Scientists say that cell phones are ‘harmful for health’. But mobiles are actually ringing out death sentences for gorillas. Coltan, a mineral extracted from forests of Congo, is used for manufacturing cell phones.
And the mobile boom has led to rampant mining in previously pristine forests that are the home ground of these animals. With Coltan miners running amok here, the gorillas are at high risk.
We can make paper without cutting down trees. Sounds like pulp fiction? Not really. Kenaf (Hibiscus canabinus l.), a plant related to okra and cotton, provides ideal raw material for producing paper. It has many advantages over virgin wood. It requires less chemicals and energy to turn it into pulp; it bleaches with hydrogen peroxide and needs no chlorine; and the treated wastewater can be reused for irrigation.
Kenaf paper is stronger, whiter, longer lasting, more resistant to yellowing. It also holds ink better than tree paper. But the initial cost of setting up a Kenaf paper factory is still very high.
Soybean, till now, was used in margarines, cereals, salad dressings, canned foods and sauces. Now it has found a place for itself in colouring kits! Soy crayons are being manufactured to replace toxic petroleum-wax crayons and are safer to use, and brighter in colour.
They are not expensive to produce either. One acre (43,560 square feet) of soybeans can produce 82,368 crayons.
Got a headache? Have a cherry. It has been proved that the same chemicals that give tart cherries their colour may relieve pain better than Aspirin or Ibuprofen.
Eating about 20 tart cherries a day can reduce inflammatory pain. A truly tasty treat…sorry treatment!
The global climate is changing and growing crops suited to a particular season — wet summers — is becoming extremely arduous. The flowering process is delayed and this pushes back the harvest season. So researchers at the John Innes Centre in Norwich, have identified a gene in barley that controls plant responses to seasonal change.
This gene can be used to develop new crop varieties that will quickly adapt to the changing climate.
Mistletoe. As Christmas decorations, these ornamental plants usher in a festive flavour. But they have some not-so-attractive characteristics in real life! Mistletoes are parasites which sink their roots into a host tree and leech water and mineral nutrients to supplement their own photosynthesis.
In fact the scientific name for American mistletoe, Phoradendron, means “thief of the tree” in Greek.
Biologists recently unearthed 27 new species of spiders, centipedes and scorpion-like creatures in dark, damp caves beneath two National Parks in the Sierra Nevada, California. These animals are new to science and are adapted to specific environments.
One species is a relative of the Pill Bug and is so translucent that its internal organs like the long, bright yellow liver, are clearly visible from the outside. With jaws bigger than its body, a Daddy Long Leg has been found,too, along with a fluorescent orange spider.
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