What makes leaves change colour in autumn?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteEvery autumn we revel in the beauty of the fall colours. The mixture of red, purple, orange and yellow is the result of chemical processes that take place in the tree as the seasons change from summer to winter. During the spring and summer the leaves have served as factories where most of the food […]
Why do we get bored?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSome people never tire of doing the same thing, while others get bored very easily. According to Dr Irving Biederman, a neuroscientist at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles, this problem involves opioids, a chemical in the brain that gives us pleasure. A new experience will stimulate the release of opioids—a wow. The […]
Bangladesh champions GM crops
Reading Time: 4 minutesSouth Asian nation is world innovator of pest-resistant, nutritionally-fortified biotech crops BY STEVEN CERIER “Agricultural technology has been central in “making the country self-sufficient in food production,” says Bangladesh’s Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhurry. The country began adopting hybrid seeds in the mid-1990s, and in 2013 became the first nation to commercialise insect-resistant Bt brinjal (eggplant). Currently, […]
‘Womb-like’ device could revolutionise care for premature Infants
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY LAUREN SCRUDATO An innovative “bio-bag” system developed by a team of doctors from the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) mimics the environment of a mother’s womb and could provide the physiologic support premature babies need to properly develop. One in ten babies born in the US are considered premature (younger than 37 weeks gestational […]
Sunshine statistics
Reading Time: 4 minutesBiotech crops known for their multiple green traits continue to see the light of day with a 110-fold increase in grown hectares worldwide since 1996 field. BEIJING: Biotech crops or GM crops surged to a new peak of 185.1 million hectares last year – a global area rebound from 2015, as farmers continue to adopt […]
UPM researchers produce quality biochar from agro wastes using BMC
Reading Time: 2 minutesBY SHAZLAN HALAMY SERDANG: A team of researchers from Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has succeeded in creating a sustainable green technology by way of transforming agriculture wastes or biomass into bio-char through a microwave system. Compared to the conventional method, this Biomass Microwave Carboniser (BMC) innovation offers an innovative and clean technology using microwave-assisted pyrolysis […]
Preserving soil, water quality at Muda and Ahning dams
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY DR DALJIT SINGH S/O KARAM SINGH SIK, KEDAH: Several Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) and Universiti Malaya (UM) researchers have embarked on a joint research with Muda Agriculture Development Authority (MADA) to monitor soil and water quality at Muda and Ahning dams. “Good water quality gives an assurance that water supply for both domestic and […]
Feeding Asia: Region needs to up its game
Reading Time: 4 minutesThe FAO’s recent sobering report warned of the need to significantly increase investments in agriculture to meet the anticipated 50% increase in food demand by 2050. Asia as a net food and animal feed deficit region needs to up its game. PAUL TENG & CHRISTOPHER VAS comment. The latest report by the Food and Agriculture […]
Because necessity is the mother of inventions
Reading Time: 3 minutesBY P. KANDIAH The inconvenience of fitting and using a dust bag in a vacuum cleaner inspired Sir James Dyson (as he is referred to now) to develop a bag-less vacuum cleaner which innovation has brought much comfort to those tashed with vacuuming floors. Dyson’s bagless vacuum cleaner has taken the world by suprise. Pharmaceutical […]
Mitsubishi Corp and SBC explore use of algae as feedstock gears up
Reading Time: 2 minutesSEMENGOH, SARAWAK: Mitsubishi Corporation (MC) and the Sarawak Biodiversity Centre (SBC) will move into the next phase of a research collaboration which started in year 2012. The collaboration between MC and SBC has reached Phase 3 (Demonstration and Validation of Commercially Viable Microalgal Biomass Production Technologies) which will implement an outdoor facility to demonstrate and […]