Climate change will make rice less nutritious, putting millions of the world’s poor at risk
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY KRISTIE EBI- Professor of Global Health and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences, University of Washington RICE is the primary food source for more than three billion people around the world. Many are unable to afford a diverse and nutritious diet that includes complete protein, grains, fruits, and vegetables. They rely heavily on more affordable cereal […]
Twice as predicted
Reading Time: < 1 minuteFUTURE global warming may eventually be twice as warm as projected by climate models under business-as-usual scenarios and even if the world meets the 2°C target sea levels may rise six metres or more, according to an international team of researchers from 17 countries.The findings published recently in Nature Geoscience.
Educators encounter molecular biology upfront
Reading Time: 2 minutesRAWANG: It is not always easy to introduce school students to the concepts of DNA in class as it could be hard for them to visualise how the minute and complex structure appears. The Lab-Ind Resources (LIR) Sdn Bhd has on the 20th and 27th June 2018 conducted a workshop for trainers and educators to […]
New wasp species
Reading Time: < 1 minuteRESEARCHERS from the University of Turku, Finland have discovered a new wasp species in the Amazon which has an exceptionally large stinger that surprised even the scientists. The new insect, which is found in the extremely diverse transitional zone between the Andes and the Amazonian lowland rainforest, uses its stinger both for laying eggs and […]
Why rabbits and parrots can see behind them?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteONLY two animals can see behind themselves without turning their head and they are rabbits and parrots. Their eyes are on the sides of their head, instead on the front and this allows them to swivel 360 degrees. The eyes or skull, is arranged in such a way that nothing blocks the field of view […]
Fall Armyworm keeps spreading and becomes more destructive
Reading Time: 3 minutesFALL Armyworm keeps spreading to larger areas within countries in sub-Saharan Africa and becomes more destructive as it feeds on more crops and different parts of crops, increasingly growing an appetite for sorghum and millet, in addition to maize. The pest could spread to Northern Africa, Southern Europe and the Near East, warned the United […]
Self-sealing seed pods
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAn international team of researchers including members of the Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces has discovered a self-sealing mechanism in the seed pods of Banksia plants: special waxes in the junction zone between the two pod valves melt at elevated environmental temperatures and thereby seal small fissures. The scientists showed how the plant […]
In India, swapping crops could save water and improve nutrition
Reading Time: 3 minutesINDIA will need to feed approximately 394 million more people by 2050, and that’s going to be a significant challenge. Nutrient deficiencies are already widespread in India today–30 percent or more are anemic—and many regions are chronically water stressed. Making matters worse, evidence suggests that monsoons are delivering less rainfall than they used to. But […]