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What “Pine” Cones Reveal About the Evolution of Flowers

By Guest PostDecember 15, 20101 commentScienceafrica, angiosperms, arabidopsis, australia, avocado flowers, bees, bottlebrush, california poppy, conifers, cycads, doug soltis, floral organ, flowering plants, flowers, genetic fossils, genetic origin, gymnosperms, pine cone, pineapple lily, plant life, pollination agents, seed bearing plants, tepals, zamia, zamia furfuracea

*Research genetically traces flowers to a single common ancestor*

From southern Africa’s pineapple lily to Western Australia’s swamp bottlebrush, flowering plants are everywhere. Also called angiosperms, they make up 90 percent of all land-based, plant life.

New research published this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences provides new insights into their genetic origin, an evolutionary innovation that quickly gave rise to many diverse flowering plants more than 130 million years ago. Moreover, a flower with genetic programming similar to a water lily may have started it all. (more…)

Passive Smoking Kills 600,000 Every Year

By PravdaNovember 26, 2010Healthafrica, betty mcbride, death, developing world, passive smoking, south asia, the lancet, tobacco, World Health Organisation

More than 600,000 people, including 165,000 children, die every year from passive smoking, a report from World Health Organisation experts says today. The estimates from the first analysis of the true global toll are based on the best available data across 192 countries and the known effects of exposure.

The biggest impact on children is in the developing world. “Two-thirds of these deaths occur in Africa and south Asia,” the authors write in the medical journal The Lancet. “Children’s exposure to second-hand smoke most likely happens at home, according to The Guardian. (more…)

Shrubby Crops Can Help Fuel Africa’s Green Revolution

By Guest PostNovember 24, 2010Economy, Environmentafrica, agricultural revolution, environmental security, green revolution, shrubby crops, shrubby legumes

Rotating corn with shrubby legumes holds a key for fueling Africa’s green revolution. Image credit: Michigan State University

EAST LANSING, Mich. — Crop diversification with shrubby legumes mixed with soybean and peanuts could be the key to sustaining the green revolution in Africa, according to a Michigan State University study.

The study, which appears in the Nov. 22 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, states that diversifying crops would boost production of nutrient-enriched grain by 12 percent to 23 percent, said Sieglinde Snapp, a crop and soil scientist at Michigan State University’s Kellogg Biological Station who led the study. (more…)

IBM Reports 2010 Second-Quarter Results

By Guest PostJuly 19, 2010Economy, Technology2010 earnings, africa, asia-pacific, chairman, Europe, gaap, generally accepted accounting principle, global services, gts, ibm, middle east, net income, revenues, samuel j. palmisano, second-quarter, total outsourcing services

ARMONK, N.Y. – 19 Jul 2010:

Diluted earnings per share of $2.61, up 13 percent;
30 consecutive quarters of EPS growth, 12 of last 14 at double digits;
Full-year 2010 EPS expectations raised to at least $11.25;
Net income of $3.4 billion, up 9 percent;
Pre-tax income of $4.6 billion, up 7 percent;
Pre-tax margin of 19.3 percent, up 1 point;
Revenue of $23.7 billion, up 2 percent, as reported and adjusting for currency;
Growth markets revenue up 14 percent; first-half revenue as large as total Euro zone revenue;
BRIC countries revenue up 22 percent;
Business Analytics revenue up 14 percent;
Software revenue up 2 percent, 6 percent excluding divested PLM operations;
Systems and Technology revenue up 3 percent;
Services revenue up 2 percent;
Services backlog of $129 billion, up $1 billion, adjusting for currency.

IBM (NYSE: IBM) today announced second-quarter 2010 diluted earnings of $2.61 per share compared with diluted earnings of $2.32 per share in the second quarter of 2009, an increase of 13 percent.

(more…)

‘Sea Levels Rising in Parts of Indian Ocean’

By Guest PostJuly 15, 20102 commentsEnvironmentafrica, Antarctica, arabian sea, atmospheric, balaji rajagopalan, Bangladesh, bay of bengal, global climate, greenhouse gases, India, indian ocean, indo-pacific, Java, mascarenhas archipelago, naval research laboratory in Mississippi, ncar, sea levels, seychelles Islands, sri lanka, sumatra, Tanzania, university of colorado at boulder, weiqing han, Zanzibar

*Greenhouse gases are playing a role in changes, say scientists*

Newly detected rising sea levels in parts of the Indian Ocean, including the coastlines of the Bay of Bengal, the Arabian Sea, Sri Lanka, Sumatra and Java, appear to be at least partly a result of human-induced increases of atmospheric greenhouse gases, says a study led by the University of Colorado at Boulder.

(more…)

UN Predicts Global Rise of Food Prices

By Guest PostJune 27, 20103 commentsEconomyafrica, agricultural products, agronews, asian farmers, biofuel, brazil, bric, canada, Chicago, China, coarse grains, dairy products, developing countries, eastern europe, fao, food and agriculture organization, food colonization, food consumption, grain traders, India, oecd, organization for economic cooperation and development, russia, the philippines, ukraine, un, united states, us midwest, vitally salnik, Wall Street Journal, western europe, wheat

In the next ten years, prices for agricultural products in the world will grow in real terms by 15-40%, say experts from the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the UN. The reason for it is the increasing demand for food in developing countries and production of biofuels.

(more…)