Saving irrigation water with superabsorbent polymers.

Soil conditioners called superabsorbent polymers have the potential to reduce irrigation needs for agricultural crops by storing water and nutrients and then releasing them in drought conditions. A recent paper published in the Pertanika Journal of Tropical Agricultural Science (JTAS),explains that Soil conditioners called superabsorbent polymers have the potential to reduce irrigation needs for agricultural crops by storing water and nutrients and then releasing them in drought conditions. Drought is the largest abiotic stress that can reduce crop yields, and its frequency and severity are expected to increase in the face of climate change. Meanwhile, a lack of water supply is an issue for many countries. Adding this to increasing population growth, water demands are predicted to rise even further. Therefore, finding new ways to improve water efficiency in the agricultural sector is necessary. One way of doing this is to use superabsorbent polymers (SAPs). These are soil conditioners that have the capacity to absorb and retain 1,000 times more water than their size and weight. SAPs are currently used in various sectors including agriculture, horticulture, pharmaceuticals, food packaging, oil drilling and so on. Superabsorbent hydrogels (SAHs) are superior to SAPs due to their unique properties but the extension of their application is limited because of high production costs and their impact on the environment. Davoud Khodadadi Dehkordi of Islamic Azad University in Iran looked at the effects of SAPs and SAHs on soils and plants, suitable usage rates and the amount of irrigation water that can be saved by using superabsorbent polymers. He found that these materials could store water and nutrients and release them in light soils, enabling plants to produce grain and increase their biomass under limited irrigation water and nutrient conditions. What's more, their water storage capacity lasts for up to five years. They also improve seed germination rates and root growth while decreasing drought or transplanting stresses in plants. Furthermore, superabsorbent materials could reduce soil contamination by preventing pollutants from passing through the soil and thereby improving the quality of drainage water. However, excessive use of SAPs and SAHs could reduce soil ventilation or expose plants to diseases but using superabsorbent materials could improve the characteristics of light soils and allow cultivation with less water.

IoT and bumper harvest.

Alvarez Technology Group is planning to double down on Internet of Things (IoT) deployment in the agriculture industry. Luis Alvarez, the CEO, spoke to The Channel Company at XChange 2016 about the developments and challenges. In the world of agriculture, Alvarez claims the most important customer considerations are cost savings and operational efficiencies. In the next five years, the firm wants to reduce the head-count on farms, which has already declined enormously in the past 50 years, by half. Alvarez customers want to see an 100 percent increase in yields from the same plants. IoT sensors for agriculture are able to plot more efficiently and reduce the amount of water and soil needed. Data analytics is another area where Alvarez customers are intrigued, according to the CEO, “we brought in 20 or 25 agriculture leaders in our community and talked to them about data analytics, and in their survey form, almost every single one of them said I want to talk more about this.” IoT sensors provide a wealth of data, but without analytics a person must surf through and find relevant info. Pushing that to a cloud analytics platform could “actionable intelligence” at a much faster rate, allowing farmers to recognize issues and fix them immediately. A challenge for Alvarez in IoT is data security. Speaking to farmers, Alvarez noted that hardly any new the risks of IoT deployment and most were shocked at the possibility of a hacker holding their farm for ransom. more

Underwater agriculture and the future of food production.

Metres under the ocean in picturesque Noli Bay, Italy, hydroponics and solar technology are being used 

to grow dozens of plants. Gamberini's father Sergio, who runs a diving company that operates in Italy and California, founded Nemo's Garden five years ago. He came up with the idea of growing plants underwater as a way of making diving more interactive. There, metres under the surface, divers attend to basil, garlic and other plants grown in large domes, known as biospheres. 

'We had this crazy idea and our first experiments were these flexible balloons ... which we anchored on the seabed,' Luca says.'We found a way to put a vase inside and we tried first with a plant that was already born and successfully continued to grow it—it didn't die, it actually thrived. 'Then we tried with the seeds and they sprouted in less than 36 hours, it was incredible.' Since then they've successfully grown 26 different kinds of plants, including beans and radishes.

