Stephen Pugh from the Department of Computer Science at Aberystwyth University has been selected to take part in the 2010 SET for Britain competition.

He will present findings of the research he's carrying out for the ExoMars Programme - a €1 billion project led by the European Space Agency, in cooperation with NASA.

"As part of the ExoMars mission, a robotic planetary rover will be sent to Mars in 2018 and my research focuses on the operation of the rover's on-board cameras. I have been looking in particular at how the robotic rover can point its cameras at specific targets such as rocks without human intervention," explained Stephen.

From Transition Llambed

We are organising two Energy Advice Surgeries where we are planning to use REAP petite software to calculate household eco-footprints and offer suggestions as to how both energy bills and carbon emissions can be reduced. We are also inviting a range of other organisations who can offer advice about energy savings, renewable sources of energy and grant schemes including the promotion of the council's free/discounted household heating and insulation scheme.

Ideally, we'd like to have 6-7 people on hand to sit at laptops to calculate people's eco-footprints throughout the two days and, as such, would very much appreciate if any of you would be willing to be trained in using this tool and would be free to attend the "surgeries" in Lampeter on Sat 27th March, 10am-3pm and Felinfach on Sat 17th April, 10am-3pm.

Ynyslas Community Supported Agriculture (CSA)  is hosting a Forest Gardening Course at Ynyslas Gardens, 2 miles north of Borth,on Saturday 13th March. The teacher is local permaculture expert Steve Jones who recently appeared on 'Changing Lives'. Forest Gardening is all about creating a permanent productive food system using trees and perennials, mimicking a natural forest.

The program for the day is:-

9.30am - registration and tea
10am-5pm - course
Course Lunch - vegetable soup provided, please bring food to share

The course costs £20 or £15 for concessions/low waged.
If you would like to attend please contact

 Matthew Holborow

at

Ynyslas CSA, 25-27 Heol y Doll, Machynlleth, Powys, SY20 8BH

or email

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

before 10th March.

Entitled ‘Perverting Trust', the lecture will be held at 7.00pm on Wednesday 10 March 2010 in the Main Hall of the International Politics Department.

Baroness O'Neill will discuss how we can judge the honesty, reliability and competence of other people so that trust can be placed and refused intelligently.

Born in Northern Ireland, Baroness O'Neill is Emeritus Professor of Philosophy at Cambridge University, chair of the Nuffield Foundation, former President of the British Academy (2005-2009) and sits on the cross benches of the House of Lords.

She has written widely on political philosophy and ethics, international justice, bioethics and the philosophy of Immanuel Kant.

There has never been as much emphasis on healthy food and nutrition as there is today, with shoppers being much more discerning and their expectations higher than ever before. Food suppliers and retailers are therefore only too aware of the need for their goods to be trustworthy.

Mass production of food can lead to an increased risk of contamination, which in turn can cause serious illness, as seen in regular media reports of E-coli outbreaks. One potential source of contamination in abattoirs is when micro-organisms in waste material come into contact with the meat as it is being processed. The contamination can be in such small amounts that it is almost indiscernible.

One of the last truly remote, wild and undeveloped parts of southern Britain, the Cambrian Mountains are epitomised by the iconic mountain Pumlumon, source of the Wye, Severn, and Rheidol. Its north-western flanks rise from a hilly plateau, which plunges precipitously into the Dyfi valley from a jagged escarpment, fretted by a series of majestic waterfalls. This area contains a blend of moorland hills and forests around the fjord-like waters of Llyn Nant-y-Moch, created forty-years ago to generate hydro-electric power, but now helping to produce a dramatic and unique landscape.

The Council of Aberystwyth University at its meeting on Friday 12 February, unanimously approved the restructuring of the Institute of Biological, Environmental and Rural Sciences (IBERS).

The Council underlined its full support for IBERS and its determination to create an internationally competitive scientific institute at Aberystwyth University, delivering teaching, research and knowledge transfer to address the challenges of the 21st century.

Council recognised that IBERS faces a substantial and growing financial deficit which requires prompt action to ensure its sustainability so that it can achieve its ambition to become a world class institute.

Visitors to the National Wool Museum will have the opportunity to turn their hand to a number of various traditional skills, free of charge, at the National Wool Museum on Saturday 20 February 2010, from 10am until 3pm, where there'll also be plenty of activities for children at a Rural Skills Day.

Craftspersons will demonstrate their skills and there will be many opportunities for visitors to take part, the activities include dyeing and rolling wool, knitting, braiding rope, playing the harp making: clogs; bridles; ceramic pots; rugs and baskets out of willow.