Is nuclear power the key to finally reducing the CO2 footprint?
Reading Time: 7 minutesBY GILLES YOUINOU GERMANY is eager to do its part and aims to lower its CO2 footprint with aggressive development of wind and solar, while, in parallel, phasing out nuclear. In about 20 years, at a cost of at least two hundred billion dollars, it has added about 80 gigawatts of wind and solar generating […]
UKM earns the biggest fireflies research fund in Malaysia
Reading Time: < 1 minuteBY ASMAHANIM AMIR IN ensuring that fireflies are preserved, Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), has conducted a study of the insects and received the largest fireflies research fund in Malaysia. Chief Researcher of the Fireflies Habitat Conservation Project (KELIP2@UKM Group) Kampung Dew, Prof Madya Dr Norela Sulaiman said the research is funded by Tenaga Nasional Berhad (TNB) (RM1.09 million). The research covers three spotted conservation areas, namely Kampung Dew, […]
Indeed money (gold) grows on trees
Reading Time: 6 minutesRecent Kim Kim River toxic pollution incident has raised eyebrows and sparked anger of Malaysian public about the irresponsible act of water pollution. Although this is an extreme pollution case of toxic proportion, day-to-day mining activities will leave behind mine wastes which may contain toxic chemicals such as arsenic that might be leached out during […]
Clues to Martian life found in Chilean desert
Reading Time: 2 minutesA ROBOTIC rover deployed in the most Mars-like environment on Earth, the Atacama Desert in Chile, has successfully recovered subsurface soil samples during a trial mission to find signs of life. The samples contained unusual and highly specialised microbes that were distributed in patches, which researchers linked to the limited water availability, scarce nutrients and […]
Sumatran rhinos ‘go missing’ in Sabah
Reading Time: < 1 minuteTHE Sumatran rhinoceros (Dicerorhinus sumatrensis) has not been seen in Sabah for a long time. This, is according to studies conducted at the Ulu Segama Forest Reserve and Tabin Wildlife Reserve in Lahad Datu. Sabah Minister of Tourism, Culture and Environment Datuk Christina Liew said the studies were collaborations between the ministry, through the Wildlife […]
Mozzie-born diseases to rise globally
Reading Time: 3 minutesOUTBREAKS of mosquito-borne illnesses like yellow fever, dengue, Zika and chikungunya are rising around the world. Climate change has created conditions favorable to mosquitoes’ spread, but so have human travel and migration and accelerating urbanisation, creating new mini-habitats for mosquitoes. In Nature Microbiology recently, a large group of international collaborators combined these factors into prediction […]
Under threat
Reading Time: 3 minutesROME: The first-ever report of its kind presents mounting and worrying evidence that the biodiversity that underpins our food systems is disappearing – putting the future of our food, livelihoods, health and environment under severe threat. Once lost, warns FAO’s State of the World’s Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture report, launched today, biodiversity for food and agriculture – i.e. all the species that support our food systems and sustain […]
Plastic waste could be turned into clean fuels, other products
Reading Time: 2 minutesTHE United Nations estimates that more than 8 million tons of plastics flow into the oceans each year. A new chemical conversion process could transform the world’s polyolefin waste, a form of plastic, into useful products, such as clean fuels and other items. “Our strategy is to create a driving force for recycling by converting polyolefin waste into a wide range of valuable products, including polymers, naphtha (a […]
Ice Age survivors or stranded travellers?
Reading Time: 2 minutesA new subterranean species discovered in Canada. THE discovery of a new to science species of rare and primitive arthropod from the depths of a cave that was covered by a thick ice sheet until recently is certain to raise questions. In their study, published in the open-access journal Subterranean Biology, entomologist Alberto Sendra and […]
Scientists rewrite corn domestication story
Reading Time: 4 minutesDrawing on genetic and archaeological evidence, researchers have found that a predecessor of today’s corn plants still bearing many features of its wild ancestor was likely brought to South America from Mexico more than 6,500 years ago. SMITHSONIAN scientists and collaborators are revising the history of one of the world’s most important crops. Drawing on […]