- The genome of bread wheat has been sequenced. Not only is this an impressive feat (the wheat genome is a very large and complicated thing which arose through the fusion of three other genomes) it is also very promising in terms of feeding the world. About 20% of human calories come from wheat, and knowing the genome will make it easier to improve the crop in the future.
- One of the oldest, and most controversial, groups of GM crops are the so-called 'herbicide-tolerant' crops. These crops have been engineered to be resistant to certain chemical herbicides, so these herbicides can be sprayed to kill weeds without having to worry about having any affects on the crop. There is a lot of debate about them, and I'm not really sure where I stand on it. Anyway, this PDF from Purdue University explains some of the basic facts.
- This brilliant article explains that Italian scientists, who failed to predict an earthquake that was impossible to predict, should not have been sued for manslaughter.
- One of the most promising avenues for developing new biofuels is to break down cellulose (the material that plant cell walls are made of) to form sugars that can be fermented to make fuel. This would allow us to convert inedible parts of crops, such as the stems of corn plants, into fuel. Scientists are constantly looking for better ways of breaking the cellulose down, and this report suggests that we may be able to get algae to do it for us.
- A fantastic paper about some really common problems with the way that statistics are reported in scientific research. Anyone who plans on writing a scientific paper about any kind of research should read this.
