Study: Biodegradable bags are not truly biodegradable
Reading Time: 3 minutesWHEN you see something labelled “biodegradable”, you instinctively assume it will degrade into nature much more quickly than conventional plastics. But, is that really the case? The word “biodegradable” has become beguiling to people trying to make fast bucks, throwing dubious claims about biodegradability – which may seem too good to be true. Plastics described as biodegradable can be made from bioplastics, […]
Boundless opportunities for halal pharmaceuticals
Reading Time: 4 minutesGLOBAL communities are increasingly more discerning and demanding that only the purest and best ingredients are used in the making of pharmaceuticals. Patients are more curious and seek to understand more about the origins of their proposed medication as part of fulfilling their religious beliefs, besides ensuring the safety, effectiveness, quality and hygiene of the […]
Would you eat GM food if you understood the science behind it?
Reading Time: 2 minutesJONATHAN MCPHETRES, a newly minted PhD in psychology from the University of Rochester, admits he’s “personally amazed” what we can do with genes, specifically genetically modified food — such as saving papayas from extinction. “We can makes crops better, more resilient, and more profitable and easier for farmers to grow, so that we can provide […]
Turning fish waste into bioplastics
Reading Time: 2 minutesWHILE most of us know that fish contains a high protein content, it is however difficult to imagine that protein in fish waste could be a “starter fodder” to produce bioplastics. The idea of deriving plastics from fish protein first begins with unravelling the protein’s structure. Dr Ku Marsilla Ku Ishak, a lecturer from Polymer […]
Retracing ancient routes to Australia
Reading Time: < 1 minuteNEW insights into how people first arrived in Australia have been revealed by a group of experts brought together to investigate the continent’s deep history. They used sophisticated modelling to determine not only the likely routes travelled by Aboriginal people tens of thousands of years ago, but also the sizes of groups required for the […]
Toxic proteins linked to Alzheimer’s
Reading Time: < 1 minuteA TEAM of researchers from McMaster University has mapped at atomic resolution a toxic protein linked to Alzheimer’s disease, allowing them to better under- stand what is happening deep within the brain during the earliest stages of the disease.The findings, published on the front cover of the current edition of the Royal Society of Chemistry flagship […]