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STUDIES ON LATICIFER DEVELOPMENT IN CALOTROPIS PROCERA AN IMPORTANT PLANT

STUDIES ON LATICIFER DEVELOPMENT IN CALOTROPIS PROCERA AN IMPORTANT PLANT

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

STUDIES ON LATICIFER DEVELOPMENT IN CALOTROPIS PROCERA AN IMPORTANT PLANT YIELDING HYDROCARBON AND IMPROVEMENT OF ITS GROWTH POTENTIAL Ashwini Kumar and Neetu Vijay Bio-Technology Lab, Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur - 302 004, India. Energy Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center E-mail: msku31@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: The non articulated laticifer cell present in C.procera (Asclepiadaceae) are distributed in cortex, phloem region, pith and among parenchyma cells present in the stem. The transverse and longitudinal sections of the plants treated with plant growth regulators gave varying distribution of non articulated cells. Treatment
JATROPHA CURCAS: A POTENTIAL PLANT FOR BIO-FUEL

JATROPHA CURCAS: A POTENTIAL PLANT FOR BIO-FUEL

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

JATROPHA CURCAS: A POTENTIAL PLANT FOR BIO-FUEL Shikha Roy and Ashwini Kumar Bio-Technology Lab Department of Botany University of Rajasthan, Jaipur - 302 004 Energy Plantation Demonstration project and Biotechnology Center. Email. msku31@yahoo.com ABSTRACT: Jatropha curcas L. (Euphorbiaceae) popularly called Ratanjot is a small tree bearing oil-seed grown on wastelands or hedges in India and tropical America. It is thought to have originated in either Peru (where the only fossils have been found) or Mexico and has become naturalized throughout semi arid Asia and Africa. The oil can therefore be utilized as energy substitute. In times to come it can be competitive with high price of diesel fuel. A
Happy Squidurday!*

Happy Squidurday!*

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

Wistfully I wish you all a very happy Decapod Day! The Cephalopod Awareness Days have been fun, and I can hardly believe they're coming to an end. Many thanks to Jason of Cephalopodcast for turning this year's celebration into a three-day event!
Yellow Diesel - Biofuel From Rapeseed Without The Waste

Yellow Diesel - Biofuel From Rapeseed Without The Waste

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

A company called Yellow Diesel B.V. says they have succeeded in producing biodiesel in a continuous fixed-bed micro plant based on heterogeneous catalysis, which provides pure biodiesel plus a cosmetics/food grade glycerol with much lower waste streams. 

Their process eliminates all the aqueous waste streams that stem from using the conventional homogeneous acid/base catalyst technology.   Combined with integrated process design, they claim the process saves up to 40% of the capital costs and 30% of the operating costs compared to a conventional plant.

Yellow Diesel has produced the biodiesel in its continuous micro plant, and is now scaling up the process to pilot-scale.

Replicated - Butterfly Wings On A Nano Scale

Replicated - Butterfly Wings On A Nano Scale

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

Researchers have developed a technique to replicate biological structures, such as butterfly wings, except on a nano scale and the resulting biomaterial could also be used to make optically active structures, such as optical diffusers for solar panels, they say.

Insects' colors and their iridescence (the ability to change colors depending on the angle) or their ability to appear metallic are determined by tiny nano-sized photonic structures (1 nanometer = 10-9 m) which can be found in their cuticle. Scientists have focused on these biostructures to develop devices with light emitting properties.  Their work was presented in the journal Bioinspiration&Biomimetics.
On The Belly: Evolution’s Hot Button

On The Belly: Evolution’s Hot Button

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

I need most of my body parts. I figure I have my various meaty chunks for good evolutionary reasons, and far be it from me to sell any, no matter how often that creepy guy shows up at my door with a cooler of dry ice offering me money. But if I ever were going to unload one of my body parts, I’d pick the most useless one of all, one that is even more useless than the appendix (although even it has recently been suggested to not be so useless, see Your appendix and your eyes).
Physicists Gone Wild

Physicists Gone Wild

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

The coolest science conference of the 20th century was, hands down, the 1927 Solvay conference. Occurring during one of the most intense periods in the development of quantum mechanics, and attended by some of the most famous scientists in history, this meeting is especially well known for the sparring between Einstein and Bohr.
Basil (Ocimum spp.), belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is a pleasent by smelling perennial shrub which grows in several regions all over the world

Basil (Ocimum spp.), belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is a pleasent by smelling perennial shrub which grows in several regions all over the world

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

Basil (Ocimum spp.), belonging to the Lamiaceae family, is a pleasent by smelling perennial shrub which grows in several regions all over the world (AKGÜL 1993; BARIAUX et al. 1992). Basil is one of the species used for the commercial seasoning. It is commonly known that the presence of essential oils and their composition determine the specific aroma of plants and the flavour of the condiments. Many species of aromatic plants belonging to the Lamiaceae family grow wild in the Mediterranean basin (AKGÜL 1989; MAROTTI et al. 1996; SANDA et al. 1998; MARTINS et al. 1999).
Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is aromatic herbs used in traditional medicines

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is aromatic herbs used in traditional medicines

Oct 11 2009 | comment(s)

