Boatanist

Have you ever wondered what happens to all the plastic we use in our day to day lives after we throw it away? Recently scientists have started to realise quite how much of it is getting into our seas and oceans. Thanks to Adventurers and Scientists for Conservation all of the teams in the Great Pacific Race will be collecting a few samples of Pacific Ocean water so that researcher in the Marine Environment Research Institute, Maine (USA) can test how much plastic has made it'

Sure, nothing to do with boats or rowing, but pretty damn cool science all the same! This is my friend Erin Jo, who works in the Botany Department here at TCD, talking about her research on bees. She's looking in to the effects of toxins in the nectar of the flowering plant Rhoodendron on insect pollinators. Rhododendron in an invasive species in Ireland - you may well have seen it in parks, gardens and wild landscapes with it's very distinctive purple flowers. Did you know t