Recycle your old mobile phone to save gorilla populations
Reading Time: 2 minutesARE you among the 400 million people around the world who have relegated an old mobile phone to the top drawer in the past year? Do you realise your reluctance to recycle that discarded phone could be linked to the dramatic decline of gorilla populations in the Democratic Republic of the Congo? The link between hoarding disused mobile phones and the decimation of Grauer […]
How does cancer spread?
Reading Time: 2 minutesHOW does cancer spread? While studying human brain tumour cells, a team of scientists at the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre (RI-MUHC) found some answers to this crucial, yet so far unanswered question. They looked at a gene called EGFRvIII, which is present in patients with glioblastoma – a highly aggressive form […]
Scientists apply gene editing on Chinese kale
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBRASSICA vegetables are economically important vegetables with high nutritional value. CRISPR-Cas9-mediated gene editing has been demonstrated in several crops but not in Brassica vegetables. For the first time, researcher Haoru Tang from Sichuan Agricultural University in China and colleagues demonstrate the applicability of CRISPR-Cas9 in editing genes in Chinese kale, a Brassica vegetable that has […]
World govts set targets for sustainability development by 2050
Reading Time: < 1 minuteONE HUNDRED and ninety-six Governments have agreed to scale up investments for sustainable development and harmonious coexistence of all life on Earth by 2050. This was during the United Nations Biodiversity Conference held from Nov 17-29, in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt. Addressing the convention, His Excellency, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, President of the Arab Republic of […]
Why do volcanoes erupt?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteVOLCANOES are just a natural way that the Earth and other planets have for cooling off and releasing internal heat and pressure. Volcanoes erupt because of density and pressure. The lower density of the magma relative to the surrounding rocks causes it to rise (like air bubbles in syrup). It will rise to the surface […]
Why do snakes dance to the sound of a flute?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteHAVE you ever seen a snake-charmer playing a flute or pungi and a snake swaying its head to the tune of the pungi? It is a common scene of the small town street in India or in a movie. But can a snake really hear the sound? Snakes do not have external ears and thus, […]
Courting business partners and playing cupid
Reading Time: 4 minutesMalaysian Technology Development Corporation (MTDC) talks about a trait that it is good at – forging business partnership for companies under their wings. Here Dr Zainul Fadziruddin Zainuddin, Director, Office of CEO shares his thoughts with The Petri Dish’s Shamira Shamsuddin. Define partnership in business. Business operation between two or more individuals who share management […]
Making science heard via modern technology
Reading Time: 3 minutesIN this age of mass media digitalisation, we see ourselves being slaves to our devices. Boon or bane: You decide! It is an inevitable change that we need to embrace as we see our world being more replaced by machines. As far as we see this true, we need to step up to societal changes. […]
FAO supports farming in refugee camps
Reading Time: 3 minutes“MY LIFE IS SO DIFFERENT NOW,” says 23-year-old Scofia Sadik Mandera, with a big smile on her face. “We have vegetables to eat, we have a balanced diet. I have more energy.” Over the past year, Scofia has grown her own kitchen garden – one of more than 7, 000 in the Kalobeyei refugee camp in northern Kenya. Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement, as the camp is formally […]
More bioplastics do not necessarily contribute to climate change mitigation
Reading Time: 3 minutesBIOPLASTICS are often promoted as an environmentally and climate-friendly alternative to conventional petroleum-based plastics. However, a recent study from the University of Bonn suggests that shifting to plant-based plastics could have less positive effects than expected. Specifically, an increased consumption of bioplastics in the following years is likely to generate increased greenhouse gas emissions from cropland expansion on a global scale. The study […]