UKM hosts space exploration and updates programme
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBY NADIA SAPUAN KUALA LUMPUR: Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), through the Space Sciences Centre, organised the Space Exploration and Updates Programme in conjunction with the International Conference on Space Science and Communication (ICONSPACE2017), at the National Planetarium, recently. Four speakers were invited to share their experiences in the field of astronomy and space research, and […]
How do photocopy machines work?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE technology underpinning this ubiquitous piece of machinery came about 75 years ago, when inventor Chester Carlson used static electricity created with a handkerchief, light and dry powder to make the first copy on Oct 22, 1938. Today, most photocopiers use a technology called xerography, a dry process that uses electrostatic charges on a light-sensitive […]
How do geckos stick onto walls?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteGeckos dangling precariously from overhead lights or running up walls are a common sight in tropical countries. This is possible due to a weak attraction between the molecules known as the van der Waals force. However, this force alone isn’t sufficient. To overcome this shortcoming, geckos have hundreds of minute and microscopic hair known as […]
Non-browning apples set to hit the market
Reading Time: 2 minutesOkanagan Specialty Fruits, the company behind the non-browning Arctic Apple sets to commercial launch with US retailers this fall, following the completion of successful market testing. Arctic Golden apples, whose polyphenol oxidase (PPO) genes have been silenced through genetic modification was approved by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) […]
Philippines tops in Southeast Asia for GM corn production
Reading Time: < 1 minuteMedia practitioners, farmers, and government agency officers were briefed during a media conference on ISAAA’s latest report, Global Status of Commercialised Biotech/GM Crops: 2016 at the Acacia Hotel, Alabang, Muntinlupa City, Philippines on May 19. The 2016 report states that Philippine biotech corn adoption increased to 812,000 hectares in 2016, a remarkable 16% increase (110,000 […]
Who came up with the practice of vaccination?
Reading Time: < 1 minuteAn English doctor and ‘The father of immunology’, Edward Jenner presented the gift of vaccination to the world. In 1796, he performed his famous experiment on eight year old James Phipps. Jenner extracted[ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] pus from a cowpox postulate and inserted it into an incision on the boy’s arm. He was experimenting […]
Making biological drug with spider silk protein
Reading Time: 2 minutesSCIENTISTS at Karolinska Insti-tutet in Sweden have managed to produce synthetic lung surfactant using DNA sequence derived from spider silk proteins. Surfactant is a drug used to strengthen the lungs of premature babies by reducing the surface tension in their pulmo-nary alveoli (the structures in the lung that allow for respiration) and allowing them to […]
Brazil approves world’s first commercial GM sugarcane
Reading Time: 2 minutesBRAZIL has approved the commercialization of a genetically modified sugarcane, developed by the Brazilian sugarcane breeding and technology company, Centro de Tecnologia Canavieira (CTC). This is the first time such permission has been granted any-where in the world. The approval came from the National Technical Biosafety Com-mission (CTNBio). The GM sugarcane contains the gene Bt […]
Textile Town set to become herbal hub in North Johor
Reading Time: 2 minutesTANGKAK — well known as the Textile Town of Malaysia – owing to the scores of textile merchants and retailers selling fabrics and other cloth products will soon another moniker, perhaps as the country’s Kacip Fatimah Hub. Kacip Fatimah (Labisia pumila), a herb said to be the ideal tonic for women’s health and wellness is […]
The most influential species of all evolution
Reading Time: 2 minutesEVER wonder what is the most influential (defined as the species that has most changed life on Earth) species in the history of the planet? Homo sapiens? You got it wrong. Though we’d like to think we are the masters of the universe, we don’t even make it in the top five. It is … the earthworm. Yeah, you read that […]