You know those elementary school science fair experiments where the kid tests whether tap water or Coca-Cola are better sources of nutrition for houseplants or gerbils or whatever? Turns out that those silly kids do indeed have job prospects out in the real world.
Sodium benzoate, a common preservative used widely in soft drinks, might “switch off” vital parts of DNA–namely, the mighty mitochrondria, which basically are the power source of cells. “These chemicals have the ability to cause severe damage to DNA in the mitochondria to the point that they totally inactivate it: they knock it out altogether,” University of Sheffield biologist Peter Piper pronounced to packs of panicked people. (more…)
If you think New York City has the nation’s biggest rats, you’re wrong. Florida wildlife officials are currently tussling with 6-lb, cat-sized Gambian pouched rats that were imported as pets and then released into the local ecosystem.
The Gambian rats, used as land mine detectors in Africa, began populating the Keys about eight years ago, and local enforcers are now starting the last phase of a two-year-long eradication campaign. They’ve set out about 1,000 traps baited with peanut butter and anise in hopes of stopping the rats from infiltrating the Florida mainland. Florida’s hot, humid weather makes it a welcoming home for exotic animals, like the 13-foot Burmese python found in the Everglades in 2005 with an alligator in its belly. (more…)
Farming is all about inbreeding. At least the kind of large scale crop farming in the United States that yields bigger potatoes and heartier nuts.
This is a problem. Not because it’s gross–personally, I love the ease and cheapness of big flaky potatoes and crunchy nuts. It is a problem because we are engineering weak plants. Selection for mass produced plants with similar traits leaves crops vulnerable to disease and the stresses of a changing climate. (more…)
China is trying to overturn a 14-year-ban that prohibits selling and buying tiger parts, Indian officials have said. A Chinese delegation is currently in New Delhi to discuss environmental collaborations between the two nations.
For China, tiger parts are a good business. There are many tiger farms in China which, if the ban were overturned, could supply the bones and whiskers popular in traditional Chinese medicine to the rest of the world. Tiger meat would also be a possible sale, as at least a few Chinese tiger farms were found serving the big cat’s meat at their restaurants. (more…)
No, those aren’t rat pellets. They’re wood chips held by University of Georgia engineer Tom Adams, who says he’s found a way to derive biofuel from these bite-size stumps.
Adams says his method is more efficient than previous similar attempts. He also says that, considering Georgia’s 24 million acres of forest, the new technique could support a massive new state economy. (Not a surprising conclusion from research funded in part by the state government itself.) (more…)
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