An East Anglian land college has continued to boost its farming content with the arrival of a herd of cattle at its Otley campus. Andrew Vernon picks up the Red Poll cattle destined for the Otley campus of Easton and Otley College from Euston.
Category: Science
Undersea Robot to Hunt for Strange Life of Deep Pacific: Watch Online
Armchair oceanographers, take note: This week, the research ship Okeanos Explorer will send a remotely operated vehicle into the depths of the Pacific Ocean, seeking out exotic sea animals like the “walking” fish called a sea toad and other curiosities. And, you can have a front-row seat.
Drought drives food price spike in East Africa, UN warns
East Africa’s ongoing drought has sharply curbed harvests and drive up the prices of cereals and other staple foods to unusually high levels, posing a heavy burden to households and special risks for pastoralists in the region, the United Nations Agricultural Agency said today. “Sharply increasing prices are severely constraining food access for large numbers of households with alarming consequences in terms of food insecurity,” said Mario Zappacosta, a senior economist for the UN Food and Agriculture Organization , in a news release.
Chinese fossil – rewrites history of reproduction’
First evidence found that group of animals that includes dinosaurs and birds also gave live birth to babies rather than only laying eggs A fossil found in China has provided the first evidence that a group of animals that includes dinosaurs, birds and crocodiles also gave live birth to babies rather than only laying eggs to produce offspring. The remains of a baby were found inside the fossil of a marine reptile called a Dinocephalosaurus discovered about 100km from Kunming in Yunnan province in southwest China.
Chinese fossil – rewrites history of reproduction’
First evidence found that group of animals that includes dinosaurs and birds also gave live birth to babies rather than only laying eggs A fossil found in China has provided the first evidence that a group of animals that includes dinosaurs, birds and crocodiles also gave live birth to babies rather than only laying eggs to produce offspring. The remains of a baby were found inside the fossil of a marine reptile called a Dinocephalosaurus discovered about 100km from Kunming in Yunnan province in southwest China.
This company makes food packaging out of bamboo to cut down on trash
But, rather than plastic, it uses a mixture of bamboo and cassava, crops that are widely found across the country. But, like many other countries in the region, it’s been slow to try to combat the millions of tons of trash produced each year.
South Korea to import 4.8 million vaccines against foot-and-mouth disease
A health officer checks a cattle in a farm in Gimje as a preventive measure against foot-and-mouth disease after South Korea on Monday confirmed a case of food-and-mouth at a dairy farm elsewhere in the country, South Korea, February 6, 2017. Moon Yo-han/News1 via South Korea’s agriculture ministry said on Monday it will import 4.8 million doses of foot-and-mouth vaccine by the end of this month in an effort to prevent further spread of the viral disease.
Orange imports from around the world crushing Indonesia’s home-grown varieties
INFLOWS of imported oranges have put the country’s own exotic orange variants in a tight squeeze, further jeopardising local businesses that are already facing a hard time against their foreign counterparts. The saying “don’t judge a book by its cover” does not apply to the sales of Mandarin oranges at Kopro Market in Grogol, West Jakarta.
.com | Nothing new on land restitution
Despite the ANC and President Jacob Zuma hyping up the return of land late last year and during a statement on January 8, his state of the nation address this week contained hardly any new initiatives. Expanding on Zuma’s speech, Rural Development and Land Reform Minister Gugile Nkwinti told City Press on Thursday night that they were working to fundamentally change the structure of the system, the patterns of ownership and the control of the economy.
A Year Since Gravitational Waves Were Discovered: – Preferred’ for…
Building the world’s third Laser Interferometer Gravitational Wave observatory is an ambitious task, one that scientists are excited about. But they want to make sure that the ‘primary’ site at Maharashtra’s Hingoli district is the best location to help filter noise and interpret signals better.
Four dead, dozens hurt in Philippine quake
At least four people have been killed and more than 100 others injured in a powerful earthquake that hit a southern Philippine city on Mindanao island, media reports said on Saturday. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology said in its revised report the magnitude-6.7 quake struck 10:03 p.m. Friday 14 km northwest of Surigao City in Surigao del Norte province.
Strong quake damages buildings in southern Philippines
A strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.5 shook a southern Philippine region late Friday, damaging some buildings, knocking out power and sending residents fleeing to safety, officials said. There were no immediate reports of injuries from the quake in Surigao del Norte province, which struck about 14 kilometres northwest of Surigao city at a relatively shallow depth of 11 kilometres , officials said.
Mexican farmer’s daughter: NAFTA destroyed us
If you ask President Donald Trump, Mexico won the lottery almost 25 years ago when it signed NAFTA, the free trade deal with the United States and Canada. “It has been a one-sided deal from the beginning of NAFTA with massive numbers of jobs and companies lost,” Trump tweeted on Jan. 26. But if you ask Griselda Mendoza, the deal nearly destroyed her family and her community of corn farmers in the southern Mexican state of Oaxaca.