Basil (Ocimum basilicum L.) is aromatic herbs that are used extensively to add a distinctive aroma and flavour to food. The leaves can be used fresh or dried for use as a spice. Essential oils extracted from fresh leaves and flowers can be used as aroma additives in food, pharmaceuticals, and cosmetics (Simon, Morales, Phippen, Vieira, & Hao, 1999; Javanmardi, Khalighi, Kashi, Bais, & Vivanco, 2002; Senatore, 1996). Traditionally, basil has been used as a medicinal plant in the treatment of headaches, coughs, diarrhea, constipation, warts, worms, and kidney malfunction (Simon et al., 1999). The antioxidant activities of basil and thyme have been investigated using various model systems and assays.
Antibiotic eating bacteria
By Nikhilesh Chand | October 10th 2009 11:39 PM | Print | E-mail
The popular press has only recently begun to appreciate the growing threat posed by antibiotic resistant bacteria (1,2). According to the Infectious Disease Society of America over 70% of hospital-acquired infections in the United States are resistant to one or more antibiotics. A single resistant bacterial pathogen, Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus caused 18,964 mortalities in the United States in 2006 alone (3). This is particularly worrisome, as the repertoire of compounds in our arsenal to tackle this threat has remained stagnant.
The Say of the Week - on Decision Making

The Say of the Week - on Decision Making

Oct 10 2009 | comment(s)

"It turns out that any optimal classical decision rule is also some Bayesian rule. In other words, even if the decision maker is not a Bayesian, he will behave as if he were!"

Frederick James, Statistical Methods in Experimental Physics
Happy Nautilus Night!

Happy Nautilus Night!

Oct 10 2009 | comment(s)

On this, the second of the International Cephalopod Appreciation Days, we turn our attention to the pearly nautilus, and "other lesser-known extant and extinct cephalopods."

My favorite is the spirulid, or ram's horn squid. I was introduced to them in Australia, where I kept finding these perfect little white curls in the island beach wrack:


An Epiphany About Computational Biology

An Epiphany About Computational Biology

Oct 10 2009 | comment(s)

I don't hate computational biology, but I've got my issues with the way the field is often practiced. Most of my complaints boil down to this: if a computational biologist is not contributing to our understanding of biology, and not contributing to fundamental computer science either, then what's the point? What are we learning from the research?

The problem usually crops up when computational biologists don't seem to care whether their computational results correspond with any biological reality. If a computer model or algorithm is able to (more or less) recapitulate existing data, then that's considered sufficient. But then what is your model contributing? We already knew the existing data, and chances are, your model hasn't contributed anything new to computer science.
The Speed Of Computing

The Speed Of Computing

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

A recent LiveScience article 'Computers Faster Only for 75 More Years' has indicated that new research conducted by two physicists have placed a speed limit on what's attainable regardless of the size of the components.  

Moore's Law1 has often been touted as representing an infinite curve of progress, but this explanation clearly indicates that nothing proceeds indefinitely.  In addition, depending on technological developments in computer design and architecture, that limit may actually occur within 20 years according to Scott Aaronson, an assistant professor of electrical engineering and computer science at MIT.
Guest Post: Carl Brannen,

Guest Post: Carl Brannen, "Position, Spin, And The Particle Generations"

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

Carl Brannen is well known to the regulars of this blog. He is an independent researcher and my favourite non-professional theorist, because he gives me the hope that brilliant minds, who were diverted from the natural path of doing basic research, may return to it for good. And Carl provides us with another important proof: that institutionalized science does sometimes listen to the voice of those who have something to say regardless of who signs their monthly paycheck.
The Future Of International Astronomy

The Future Of International Astronomy

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

I'm sitting at "Beyond the Decade: The Future of International Astronomy", a conference today at the National Academies.  The conference is small (53 people so far) but rich in material, providing a crunchy look at where astronomy is heading.
To casket or not to casket? That is the (green) question

To casket or not to casket? That is the (green) question

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

When thinking about burial, most people think of caskets or cremation. But there are two options that, while seeming a bit odd at first, could be considered part of the green revolution: "beetleized" and "promession."

From an ecology point of view, it makes a lot of sense - the circle of life and all that. Or, as written in Genesis: "By the sweat of your brow you will eat your food until you return to the ground, since from it you were taken; for dust you are and to dust you will return."

To be "beetleized"
Mediterranean Diet And Depression

Mediterranean Diet And Depression

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

Can diet make you less likely to develop depression?   A new report from the University of Navarra published in Archives of General Psychiatry. says people who follow 'Mediterranean dietary pattern' heavier in nuts and fish appear less likely to develop depression.

There is lower prevalence of diagnosed depression in Mediterranean countries than northern European ones, for example, though that could also be a cultural issue - a hundred years ago there was almost no diagnoses in the US because doctors did not diagnose it.
Not Just Organs - Pacemaker Donations Save Lives Too, Says Study

Not Just Organs - Pacemaker Donations Save Lives Too, Says Study

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

Everyone knows about being an organ donor - you may even have a little sticker saying it's okay for doctors to remove parts from you in order to save someone else.   Pacemaker donations from funeral homes are less well known but patients who received refurbished pacemakers in the Philiipinnes have survived without complications, according to a case series reported by the University of Michigan Cardiovascular Center.
Finally, Climate Model Incorporates The Nitrogen Cycle (and Things Still Look Grim)

Finally, Climate Model Incorporates The Nitrogen Cycle (and Things Still Look Grim)

Oct 09 2009 | comment(s)

A narrow focus on carbon dioxide has long focused attention of the political and economic motivations of the European countries behind treaties like the Kyoto protocol rather than the science data and what parameters are needed to make climate simulations truly accurate.

Now that the fad aspects of global warming are behind us, researchers at Oak Ridge National Laboratory and the National Center for Atmospheric Research have taken a step to make better climate simulation.   Their results, published in Biogeosciences, illustrate the complexity of climate modeling by demonstrating how natural processes still have a strong effect on the carbon cycle and climate simulations.