Bottled water has become the choice for people who are healthy and thirsty. Bottled water is all over the world. But some say the planet's health, and people's health may be suffering from it.
The idea that bottled water is safer for humans may not be true. The Natural Resources Defense Council of America said, “There is no promise that because water comes out of a bottle, it is cleaner or safer than water from the tap.” Another New York City-based action group added that some bottled water is “really just tap water in a bottle—sometimes more clean, sometimes not.”
It is not proven that bottled water is better than tap water. Nick Reeves from the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management said, “The high mineral content(含量) of some bottled water makes them not good for feeding babies and young children.” Also, most bottled water doesn't have fluoride(氟化物), which can make teeth stronger. Kids are drinking more bottled water and less fluoridated tap water, and some say that's behind the recent rise in bad teeth.
Storing is another problem. Placed near heat, the plastic bottles can produce bad chemicals(化学物质) into the water.
According to the Environmental Protection Agency, some 2.7 million tons of plastic are used worldwide to bottle water each year. The plastic can take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down.
In terms of energy use, plastic bottles are also not cheap. One report said that if water and soft drink bottlers had used 10 percent recycled materials in their plastic bottles, they would have saved about 72 million gallons of gas.
So, if you are worried about the effect of bottled water on the Earth, you can take the following steps.
●Drink from your tap. Unless your government warns against this, it should be fine.
●Get a container(容器). Carry your tap water in a steel or a lined drinking container, and clean it between uses.
●Keep it cool. Don't drink from a bottle that has been sitting in the sun, don't store it near chemicals, and don't reuse plastic bottles.
●Choose glass containers over plastic if possible. When finished, recycle!
The hottest“green”toy in Germany isn't made of organic or recycled materials.This one has a solar panel and only runs if kids remember to insert bright red “energy stones”that power the space station.Germany，a pioneer in many renewable energy initiatives，is also at the forefront of creating environmentfriendly toys aimed at making kids think about where energy comes from and how much of it they can use，raising awareness through play.A number of hightech green toys are on display at this year's Nuremberg toy fair，which runs through Sunday.
Among them，there are hydroelectricpowered(水电动力的)toy cars，and doll houses with wind turbines and rainwater catchers.The bright green “Future Planet”space station features an inner atrium(中庭)with a fan that is powered by a functioning solar cell.Its aim is to get kids to use their imagination about how energy will be created in the future.
Makers and retailers believe such toys will play an increasingly important role in their future—and that of our kids.“Energy is the question of the future and we are definitely thinking about this as we move ahead，”said Judith Schweinitz，a spokeswoman for Playmobil，maker of the solar panelfitted space station.“It is increasingly being brought into our play concept.”Green toys—which range from those made of sustainable materials to ones like the space station that just raise environmental awareness—make up only a sliver of the $ 84 billion international toy market，but their share is growing，studies indicate.Environmental research firm Earthsense，based in Syracuse，New York，predicts that green toys will account for about $ 1 billion，or 5 percent of U．S.toy sales in the next five years.Parents are smart and they want information about what's in the product.That's what's really driving the market.
The full moon climbs over the eastern horizon (地平线) and hangs like a huge orange globe in the sky. A few hours later, the moon is overhead but seems to have changed. The huge orange globe has become a small silver disk. What has happened? Why has the orange color disappeared? Why does the moon seem so much smaller and farther away now that it is overhead?
The moon appears orange on the horizon because we view it through the dust of the atmosphere. The overhead moon does not really shrink as it moves away from the horizon. Our eyes inform us that the overhead moon is farther away. But in this position the moon is actually closer to our eyes than when it is near the horizon.
The change in size is a trick our eyes and minds play on us. When the moon is low in the sky, we can compare its size with familiar objects. It is easy to see that the moon is much larger than trees or buildings, for example. When the moon is high in the sky, however, it is hard to compare it with objects on earth. Compared to the vastness of the sky, the moon seems small.
