A landmark ruling was made this week which has raised more than a few eyebrows among scientific researchers. Newcastle University lost its 3-year battle against the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection (BUAV) over revealing details of Home Office licences to conduct experiments on primates through Freedom of Information requests (FOIs). The Freedom of Information […]
November 5, 2011
I can hardly believe it’s been nearly four weeks since I last wrote a post. Yes me, the prolific blogger, or at least that’s what I thought I was when I started this site last November. My circumstances have changed – for the best, I might add – and blogging is proving far harder to […]
October 6, 2011
This morning I woke up and one of the first messages on my blackberry was from a friend Hermes – news that Steve Jobs had died. I’m not iPhone girl, all that finger swiping and touch screen malarkey sends shivers down my OCD spine!! However I was so very sad to hear that Mr Jobs, […]
October 4, 2011
In the early days of space exploration animals were sent into space because scientists didn’t know if humans would survive. Some of our closest cousins have boldly been where many of us may never go. In a year when America has seen its space shuttles go into retirement, Iran’s Space Organisation has been firing […]
October 2, 2011
How many of you would love to live in a $7 million home? Sounds excessive, but captive chimpanzees at Sydney’s Taronga Zoo are proud tenants of the state-of-the-art interactive complex. It’s been designed to allow members of the public to get up close and personal with our nearest cousins. The new home includes a parallel […]
October 1, 2011
In the last couple of years there seems to have been an influx in the number of films released in mainstream cinemas about primates. Maybe it’s because I’m studying these incredible creatures they are on my radar more than anyone else’s. First there was the documentary about Nénette, a 40-year-old female orangutan at a Parisian […]
September 27, 2011
There’s something dangerously enticing about watching fire, perhaps it’s my primeval roots telling me something. The way the flames leap and curl and its ability to engulf anything in a matter of moments. It’s thought by some scientists that without fire man would not have evolved. Homo erectus was presumably the first chef in history […]
September 25, 2011
As you all know primates are my “thing”, or as some of my male colleagues like to put it: “you’re into monkeys?!” But today I’m going to deviate ever so slightly to mention the plight of the humble British hedgehog. This species like so many primates are in rapid decline and one of the biggest factors […]
September 24, 2011
It’s not often when life imitates art, but these fabulous pictures of a crested black macaque taken in Indonesia bear a striking resemblance to Auguste Rodin’s The Thinker. The pictures were shot beside a lake at Tangkoko National Park on the island of Sulawesi. Karsten Wrobel who took the photographs of the […]
September 20, 2011
Coming back through the airport last week I was reminded just what a major hub London is for people wanting to access different parts of the world, something that isn’t necessarily a good thing when it works in favour of international criminals. A new exhibition run in conjunction with the Metropolitan Police and a number […]
November 19, 2011
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