Brazil boosts ideas of record soybean and safrina corn crops
Conab, the Brazilian crop supply agency lifted its forecast for the second-season corn crop by some 2.5m tonnes, citing good weather. Conab forecast the Brazilian safrinha crop, which is sown after soybeans are harvested, up 44% year-on-year, to 58.59m tonnes.
Study finds new bacterial strain can contaminate shellfish
Scientists studying oysters along the Atlantic Coast have discovered a critical clue to understanding why more seafood lovers are getting sick from eating shellfish. Researchers at the University of New Hampshire have found a new strain of the bacteria Vibrio parahaemolyticus, the world’s leading culprit of contamination in shellfish that, when eaten, causes diarrhea, vomiting and abdominal pain.
Four SRUC Oatridge Campus students shortlisted for the prestigious Lantra awards
Four students from the Oatridge Campus of SRUC have been shortlisted for the prestigious Lantra awards in the categories of Higher Education, Engineering, Conservation and Equine Studies. Katie Dubarry started her studies at SRUC Oatridge Campus and is doing a BSc in Agriculture at SRUC Edinburgh Campus.
Funding pledged for new Boyanup saleyard land purchase
A pledge to allocate $2 million to purchase land for a new saleyard in Western Australia’s south-west has been met with mixed reactions by interested stakeholders. WA Agriculture Minister Mark Lewis announced the funding as a sale got underway at the yard in Boyanup on Tuesday.
Gordhan calls for mining industry rethink
South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday urged mining companies in Africa to empower the youth and re-skill their workers to counter the adverse effects of technology, while ensuring that they mined commodities sustainably. Gordhan said technology in mining, especially the advent and subsequent takeover by robots and artificial intelligence, was threatening to wipe out at least five million jobs in the industry in the next few years.
Gordhan calls for mining industry rethink
South Africa Finance Minister Pravin Gordhan on Tuesday urged mining companies in Africa to empower the youth and re-skill their workers to counter the adverse effects of technology, while ensuring that they mined commodities sustainably. Gordhan said technology in mining, especially the advent and subsequent takeover by robots and artificial intelligence, was threatening to wipe out at least five million jobs in the industry in the next few years.
U.S. immigration ban could lead affected chemists to Europe
Although many scientists oppose a presidential order banning nationals from seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the U.S., chemists from those nations could head to Europe or elsewhere in the industrialized world. David Black, secretary general of the International Council of Scientists, says chemists from affected nations “may seek to go to other developed countries” to pursue their work.
UPDATE 1-Morocco threatens to cut EU ties if farm deal founders
Feb 6 Morocco’s government said on Monday it would end economic cooperation with the European Union if the bloc does not honour a farming deal, weeks after an EU court ruled that trade accords do not apply to the disputed Western Sahara region. In a statement to MAP state news agency, the agriculture ministry said the EU should resist any attempts to block Moroccan products entering into the European market but did not explain why the pact might be at risk.
The Importance of Regulating Lead in Drinking Water
New York City’s drinking water is among the best in the world, but the high quality of water delivered to some of our buildings may become contaminated within our buildings. Many of our buildings are decades old, some from the 19th century, and they contain decaying pipes and fixtures that may have toxics accumulating in them.
Somalia on brink of another famine, United Nations warns
Kadija Mohamed cooks food for her children in a camp set up for internally displaced people in Dinsoor in southern Somalia, January 5, 2012. Kadija Mohamed cooks food for her children in a camp set up for internally displaced people in Dinsoor in southern Somalia, January 5, 2012.
Fortification plan for food
New Delhi, Feb. 4: The Centre has proposed making food fortification mandatory for all staples like rice, wheat flour, edible oil and milk to fight malnutrition but some experts have urged a cautious approach, warning of hidden costs and unproven health benefits. The Telegraph had reported in January 2016 that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had pushed the idea of universal fortification – addition of key vitamin and minerals to foods to improve their nutritional value and address nutritional gaps in the population – in meetings with top officials of the ministries of agriculture, food and public distribution, commerce, health and women and child development.
Researchers confirm ‘lost continent’ below Mauritius
Indian Ocean topography shows the location of the East African island nation of Mauritius, where researchers have verified the location of a ‘lost continent.’ Brandie Weikle is a senior writer for CBC News based in Toronto.
Iraq’s ‘Marsh Arabs’ look to restore once-lost culture with help from US scientists
Marsh Arab Abu Sabah paddles his boat at the Chebayesh marsh in Nassiriya, 300 km southeast of Baghdad. For more than 6,000 years, the marshlands of southern Iraq played a major role in sustaining the agriculture, economies and livelihoods of those residing in the Fertile Crescent.