There is another reason why the moon seems to shrink. We are used to staring at objects straight ahead of us. When an object is difficult to see, our eyes have to try to focus on it. When we move our heads back to look up, we will try hard again. Looking at something from an unaccustomed position can fool you into believing an object is smaller or farther away than it is. However, scientists do not yet understand completely why the moon seems to shrink as it rises in the sky.
The discussion on renewable energy has been going on for at least a decade and people have relied on fossil fuels almost entirely for more than a century. However, the situation when fossil fuels were the most efficient and the cheapest source of energy has been left far in the past. Many countries such as Germany and Sweden have already made significant efforts to fix this situation, employing numerous power plants working on the renewable resources of energy. The most effective among these resources is geothermal（地热的）energy.
Geothermal energy does not depend on the world's economic and political situation as strongly as fossil fuels do. Besides, extracting（提炼）fossil fuels adds to the price of energy produced from them. Therefore, geothermal energy is much cheaper than traditional ones, saving up to 80% of the costs over fossil fuels.
Being a renewable resource, geothermal energy produces less waste and pollution than traditional energy sources. In geothermal systems, carbon dioxide makes up about 10% of air produced. Overall, in order to produce the electricity that can be used for one hour, the geothermal systems produce 0.1 pound of carbon dioxide and other harmful gases. For a comparison, a power plant producing from gas produces up to 2 pounds of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere, and those power plants that work on coal（煤）produce an astonishing 3.6 pounds of greenhouse gases.
Low costs is another reason why using geothermal power plants should be the first choice for many countries. Geothermal heat systems require 25% to 50% less energy for work compared with the traditional systems for heating or cooling. Besides, geothermal equipment is less big: due to the very nature of geothermal energy, geothermal power plants have only a few moving parts, all of which can be easily sheltered inside a relatively small building. What's more, the life span of geothermal equipment is rather long. All these make geothermal power stations easy to build and keep.
Waste can be seen everywhere in the school. Some students ask for more food than they can eat and others often forget to turn off the lights when they leave the classroom. They say they can afford these things. But I don't agree with them.
Waste can bring a lot of problems. Although China is rich in some resources, we are short of others, for example, fresh water. It is reported that we will have no coal or oil to use in 100 years. So if we go on wasting our resources, what can we use in the future and where can we move? Think about it. I think we should say no to the students who waste things every day. Everybody should stop wasting as soon as possible.
In our everyday life, we can do many things to prevent waste from happening, for example, turn off the water taps(水龙头) when we finish washing, turn off the lights when we leave the classroom, try not to order more food than we need, and so on. Little by little, everything will be changed. Waste can be stopped one day, if we do our best.
In areas like the Central United States that get lots of tornadoes, there's a common piece of celestial （天上的）fortune-telling that green skies mean a tornado is on its way. Research has shown that it isn't quite as simple as that, but scientists have found that if you see a green sky, you should probably go inside. As far as most scientists can tell, the green skies around powerful thunderstorms are usually a combination of red sunsets and water droplets.
Daytime skies are blue because blue shorter wavelengths of visible light tend to bounce off （反射）air molecules better than red longer wavelength light. So the blue light gets bounced all over the sky and looks like it's coming from everywhere. Meanwhile, around sunset sunlight travels through so much atmosphere that just about all the blue is bounced away from the horizon, leaving all those reds and oranges behind. The sunset might look exclusively （独有的）red and orange, but there's still some green and even blue light hidden in there, just far less than the other colors. But for us to notice the remaining green light, it needs to hit something that reflects green light much better than red. That's where water comes in.
Big tall threatening storm clouds are made of water droplets, and even though water is best at reflecting blue light, it can still reflect green pretty well, much better than reds and oranges, so under just the right conditions, the water in and around a cloud can bounce the green light hidden in the sunset right into our eyes making the sky look green.
