Search Results for: South Africa

BY MARK ROWE

A FUEL marker so complex that it is all but impossible for thieves to replicate has been developed by scientists; the marker is so sensitive, it can identify illegal stolen fuel by using nanotechnology-based components.
This nanotech-based tracer, developed by Authentix, a nano-science company based in Dallas, Texas, uses hand-held LSX-based technology, and which has already been taken up by Luke Oil, Shell and BP in the United States.…

BY MARK ROWE

SCIENTISTS are on the verge of knitting nanofibres together to create garments with new standards of durability, thinness, flexibility and waterproofing. The development is seen as a breakthrough in nanotechnology, where scientists have grappled for several years to find a way of knitting minute nanofibres together.…

BY ANDREW CAVE

BIOFUELS have generated earnest debate ever since German inventor Rudolph Diesel ran the world’s first diesel engine on peanut oil back in 1894, but suddenly there is a biofuels boom that’s moving global markets.
World economies are in a race to find alternatives to fossil fuels and turning crops such as wheat and corn into ethanol or oilseed rape, soya, or palm oil into biodiesel is having an impact on farmers, manufacturer and industrial producers worldwide.…

BY ALAN OSBORN

DIFFERENT parts of the world have devised a wide range of regulations to promote biofuels as an answer to traditional fuels posed by supply and environmental concerns. Japan began promoting alternative fuels in the mid-70s following the oil crisis, replacing oil-powered electric generators with units driven by alternative fuels, as well as natural gas, coal and nuclear power.…

SAEED AKHTAR BALOCH, in Lahore

THE PAKISTANI biscuit and confectionery sector has been faring well, with 12-15% growth last year, but there are storm clouds on the horizons because of skyrocketing prices of sugar and flour. In recent years, these ingredient problems have been overshadowed by massive domestic demand, fed by more than 255 biscuit and wafer manufacturing units (42 mechanised) with an installed capacity of 47,000 metric tonnes for biscuits and 5,200 metric tonnes for wafers.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

MANY international organisations have an impact on the fish farming sector, although with quite a narrow remit, drawing up specialist health and environmental standards for the industry, for instance. However, the UN’s Food & Agriculture Organisation (FAO) has a broader role, with freedom to pursue a wide variety of imaginative schemes.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

THE EUROPEAN Union (EU) has struck an important deal with Algeria, ensuring it supplies gas to European markets competitively, scrapping restrictive profit sharing contracts. Algeria is a key gas exporter in the EU’s fight to secure energy security without relying on Russia, and Algiers has now agreed with the European Commission that pipeline gas can be sold-on within Europe, without a cut going to Algerian gas producer Sonatrach.…

BY KEITH NUTHALL

HEALTH officials have supervised the destruction of 27,528 broiler chickens at a poultry farm in the central Czech Republic, in a devastating outbreak of bird flu. Following confirmation of the disease at Norin, Usti nad Orlici, Pardubický province, movement controls were imposed on poultry farmed in the region, along with disinfection and quarantine of the birds on the affected farm.…

BY MONICA DOBIE

RESEARCHERS from the University of South Australia have devised electronic clothes hangers that can download health data captured by smart garments with electronic sensors that monitor heart rates, blood pressure and other medical information. This is then downloaded by the hangers to a computer in a specially-designed wardrobe; meanwhile the electronic hangers recharge the smart garments – which could be a T shirt or a jacket -so they can be worn again.…

BY RACHEL JONES, in Caracas

A NUMBER of factors have contributed to a booming Latin American market in soap, perfume and cosmetics – most importantly, regional economic growth and a healthy overall GDP. Hair care is the region’s biggest seller, but an increase in life expectancy has created a growing demand for skin care products, especially those related to anti-aging and sun protection.…