen, it will be only cost a bit more than a normal ferry. And if you look three to five years ahead, I think the price will be the same.”

Image copyright
Adrienne Murray

Image caption

Electric engines will require less maintenance

Batteries are getting more cost-competitive says Dr Tristan Smith, a shipping and energy expert from University College London, thanks largely to better technology and stricter emissions rules.

“If you have strong air quality regulation then you aren’t able to burn the worst quality marine fuels,” he says, “which then makes the battery more competitive, because it’s now competing against the more expensive fossil fuel.”

The shipping industry is responsible for around 3% of global CO2 and greenhouse gas emissions. In April 2018, the International Maritime Organisation set new targets to reduce these emissions by “at least 50% by 2050 compared to 2008” levels.

That’s spurring industry players to explore new emission-cutting measures including alternatives fuels like LNG, biofuel, also hydrogen and ammonia which Dr Smith thinks show most promise.

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Norled

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Norled is part of a hydrogen-powered ferry project

Nordic countries have led a shift towards hybrid and electric power. The first fully-electric car ferry was launched in Norway a few years ago, and the operator Norled is now developing, what it claims will be the world’s first hydrogen-fuelled ferry.

“The technology is ready,” says Danfoss Editron’s Kimmo Rauma. “The question is that the maritime industry is not the fastest to change.”

His firm has supplied electric technology for patrol-boats, icebreakers, and fish farming service boats.

It also developed Asia’s first e-ferry in Taiwan. He says retrofitting older diesel vessels with electric engines, particularly in city harbour areas, is a “big opportunity” to reduce pollution.

However experts say that scaling up battery power for large ships has significant limitations.

“The common denominator for successful battery use is that the vessels operate close to shore,” says Maria Skipper Schwenn, a director at industry body, Danish Shipping.

“The operational reach is limited simply due to the capacity of the battery itself. It’s simply not possible today when you are sailing more than 10 or 20 days at sea. In addition to that you need an enormous charging capacity in the port.”

“With the technology we have right now… it doesn’t seem like a viable solution for the deep-sea shipping. But for ferries, supply ships and tugboats, it’s an excellent solution.”

Back at Søby Shipyard, Roar Falkenberg agrees. “The key is how much energy can you store in the battery. If you have to sail from England to the United States, you need a lot! And then you can’t have any cargo, you can only have batteries. Maybe in 10 years, 15 years, there will be other ways for longer ship routes.”

24th January 2020

Science Mo Farah says he is ‘happy’ for any anti-doping body to re-test his samples

Science Mo Farah says he is ‘happy’ for any anti-doping body to re-test his samples

Science

science Four-time Olympic champion Mo Farah running in the Chicago Marathon

Mo Farah will attempt to defend his Olympic 10,000m title at Tokyo 2020

Mo Farah says he is “happy for any anti-doping body” to test any of his previous blood and urine samples.

The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) has said it will investigate all athletes who trained with Farah’s banned former coach Alberto Salazar.

Salazar was found guilty of doping violations and banned for four years.

UK Anti-Doping (Ukad) said on Friday it would need “credible evidence” a sample contained a banned substance before handing it over to any investigation.

“I’ve seen reports of my name in connection to Ukad and Wada about sample retesting,” said four-time Olympic champion Farah on Twitter.

“Just to be clear, I was not consulted about this and as I’ve said many times, I am happy for any anti-doping body to test any of my previous samples anytime.”

Salazar was banned in October after a four-year investigation by the US Anti-Doping Agency (Usada), with Dr Jeffrey Brown, a Nike-paid endocrinologist who treated many of Salazar’s athletes, receiving the same sanction.

Both Salazar and Brown have lodged appeals with the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Britain’s Farah left the Nike Oregon Project headed by Salazar in 2017, the same year in which the coach was charged by Usada.

But that was more than two years after BBC Panorama revealed allegations of doping and unethical practices at the US training base in Oregon in 2015.

Farah has never failed a drugs test and has always strongly denied breaking any rules.

He told BBC Sport earlier this month that he would have been “the first one out” had he known Salazar faced a ban for doping violations.

In November, Ukad said it would work with Wada in its investigation into athletes who trained with Salazar.