Still, none of the conditions that can turn skies green are unique to the clouds that produce tornadoes. Sometimes they just lead to lots of rain, and maybe some hail. So if you see huge storm clouds rolling in and a green tint （色调）in the sky, it doesn't necessarily mean there's about to be a tornado, but it does mean you should probably head indoors.
A new study shows students who write notes by hand during lectures perform better on exams than those who use laptops.
Students are increasingly using laptops for note-taking because of speed and legibility(清晰度).But the research has found laptop users are less able to remember and apply the concepts they have been taught.
Researchers performed experiments that aimed to find out whether using a laptop increased the tendency to make notes "mindlessly" by taking down word for word what the professors said
In the first experiment, students were given either a laptop or pen and paper .They listened to the same lectures and were told to use their usual note-taking skills. Thirty minutes after the talk, they were examined on their ability to remember facts and on how well they understood concepts.
The researchers found that laptop users took twice as many notes as those who wrote by hand. However, the typists performed worse at remembering and applying the concepts. Both groups scored similarly when it came to memorizing facts.
The researchers' report said, "While more notes are beneficial, if the notes are taken mindlessly, as is more likely the case on a laptop, the benefit disappears."
In another experiment aimed at testing long-term memory, students took notes as before but were tested a week after the lecture. This time, the students who wrote notes by hand performed significantly better on the exam.
These two experiments suggest that handwritten notes are not only better for immediate learning and understanding, but that they also lead to superior revision in the future.
LEGO(乐高) recently announced that they will start producing pieces from sustainable (可持续的) sugar cane. The toys, which will be closely similar to classic ones, will also feature "botanical elements" like leaves, bushes, and trees.
The pieces will be included in LEGO'S box sets from this year onwards. The move is part of the Danish company's campaign to use sustainable materials in its products by 2030.
However, Tim Brooks, the firm's vice-president, said, "We want to make a positive influence on the world around us, and are working hard to make great play products for children using sustainable materials. This is a great first step in our goal to make all LEGO pieces using sustainable materials."
The new line of production has reportedly already started with pieces being produced from polyethylene, which is a soft and durable plastic (耐用的塑料). LEGO says that we needn't worry about the quality of the new products, as they've tested the plant-based plastic to ensure that it meets the high standards for quality and safety that consumers (消费者) expect from the company.
"LEGO products have always been about providing high quality play experiences and giving every child the chance to shape their own world through inventive play. Children and parents will not notice any difference in the quality or appearance of the new pieces, because plant-based polyethylene has the same qualities as traditional polyethylene," said Tim Brooks.
"It is important that companies in each industry find ways to help ensure a future where people, nature, and the economy grow healthily," said Alix Grabowski, an officer at WWF. "The LEGO Group's decision to use sustainable plastics represents a great opportunity to reduce dependence on finite (有限的) resources, and their work with the Bioplastic Feedstock Alliance will allow them to connect with other companies to continue to think creatively about sustainability."
It seems that electronic devices just keep getting smaller. Scientists in the United States have announced the creation of the first transistor with only two dimensions(二维).
A transistor is a small electronic device that transfers or carries electronic current. Scientists hope these new 2D transistors will be used for building high-resolution(高分辨率)displays that need very little energy.
Two groups of scientists created these 2D transistors. They report that the transistors are only a few atoms thick.
Usually transistors are made with the element silicon(硅). Computer processors, memory chips, TV screens and other electronic devices contain billions of silicon-based transistors. But these very small electrical parts have certain limitations.
Dimitris Ioannou is an electrical engineering professor at George Mason University. He says the traditional transistor has been improved as much as it can be. He adds that researchers have been looking for new materials with special features and they want transistors to be seen through and soft.
"If the layers are very thin, the transistor can become flexible, so it doesn't have to be rigid(坚硬的), like it would be in a silicon chip. So people can think of applications like wearable electronics, television screens and other things," said Ioannou.
