Asia
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Cloned baby goat is a super-adorable terrifying monster of science
The Kashmir region of south Asia is economically dependent on cashmere (the homophonic name is not a coincidence). But populations of pashmina goats, which produce the expensive wool, have been dwindling. So scientists at Sher-i-Kashmir University decided to hurry the process along, cloning a pashmina goat named Noori with little more than a microscope and crossed fingers.
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The five big forest trends of 2012
In the past year, examples abounded of forests being protected or restored on a grand scale. But those successes put the colossal failures and the corrupting forces behind them in stark relief: For too many forests, some combination of rapacious corporate greed, rising global population and consumption (particularly in Asia), local corruption, ignorant or careless […]
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New species from Asia include noseless monkey named ‘Snubby’
There are still way more kinds of creatures out there than science knows about — we're discovering new species all the time, and it always seems like the new ones are the weirdest yet. The World Wildlife Fund just released info about their 2010 discoveries in Asia's Mekong River region, which traverses Vietnam, Thailand, Myanmar, […]
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Bear bile farming is just as bad as it sounds
Animal welfare foundation Animals Asia has just rescued 14 moon bears, which had been farmed and abused for a substance produced in their gall bladders. Gah. People are willing to perpetrate some real atrocities on animals in order to get valuable commodities — rhino horns, elephant ivory, tiger parts. But man, once you start doing […]
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Food Studies: Can we prove Malthus wrong?
After a year of plant science studies, the agricultural landscapes of Laos are a call to revolution. Green revolution.
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Is Amy Chua's parenting style going to help China save the environment?
Does Amy Chua's essay "Why Chinese Mothers are Superior" apply to green energy? China outstrips the U.S. on wind power and high speed rail.
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On thin ice with the billionaire
[vodpod id=Video.16189242&w=425&h=350&fv=file%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww-tc.pbs.org%2Fnow%2Fvideo%2FOn-Thin-Ice-trailer.flv%26amp%3Bplugins%3Dembed-1%26amp%3Bimage%3Dhttp%3A%2F%2Fwww-tc.pbs.org%2Fnow%2Fimages%2FOn-Thin-Ice-webex.jpg] It is tough to argue with a man with a net worth that begins not with an “m” but with a “b.” The man didn’t inherit his billions, he got them by investing early in promising but not yet proven technologies. This suggested the billionaire had the power of clairvoyance and, so, when […]
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In India, leading a lavatory revolution
Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak displays a beaker of colorless, odorless, pathogen-free liquid manure distilled from human excreta. The fertilizer is created using a low-tech, five-step process that includes sand and charcoal filtering and exposure to ultraviolet rays. Methane is captured and burned as cooking fuel. Kevin Ferguson DELHI, India — Ah, the Sulabh International Museum of […]
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Myanmar cyclone is a portent of disasters to come
At least 10,000 people lost their lives when a tropical cyclone struck the nation of Myanmar, in Southeast Asia. Perhaps the jury is still out on the extent to which storm intensity can be related to climate change. What is clear is that sea-level rise will make future storms, more intense or no, much more […]
