Matchmaking for sweet potato?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSOME relationships can be complicated. Take the one between sweet potato crops and soil nitrogen, for example. Too little nitrogen and sweet potato plants don’t grow well and have low yields. Too much nitrogen, however, boosts the growth of leaves and branches at the expense of storage roots. That also leads to low yields. “Carefully […]
Corn variety gets nutrients from bacteria, potentially reducing need for fertiliser
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN a new study publishing August 7 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology, researchers describe a newly identified corn variety which acquires nitrogen — an essential nutrient for plants — by feeding its sugars to beneficial bacteria, which can in turn take up nitrogen from the air and pass it back to the plant in […]
What is coral bleaching?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteCORALS are known as the underwater gardens of the ocean. Besides providing shelters to 25% of marine species, they amaze us with their myriad colours of beauty. But little do we know that the vivid colours of corals come from a type of algae that resides in it, called zooxanthellae. They also provide nutrients to […]
Protecting yeast from damage in biofuel production
Reading Time: < 1 minuteSOME chemicals used to speed up the breakdown of plants for production of biofuels like ethanol are poisonous to the yeasts that turn the plant sugars into fuel. Researchers from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and several Department of Energy laboratories have identified two changes to a single gene that can make the yeast tolerate the […]
Low-quality medicines prevalent in the developing world
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA NEW study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill found that substandard and falsified medicines, including medicines to treat malaria, are a serious problem in much of the world. In low- and middle-income countries, more than 13 percent of the essential medicines that satisfy the priority health care needs of the population […]
GM rice that can neutralise HIV
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAN INTERNATIONAL team of researchers from Spain, the United States, and the United Kingdom has successfully created a strain of genetically modified (GM) rice that will produce HIV-neutralising proteins. Scientists have been developing possible treatments for people infected with HIV. Their efforts to produce a vaccine against the virus have been unsuccessful, but oral medications […]
Costly delay
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE Philippines is losing as much as PHP33.85 billion (US$634 million) due to delay in commercialising the insect resistant Bt eggplant, according to Dr Cesar Quicoy, an economist from the University of the Philippines Los Baños. Quicoy studied the cost of delaying the commercialisation of Bt eggplant in the country in three different adoption rate […]
Barleys brewing secrets
Reading Time: < 1 minuteUNIVERSITY of Adelaide researchers have uncovered the mechanism of barley’s malting characteristics. They discovered a new link between one of the key enzymes in malt production for brewing and a specific tissue layer within the barley grain. The most important malting enzymes come from a layer of tissue in the barley grain called the aleurone, […]
The environmental cost of contact lenses
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMANY people rely on contact lenses to improve their vision. But these sight-correcting devices don’t last forever — some are intended for a single day’s use — and they are eventually disposed of in various ways. Now, scientists are reporting that throwing these lenses down the drain at the end of their use could be […]
What makes the moon turn red?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteON THE 27th of July 2018, saw the longest ‘’blood moon’’ eclipse sighting of the century. In case you have missed it, you may want to know why the moon turned red. Red moon only occurs during a total lunar eclipse, when the three planets are in line. This phenomenon occurs when the earth blocks […]