When asked if Wada had requested samples to retest, Ukad chief executive Nicole Sapstead said: “We’ve had no communication from Wada on that point but I would want to make it very clear that we’re here to assist any anti-doping organisation in their endeavours and if there’s anything we can do to help them then we’d be happy to do so.”

On Monday, British 5,000m runner Jessica Judd criticised Ukad for not handing over Farah’s samples.

In 2017, Ukad declined a request from Usada to hand over Farah’s historic samples, saying it was concerned such samples can degrade if retested or sent to a different location, undermining any future reanalysis.

Sapstead reiterated this concern on Friday, adding: “I was simply saying to Usada: ‘You need to be able to give me credible evidence about what it is you want to look for, rather than this just being a trawling expedition’.

“If any partner comes forward and says: ‘I have evidence to suggest this might be present in these athletes and this is part of an ongoing investigation,’ I’ll be the first one to say: ‘Help yourself. How can we help you?’

“But I’m not going to risk samples that we hold in storage that could enable us to retest when the science moves along.”

Farah confirmed in November that he will return to track competition in 2020 to defend his Olympic 10,000m title at the Tokyo Games.

24th January 2020

Environment FA Cup third round: Port Vale captain Leon Legge on living with epilepsy

Environment FA Cup third round: Port Vale captain Leon Legge on living with epilepsy

Environment

environment Leon Legge

Leon Legge (centre) will lead League Two Port Vale out against holders Manchester City in the third round of the FA Cup

“I was at my mother-in-law’s house and I stayed up to watch the Tyson Fury fight. I went to sleep and woke up in hospital with doctors around me. It was scary.”

Port Vale captain Leon Legge is recalling one of the countless number of seizures he has endured since learning, 18 years ago, he has epilepsy.

The defender has ended up in hospital numerous times as a result of the condition that affects the brain and remembers in detail the incident in 2001 which led him to being diagnosed at the age of 16.

“I was at a non-league team called Little Common,” Legge recalls. “I’d gone up for a header in training and as I came down I got light-headed. I lost all control of my body and fell back.

“Luckily for me the manager, who had a daughter with epilepsy, knew how to deal with me. I woke up with all the players around me. An ambulance came and I spent the night in hospital.”

On Saturday, Legge will lead League Two Port Vale out at holders Manchester City in the FA Cup third round (17:31 GMT).

“Epilepsy will not get the better of me,” the 34-year-old, an ambassador for Young Epilepsy, a charity which aims to create better futures for young people with the condition, tells BBC Sport.

‘Your body is in trauma’

According to charity Epilepsy Society, more than 500,000 people in the UK have epilepsy with around 87 people diagnosed with the condition every day. Most seizures happen suddenly without warning, last a short time and stop by themselves. Around 600 people die each year because of sudden unexpected death in epilepsy (SUDEP).

At first, Legge’s seizures happened during the day – he was unable to drive until he was 21 – and were triggered by tiredness or when he was ill and his immune system was weak.

Then the seizures developed a familiar pattern.

“I started having them in my sleep,” says Legge, whose wife Christina has been a huge support as he battles the condition. “There’s been times when I’ve gone to bed at home and everything has been OK and then I have found myself waking up in hospital.

“You cannot imagine what it’s like to wake up in a different environment to the one you went to bed in.

“My wife doesn’t really get used to it and she says that it can be scary. She knows what to do and she’s become pretty composed, but when it randomly happens it can be worrying.

“I used to bite my tongue during seizures and I’d get ulcers because I’d also bite the inside of my mouth. Your body is in trauma, it’s not nice, and it’s all a blur. I’ve visited a lot of hospital wards up and down the country as a result of epilepsy.”

Leon Legge trained as a security guard when he was in non-league football in case he did not make it as a professional player

As a non-league player at Lewes and Tonbridge Angels, Legge used to commute by train for trials at Football League clubs that would ultimately end in rejection.

“I had lots of trials and I’m often asked if epilepsy held me back,” Legge, who did not break into professional football until the age of 24, adds. “They’re not going to tell you to your face but I hope it wasn’t anything to do with that.”