Could these maths boffins help you get cheaper train tickets?
FIGURE IT OUT: Jeremy Acklam has a team of maths experts crunching numbers to save rail travellers millions Picture Richard Cave. MATHS experts from Oxford say rail users will save millions with a new train-booking website which went live this week.
Why The Arctic Apple Means You May Be Seeing More GMOs At The Store
Genetically engineered crops are nothing new. But emerging technology that allows scientists to alter plants more precisely and cheaply is taking genetically engineered plants from the field to the kitchen.
Business Rx: This farming start-up seeks help cultivating advisors to help it grow
This week, a start-up that helps farmers in emerging economies find markets for their goods seeks advice on how to assemble an advisory board.- Dan Beyers After graduating from Brown University in 2007 with a degree in Business Economics, Ashley King-Bischof spent a season playing professional basketball in Europe. The travel for games piqued her interest in exploring more of the world.
Pervasive charcoal trade getting major rethink in Haiti
Pungent wood smoke wafts daily across the hinterlands of Haiti’s southern peninsula, where villagers stack smoldering wood beneath dirt mounds to make the charcoal that nearly all the urban households in the country use to cook every meal. For decades, authorities and development workers have denounced such rural charcoal makers for stripping the nation’s forests, sending topsoil to sea and helping make Haiti the poorest country in the Americas.
‘Ovation worm’: Bizarre new Burgess Shale species detailed in journal
The Ovatiovermis is shown in a handout photo from the Royal Ontario Museum. Researchers with the Royal Ontario Museum have for the first time identified an 18-limbed worm that lived some 500 million years ago.
Trelleborg Named Official Partner Of The AGCO Africa Summit
Trelleborg has been named as an official partner of the 6th AGCO Africa Summit, which will be held in Berlin, Germany on January 23. Launched in 2012, the AGCO Africa Summit is one of the leading platforms for the discussion of the critical issues impacting the region’s agricultural development. The theme of the 2017 AGCO Africa Summit is ‘Agribusiness in Africa.
Study indicates air-polluting chemicals can travel far
A new study indicates that tiny floating particles can grow semi-solid around pollutants, allowing them to last longer and travel much farther than what previous global climate models predicted. Pollutants from fossil fuel burning, forest fires and biofuel consumption include air-polluting chemicals known as polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons, or PAHs.
Lone teacher to sign Kashmir petition quits Ashoka University
Dr Rajendran Narayanan, the only teacher at Ashoka University who signed a petition which condemned the violence over militant Burhan Wani’s death and called for a plebiscite in Jammu and Kashmir, has resigned from the Sonepat institution’s mathematics department citing “ethical reasons”. Narayanan quit on December 15, a day before the semester ended.
California fights Monsanto on labels for popular weed killer
A battle over the main ingredient in Roundup, a popular weed killer sprayed by farmers and home gardeners worldwide, is coming to a head in California, where officials want to be the first to label the chemical with warnings that it could cause cancer. Monsanto rejects any health risk of its top-selling herbicide.
Plastic BelAZ – the Symbol of the Bankruptcy of the Regime
While developed countries learn how to produce milk without cows, Belarus retains moth-eaten enterprises and believes that the crisis will fade away soon. Alas.
Rolling coverage: Australia Day across Northern Tasmania
The Bureau of Meteorology says its perfect barbecue weather for most of the state, with a few showers about the west and far south. Happy #AustraliaDay .
Oil Rises Above $53 as Iraq Says Close to Full OPEC Cut Pledge
U.S. oil advanced to trade above $53 a barrel as Iraq said it’s close to implementing its share of pledged output curbs agreed with OPEC to trim bloated global inventories. Futures rose as much as 1 percent in New York after dropping 0.9 percent on Monday.
Politicians woo farming lobby ahead of Brexit trigger
There has been a sudden burst of interest from top Scottish politicians in this year’s NFU Scotland’s AGM, annual dinner and conference in Glasgow in a fortnight’s time. If a six-way battle for inclusion in the organisation’s own top team wasn’t enough excitement to fuel the two-day event, the ongoing battle for hearts and minds over the Brexit issue has also galvanised big hitters from the Scottish Parliament to take the opportunity to address what is likely to be the farming industry’s most talked-about bash of the year.
Meet the scientist who developed the orange fleshed sweet potato
In 1978, when he graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree from Makerere University, he started the preliminary breeding work at the then Kawanda Research Station Left to right, Drs Jan Low, Maria Andrade with Dr Mwanga. In 2016, the team, together with Dr. Howarth Bouis were honoured with the prestigious World Food Prize for their work on orange fleshed sweet potato.