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ABSTRACTAgricultural recycling of biosolids is coming under increasing regulatory and non‐regulatory pressure. The UK Government and the European Commission are introducing new microbiological standards for (a) sludge, (b) expanded nitrate vulnerable zones, and (c) more stringent maximum potentially toxic element concentrations in soils. Public perception continues to play an important and unpredictable role in the acceptability of biosolids agricultural recycling. Sludge phyto‐conditioning is a low‐technology process, growing grass on sewage sludge to produce a pleasant/low‐odour compost‐like material and reducing bacterial indicators to below detectable levels, whilst retaining the beneficial energy‐recovery aspects of anaerobic digestion.This paper describes the process stream and discusses the benefits for the operator, including treatment to 'enhanced'status and reduction in volume. The process is batch in nature and results in a high‐quality soil conditioner.

Virtual environments present researchers with a range of methodological considerations, both new and old. With the advent of embodied online worlds, experiences with distributed presence, anonymity and multiple modes of engagement increasingly have become the norm. Avatars and their textual counterparts lead us to critically encounter how research can be most meaningfully handled given a terrain in which users are actually embodying themselves digitally, and often in multivalent ways. This article discusses some of the theoretical issues at stake in this form of research, as well as providing several grounded practices to help methodologically negotiate virtual worlds.