Legge has not allowed the condition to become a barrier.

The seizures are not as frequent as they once were, while he has become used to the medication he must take every day for the rest of his life to help control his epilepsy.

Since landing his first professional contract at Brentford, Legge, whose non-league career also featured time at Eastbourne United Association and Hailsham Town, has gone on to play at Wembley in the EFL Trophy final while he is closing in on 350 Football League appearances after spells at Gillingham and Cambridge United.

Although he has not experienced a seizure during a competitive match, there have been instances when he has had to miss games because of the condition.

Last season Legge was unavailable for two Vale games after four seizures in one day while at home.

“While at Cambridge I had one in a hotel room before a game at Accrington. Ben Williamson, my room-mate, rushed to get the physio,” he adds.

“When I was first diagnosed I didn’t really know anyone who had my condition so I faced it alone. Since then I’ve spoken to other players who have had seizures and how they have coped – Matt Crooks [now at Rotherham] being one.

“I want people to know about how to deal with epilepsy. I’m always open to talk about it and I often get asked by parents of children with epilepsy how I deal with it.

“I’ve not had a seizure since last season but they can happen out of the blue. I won’t let it get in the way.”

From chicken nuggets to £300,000 jackpot

Legge will lead out Vale in front of 8,000 travelling fans at Etihad Stadium – almost double the average home attendance of the club based in Burslem, Stoke-on-Trent.

Despite finishing 20th in League Two in each of the past two seasons, a wave of optimism is sweeping through Vale Park following the arrival of new owners in May who paid slightly more than the reported £4m.

After six and a half years under Norman Smurthwaite, the Staffordshire club is in the hands of husband and wife Kevin and Carol Shanahan, who own an IT firm which employs 350 people next door to Vale Park.

The Shanahans are building bridges and instilling a sense of community after finding a club in a poor state on and off the pitch – and players’ correct diets ignored.

“They were sometimes fed chicken nuggets, chips and beans as a pre-match meal,” Carol, who was brought up in the shadows of West Brom’s The Hawthorns ground, recalls.

Port Vale co-owners Carol and Kevin Shanahan have brought a feel-good factor back to Port Vale

There is a strong emphasis on staff wellbeing.

Members of Vale’s first-team squad each contributed a minimum £10 to pay for Christmas drinks for the non-playing staff.

When 21-year-old midfielder Jake Taylor, who is on loan from Nottingham Forest, had his car broken into and all four wheels stolen in November, the owners quickly organised a new temporary vehicle for him.

“Port Vale haven’t sent out Christmas cards for years so this year we got 500 printed and signed by every player and backroom staff,” added Carol. “It matters. We’re all in this together.”

In 2020, celebrity fan and pop star Robbie Williams will play a homecoming charity concert at Vale Park.

Vale expect to make up to £300,000 from the Manchester City tie, yet Carol admits she will find the occasion a “surreal” experience.

“I’m very much into League Two, I’m an EFL girl,” she adds.

“It’s sad it’s not live on television in the UK. I did ask Robbie Williams ‘could you do a sing-off with Liam Gallagher at the game?’ That would attract the live cameras. It was a non-runner.”

Singer-songwriter and Port Vale fan Robbie Williams acknowledges the crowd during a game at Vale Park on 3 December. Williams is playing a concert at the League Two venue in June 2020

If you have been affected by any of the issues discussed in this article, advice and support can be accessed here.

24th January 2020

Environment Belching in a good way: How livestock could learn from Orkney sheep

Environment Belching in a good way: How livestock could learn from Orkney sheep

Environment

environment Sheep on North Ronaldsay foreshoreImage copyright
Fionn McArthur

The northernmost Orkney island, North Ronaldsay, is home to just 50 people and 2,000 sheep. Since the 19th Century, when islanders built a stone wall to confine the flock to the shoreline, it has survived on seaweed alone – and it now seems that this special diet could hold the key to greener, more climate-friendly livestock farming.

“It’s a bit like doing a jigsaw,” laughs Sian Tarrant as she heaves another large stone on to the wall. “Only there are no straight edges and some of these pieces are really heavy.”

