- Author: Pat Bailey
A student team composed of some of the best and brightest young minds at UC Davis took the grand prize last week in an international competition for the high-tech biosensor they created to detect low-grade or adulterated olive oil.
The award was presented to the Aggie inventors during the finals of the three-day global iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machines) competition in Boston. The competition, this year featuring 245 teams from Asia, Europe, Latin America and North America, challenges student teams to design and build biological systems or machines and present their inventions in the international competition.
The students had spent several months designing and...
- Author: Iqbal Pittalwala
Last month, I attended ScienceWriters2014, a joint meeting of the National Association of Science Writers, Inc, and the Council for the Advancement of Science Writing, in Columbus, Ohio. Held in cooperation with The Ohio State University, the conference attracted 430 freelancers, students, editors, staff journalists, public information officers and other lovers of science and science-writing. I had applied for a public information officer travel fellowship to attend it, and was fortunate to be awarded one by the NASW, greatly facilitating my attendance.
One of the events that attendees could sign up for...
- Author: Shelby MacNab
Around this time of year, candy is flying off the shelves and headed to a classroom or workplace party near you.
It's not too late to mix things up this year, by bringing one of many creative fruit and vegetable goodies to your spooky bash.
What about healthy ideas for children's parties? Think outside the wrapper! Consider handing out non-food items this Halloween. You can purchase many of these items for the same price as sweets. Pro tip: check out your local dollar store or hit up the party favor aisle at most department stores for bulk buys at low prices.
Here are a few non-food ideas:
- Pencils
- Erasers
- Crayons
- Spider rings
- Bouncy...
- Author: Pamela Kan-Rice
Ethiopian, Mexican and Thai cuisine all taste distinctly different, but they have something in common: chile peppers. Demand for chile peppers is growing steadily and California is a leading producer of the vegetable that adds spice to life. Cash receipts for California chile peppers increased from $59 million in 2010 to nearly $100 million in 2012, according to USDA statistics. In Santa Clara County, 70 varieties of peppers are grown. Peppers are challenging to grow because they are susceptible to diseases, many of them spread by insects.
“Tomato spotted wilt virus spread by western flower thrips is a big problem for peppers,” said Shimat Joseph, UC Cooperative...
- Author: Jeannette E. Warnert
- Author: Norma De la Vega
A lack of information and misinterpretation of the dates on food labels leads to a tremendous amount of unnecessary food waste, said Chutima Ganthavorn, UC Cooperative Extension nutrition, family and consumer sciences advisor in Riverside County.
There are no federal guidelines for dating food products; 20 states have laws on the books about food dating, but they are inconsistent.
“Dates on manufactured food products usually indicate how long the food can be kept on store shelves for best quality, but it is unrelated...
