http://precedings.nature.com/collections/second-nature/ Recently posted documents in Second Nature Lecture Series Nature Publishing Group en Nature Precedings http://precedings.nature.com/images/header_logo.gif http://precedings.nature.com http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.2139.1 Many people talk about human enhancement as if it is about to happen. Some suggest that it already has. To join in the debate you need to distinguish between social, personal and species enhancement. Social and personal are certianly with us – but talk of species enhancement leans more to hype than hope. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.2139.1 Tue, 19 Aug 2008 23:07:04 UTC Enhancing me – hope or hype? doi:10.1038/npre.2008.2139.1 2008-08-19 Pete Moore Nature Precedings 2008-08-19T23:07:04Z Presentation Biotechnology Genetics & Genomics Neuroscience http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.1974.1 Patents have become a hot topic and the subject of much media attention. If your main source of information about patents is the newspapers, you could be forgiven for having an extremely distorted view of what patents are, what they do, and what benefits and problems are associated with them. All scientists want to be able to improve the world in some way, whether by contributing in a fundamental way to the fund of human knowledge or by delivering new and valuable technology. If you are a scientist making inventions, it is increasingly important that you should have an understanding of the importance of patents in the modern world, and should have sufficient understanding of the patent system to make sure that your aims for your inventions are achievable. This talk sets out some basic facts about patents and also de-bunks some the most common misapprehensions about patents. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.1974.1 Mon, 16 Jun 2008 11:20:00 UTC The Importance of Patents for Scientists doi:10.1038/npre.2008.1974.1 2008-06-16 Sue Scott Nature Precedings 2008-06-16T11:20:00Z Presentation Biotechnology Pharmacology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.1590.1 Carbon capture and storage (CCS) is the collection of carbon dioxide (CO2) from industrial point sources such as power plants and its injection underground. Much of the technology necessary to capture and inject CO2 into the subsurface already exists and CCS will be an integral part of any strategy to combat anthropogenic climate change until we, as a society, are able to move away from our dependence on fossil fuels. There are three options for geological storage of CO2: deep saline aquifers, depleted oil reservoirs and unmineable coal beds. It is the purpose of this presentation to provide a general survey of each of these options. For each geological formation I review (1) The ways in which CO2 could escape into the atmosphere. (2) Current scientific knowledge and uncertainties about the behaviour of CO2 after it is underground -particularly the interactions of water, oil or gas initially present in the geological formation with injected CO2. (3) The overall advantages and disadvantages of each option in terms of technical challenges and cost. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2008.1590.1 Tue, 12 Feb 2008 21:48:02 UTC Reducing Greenhouse Gas Emissions: Geological Storage of CO2 doi:10.1038/npre.2008.1590.1 2008-04-29 Tara LaForce Nature Precedings 2008-02-12T21:48:02Z Presentation Earth & Environment http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1205.1 Island Britain is separated from the European continent by the English Channel and the North Sea. But it was not always so. The floor of the Channel provides evidence for two catastrophic floods arising from the drainage of huge glacial lakes in the area of the southern North Sea. These megafloods carved the Dover Strait to make Britain the island it is today. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1205.1 Wed, 03 Oct 2007 21:13:40 UTC How Britain became an island doi:10.1038/npre.2007.1205.1 2007-10-03 Philip Gibbard Nature Precedings 2007-10-03T21:13:40Z Presentation Earth & Environment http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/ http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1188.1 Great Cormorants Phalacrocorax carbo are regarded as visually-guided, pursuit-dive foragers, so it would be expected that they have excellent vision much like aerial predators, such as hawks which detect and pursue prey from a distance. However, my research shows that underwater the visual acuity of Cormorants is surprisingly poor (in fact, similar or worse than unaided humans under water) and very inferior to that of aerial predatory birds. I suggest that Cormorants are able to detect typical prey items only at close range and conclude that cormorants are not the aquatic equivalent of hawks. It seems that their efficient hunting involves the use of specialised foraging techniques which employ rapid neck extension to capture prey that cormorants flush from hiding places; much like the foraging techniques of herons. Cormorants seem to be hunting an “escaping blur”. Like herons, the eye movements and visual fields of cormorants allow visual scanning for escaping prey in a wide arc about the head. The ability of cormorants to see prey held in the mouth may help to aid its identification when it is brought to the surface before swallowing. http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/npre.2007.1188.1 Fri, 28 Sep 2007 12:09:16 UTC Through Birds’ Eyes: What does vision tell us about foraging in cormorants? doi:10.1038/npre.2007.1188.1 2007-09-28 Graham Martin Nature Precedings 2007-09-28T12:09:16Z Presentation Ecology http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.5/