The wind, which has been viciously squally all morning, punches at our faces and blasts the smaller slates on Sian’s rock pile until they shudder and rattle like teeth.

environment Sian Tarrant and the wall

“My contract is for three years,” she tells me, securing her flying hair under her bobble hat. “I really hope I can finish repairing the wall by then!”

Twenty-eight-year-old Sian is North Ronaldsay’s great hope. Back in the summer, she successfully answered an advertisement to become the island’s sheep warden, but shepherding is not her only responsibility – she must also repair the 21km dry stone dyke that circles the island just above the shoreline.

environment Map of North Ronaldsay, showing path of wall

It’s this wall that has stopped her flock from eating grass, and made it utterly unique.

“But I will admit,” she says, wiping her eyes which the wind is relentlessly needling, “until I started researching I had no idea how special the sheep were.”

Dr Kevin Woodbridge, the island’s retired GP and member of the Sheep Court – the management body that oversees the flock – has never been in any doubt of this. Short-tailed, small and coloured white, grey or chocolate brown, the sheep are descendants of the most primitive breeds of ruminants, Kevin says, and have been living on the island for thousands of years.

environment Sheep trot along the shore

At the sound of our boots on the pebbles, the timorous flock wheels round and shoots off, leaping bits of rope and debris left by the tide. Kevin laughs and tells me, a little self-consciously, that he’s sure the sheep are more intelligent than most and certainly more devious.

“I mean, just look at this wild habitat they live in,” he says, nodding at the rocky beach and the sulky steel-grey sky with its bulging, herniating clouds. “You have to be pretty adaptable to survive this.”

And the sheep certainly have adapted. Since 1832, when the islanders decided to build the 2m-high dyke to keep the sheep from pasture they needed for cows, the flock’s diet has been restricted to seaweed foraged from the shore. They are one of only two groups of animals on Earth that exist purely on seaweed; the other is a marine iguana which lives in the Galapagos Islands.

environment Sheep on the shore

“People think seaweed isn’t very nutritious,” smiles sheep farmer Alison Duncan, who also runs the Bird Observatory, as we drive round the little island in her electric car, checking up on the sheep. “But we never have to feed the sheep and just have a look at them – they get pretty fat on it, especially in winter when there’s lots of fresh seaweed washed up. And the lambs have a pretty good life – we don’t send them for slaughter until they’re three or four years old.”

We park up and trudge over the fields towards the coastline, where the sheep are grazing, our heads low against the buffeting all-prevailing wind. We startle a chunky little woodcock that’s sheltering in the long grass and it twitters its indignation shrilly.

environment Short presentational grey line

Environment Find out more

environment Short presentational grey line

“The sheep’s peculiar diet gives their meat a fuller, more gamey flavour,” shouts Alison over the gusts. “And it’s really sought after now, not only by local chefs in Orkney but also in big London hotels, and it’s quite a delicacy.”

In fact, North Ronaldsay mutton was served to the Queen on her Diamond Jubilee and is now in the process of acquiring Protected Geographical Indication status from the EU, like Wensleydale cheese and Jersey royal potatoes.

environment Sheep on North Ronaldsay foreshore

But lately the sheep have been enjoying even greater fame. Studies from the US, New Zealand and Australia have shown that livestock that have some seaweed in their diets belch far less methane than animals fed on grass or general feed. And since methane is a greenhouse gas that has a warming effect almost 30 times as powerful as that of carbon dioxide, the solely seaweed-eating North Ronaldsay sheep could provide an answer to greener farming.

At Shotts, outside Glasgow, David Beattie takes me to the see the giant bins being filled at the Davidson’s Animal Feeds mill. David will be spending the next three years studying how protein-rich seaweed could be introduced into general livestock feed. Part of a Knowledge Transfer Partnership which couples academia with industry, David is dividing his time between the factory floor at Davidson’s and his laboratory at the James Hutton Institute in Dundee.

