Thousands of sampling stations around the world have been inadvertently collecting invaluable biological data.
James Allerton, an air quality scientist at the UK’s National Physical Laboratory, read about that experiment and had one of thoseideas. The laboratory operates a number of air quality monitoring networks, including the UK’s heavy metals network. At these monitoring stations, air passes through filters, which are then analyzed to measure levels of toxic metals. “We had not sat at NPL thinking:” Allerton recalls. Yet the idea was too intriguing to ignore.
The two reached out to the biologists behind the zoo study—Joanne Littlefair of Queen Mary University of London and Elizabeth Clare of York University Toronto—to join forces. Today in the journaltheir groundbreaking findings: Between an air quality monitoring station in Scotland and another in London, they were able to detect over 180 kinds of organisms via eDNA.
Australia Latest News, Australia Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Saving moths may be just as important as saving the beesNight-time pollinators such as moths may visit just as many plants as bees, and should also be the focus of conservation and protection efforts, a new study from the University of Sheffield suggests.
Read more »
In shark fin export capital Peru, Asian demand threatens local speciesAt a market in northern Peru fishermen and traders barter over mutilated sharks, loading the fish onto motorized rickshaws. Much of the meat will be eaten locally, but the removed fins are headed elsewhere: China.
Read more »
A mysterious human species may have been the first to bury their deadAn extinct human species may have deliberately buried its dead and carved meaningful symbols deep in a South African cave. If confirmed, the burials would be the earliest yet known by at least 100,000 years
Read more »
Good Will Hunting's Success Ruined Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan PlanAs incredible as Matt Damon might have been in Saving Private Ryan, his sudden Good Will Hunting fame is not what Steven Spielberg had planned for.
Read more »
CPR credited with saving 3-year-old found unresponsive in Fort Worth apartment poolThe use of CPR is being credited with saving the life of a 3-year-old boy Friday night.
Read more »
Nonprofit continues life-saving aid amidst Sudan conflict: 'They're showing up daily'Amidst an escalating armed conflict in Sudan, over 900 brave Sudanese staffers with the MN-based nonprofit Alight risk all to provide food, shelter, and healthcare to civilians.
Read more »