Saturday, August 9, 2008

The Myth of Healthy Organic Food: Busted ?

Dr. Sussanne Bügel and colleagues from the University of Copenhagen claim that organic food is no more nutritious than food grown with pesticides. Yes, this is the same organic produce that has its overpriced section in the popular grocery stores. In this study the team of scientists looked at retention of minerals and trace elements of carrots, kale, mature peas, apples and potatoes in animals. Three methods were used to cultivate these crops using similar soil and adjacent fields in order to maintain same weather conditions.

"The first cultivation method consisted of growing the vegetables on soil which had a low input of nutrients using animal manure and no pesticides except for one organically approved product on kale only.

The second method involved applying a low input of nutrients using animal manure, combined with use of pesticides, as much as allowed by regulation.

Finally, the third method comprised a combination of a high input of nutrients through mineral fertilisers and pesticides as legally allowed."

For over a period of two years, the produce from the three methods was then fed to animals, who were under observation for the intake and excretion of various minerals and trace elements. There was no conclusive evidence that proved that the organically grown produce contained more minerals or trace elements than the coventionally grown crops. For further information read the article published in Science Daily.


Thursday, August 7, 2008

Fingerprint Analysis Reveals What You Touched

Using a technique called desorption electrospray ionization (Desi), a fingerprint analysis can reveal not just the identity of a person, but also what he or she has touched. R. Graham Cooks and his team from Purdue University spray an electrically charged liquid on some part of a fingerprint, which allows the transfer of electrical charge to the fingeprint molecules. This fingerprint is then analyzed using mass specrtoscopy and the process is repeated in order to create a two-dimensional image. Particles of cocaine, RDX or other poisons left on glass, paper or plastic can be analyzed using this technique.

For further reference read the article that appeared in The New York Times

Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Learning Web 2.0 using Web 2.0

Its been a while since my first post. Here is something I'd like to start with since lot of people at work have asked me what exactly is Web 2.0. In the simplest of terms, Web 2.0 is a term coined to define web as a social platform having collaboration and content sharing as a common goal. Here are some videos I found on youtube (a big player under the web 2.0 umbrella) which I think explain web 2.0 in a jiffy. I'd also like to thank the Common craft team for providing us with these explainations in plain english tutorials.

Cheers and welcome to the social !

Machine using us



Wikis in plain english



Social Media in plain english



Online photosharing in plain english



Social Networking in plain english



Blogs in plain english



RSS in plain english




Twitter in plain english



Social Bookmarking in plain english

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

First Post

This is my first ever blog post and hope for more to come. I would like to start with sharing one of the most facinating videos that I have witnessed. This is the work of a team at Harvard. Kudos.



For more information on their work, visit their website.