“You’d be amazed how picky animals are about their food,” he explains, as we examine a new mix of sugary-smelling sheep pellets the mill has just produced. “We have to put molasses into the mix to get the animals to eat it – otherwise they just pick out the bits they like and leave the rest. So, it’s quite a task to introduce seaweed into the feed and to make sure it’s still protein-rich and of top quality.”

environment Windy beach Ronaldsay

In a year, a cow produces about the same greenhouse effect as a car that burns 1,000 litres of petrol, so it’s fairly evident how beneficial it would be to reduce livestock’s carbon hoof-print simply by altering their diet. Experiments have shown that carbon dioxide as well as methane emissions are lowered when seaweed is introduced into feed. And if he succeeds in creating a nutritious seaweed blend that’s palatable to ordinary livestock there would be other environmental benefits too, including being able to source more animal feed locally and sustainably.

“A large proportion of the ingredients we put into animal feeds in the UK at the moment are sourced from across the world, like oil seed from South America,” says David, showing me the empty fleet of lorries waiting to take the giant sacks of pellets to farms across the UK. “This clearly has negative implications for the environment both in terms of farming methods to harvest that crop but also in terms of transportation. If we could identify a seaweed variant that could substitute oil seed, it would have a huge environmental benefit.”

environment Short presentational grey line

While the North Ronaldsay sheep have thrived over the centuries, the islanders have struggled.

The island used to host a profitable seaweed business, harvesting two varieties of kelp – one known as “tangles” – which were used in the production of iodine and other chemicals.

But last century it was discovered that it was cheaper to source the seaweed from South America. After that the island’s population dwindled dramatically from 500 to just 50 today.

environment Ruins on North Ronaldsay

David Beattie hopes that his research will help Scotland to re-establish commercial seaweed farming, creating jobs and revitalising coastal towns.

“Can you imagine the benefits if we could introduce seaweed into a supply chain as big as the livestock industry?” he asks.

environment Houses on North Ronaldsay

He reminds me that seaweed, since it is grown in the sea, needs neither fresh water nor fertiliser and that, potentially, fields currently used for growing crops to put into animal feed could be reclaimed to grow food for human consumption. And one of Scotland’s other big industries, salmon farming, could also benefit, David adds. Growing seaweed close to the farms helps protect the fish from sea lice – a major problem for salmon farmers – while the nitrogen excreted by the fish helps the seaweed grow.

“So, I really do think we stand to learn a lot from the seaweed-eating North Ronaldsay sheep,” he says.

environment Short presentational grey line

The arrival on the island of Sian the sheep warden a few weeks ago was critically important partly because of the damage to the beautiful dry stone dyke caused by brutal storms and rip tides which battered the island’s coastline in 2012 and 2014.

Under the rules of the Sheep Court, it’s up to the islanders who own the flock to repair any damage to the wall, which is listed Category A by Historic Scotland. But with a dwindling and ageing resident population, that’s no longer possible.

environment A damaged part of the wall on North Ronaldsay

“That’s where I come in,” laughs Sian good-naturedly, waving her spade. “The young blood! I’m the great hope to make sure the sheep are confined to the shore and the seaweed!”

Worryingly, there have been several reports recently of “loopers”, escapee sheep who have spotted a gap or a partially tumbled-down bit of wall and leapt over it, straying on to the rich grasslands on the forbidden side. Although ewes with newborn lambs are deliberately brought briefly on to the grass in the summer – the males, which are sent for slaughter, are never permitted to venture on to pasture – the sheep’s stomachs are no longer adapted to grass and they risk copper poisoning if they eat too much.

Just then we spot a sly looper skulking close to the wall. It’s on the unauthorised side, its eyes darting towards the prohibited patch of green near our car. Alison finds a torn oil skin the sea has dumped on the shingles and prepares to try to catch it.

environment Silhouette of the wall, including some holes

“Then we really have to work out how it got in,” she tells Sian, the novice sheep warden. “We will have to block up that entry point because as soon as a sheep finds a gap, he will tell his friends and before you know it, they’re all on the grass or in your garden!” She laughs. “You see, sheep are very curious animals and for them, the grass is always greener on the other side!”