These new transistors can also carry higher current. They also can move the current much faster than traditional transistors. This is important for high-definition screens.
Dimitris Ioannou says the scientific success could prove very useful in the future. "Now, how good and how useful it will be, it's still in the stage of research, but it certainly is an advance," said Ioannou.
A company in San Francisco, California, has found a way to turn used plastic bottles into women's shoes.
Every day, millions of Americans drink water and other liquids from plastic bottles. More than 60 million of them are thrown away each day. Many of the plastic bottles end up in landfills or are burned with other waste products.
A San Francisco start-up company called Rothy's, however, turns this plastic waste into environmentally friendly shoes. Roth Martin is the company's co-founder. He explains how they turn plastic into soft material for women's feet. They take the plastic, clean it, and break it down into small pieces. Then they press them through a device that makes soft fibers. Those fibers are then combined together. This is done by a 3D machine. It is designed to reduce waste while making the shoes. The knitted stuff and the inner part of the shoe are then attached to the shoe's outer part, called the sole (鞋底). This outer sole is also made from environmentally friendly material: responsibly sourced no-carbon rubber.
Rothy's shoes are sold online. They are flat shoes, with either a rounded or pointed toe. They come in different colors and designs. They cost either $ 125 or $ 145 per pair, depending on the design. After American actress Gwyneth Paltrow discovered them last year, the demand for the shoes grew. Martin says there is no shortage of material to fill that demand. "We're not going to run out of water bottles any time soon. So we have a limitless supply of material, and I think that is a good sign for our future." When the environmentally friendly shoes wear out, customers can return them at no cost to a company that uses the recycled materials to make other products.
For now, the shoes are only available to be shipped in the United States. However, the company says it will add international shipping in the near future.
A woman is swimming at night in a dark sea. Suddenly, she is pulled underwater. She surfaces, cries in terror, then disappears forever. This is the opening scene from the 1975 film Jaws. This film was a great hit, but it made things worse.
Jaws made people frightened of sharks, especially of the great white shark. Some stopped swimming in the sea, afraid of the horrible creature from the film. Others started fishing for sharks, killing as many as they could. At that time, nobody cared if sharks were killed, or how many were killed. People just wanted them killed.
After 1975, the number of large sharks fell quickly around the world. This was not only due to fear of sharks, but also finning, a type of fishing where sharks are caught and their fins cut off. Unexpectedly, finning would have a powerful effect upon Peter Benchley, who wrote the book the film Jaws was based on.
One day in 1980, Benchley was diving when he came across an awful sight. He saw fishermen finning and sharks being killed, which caused a deep change in him. From then on, he saw people as a danger to sharks, rather than the other way round. Also, he admitted that his book was wrong about sharks' behavior. "Sharks don't target(以…为目标）humans, " he said. Experts have proved that sharks do not see people as food, and they attack us by mistake. Only around six people are killed by sharks every year.
Today, as we learn more about sharks, more people than ever want to protect them from extinction.
Tiny as they are, bats have the ability to "see" in the dark by using a special skill called echolocation (回声定位法).They make noises and wait for sound waves, or an echo, to bounce back off objects. They can tell the distance of various objects by how quickly the sound waves bounce back off them. If no sound bounces back, they can then fly forward.
This special ability has been copied in the human world for a long time, such as in submarines and planes. But apart from helping vehicles "see" where they are, what if blind people could use echolocation for themselves? American Daniel Kish, who is blind, is known as "Batman". This isn't because he walks around in a cape (披风) and a mask, but because he has a bat-like ability to locate where he is through sharp clicks he makes by moving his tongue against the roof of his mouth. Kish is so skilled at echolocating that he can ride a bike and hike on his own.
Recently, a research carried out at the University of Durham in England shed some light on the power of human echolocation. Kish, as well as other volunteers, worked with a group of scientists who studied the way blind people listen to the echoes that they produce from clicks. The team found that people were capable of hearing even very faint echoes, ones far fainter than had been previously thought.
