Ecos articles from January 2002

Ecos archives from January 2002

A model of efficiency. (spectrum).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... A new tool is set to revolutionise the design of energy-efficient buildings. Energy Express, a modelling program developed by Steve Moller of CSIRO Thermal and Fluids Engineering, evaluates the energy efficiency of commercial buildings by...

In 2002, it's easier to be green. (spectrum).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... HOW MUCH could you save on your energy bill by swapping the electric heater for a gas furnace? What difference would it make if you took the train instead of the car? These are some of the questions answered by a new CD-ROM published by...

Looking into Malaysia's haze.
January 1, 2002... In 1997, forest fires on the Indonesian island of Sumatra blanketed more than three million square kilometres of South-East Asia in a pall of choking white smoke. Ten million hectares of rainforest were destroyed, and thousands of people...

Waiting for El Nino. (spectrum).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... A coupled atmosphere-ocean model with the ability to predict the likely onset of El Nino and La Nina events up to nine months in advance is being developed by Dr Ian Smith of CSIRO Atmospheric Research in Melbourne. This will give farmers,...

Power and prediction.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Dr Jack Katzfey of CSIRO Atmospheric Research is using a new numerical model that literally squares the global sphere to predict the weather at a regional scale. The predictions, published daily in a commercial newsletter, are used in...

Cereal killer.(Take-all disease, caused by the soil fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis)(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... Take-all disease, caused by the soil fungus Gaeumannomyces graminis, is the number one root disease of cereals world wide. In Australia, farmers can lose up to 60% of their grain yield to the disease, and in South Australia alone, losses of up...

Taming the yabby: Wendy Pyper meets an Australian icon with great export potential.
January 1, 2002... Yabbies are indigenous to south-eastern Australia and occur in a diverse array of habitats: from the alpine regions of southern NSW and the billabongs, floodplains and rivers of the Murray-Darling Basin, to the hot mound springs of South...

Operation mango: Wendy Pyper meets a team of mango breeders determined to coax more fruit from our delectable but erratic Kensington Pride.
January 1, 2002... In the 1880s, the northern Queensland town of Bowen was the centre of a thriving horse trade with the British Army in India. Ships anchoring at the port often brought exotic spices and fruits, including the succulent mango. According to...

Pine prospects: Robin Taylor describes an epic journey to save a rare stand of natural radiata pine from destruction by feral goats.
January 1, 2002... As the weary group struggled into camp, too tired to heat their evening meal, Colin Matheson wondered what he had got himself into. Matheson, a scientist with CSIRO Forestry and Forest Products, was taking part in a seed-collecting...

Essential oil: oil distilled from the paperbark tree is enriching the lives of villagers in Papua New Guinea's Western Province.
January 1, 2002... In a remote village in Papua New Guinea's Western Province, villagers are celebrating the `mol' tree and its gift of a new industry. Decorated with garlands of colourful flowers, they perform a special dance and sing a song dedicated to...

Water alchemy: aquifer injection is shaping up as smart water conservation.
January 1, 2002... Urban stormwater and treated sewage effluent carry a cocktail of contaminants into our lakes, rivers and oceans, and planning for their disposal is costly and complicated for governments and management authorities. Yet, following some lateral...

Rice is life: in 1987, an urgent lift in rice production was needed to avert widespread famine in Cambodia. Brad Collis traces the contribution of Australian aid and Australian scientists. (champions of science).
January 1, 2002... In the mid-1990s Sam Vesha's 2.4-hectare farm could barely feed his extended family. In Cambodia's Svay Rieng district near the Vietnam border its agriculture was antiquated, its rice yields low, and its future bleak. That's when Sam's...

Seed-bank sleuths. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... EXOTIC plants have gained a stronghold along the edges of many native vegetation reserves in urban areas. But are their seeds also restricted to the edges? And does the above-ground vegetation match the contents of the seed bank? To find...

Fishy issues. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... WORLDWIDE concern about the state of fish stocks and a widely held view that fisheries management has been un successful are putting fisheries science and management under increasing scrutiny. Concern also surrounds the impact of fishing on...

Coral cuisine. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... FOLLOWING the annual mass spawning of corals on the Great Barrier Reef, planktivorous fish indulge in a feeding frenzy among the slicks of nutritious gametes. Some marine invertebrates, such as sponges, employ chemical defences against...

Rat-midden records. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... STICK-NEST rats, once abundant in arid Australia, have the unusual habit of constructing impressive communal nests or middens using sticks, stones, leaves, flowers, bones and droppings. Of the two species, one is now extinct and the other...

Clear-fell versus fire. (journal extracts).(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... THE National Forest Policy states as one of its broad goals `the management of the permanent forest estate in an ecologically sustainable manner so as to conserve the full suite of values, including biological diversity.' Does clear-fell...

For now, fortune favours the seals.(Brief Article)
January 1, 2002... The changing fortunes of Australia's rare fur seals and sea lions is highlighting the precarious juggling act required of biologists when they try to protect different species occupying the same habitats. During the past few decades, marine...