Biofortified varieties of several crops are also bred to be climate smart (e.g., heat and drought tolerant
and require lower levels of inputs such as water); biofortification can help counteract the negative effects of climate change on the nutritional quality of food crops.
Development
UN Report Tallies Increased Food and Nutrition Insecurity Amid COVID-19; Notes Value of Biofortification as a Response
An influential UN report on global food and nutrition security shows how the combination of conflict, climate change, economic stresses, and the COVID-19 pandemic led to a significant increase in global hunger and malnutrition during 2020. The report estimates that nearly… Read More ›
Scientists convert plastic waste into vanilla flavoring
In the future, your vanilla ice cream may be made from plastic bottles.
T-Mobile Uses 5G-Enabled Robot Arm to Draw World’s-First Remote Tattoo
In a collaboration between a telecommunications company, a roboticist, a tattoo artist, and a very brave tattoo recipient, a team sponsored by T-Mobile Netherlands successfully conducted the world’s first remote tattooing using a 5G-enabled robotic arm. As part of a marketing initiative… Read More ›
World’s First Rechargeable Cement Battery Could One Day Power Cities
Researchers from Chalmers University of Technology in Sweden have created the first rechargeable cement battery. One day, the work could lead to large concrete buildings that store and deliver energy like giant municipal batteries.
NASA’s S-MODE Takes to the Air and Sea to Study Ocean Eddies
After being delayed over a year due to the pandemic, a NASA field campaign to study the role of small-scale whirlpools and ocean currents in climate change is taking flight and taking to the seas in May 2021.
Composing thoughts: mental handwriting produces brain activity that can be turned into text
Scientists have developed a brain-computer interface (BCI) designed to restore the ability to communicate in people with spinal cord injuries and neurological disorders such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). This system has the potential to work more quickly than previous BCIs, and it does so by tapping into one of the oldest means of communications we have — handwriting.