school energy&environment
Biodiversity
Biodiversity is the result of 3 billion 800 million years of evolution, and it is essential for the survival of mankind. In fact we depend on nature for many fundamental resources, among which food, building materials, heating, textile fibres and the active ingredients of medicinal products. Furthermore nature provides for other vital functions such as the pollination of plants, purification of the air, water and soil, etc. Today human activities are a severe threat for biodiversity, and they jeopardize the existence of numerous species. The destruction and fragmentation of the habitats, air, water and soil pollution, excessive fishing, the overexploitation of resources, forests and fields, the introduction of alien species and the emission of increasing amounts of gas with the greenhouse effect. that provoke climate changes, are only some of the causes of the loss of biodiversity.
subjects dealt with in Biodiversity
Biological diversity
The Earth is populated by an incredible number of different living creatures. The term that is used to define this…
Loss of biodiversity
The main cause of the loss of biodiversity can be attributed to the influence of human beings on the world’s…
Biodiversity and adaptation
Ecologists believe that every animal has its own “profession”, which consists in finding the perfect correspondence among the species and…
Biodiversity and camouflage
If a subject moves, the eye can see it helped by various elements that are correlated to the visual capacity…
Extinction is for good
Extinction is an evolutive process that leads to the disappearance of a species or a population. When a species becomes…
The value of biodiversity
Due to the growth in the human population, in production and consumption, over the last two centuries the natural ecosystems…
Let’s save biodiversity
With small daily actions also we can do something important to preserve biodiversity. Here is some advice: Don’t buy animals…
special reports
-
16 June 2021 / Life
A turtle's life
Sea turtles are the oldest living reptiles today. They have been inhabiting the oceans for over 150 million years without…
29 April 2021 / Life
Etruscan shrews, ferocity in miniature
Which is the tiniest micromammal, i.e. the smallest mammal on the planet? Up until almost half a century ago, it…
10 March 2021 / Life
International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021
This year has been designated by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) as the International Year of…
-
8 March 2021 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
27 February 2021 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
8 January 2021 / Life
Smart as a crow
Some people call them "monkeys with feathers" because they can do clever things comparable to many of our monkey cousins.…
-
18 December 2020 / Life
The Christmas Star Tradition
A plant that symbolises the Christmas season, decorating homes and shops and featured prominently by the florists and garden centres…
24 November 2020 / Life
The glow of duck-billed platypuses
It's easy to answer "which is the strangest animal?". The answer: the platypus. These strange creatures live only in Australia…
12 October 2020 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
Nobel 2020. The biochemists Emmanuelle Charpentier, French, and Jennifer A. Doudna, from the United States, were awarded the most important…
-
16 June 2021 / Life
A turtle's life
Sea turtles are the oldest living reptiles today. They have been inhabiting the oceans for over 150 million years without…
29 April 2021 / Life
Etruscan shrews, ferocity in miniature
Which is the tiniest micromammal, i.e. the smallest mammal on the planet? Up until almost half a century ago, it…
-
10 March 2021 / Life
International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021
This year has been designated by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) as the International Year of…
8 March 2021 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2021 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
8 January 2021 / Life
Smart as a crow
Some people call them "monkeys with feathers" because they can do clever things comparable to many of our monkey cousins.…
-
18 December 2020 / Life
The Christmas Star Tradition
A plant that symbolises the Christmas season, decorating homes and shops and featured prominently by the florists and garden centres…
24 November 2020 / Life
The glow of duck-billed platypuses
It's easy to answer "which is the strangest animal?". The answer: the platypus. These strange creatures live only in Australia…
-
12 October 2020 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
Nobel 2020. The biochemists Emmanuelle Charpentier, French, and Jennifer A. Doudna, from the United States, were awarded the most important…
-
16 June 2021 / Life
A turtle's life
Sea turtles are the oldest living reptiles today. They have been inhabiting the oceans for over 150 million years without…
-
29 April 2021 / Life
Etruscan shrews, ferocity in miniature
Which is the tiniest micromammal, i.e. the smallest mammal on the planet? Up until almost half a century ago, it…
-
10 March 2021 / Life
International Year of Fruits and Vegetables 2021
This year has been designated by FAO (Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations) as the International Year of…
-
8 March 2021 / Life
8 March. We remember Rosalind Franklin, the great female DNA scientist.
DNA was first isolated by Friedrich Miescher, a Swiss biochemist in 1869. It was a brilliant, but not complicated operation:…
-
27 February 2021 / Life
In search of the riders of icebergs
International Polar Bear Day, set up by Polar Bears International, a non-profit organisation, was held on 27 February. The aim…
-
8 January 2021 / Life
Smart as a crow
Some people call them "monkeys with feathers" because they can do clever things comparable to many of our monkey cousins.…
-
18 December 2020 / Life
The Christmas Star Tradition
A plant that symbolises the Christmas season, decorating homes and shops and featured prominently by the florists and garden centres…
-
24 November 2020 / Life
The glow of duck-billed platypuses
It's easy to answer "which is the strangest animal?". The answer: the platypus. These strange creatures live only in Australia…
-
12 October 2020 / Life
Crispr-Cas9, the gene factory
Nobel 2020. The biochemists Emmanuelle Charpentier, French, and Jennifer A. Doudna, from the United States, were awarded the most important…
from the Multimedia section
curiosities
-
Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
-
Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…
-
Watch out for aliens!
Italy has some new inhabitants, but that is no cause for celebration: the list of alien species is long. Two…
-
Plants and bacteria giving new "light" to off grid communities
"Planta lampara", a lamp powered by the energy produced thanks to the combination of plants and bacteria...
-
CO2 “eating” trees
If a tree “eats” CO2 and produces oxygen it is easy to understand the importance it has in reducing the…