Friday, April 04, 2008

A World of Science - April-June 2008

UNESCO has published the April-June edition of the flagship publication from its science programs.

Editorial – Don’t miss the boat!

There is a date which should be in the diary of every country with a coastline: 13 May 2009. This is the deadline for countries wishing to submit a claim for the extension of their legal continental shelf.

What future for geo-education in Africa?

Africa is a continent rich in minerals, oil, coal, gas and other geological resources. With global market prices for many raw materials escalating, geology is attracting greater attention from policy-makers. The question is: will the education system in many African countries be able to rise to the challenge?

Inteview – ‘The rice farmer need no longer sustain heavy losses in times of drought’

To mark the 10th anniversary of the L’Oréal-UNESCO Awards for Women in Science, we talk to Khady Nani Dramé, who is using her research fellowship to cross drought-resistant African rice with the more productive Asian rice. Through her research at the Africa Rice Centre in Benin, Dr Dramé hopes to reduce Africa’s dependence on rice imports.

Horizons

The art of engineering a better world

A solar tunnel fruit-dryer system to supplement the income of Indian fruit farmers, a system for recycling olive oil waste in the Palestinian Territories, retrofitting of homes in Nepal to make them earthquake-proof and a bridge that comes in a kit for Rwanda’s rivers; these are just some of the 31 student projects rewarded in December by the Mondialogo Engineering Awards.

A bad year for Caribbean corals

In 2005, unusually warm waters in the Caribbean caused the worst coral bleaching in recorded history. It was also a record year for hurricanes in the Caribbean. With global warming, years like 2005 are destined to become more common in future.

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