John Key, New Zealand’s centre-right PM since 2008, stunned his country recently by announcing his resignation. He said that he had “nothing left in the tank” and that political leaders “tend to stay too long”. There was speculation that his wife, Bronagh, had urged him to quit for the sake of their family life; however, …
Thanks to genetic modification a new strain of wheat is being grown in greenhouses, with yields up by 15 to 20 per cent, a team at Rothamsted Research, Harpenden, UK, recently announced. The researchers have asked the government for permission to carry out field trials in the spring. If the plants produce anything like a …
Continue reading ‘Some hopeful news for this day of the year’ »
“At school you are engaged not so much in acquiring knowledge as in making mental efforts under criticism. A certain amount of knowledge you can indeed with average faculties acquire so as to retain; nor need you regret the hours you spent on much that is forgotten, for the shadow of lost knowledge at least …
Indiscriminate fertiliser use hurts the soil itself, turning it acidic and salty, suppressing the symbiotic relationships between fungi and plant roots, sometimes turning beneficial bacteria against each other. Long-term use of fertilisers risks turning even fertile soil to desert. What can be done? One possible solution is being pursued by Carlos Monreal of Carleton University in Ottawa, …
Continue reading ‘Depleting the soil (no.2): promising news’ »
Even in death, there’s no break from social media. Almost a third of British people plan to name a “social media manager” in their will. This manager will be responsible for updating their Facebook accounts in accordance with their instructions. More than 10% of people would want a custodian to post items at least once …