They have seven biospheres, each about the size of a large room, which can hold up to three divers. Each biosphere houses at least 60 plants, which are grown using hydroponics and gravity-fed watering systems. 'The sea is an ... auto-sustainable and free charger and warmer,' Gamberini says.'We have a constant temp here in the Mediterranean but in many places around the world the water gives out warmth a lot slower than air.

 'Light actually gets to more than 10 metres underwater so it's perfect for us, plus the seawater acts like a filter so all the useless and not beneficial frequencies of light that would get to the plants are actually cut off, so you get all the good stuff. 'It's a place where no parasite can get ... so we don't need to use pesticide or any other system and we have also a natural evaporation of the seawater ... which becomes fresh water and just naturally irrigates the plants.' Gamberini hopes that through Nemo's Garden they can develop an alternative to traditional agriculture that could be used in the future if land starts to run out.We tested the plants—we ate the basil we grew underwater—it has more taste to it, the essential oils are higher which means [it has a] more intense perfume,' Gamberini says. Contributed by abc.net.au

16-year-old teen devises way to treat deadly breast cancer .

A 16-year-old boy from Epsom, Surrey, believes he may have the answer to treat deadly breast cancer. Krtin Nithiyandam thinks he has devised a way to turn the most deadly form of triple negative breast cancer into a kind which responds to drugs. 7,500 women each year are diagnosed with triple negative breast cancer, a type of disease which does not respond to today's most effective drugs. Many breast cancers are driven by oestrogen, progesterone or growth chemicals so drugs that can block those fuels, such as tamoxifen, make effective treatments. However triple negative breast cancer does not have receptors and it can only be treated with a gruelling combination of surgery, radiation and chemotherapy which lowers the chance of survival. Scientists have known for some time that some women with triple negative cancer respond very well to treatment while others quickly decline. The problem lies in whether the cancer cells are ‘differentiated’ or not. Differentiated means they look more like healthy cells and they tend to grow and multiply quite slowly, and are less aggressive. However when cancer cells are ‘undifferentiated’ they get stuck in a dangerous primitive form, never turning into recognizable breast tissue, and spreading quickly, leading to high grade tumors. Krtin believes he has found a way to coax these more deadly cells into their differentiated form by blocking a protein called ID4. Most cancers have receptors on their surface which bind to drugs like Tamoxifen but triple negative don’t have receptors so the drugs don’t work.“The prognosis for women with undifferentiated cancer isn’t very good so the goal is to turn the cancer back to a state where it can be treated.“The ID4 protein actually stops undifferentiated stem cell cancers from differentiating so you have to block ID4 to allow the cancer to differentiate. He has also discovered that upping the activity of a tumour suppressor gene called PTEN allows chemotherapy to work more effectively, so the dual treatment could prove far more effective than traditional drugs. The therapy idea, which saw him shortlisted for the final of The Big Bang Fair competition, would most likely be delivered in a nanoparticle containing RNA – the messenger molecule which carries instructions from the DNA. The RNA nanoparticle would be encoded to silence or boost gene activity. continue

Home treatment of diarrhoea in dogs.

VETERINARY MEDICINE:Bloat in dogs.

VETERINARY MEDICINE:Bloat in dogs. BLOAT, including how to recognize it, and what you can do at home. is it better to bandage a wound or leave it open?the answer will surprise you.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: How to use laser therapy in dogs.

VETERINARY MEDICINE: How to use laser therapy in dogs Benefits are 1) painless 2)non-invasive 3) drug-free management of pain an inflammation. The cold laser therapy also referred to as low-level lasers can be used for topical conditions as well as deeper conditions such as in bones,ligaments and tendons.The laser promote faster healing when used as they energize the cells in the affected areas by giving it more oxygen to accelerate healing. VETERINARY MEDICINE: How to use laser therapy in dogs Veterinarians often resort to use of therapy to ease pain of pets and also because of rapid healing conditions and most especially because its noninvasive. continue