Britain’s top weatherman comes under our radar
Reading Time: 5 minutesRob Varley, Britain’s top weather man holds court at the Met Office in Exeter as the Chief Executive. He started his career as a weather forecaster, then spent 10 years as trainer of Britain’s weather forecasters and also project-managed the construction of the current Met Office headquarters. In a recent sojourn to Kuala Lumpur, The […]
Fuel from water hyacinth
Reading Time: 2 minutesPeople who maintain ponds and lakes will know how much of a nuisance water hyacinth is. Sure, this aquatic weed is nice to look at, but it is considered a pest in many countries. Thanks to the researchers at Indian Institute of Technology – Kharagpur (IIT – Kharagpur), water hyacinth – which contains up to 50 […]
…. And sunflower is Hawaii’s largest biofuel source
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHawaii’s longest operating biodiesel producer, Pacific Biodiesel Technologies is planting sunflowers as its first biofuel crop on 115 acres in Maui’s central valley. The project is the largest of its kind and the only biofuel farming operation running on 100% renewable fuel in Hawaii, showcasing the company’s sustainable, community-based model of agriculture and renewable energy. […]
UPM turns cooking oil into biodiesel
Reading Time: 2 minutesSERDANG: Don’t discard used cooking oil because it can still be utilised. A research by Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) has succeeded in turning cooking oil into biodiesel for use for heavy machinery and vehicles. Those who give used cooking oil to UPM will be paid RM1 for every 1kg of such oil. The processing of […]
Genome sequence of polar alga explains adaptation to extreme climates
Reading Time: 2 minutesAn international team of researchers has identified the genetic mutations which allowed microalgae (phytoplankton) from the Southern Ocean to adapt to extreme and highly variable climates – a step towards understanding how polar organisms are impacted by climate change. The team led by Prof Thomas Mock from the University of East Anglia (UEA) School of […]
Oil and gas deposits could be located with help of DNA soil analysis
Reading Time: < 1 minuteWHILE a lot of sciences are involved in finding oil and gas, biology might not be the first science that leaps to mind. But researchers at Repsol are working on changing that mindset. The team is focusing on the concept of “bioprospection,” studying how the presence of certain microorganisms on the surface can be an […]
Seagrasses greatly reduce bacteria, benefiting humans and marine life
Reading Time: 2 minutesSEAGRASS meadows reduce bacteria pathogenic to humans and marine life by up to 50%, a new study shows. What’s more, corals located near seagrass meadows exhibit only half the prevalence of disease. These findings highlight the importance of seagrass ecosystems to the health of humans and other organisms; not only could they help with improving […]
Looking back at the Morocco meet
Reading Time: 4 minutesROBYN WILSON was a delegate representing Monash University Malaysia at the COP22 (Conference of Parties – UN Climate Change Conference) hosted at Marrakech, Morocco recently. In this piece she reflects on the sights, sounds and the social arithematic that made it happen. I WAS one of eight delegates selected to represent Monash University Malaysia at […]
Who invented carbon dating?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBEFORE 1940s, scientists had no accurate way of determining the age of fossils or other ancient objects. They had to rely on relative dating techniques, which were far from accurate. In 1947, Willard Frank Libby first proposed his radiocarbon dating theories. Soon after, he presented evidence of its efficiency in various field experiments. Libby figured […]
Where is the world’s largest active volcano?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE ever famous tourist vacation spot, Hawaii, is home to the world’s largest volcano, Mauna Loa. To date, the lava produced by this enormous volcano piled up to a height of 13 680 ft above sea level. From its base (below sea level) to summit, Mauna Loa measures to about 56 000 ft (approximately 17 […]