How fungi make nutrients available to the world
Reading Time: 7 minutesScientists are researching fungi’s essential role in decomposition, particularly breaking down cell walls in wood LIKE most of us, trees don’t want to be eaten alive. To prevent this gruesome fate, they developed extremely tough cell walls around 400 million years ago. For millions of years, nothing could break down lignin, the strongest substance in […]
How does a lie detector work?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteIF you’re like most people, lying makes your heart race. It makes you pant. It drives up your blood pressure and makes you drip sweat. A polygraph machine detects lies by looking for signs of these physiological changes. The goal of a lie detector is to see if the person is telling the truth or […]
How deep is the ocean?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE average depth of the ocean is about 12,100 feet. The deepest part of the ocean is called the Challenger Deep and is located beneath the western Pacific Ocean in the southern end of the Mariana Trench, which runs several hundred kilometers southwest of the U.S. territorial island of Guam. Challenger Deep is approximately 36,200 […]
Why ozone levels pose a challenge to food security
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY DIVYA PANDEY Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute, York, AXA Research Fun LISA EMBERSON SEI York Centre Director, University of York SOFIE MORTENSEN Research Associate, Stockholm Environment Institute OZONE is a well-known and interesting gas. It is thought of as a “good” gas when present in the stratosphere, where it forms the ozone layer sitting […]
Sweet odyssey!
Reading Time: 2 minutesWhich came first, sweet potatoes or human? An awe-inspiring read on the humble tuber crop. EVIDENCE reported in the journal Current Biology on April 12 shows that sweet potatoes arose before there were any humans around to eat them. The findings also suggest that the sweet potato crossed the ocean from America to Polynesia without […]
Welcome back Tun
Reading Time: 3 minutesThe Petri Dish lauds the return of the man who gave weight to the importance of science and technology. TUN DR MAHATHIR MOHAMAD is one the most respected and illustrious leaders in Asia, the Muslim world and in the international circuit. The international recognition that Malaysia earned in the global world was largely due to […]