The Castel Saint Angelo was orginally commissioned by the Roman Emperor Hadrian as a mausoleum for himself and his family. The popes later converted the structure into a fortress (from the 14th century) where a covered fortified corridor called the Passetto di Borgo connected St. Peter’s Basilica and the Castle. Read More…
At the end of the Via dei Fori Imperiali, you will find The Colosseum, the symbol of the city of Rome. It’s real name is Flavian Amphitheatre, however, it’s always called the Colosseum. Read More…
Nature’s Perfect Corp: Improved by Humans
The Eart has given birth to a grain as valuable as gold. Carried by the winds, it has conquered half the world. This cereal, equal to the Gods in some countries, has been growing with mankind nourishing the ever-growing population of the planet for centuries. It developed into thousands of varieties, creating different flavours and adapting to all kinds of surroundings, climates and soils. It has also been bending and torturing the spines of farmers, but in return it lets their children live and grow.
Today, rice is the basic food for almost billion people - almost half the world. Moreover, it is the major staple of the poor. As most of the world’s poor live in Asia, and most of the growth of the world’s population happens in Asia, the continent depends on this manna of nature more than ever. In some countries like Laos, Cambodia, China or Vietnam rice provides up to 75% of the total calories consumed.
Asian countries produce four fifths of the world’s rice harvest. No wonder then, that the most advanced scientific institute that studies this grain is located in Asia, in the Philippines. Founded in 1960, the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI) includes laboratories and training facilities on a 252-hectare-experimental farm on the campus of the University of the Philippines Los Banos, south of Manila. More than 12,000 scientists from 98 countries have been trained at IRRI in its 42 year history so far.
Thanks to the financial support of many nations and institutions from all over the world, IRRI has accses to the very latest technologies. Its scientists and staff have been honoured around the world. Among them - to name a few - are the legendary R.F. Chandler, IRRI’s director general, G.S. Kush, the world’s recently retired premier rice breeder and the pioneering, T.T. Chang, the former head of IRRI’s Rice Germplasm Center.
Challenged by the growing evidence in the eighties that existing varieties of rice had reached yield limits, IRRI’s basic research and focus started to concentrate more and more on biodiversity to fight the spread of diseas, further improve semi-dwarf inbred varieties, create new hybrid rice to boost yields and to breed new plants with better resinstance to nature’s challenges like droughts, flooding or bacterial enemies. Some of these new plants will only be available to farmers in the future. But these are the keys for increased food production beyond the reach of fertilisers and fungicides.
There is yet another project that has attracted worldwide attention. IRRI researchers are developing the socalled “golden rice”. Varieties of this rice have been genetically engineered and modified in order to produce high levels of betacarotene. Betacarotene is the nutrient that serves as a building block for vitamin A. The label “golden” dehives from the characteristic yellow-orange colour of the grain. Vitamin A gives carrots their colour too.
But what is really precious is the inside of the genetically modified grain: it contains traces of vitamin A. This enrichment and the prospect of offering daily doses of vitamin A to millions of poor people via this simple method has fascinated biotechnologists, nutritionists and health authorities. According to United Nations statistics, the toll from Vitamin-A-deficiency is huge: impaired vision, low resistance to diseases like measles, diarrhoea and more. In delivering an important vitamin to even remote areas, “wrapped up” into rice and thus reaching the poorest of the poor, golden rice is equally as exciting as it is challenging.
There is of course, as well, the issue of public concern about biotechnology. One of the fathers of the golden rice, Dr. Swapan Datta, who overviews the tiny plants in incubators developing into panicle in the greenhouse, admits that the technology has grown faster than the public understanding. But he stresses that, unlike other crops that are subject to transgenic research, rice is food for the poor. Those opposed to genetic engineering often are well-fed folk from developed countries where no food shortages exist. Datta is well aware of the scientific and cultural challenges that lie ahead. But as a native of Calcutta in India he also knows about the daily tragedies of poverty and the undernourished too well.
The Abbey itself (with the exception of the Marriage of Charles & Diana which was at St Paul’s) is at the heart of the nation’s life with nearly all Coronations, Royal funerals and weddings taking place here. Read More…
Trafalgar Square is the main hub of Central London. It was built in honour of Admiral Nelson. This followed his victory in 1805 at the Battle of Trafalgar, off the coast of Spain. Read More…
The views from Tower Bridge are stunning and for a ticket price for adults of just £5.50 this is a definite “Must Do” for any visitor to London! The ticket price includes a visit to the Engine Room and there are lifts to the East and West Walks with interactive displays and videos. Read More…
Recently voted the number one man-made attraction in London, St Paul’s Cathedral stands proudly in the heart of the city’s square mile, and is one of London’s architectural marvels. Read More…
Seeing London from the river was really great. It was nice to get a perspective of the city that was different from walking around. Read More…
At a leisurely speed of 0.9 km/hr (or 0.6 mph) the Eye takes about 30 minutes to make a complete revolution. This speed is slow enough that, unlike a typical ferris wheel ride, it does not need to come to a stop to unload and load passengers. Read More…
Originally it was a palace built in the eleventh century by Edward the Confessor.
In 1812, March 1st, A.Pugin was born in Bloomsbury, London. His father was an French aristocrat who fled France during the French Revolution. Read More…
