Peer Reviewed

In a press release issued today, Keio University scientists have shown that pigeons are able to discriminate video images of themselves, paintings of certain painters (Van Gogh vs Chagall) and more. The video image discrimination ability is higher than 3-year-old children. (Pictures available)

Keio University applied the technology “to operate the computer using brain images released last year and succeeds in enabling a disabled person suffering muscle disorder to stroll through “Second Life®, to walk towards the avatar of a student and to have a conversation with the student using the “voice chat” function.

Penang, Malaysia - In a press conference held today, University Science Malaysia scientists unveil their research into the healing properties of turmeric on skin tumours and wounds.

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Neuroscience: Helping seizures with acidity, Medicine: A drug against blood cancer may also fight lupus and Immunology: Zipping to sites of infection

Potato varieties capable of withstanding early planting conditions (high temperature/heat stress) can allow taking rice-potato-wheat as sequential crops in the region.

The present study was conducted to assess the genetic divergence in 29 potato genotypes (parental lines) based on 20 characters and to find out relationship between genetic diversity and tuber yield.

Researchers have found a cheaper and more feasible technique for parent selection in tetraploid potatoes.

The need for efficient crops is essential to feed a growing population. This paper shows different plant species and potato cultivars differed in nutrient use efficiency with the lowest potassium efficiency for potato followed by wheat and sugar beet.

This paper presents the findings of a study involving some common Ayurvedic medicines, which revealed the presence of heavy metals and synthetic steroids that were in some cases responsible for significant morbidity among those who consumed them.

Selection based on plant vigour, foliage maturity, desirable tuber traits, high family mean tuber yield supplemented with late blight resistance is recommended for developing potato varieties for north-central plains

Borneo's Dolphins are finally getting the attention they needed. On 15 May 2008, a collaborative effort for the conservation of these animals was forged between Sarawak Shell Berhad, Universiti Malaysia Sarawak and Sarawak Forestry Corporation.

Sarawak, which is free from the incidence of foot and mouth diseases, is embarking in livestock-oil palm integration as a strategy to increase local livestock production, and as a holistic approach to maximise land use and increase farm income. A research in UNIMAS was conducted to look at the potential.

As our global poverty rate continues to rise, so with it will our global hunger...... Read Kristin Schaaf's winning essay on "Feeding the poor today and everyone on the planet tomorrow: What are the issues, and what can be done to avert a global food crisis?"

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Cell discovery helps understanding of heart growth, Extreme UV and finally… When moons collide and collide and collide

"ASIATIC is a corporation with experiences in palm oil industry. It is easy for us to co-operate with UPM, which is a University with experiences in doing research of agriculture."

In September 2008, research work on sustainable development will commence sponsored by a consortium of industry, government, and academia In April 2009, a double degree program called "Environment & Sustainable Development" will become available at both the Waseda and Peking University campuses.

The belief that we can find a way to fully avoid all the serious threats of climate change pervades the political arenas of the G8 summit and UN climate meetings. This is false optimism, and it is obscuring reality, says a Commentary in Nature Reports Climate Change this week.

Newsworthy papers include Rare 'de novo' mutations contribute to schizophrenia risk, New prognostic marker for breast cancer, Cellular senescence and ageing, Fighting infection from an unlikely source, Vitamins on the move, Synthesis shuts down power, Warm and salty Cretaceous oceans, Multi-part bacterial sensor, Preventing amyloid formation

It seems that neither the chicken nor the egg came first. Scientists in Nature this week unveil a 380-million-year-old specimen of an embryo connected by the umbilical cord to its mother long before the chicken came on the scene. The discovery, reveals advanced reproductive biology comparable to that of some modern sharks and rays.

Newsworthy papers include A cold snap explained, I think therefore I touch, The 'good', the 'bad' and the gut, Forced out and fighting it, An infrared ring round a neutron star, Diagnostics in the balance, The big thaw, Engineering surface features of titania crystals, Quantum phase transition in a quantum dot, Visual invisibles, Packing wrapped up

Penang, Malaysia - Prof. Ismail Ab. Rahman gave his expert views on the Sol Gel Process and its contribution towards ceramic technology development. While Prof. Yeap Guan Yeow discussed research and its impact in Malaysia.

In April 2008, Universiti Putra Malaysia (UPM) once again won recognition at national level when it was awarded the Grand Prize Winner in two categories at the National Intellectual Property Award 2008 Ceremony.

One of the partnership programmes is the system of fertilization using minimum soil and usage of water and nutrient in the most efficient way for horticulture production. The project aims to create a prototype structure of plantation protected within its environment which has a system for cooling, airing and stabilization of wet temperature.

The Gold medal winners were for L2 Lipase: A Thermostable Enzyme for Industrial Applications and Production of Palm-based Anti Obesity Functional Oil.

PENANG, 20 MAY: Realising the importance of clean water for more than 27 million people in Malaysia, two USM students successfully produced a material which is able to absorb heavy metal from industrial waste water.

PENANG, 21 MAY: Raising concerns over global fuel price hikes have prompted USM students to explore fuel alternatives for vehicles.

Newsworthy papers include Nanoparticles need 'stripes' for cellular success, Genetic variants affect cancer risk in alcohol drinkers, Conducting without pressure, A critical factor for maintaining blood stem cells, Understanding cocaine craving, Genetic clue to 'clubbing', Searching for cancer's 'Achilles' heel', Observing virus birth

Cancer of the nasopharynx has its highest incidence in South East Asia, and is more prevalent in the Chinese population. Past studies linked its development to genetic predisposition and herpesvirus infections. UNIMAS researchers in this on-going project have further discovered the involvement of genes not previously implicated.

This project places an emphasis on accumulation of knowledge related to environments and disaster prevention. One of the expected outcomes is a system to improve human security in the Asian region with the implementation of a disaster management system

Summaries of newsworthy papers include Outburst marking the birth of a supernova, Molecular clues to appetite and drug addiction, Magma can directly produce earthquakes, A trick of light, Stem cells: Getting to grips with self-renewal, How a vaccine enhancer, Climate : Tracking extreme conditions and A Texan fossil astride the amphibian gap