Ocean Plastic

Available for over a year

Experts in waste management have calculated the amount of plastic waste entering the worlds' oceans. In 2010, five grocery bags stuffed with plastic per foot of coastline for the whole world! And it is set to get much worse if we do not deal with plastic waste in a more sustainable way. Mekong River Record low levels of water in South Asia's 7th longest river recently forced the Chinese to release water from a dam to free stranded cargo ships in Myanmar. But it is the amount of sediment flowing in the river that is really worrying scientists. If predicted climate change causes the monsoon and typhoon rains to miss the catchment area - it will lose 8% of the water, but significantly more sediment washing into the river annually. This means the important rice growing land at the Mekong Delta in Vietnam will start to disappear and be doubly vulnerable to sea level rise. Australian Aboriginal Astronomy A strange ancient rock formation in the Australian outback, appears to be an early map of the Universe. But how this was discovered sheds light on our over reliance on technology. Atomic Clocks and Lasers 2015 is the International Year of Light - celebrated recently at the UNESCO headquarters in Paris with a series of talks. It is also the 60th anniversary of the first atomic clock. Professor Bill Phillips explains how lasers are being used to slow the atoms in atomic clocks - ideal for making accurate checks and calibrations of GPS satellites. (Photo: Plastic bags and other rubbish are collected from the waters of Manila Bay on July 3, 2014 during a campaign by environmental activists and volunteers calling for a ban of the use of plastic bags. Credit: Jay Directo/AFP/Getty Images)