Chinese PhDs and MBAs give up city life for farming, driven by desire to improve agriculture and livelihoods

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  • Millions of educated Chinese have left cities to become farmers, inspired to change agriculture or disenchanted with the pressures of urban life
  • They practise organic farming and water conservation, hoping to set an example for fellow farmers, and revive traditional technique

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Science might have gotten it wrong. Now what?

The debate started in late 2011, when Chen-Yu Zhang’s team f found bits of rice RNA floating in the bloodstreams of Chinese men and women.

Last week, freelance journalist Virginia Hughes wrote about a scientific paper that was published in the elite journal Nature in 1995.  The findings of said paper were called into question by several other papers in different journals within a couple of years. As of today, nearly two decades since the original came out, nobody has replicated it. And yet, it’s still sitting there in the literature, still influencing others. It’s been cited nearly 1,000 times.

 

 

 

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Grains of rice genetically modified to produce human blood

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Blood protein from genetically modified rice could ease demand for blood donations.

Genetically modified grains of rice produce a key component of human blood in an attempt to provide an alternative to donations. The protein, extracted from rice plants containing human genes, could be used in hospitals to treat burns victims and help patients who have suffered severe blood loss.

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1 mm Tiger Sculpture is Smaller Than a Grain of Rice

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Oh so Tiny!
A Taiwanese artist has created what he claims is the smallest sculpture of a tiger ever made – so small it could fit through the eye of a needle, and can only be seen properly with a magnifying glass.

Chen Forng-shean, who has been sculpting as a hobby for around 30 years, carved the tiger from resin in anticipation of the Chinese lunar Year of the Tiger, which begins on February 14.

Standing at just 1 millimetre (0.04 inch) high, and just over a millimetre long, he says that it’s the world’s tiniest tiger.

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7 Delicious Non-Tofu Meat Alternatives

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Food doesn’t always have to come from different types of carcasses.

When you get hungry, and I mean hungry, it’s your body calling out for protein. While you don’t have to go full-time veg to green your lifestyle, many people are surprised to learn that simply cutting back on meat consumption is one of the most significant ways to help the planet. And it doesn’t require subsistence on tofu. (Personally, I find tofu delicious, but it’s one of those vegetarian protein sources people either really love or really don’t.)

There are so many delicious options available that slipping out of meat mode is breeze. Try one meat-free dinner a week, and build from there…

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Robotic Rice Planter

 [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=18F6DccAbSk&eurl=http://dvice.com/archives/2009/01/robotic_rice_pl.php&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

The National Agriculture and Food Research Organization in Japan earned “The Robot Award 2008” for its automated rice planter, which can work a field all on its own without the help of humans. As is usually stated, Japan faces a looming labor crisis with its lopsidedly older work force, and automated production is one of the country’s focuses.

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Ecovative Design’s Greensulate Revolutionizes Insulation

Ecovative Design’s Greensulate Revolutionizes Insulation 

Ecovative Design’s Greensulate (building insulation) and Negative Volume (packaging) are manufactured -or rather, grown-from agricultural waste products like rice hulls, which are combined with water, recycled paper and living mushroom cells to create panels that can be used to insulate buildings or protect packages during shipment.

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Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger

Empty Bellies Bring Rising Anger

A woman sifts through the shells of coffee beans searching for any that were not found.

Hunger bashed in the front gate of Haiti’s presidential palace. Hunger poured onto the streets, burning tires and taking on soldiers and the police. Hunger sent the country’s prime minister packing.

Haiti’s hunger, that burn in the belly that so many here feel, has become fiercer than ever in recent days as global food prices spiral out of reach, spiking as much as 45 percent since the end of 2006 and turning Haitian staples like beans, corn and rice into closely guarded treasures.

 

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