Science writers, communicators, media, training, and public relations
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about obese pets; reversing ageing; how your mother is to blame for your sense of taste; the peril of heat stress; and more… Read More about Obese pets, reverse ageing and heat stress…
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about slowing wind; love and pain; cane toad caviar; shining light inside your body; and more… Read More about The caveman's kitchen, T.rex revelations, slowing wind and more. Tim on radio this week.
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about slowing wind; love and pain; cane toad caviar; shining light inside your body; and more… Read More about The caveman’s kitchen, T.rex revelations, slowing wind and more. Tim on radio this week.
This week on radio, Tim Thwaites is talking about using your beach towel to charge your MP3 player; carrying brains overseas; flu vaccinations; healthy fruit extracts; and more… Read More about Charging MP3 players with beach towels, carrying brains overseas, flu vaccinations and more. Tim on radio this week.
More than 30,000 East African farmers are using plants to protect their corn (maize) crops from insect and weed attack. The crop protection strategy was developed by Kenyan and UK scientists.
Termed “Push-Pull’, it relies on strategically deploying attractive and repellent plants in alternating rows to control the growth of African witchweed and stemborer insects. These are the biggest threat to cereal crops in Sub-Saharan Africa. Stem borers often destroy 80% of a crop.
Read More about Plants protect plants and triple yields in East Africa
Victorian farmers are in a phony war right now – but in spring the invasion will come. We’re likely to see the worst locust plague for 30 years. David Hunter will tell the conference how plagues occur and what can be done to reduce their impact. Read More about Worst locust plague in 30 years this summer
IUPAC Plenary Six and Seven, Wednesday 9:45am
Chris Leaver, University of Oxford
The world’s population has more than doubled in the past 50 years and the relative abundance of food has kept pace, with the poorest benefiting most. Yet one billion people are malnourished and live below the poverty line.
IUPAC Symposium 6B – Crop Biofactories: Plants as Sustainable Bio-Production Systems for Industrial Raw Materials, Wednesday 3:30pm
Sten Stymne, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
Vegetable oil is the agricultural product that chemically most resembles fossil oils and has therefore great potential to replace it, says Sweden’s Sten Stymne.
He’s part of an 11-million-Euro global project to engineer seed oils for bio-lubricant uses.
Read More about Vegetable oil to lubricate your car, tractor and truck
IUPAC Symposium 3B – Changing Pesticide use and Risk Scenarios with the Introduction of GM Crops Monday 3:30pm
Gary Fitt, CSIRO Entomology
GM cotton was released in 1996, as part of the fight back against Helicoverpa – arguably the most destructive agricultural pest in the world. Bollgard II varieties now make up 90% of the Australian cotton industry. What difference have they made?
Gary Fitt from CSIRO Entomology in Queensland will report that farmers have reduced pesticide use by up to 90% providing on-farm benefits and greatly reducing environmental disruption.
Read More about What difference is GM making to Australian cotton crops?
IUPAC Symposium 4B – Formulation, Efficacy and the Environment
Monday 4:30pm
Heping Zhu, United States Department of Agriculture
“Current label-recommended levels of pesticides for spray application technology, pest pressure and crop growth structure are vague, frequently resulting in excessive use of pesticide,” says Heping Zhu from the USDA in Ohio.
Read More about Use your spray smarter: save money and the environment