Lore Thaler, lead scientist of the group, said, "We found that in some conditions, they were really faint—about 95 percent softer than the actual clicks, but the echolocators were still able to sense this."
Andrew Kolarik, another expert in echolocation, told BBC News that echolocation "can be very useful at providing information at face or chest height" and could help people "avoid objects like low hanging branches that might not get detected by the cane or a guide dog"
According to BBC News, echolocation is a skill blind people can acquire and develop, just like learning a language. As Kolarik said, "Teaching echolocation skills could provide blind people with the means of exploring new places."
14 days. That's the time Chinese scientists took to identify the full genetic sequence of the novel coronavirus (新冠病毒) since its outbreak. It was shared with the WHO immediately, and has now become an important foundation for global researchers in the fight against the COVID-19. But first, let us turn the clock back 17 years, when it took months to identify the SARS virus. From months to 14 days, what changed? It turns out AI played an important part.
The scientists first obtained bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid (支气管扩张灌洗液) samples from patients, isolated (分离) the DNA and RNA, then sequenced the genetic material by comparing them. AI's advantage is its ability to recognize patterns among a flood of data.
Let me put it in a simple way. Sequencing the coronavirus genome (基因组) is similar to looking for a needle in a haystack (干草堆)—looking for genotypes (基因型) with specific characteristics from a huge gene pool. That's where search algorithm (算法), a branch of modern AI, comes in. Think of it as an efficient search engine, which can find the needle in the haystack. This search algorithm can shorten months-long genetic sequencing to weeks or even just a few days. Combined with macro-genomic sequencing and a virus library, this AI technology can also be used in tracking virus mutation (突变).
AI doesn't just support scientists. It can also help patients by improving the efficiency of diagnosis (诊断). China launched a Genomics Service, which can run multiple virus gene comparisons and produce a detailed report within 60 seconds. This algorithm has been put into use in China and shared to the world for free.
Self-driving cars have been backed by the hope that they will save lives by getting involved in fewer crashes with fewer injuries and deaths than human-driven cars. But so far, most comparisons between human drivers and automated vehicles have been unfair.
Crash statistics for human-driven cars are gathered from all sorts of driving situations, and on all types of roads. However, most of the data on self-driving cars' safety have been recorded often in good weather and on highways, where the most important tasks are staying in the car's own lane and not getting too close to the vehicle-ahead. Automated cars are good at those tasks, but so are humans.
It is true that self-driving cars don't get tired, angry, frustrated or drunk .But neither can they yet react to uncertain situations with the same skill or anticipation of an attentive human driver, nor do they possess the foresight to avoid potential perils. They largely drive from moment to moment, rather than think ahead to possible events literally down the road.
To a self-driving car, a bus full of people might appear quite similar to an uninhabited corn field. Indeed, deciding what action to take in an emergency is difficult for humans, but drivers have sacrificed themselves for the greater good of others. An automated system's limited understanding of the world means it will almost never evaluate (评估) a situation the same way a human would. And machines can't be programmed in advance to handle every imaginable set of events.
Some people may argue that the promise of simply reducing the number of injuries and deaths is enough to support driverless cars. But experience from aviation (航空) shows that as new automated systems are introduced, there is often an increase in the rate of disasters.
Therefore, comparisons between humans and automated vehicles have to be performed carefully. To fairly evaluate driverless cars on how well they fulfill their promise of improved safety, it's important to ensure the data being presented actually provide a true comparison. After all, choosing to replace humans with automation has more effects than simply a one-for-one exchange.
Bored with your life? Dreaming of something different? When I feel like that I look up and wonder what life would be like 400 km above my head. That's where the International Space Station travels around the Earth, with six astronauts living and working on board for months at a time.
