Australian Scientist honoured for taking stock of threat to fisheries

“I think that if a product on the supermarket shelf has a label, ‘Proudly brought to you by the international pirates plundering the toothfish of the Southern Ocean’, it wouldn’t sell terribly well. Conversely, if the label said, ‘This comes from a sustainable fishery’, that does have an impact.”More than a decade ago Dr Keith … Read more

Growing Crops Inside City Buildings

Dickson Despommier’s hydroponic metropolis would squeeze sprawling farmland into skyscrapers, feed millions, and cool the Earth. Nearly 41 percent of Earth’s land is now used for agriculture, yet we’re on the brink of vast population growth, from 6.7 billion people today to an estimated 9.2 billion by 2050, with the majority living in cities. The … Read more

Think Global – Electric car attracts funds

Norway’s revived electric carmaker, now called “Think Global,” is raising more capital with the goal of producing 10,000 cars a year by 2009. Now Jan-Olaf Willums, chief executive of Think Global, appears to have some solid investors behind him. The firm started rolling again earlier this year, with a line-up including retailing tycoon Stein-Erik Hagen, … Read more

Material Resources – Phenolic

Phenolics or Polyphenols are the structural ‘backbone’ for most of the antioxidants found in plants. Plants construct complex phenolic compounds that serve a variety of functions as defense mechanisms and through interactions with other organisms. They may function to protect the plant from insects, diseases, and environmental stress. Phenolics also determine certain desirable plant properties … Read more

Material Resources – Acrylic

Acrylic is a clear plastic that resembles glass. It also has properties that make it superior to glass in some applications. Common brands of high-grade acrylic include Polycast, Lucite and Plexiglass.There are two basic types of acrylic: extruded and cell cast. Extruded or “continuous cast” acrylic is softer, more easily scratched and the cheaper castings … Read more

Religion in the Marketplace

More investors acting on faithFaith in the investment markets is taking on a whole new meaning as religious funds and advisers are attracting money like never before. As religion enters more and more cultural touch points, from novels to films to politics, it’s rather logical that it would enter the world of finance in a … Read more