Nanosensors embedded in living plants detect arsenic

11/12/2020 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

Arsenic contaminated water used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of food crops poses the greatest threat to public health in many countries. Photo Credit: © Neena Bhandari

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 11.12.20 (SciDev.Net): Researchers have developed a living plant-based sensor that can in real-time detect and monitor levels of arsenic, a highly toxic heavy metal, in the soil. Arsenic pollution is a major threat to humans and ecosystems in many Asia Pacific countries.

Arsenic contaminated water used for drinking, food preparation and irrigation of food crops poses the greatest threat to public health because the toxic chemical is naturally present at high levels in the groundwater of a number of countries, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO).

“Detecting arsenic level in the soil is important to ensure minimal contamination of our food chain. If we can have a convenient way to measure arsenic concentration in the soil in real time, we would be able to take preventive measures to keep arsenic level at the minimum, strengthening our food safety”, says Tedrick Thomas Salim Lew, a recent graduate student of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and co-lead author of the research published in Advanced Materials on 26^th November 2020.

Continue reading →

India is main supplier of medical goods to UN: Report

16/07/2020 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 16.07.2020 (SciDev.Net): UN procurement of goods and services from developing countries, economies in transition and least developed countries reached an all-time high of $12.3 billion or 62 per cent of all supplies in 2019, says a newly released report.

Three developing countries — India (US$1.1 billion), Yemen (US$872 million) and United Arab Emirates (US$840.5 million) — were among the top five supplier countries, according to the report launched by the UN Office for Project Services (UNOPS) on 9 July.

UN procurement from suppliers in Asia rose by 15.3 per cent between 2016 and 2019. India was again the second largest supplier to UN organisations, while the US maintained the top spot (US$1.7 billion).

Continue reading →

New way to locate metals deposits in the earth’s crust

08/07/2020 0 Comments read Environment & Development, Health & Science

By Neena Bhandari

Sydney, 08.07.2020 (SciDev.Net): Scientists have discovered a new tool to predict the location of base metal deposits, which are buried too deep beneath the Earth’s surface to be found using current exploration methods. This augurs well for targeted mining of metals, such as copper, lead, zinc, which are much in demand for their use in renewable energies.

The study, published on 29^th June 2020 in the journal Nature Geoscience, found that 85 percent of all known base metal deposits and 100 percent of all “giant” deposits (those holding more than 10 million tons of metal) hosted in sedimentary basins are located on the edges of cratons – older regions of the continents, which are generally on thicker lithosphere, the rigid outermost cladding of the planet comprising the crust and upper mantle.

“These deposits generally have larger quantities of metal bound up in high-grade ores than their magmatic counterparts. Once you find the right spot, you only have to dig one hole, and buried deposits are more likely to be extracted via shafts in comparison to most current base metal mines, which are often destructive open-pit operations,” says Mark Hoggard, lead author of the study and postdoctoral researcher at Harvard and Columbia Universities.

Continue reading →