How do they sleep? They spend the night floating in a sleeping bag inside a small room on the ceiling. American astronaut Sunita Williams explains, "It's like a little phone booth but it's pretty comfortable and it doesn't matter if I turn over and sleep upside down. I don't feel I'm upside down. "
Brushing your teeth in a place where you can't have a tap or a sink will be a challenge. Can you imagine the mess that running water would make in zero gravity? Canadian astronaut Chris Hadfield uses a straw to put water from a bag onto an ordinary toothbrush and adds a little toothpaste—which he has to swallow when he's done.
Daily exercise is necessary. The lack of gravity makes bones more fragile(易碎的)and muscles lose strength—so astronauts are encouraged to work out for at least two hours a day.
The role of astronauts in the International Space Station is to act as lab technicians(技工)for scientists on Earth. So they spend their time protecting their environment and performing and monitoring experiments in a limited space about the size of a Boeing 747. Almost every task is carefully planned by control—although most astronauts spend their first days losing things until they get used to sticking everything they use to the walls.
One of their most valued things is the view from the office controlled by that big blue ball down there，sitting in the darkness of space. Wow！Completely breathtaking!
The loss of natural land isn't just a problem for the Amazon or the rainforests of Southeast Asia. The United States is losing its forests, grasslands, wetlands, and deserts at a truly startling pace.
Between 2001 and 2017, some 97, 124 square kilometers of natural land-around the size of Indiana- were destroyed in the US to make way for roads, industry, farms, and other signs of human civilization. That's equal to a football field-sized piece of land being lost every 30 seconds. Some of the most serious losses have been experienced in the South and Midwest, where human development took over 47 percent and 59 percent of all land area, respectively, in the 16 years studied.
These findings come from a report published by The Center for American Progress.
Using available satellite data and open- source databases, they calculated the rate of loss of natural lands and its relationship to oil and gas extraction(开采), road construction, urban development, agriculture, and other human- related activities. If national trends continue, a South Dakota- sized expanse of forests, wetlands, and wild places in the continental United States will disappear by 2050.
Now only 12 percent of the country's land area has been conserved as national parks, wilderness areas, national monuments, or other protected areas, while 26 percent of ocean are a is safeguarded from oil and gas extraction. According to this report, it's now time to extend this level of protection even further.
Keeping in line with present scientific recommendations, they conclude that the US should aim to protect at least 30 percent of lands and oceans in a natural state by 2030.
However, it isn't all about desperation. The authors conclude on a remarkably optimistic note (well, relatively optimistic for an environmental report, at least)."The United States is entering new times when it will rely more than ever on the integrity (完整) and stability of the natural world to provide economic boom, safeguard the health of communities, and weather (平安渡过) the effects of a changing climate," they write.
Will it matter if you don't take your breakfast? Recently a test was given in the United States. Those tested included people of different ages, from 12 to 83. During the experiment, these people were given all kinds of breakfast, and sometimes they got no breakfast at all. Special tests were set up to see how well their bodies worked when they had eaten a certain kind of breakfast. The results show that if a person eats a proper breakfast, he or she will work with better effort than if he or she has no breakfast. This fact appears to be especially true if a person works with his brains. If a student eats fruit, eggs, bread and milk before going to school, he will learn more quickly and listen with more attention in class. Contrary to what many people believe , people become so hungry at noon that they eat too much for lunch, and end up gaining weight instead of losing. You will probably lose more weight if you reduce other meals.
Everything you know is in your brain. For what you don't, you can ask the web. However, as you can imagine, in the past there were no computers and no web at all. Think about people living 3, 500 years ago, in places where pyramids towered above them. The lack of explanations about how things worked inspired the ancients to make discoveries and feed their curiosity.
But do not think they knew nothing: in fact, we still wonder how the Egyptians could build the pyramids using their own, rather rudimentary equipment. They wrote down their knowledge on books (called papyrus scrolls) so that later people could benefit from their skills.
