“I feel confident that the (carbon storage) time of stable biochar is from high hundreds to a few thousand years.”

Johannes Lehmann, of Cornell University, explains why ploughing burned plants into fields is a good idea (Reuters).

“We are happy to engage in serious debates on airport expansion, and we respect people’s right to protest within the bounds of the law.”

The owners of Stansted airport in the UK comment on a climate change protest that shut down their runways (Bloomberg).

“Next week I will move on: but know that nobody else has.”

Ben ‘Bad Science’ Goldacre is angry about media coverage of the MMR vaccine. Again.

“It’s really important for neuroscientists to start to think about the effects of people’s experiences on their brain function, and specifically about the effect of people’s socioeconomic status.”

Martha Farah, director of the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at the University of Pennsylvania, comments on research showing that some brain functions may be reduced in poor children compared with rich children (USA Today).