With amazing matador skill using the oil skin as a shield (Sian insists modestly that it’s beginner’s luck) the Houdini sheep is recaptured by the pair and after Alison examines his teeth (it turns out he doesn’t have any, due to advanced age), together the women heave him on top of the dry stone wall where he teeters for a moment, as if weighing up his options, before he finally jumps back on to the beach side and gallops off on his spindly legs towards the waiting flock.

environment Sian lifts a sheep on to the wallImage copyright
Emma Jane Kirby

We walk away from the beach and towards the old lighthouse where the retired GP and sheep owner, Kevin Woodbridge, shows me around the island’s mill. Here the sheep’s wool with its beautiful muted colours is spun into beanies, fleecy jumpers and soft yarn. The mill currently employs three people but is set to expand into new premises due to increasing demand for genuine North Ronaldsay garments.

environment Kevin Woodbridge (left) and a member of staff at the mill

Image caption

Kevin Woodbridge (left) and a member of staff at the mill

“I’ve always thought of our sheep as an organic product,” Kevin says thoughtfully, when I ask him how he feels about the discovery that the island’s sheep could help us reduce greenhouse gas emissions from livestock. We look out over the beach where a small group of sheep are enthusiastically grazing on a fresh crop of moist seaweed the bigger waves have just delivered.

“We know we need to reduce our red meat consumption and if we can reduce the impact of red meat production as well, then that’s really good news for the sheep.”

Alison and I sit in the warm breakfast room at the Bird Observatory watching a pair of hen harriers intently searching the fields for food.

“We would be really proud if scientists could learn from how our sheep are digesting seaweed and producing less methane,” Alison tells me, putting down her binoculars. “That could help all farmers reduce their carbon footprint and could give us a good bit of publicity for selling the sheep elsewhere.”

environment Sheep trotting along the shore in silhouette

It’s getting dark now and having temporarily patched up the section of wall over which the looper made his bid for freedom, sheep warden Sian Tarrant decides to call it a day and cycle home.

environment Sian Tarrant and the wall

Opposite her house the little school stands quiet and empty. No children have been raised here for many years.

I comment that I’ve heard that some islanders are pinning their hopes on her to change that.

“Yes, that has been mentioned to me!” she agrees, laughing. “But maybe let’s sort the sheep problem first!”

environment North Ronaldsay sheep eating seaweed

Against the brooding, dark skyline, a cluster of sheep huddle together on a crop of rock as the wind continues to hurl along the length of the coastline. They scour the heaving waves patiently, waiting for the bigger ones to deliver their next seaweed dinner, which they will digest in their longstanding, idiosyncratic methane-modified way.

Far away on the mainland, scientist David Beattie is experimenting with the nutritional make up of seaweed variants, and writing up notes for the speeches he will deliver at forthcoming European conferences on greener farming.

As they graze in the moonlight, the North Ronaldsay sheep silently belch their satisfaction. Ruminant recognition doesn’t get much better than this.

Photographs by Fionn McArthur, Start Point Media, unless otherwise specified

You may also be interested in:

Orkney has been invaded by geese. The numbers are now so huge, and the damage so great, that permission has been granted for the wild birds to be shot – and eaten, reports the BBC’s Emma Jane Kirby.

Fighting a goose invasion with guns, knives and forks

24th January 2020

Environment Government extends consultation on hunting trophy ban

Environment Government extends consultation on hunting trophy ban

Environment

environment Trophy huntingImage copyright
AFP/ Getty Images

Image caption

Trophy hunters pay large sums to shoot big game animals – including endangered species

A government consultation on banning the importing and exporting of hunting trophies has been extended by one month in order to get more responses.

The consultation, launched in November, was due to close on Saturday but the deadline has now been pushed back by one month.

The government says this is for those who could not contribute as a result of the pre-election and Christmas periods.

Minister Lord Goldsmith has said he is “repulsed” by trophy hunting.

However, some conservationists argue money made from trophy hunting goes towards protecting endangered animals – an income source that could be lost if it was banned.

There are also fears that ending the practice would mean areas of habitat end up being converted for other uses.

And in May then-Environment Secretary Michael Gove sounded a note of caution.

“If particular communities have got used to deriving income from hunting, you don’t want to seem as though you’re basically saying, we’re taking your livelihood away,” he told the BBC Radio 5 Live podcast Beast of Man.

