Scientists create green packing foams from potato starch

October 11th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists at Sandia National Laboratories are cultivating green algae that might help produce biofuel. From the beginning of 1950s, the Department of Energy recognized algae as a potential feedstock for energy and biofuels.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists in Michigan, US, have reported that "green" roofs, which are popular urban rooftops covered with plants, could help fight global warming. The scientists found that replacing traditional roofing materials in an urban area the size of Detroit, with a population of about one-million, with green roofs would be equivalent to eliminating a year's worth of carbon dioxide (CO2) emitted by 10,000 mid-sized SUVs and trucks.

September 24th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Roofs full of green plants could help fight global warming, say scientists. Kristin Getter, Michigan State University (MSU) horticulturist and colleagues, who conducted the study point out that green roofs are multi-functional.

September 23rd, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have developed a new computing tool that could help scientists predict how plants will react to different environmental conditions in order to create better crops, such as tastier and longer lasting tomatoes. The tool will form part of a new 1.7 million pounds Syngenta University Centre at Imperial College London, which will see researchers from Imperial and Syngenta working together to improve agricultural products.

September 6th, 2009 WASHINGTON - A scientist is aiming to develop a high-performance, low-cost green LED (Light-emitting diode). According to Christian Wetzel, professor of physics and the Wellfleet Professor of Future Chips at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI), "Going green means different things to different people.

September 3rd, 2009 LONDON - Dunking biscuits in your tea could soon be history, thanks to the "unsinkable" biscuit. Chef Felice Tocchini claims to have created a snack that can be dipped in tea for up to two minutes without breaking.

August 21st, 2009 WASHINGTON - Scientists have discovered a mysterious group of oceanic worms that can throw 'bombs' which burst into brilliant green light - probably a defensive mechanism against potential predators. The unique group of worms was discovered by scientists at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC (University of California) San Diego.

July 30th, 2009 LONDON - Guessing the number of sweets in a jar can be tricky, but now, scientists at New York University have determined how sweets pack from inside the jar, making it easier to more accurately count them. The sweets located at the center of the jar are hidden from view, which makes it difficult to count the total number of sweets in the jar.

July 27th, 2009 LONDON - A team of scientists has found that the stunning metallic green sheen of the "jeweled beetle" is produced by microscopic cells in its exoskeleton. These cells were almost identical to hi-tech liquid crystals.

May 21st, 2009 LONDON - After a long legal row, a UK court has finally settled the argument over what category of snack Pringles fell into, ruling that the popular food items are nothing but potato crisps only. But the decision passed by the Court of Appeal has actually landed the makers of the popular nibbles with a bill estimated to be around 100million pounds in unpaid VAT.

May 8th, 2009 WASHINGTON - University of Alberta researchers have developed a formula to reduce methane gas in cattle, which is a threat to the environment. By developing equations that balance starch, sugar, cellulose, ash, fat and other elements of feed, a Canada-wide team of scientists has given beef producers the tools to lessen the methane gas their cattle produce by as much as 25 per cent.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - Japanese scientists have created what could be world's first 'green' hair bleach, an environmentally friendly preparation for lightening the colour of hair on the head and other parts of the body without the unwanted effects of the bleaches used by millions every year. Kenzo Koike, a chemist with Kao Corporation's Beauty Research Centre in Tokyo, has isolated an enzyme from a strain of Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis, a type of 'white-rot' fungus that has also shown potential to degrade and clean up pollutants in soil.

March 25th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The world's first green hair bleach, developed by Japanese scientists, seems to be free of the unwanted side-effects of such formulations used by millions every year. Kenzo Koike, a chemist with Kao Corporation's Beauty Research Centre in Tokyo, has isolated an enzyme from a strain of Basidiomycete ceriporiopsis, a type of 'white-rot' fungus that has also shown potential to degrade and clean up pollutants in soil.

February 17th, 2009 WASHINGTON - The crying need for groceries in outer space has prompted scientists to look for ways to provide food for long-term space missions. Desmond G. Mortley and colleagues from the Centre for Food and Environmental Systems for Human Exploration of Space, GW Carver Agricultural Experiment Station, and the Kennedy Space Centre undertook a study on microgravity's effects on sweet potato.

December 26th, 2008 WASHINGTON - Physicists have cracked the riddle of the uncannily well-ordered hexagonal columns at popular tourist spots like Giant's Causeway in Northern Ireland and California's Devil's Postpile, using water, corn starch, and a heat lamp. 'The size of the columns, which varies from site to site between a few inches and a few yards, is primarily determined by the speed at which lava from a volcanic eruption cools,' said University of Toronoto (U-T) physics professor Stephen Morris, who supervised the thesis project of PhD student Lucas Goehring.