Human intervention into caves good for fungi biodiversity
Reading Time: 3 minutesHUMAN intrusion into natural habitats of plants and animals is usually frowned upon by society, especially environmentalists. But this is not true when it comes to cave exploration, a leisure activity known as spelunking. According to a local scientist, intrusion of caves by tourists, [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] hobbyists and other enthusiasts is actually […]
Gut feeling is real science! Know your microbiome!
Reading Time: 4 minutesBY TAN GUAN CHWEN FROM time to time, I wake up thinking, “something feels wrong, I may be falling ill.” I have learnt not to dismiss this “gut feeling”, because more often than not, I end up with a mild cold, before bouncing back to normal. Beyond just instinct though, getting involved with Asian Microbiome […]
So what do we do with spoilt milk? Make T-shirts out of them!
Reading Time: 2 minutesEVER imagined your body being wrapped in a shirt made up of “bad” milk? Disgusted just by the thought of it? Well, be no more! Frustrated by the scenario where food gets wasted even before it is consumed, an eco-conscious duo invented a [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] technology to re-engineer spoiled milk into environmental […]
First dinosaur eggs were soft like a turtle’s
Reading Time: 3 minutesNEW RESEARCH suggests that the first dinosaurs laid soft-shelled eggs – a finding that contradicts established thought. The study, led by the American Museum of Natural History and Yale University and published today in the journal Nature, applied a suite of sophisticated geochemical methods to analyze the eggs of two vastly different non-avian dinosaurs and […]
A new species of diamond frog from northern Madagascar hops into the spotlight
Reading Time: 2 minutesDESPITE the active ongoing taxonomic progress on Madagascar’s frogs, the amphibian inventory of this hyper-diverse island is still very far from being complete. The known diversity of the diamond frog genus Rhombophryne in Madagascar has increased significantly (more than doubled!) over the last 10 years, but still there are several undescribed candidate species awaiting description. […]
Malaysian researchers discover unique lineage of Covid-19 virus in the country
Reading Time: 2 minutesKUANTAN: A consortium of researchers performing a whole genome sequencing of the prevailing Covid-19 virus in the country have discovered that the virus strains have [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] evolved from different lineages. The team from Universiti Malaysia Pahang (UMP), Universiti Islam Antarabangsa Malaysia (UIAM) Kuantan and Makmal Kesihatan Awam Johor Baru were led by UMP’s Dr Hajar […]
The ‘silent stealth’ of Covid-19
Reading Time: 2 minutesAN EXTRAORDINARY percentage of people infected by the virus behind the ongoing deadly COVID-19 pandemic never show symptoms of the disease, according to the results of a Scripps Research analysis of public datasets on asymptomatic infections. The findings, published in Annals of Internal Medicine, suggest that asymptomatic infections may account for as [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ […]
Man rooted to the soil earns World Food Prize 2020
Reading Time: 3 minutesDES MOINES, Iowa: The World Food Prize – usually likened to being the “Nobel for Agriculture” was awarded to Rattan Lal, an Indian-American soil scientist. Lal earned the 2020 award for his research which led to improved food [ihc-hide-content ihc_mb_type=”show” ihc_mb_who=”2,3,5″ ihc_mb_template=”1″ ] production and a better understanding of how atmospheric carbon can be held […]
New tools in the fight against malaria
Reading Time: 2 minutesMALARIA has existed since the days of the Roman Empire — in fact, the disease was so widespread throughout the empire that one of its monikers was “Roman fever.” More than a millennium later, malaria remains a significant health concern in many parts of the world, especially warm, humid regions that encourage the breeding of […]
Pandemic and paranoia
Reading Time: 2 minutesIN TIMES of unexpected uncertainty, such as the sudden appearance of a global pandemic, people may be more prone to paranoia, Yale University researchers suggest in a new study published in the journal eLife. “When our world changes unexpectedly, we want to blame that volatility on somebody, to make sense of it, and perhaps neutralize it,” […]