“We’ve got to make sure that there is a clear alternative, that they know that their livelihoods and their lifestyle are going to be respected and not patronised, before they will feel comfortable about moving.”

Image copyright
PA Media

Image caption

Shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard and Lord Goldsmith at an event calling for a ban on trophy hunting imports

Speaking at an event in Westminster on Tuesday, Environment Minister Lord Goldsmith acknowledged there were people who believe trophy hunting was an important source of funding for conservation.

However, he added, the argument was “predicated mostly on the idea of best practice, that all trophy hunting is highly and well-regulated, and that the money makes it to local communities and conservation”.

“If that was true then we would genuinely have to weigh up the arguments, the moral argument against the apparent conservation benefits.

“The purpose of this consultation is to unpick those arguments.

“How can it be good for an endangered species when the healthiest and most magnificent among them are the first to be shot?” he asked.

Also attending the event, Labour’s shadow environment secretary Luke Pollard said: “I think banning trophy hunting would send a very strong signal to the world that this is not an acceptable practise in the 21st century.”

The consultation is specifically seeking views on options for importing and exporting hunting trophies to the UK.

The options include introducing a ban for certain species, stricter requirements for moving certain species, banning hunting trophies altogether, or do nothing.

24th January 2020

Environment First Budget since election set for March

Environment First Budget since election set for March

Environment

environment Chancellor Sajid JavidImage copyright
Getty Images

Chancellor Sajid Javid has set 11 March as the date for his first Budget – the first since the general election.

Mr Javid says billions of pounds will be invested “across the country”.

The Treasury will “prioritise the environment”, he said and reiterated a plan to make use of low borrowing rates to spend on public services.

John McDonnell, Labour’s shadow chancellor, said he doubted whether the government would deliver on its investment or climate goals.

Mr Javid will update his cabinet colleagues on the performance of the economy before facing MPs later on Tuesday.

He told the BBC: “There will be an infrastructure revolution in our great country.

“We set out in our manifesto during the election how we can afford to invest more and take advantage of the record low interest rates that we are seeing, but do it in a responsible way.

“There will be up to an extra £100bn of investment in infrastructure over the next few years that will be transformative for every part of our country,”

He added: “In the Budget, we will be setting out how we are going to take advantage of all the huge opportunities that Brexit will bring.

“Also, how we are going to help hard-working people in particular – especially with the cost of living – and how we are going to level up across the entire country.”

Environment Scrutiny question

Mr Javid cancelled a 6 November Budget in October to make way for the general election.

This means that the Office for Budget Responsibility, which monitors the government’s performance on money management, may not be able to comply with its legal requirement of publishing two forecasts in the financial year, which ends on 31 March.

Critics say this means less independent scrutiny of the public finances.

The Budget is the government’s yearly announcement on its plans for tax and spending for the coming financial year, which starts in April.

“After a decade of wrecking the economy, we can have no confidence in a Tory government delivering the scale of investment needed for renewal, especially with a no-deal Brexit still on the table,” said Mr McDonnell.

“The lack of foresight in not focusing this budget on the threat of climate change is also criminally irresponsible.

“The government has learnt nothing from the fires in Australia and the floods on Indonesia. This will be a budget of climate change recklessness, not renewal.”

This is not just about a change of date for a Budget originally postponed because of the Brexit delay and then an election.

A rewiring of the Treasury is in the works. First, the Budget to be presented on 11 March will be quite fundamentally different to the Budget that never happened. The election result gives a Commons majority and a mandate to act confidently and decisively, and in a manner that fleshes out the election rhetoric about “levelling up” – helping slow-growing regions of the economy.

In the intervening two months, the Treasury will have to work up a new national infrastructure strategy that delivers on the plan to rebalance regional inequalities, some of which stem from decisions made nationally on, for example, transport spending.

Insiders suggest that the changes could reach into the heart of the Treasury, taking up advice from independent economists and regional mayors to change the way that the government calculates the value for money of public spending on investment projects.

The so-called “Green Book”, used to evaluate big investment projects, could be changed to rectify a formula and a process that biases government investment to where economic growth, high productivity, and high house prices are already concentrated – in and around London.

Read more in Faisal’s blog here.

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