Living safer and healthier was a top priority for the ancients: when they hurt their heads in battles,
they used to heal their wounds using the cures, some of which were recorded on a papyrus now known as the Edwin Smith Papyrus. Interestingly, this is the oldest written evidence of the word "brain" we have on Earth, and it dates back to 3, 500 years ago!
However, writing the word "brain" on a papyrus did not solve all the curiosities and questions about it. Around 2, 500 years ago, for example, ancient Greeks wondered whether mind and soul lay in the brain or in the heart.
2, 000 years ago, Roman physician Galen of Pergamon was sure he had solved the question: it was the brain, not the heart, that was the center of mental life. However, Galen had to convince the people around him that what he had discovered was true. It was not easy, mostly because people held their earlier beliefs. Every neuroscientist, just like Galen did, has to carefully observe reality, focus on something that is really interesting, think about how it can work, perform experiments, and discuss the data they get. This way, they can obtain convincing evidence to be shared with others.
It's "Baby Day" at the Riverpark seniors home in Ottawa—a twice monthly event Eulah Johnson, 90, never misses."I really enjoy it. It's a shift from the regular routine," says the retired nurse.
Today, Johnson sits on a sofa and looks at a laughing child on the seat of her walker. A few moments later, the girl skips off to play with the dozen or so other small children and babies mixed with 20 of Johnson's fellow residents.
Some, like 12-month-old Owen, are regular visitors to Ottawa seniors' homes. "We've been doing this since he was three months old," says his mother, Allison Rodgers, 33.
She loves the social calls, too. "I didn't have grandparents while growing up. It's nice to spend time with older people, and it feels good to know they re betting so much out of it."
Babies Who Volunteer, the initiative (倡议) bringing these generations together, is the inspired idea of Jessica Turner, a former educational assistant. The idea came about during a March 2018 visit with her 22-month-old daughter Amelia to a friend's mother, who was living in a long-term-care unit. She was most surprised by the response of her friend's mother; she hadn't spoken in two years, but with Amelia in her lap, she began singing. Turner went home and immediately put out a call on a mums' Facebook group: Would anyone be interested in dropping by seniors' residences with their babies?
A year later, there are now 1,500 volunteers, and the organization visits 39 homes in Ottawa. Everyone benefits from intergenerational programmes, she says. "This playgroup is good for the mothers, too. They're giving something to the community, which provides a sense of purpose and belonging. It can really help someone who is feeling lonely."
A rare wild flower is being re﹣established in Devon fields thanks to some four﹣legged helpers. A conservation charity called Plantlife has employed donkeys as "ecosystem engineers" to encourage the return of the endangered small﹣flowered catchfly.
The catchfly was once found all across Britain but now it only grows in small areas of Wales and the south and west of England. Experts blame its decline on modern farming practices. The flower flourished around the edges of sandy fields where farmers grew their crops, but because of weedkillers that were used to remove "unwanted" plants, and fertilisers to boost crop yields, its habitat has largely disappeared.
Plantlife teamed up with the Donkey Sanctuary, a charity that looks after donkeys in the UK and around the world. It owns several farms across Devon and the UK, where it takes care of hundreds of rescued donkeys, as well as maintaining habitats for other wildlife. More than 20, 000 seeds have been scattered on fields at the sanctuary's main Devon farm, and it is hoped that many will grow into plants this summer. They will provide food for threatened bird species such as linnets, yellowhammers and skylarks. Plantlife then aims to get the donkeys themselves involved, testing whether catchfly seeds benefit from being trampled into the ground as the donkeys take their exercise. Many plants have seeds that must be pressed into the soil in order to germinate.
"We're incredibly grateful to partners like the Donkey Sanctuary who are helping these fantastically rare wild flowers come back from the edge of extinction, "Cath Shellswell of Plantlife told The Guardian newspaper. "We look forward to seeing small﹣flowered catchfly return and we are working with the sanctuary to ensure that this tiny plant has a thriving future. "
