Scientists turned spinach leaves into beating human heart tissue.

Researchers have successfully used spinach leaves to build functioning human heart tissue, complete with veins that can transport blood. To tackle a chronic shortage of donor organs, scientists have been working on growing various tissues and even whole organs in the lab. But culturing a bunch of cells is only part of the solution - they simply won't thrive without a constant blood supply. It's notoriously difficult to build a working network of fine blood vessels (also called vasculature), especially when you get down to capillaries, which are only 5 to 10 micrometres wide. Blood vessels transport the oxygen and nutrients that a lab-grown tissue sample needs to grow and function. Now a team led by scientists from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) have successfully turned a spinach leaf into living heart tissue by using the tiny network of veins you'd already find in a plant.continue

How a farmer makes plastic brooders from waste Jerry cans.

Plastics have found several uses in poultry see but another farmer has created brooders from can. The innovation is cheap,durable and effective, Cornelius Obonyo, a poultry farmer, uses the jerrycans to make plastic brooders. Obonyo not only has enough brooders for his poultry, but also makes money by selling them to his neighbors. He sells a brooder with a capacity for 50 chicks at Sh5,000. This takes him a week and four 20-litre and five 10-litre jerrycans to make. He says people love his brooders because they do not rust, are poor conductors of heat and are easy to wash. Continue

Innovative aquaponics kit promotes urban agriculture.

27-year old Cameroonian industrial engineer, Flavien Kouatcha has produced an innovative aquaponics kit to promote urban agriculture. The innovation involves the use of what he created and named “Aquaponic Kits” which facilitate “the use of vertical and urban agriculture to produce chemical-free agricultural products with the use of fish excrement. The process involves the use of greenhouse and in-house facilities to produce the equivalent of half hectare of harvest. The main products which have been successfully grown using this mechanism include, pepper, parsley, celeries and tomatoes. They plan to try other crops in the near futures. The Aquaponic kit facilitate the growth of plants with the use of fish waste as organic fertilizer. continue

Leaders from Brazil and EU to tackle meat 'crisis'

Leaders from Brazil and EU to tackle meat 'crisis': European Commissioner Vytenis Andriukaitis is in Brazil on a three-day mission to ensure imported food is safe for consumption, following claims Brazilian meat processors bribed government officials and sold rotten meat.

Texas food firm hit with 15t recall

Texas food firm hit with 15t recall: Texas-based food producer Ajinomoto Windsor has recalled 15 tonnes (35,168 pounds) of frozen ready-to-eat beef products that may be contaminated with rubber.

How to grow tomatoes with Epsom salt.