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North Korea (NK) begins its nuclear research programme with the aid of the Soviet Union NK joins the Non-proliferation Treaty (NPT), which seeks to promote peaceful use of nuclear power NK fires a missile over Japan, raising international tensions NK withdraws from NPT and restarts nuclear research NK announces possession of nuclear weapons US refuses to unfreeze NK bank assets. NK fires six missiles and conducts first nuclear test NK shuts down its nuclear programme in exchange for US aid
1st century
ȑȑearly batik sprouts up across the Middle East, Egypt and Africa. Batik is brought to Asia by travellers from India along caravan routes
8th century
ȑȑby now, silk batik screens, decorated with trees, animals and mountains, are popular in China and Japan
17th century
ȑȑbatik is introduced to Europe, and is particularly popular in Holland
19th century
ȑȑbatik becomes a highly accomplished art form in Indonesia, especially Java and Bali, and may have been exclusively for use by the royal family. Indonesian craftsmen are invited to Dutch factories to impart their skills
21st century
ȑȑart schools across the world now offer batik courses as part of their textile curricula
JAPAN
The concept of “clean meat” – meat grown in cell culture in a laboratory – was first demonstrated using cells from guinea pigs by American scientist Russell Ross in 1971. Since then, scientists around the world have been actively working on clean meat research, but despite successes in the laboratory, large-scale production is still inhibitively expensive.
The advantages of clean meat are obvious. Since the meat does not involve rearing of livestock, it reduces greenhouse emissions and overgrazing of land. Moreover, the sanitised conditions mean it is disease-free and its nutritional content can be altered to produce healthier or tastier meat. However, these benefits come at a phenomenal price – in 2013, the cost of clean meat production was estimated at more than USD100,000 per kilogram.
In November last year, Japanese research company Integriculture Inc signed a clean meat development research contract with the Japan Science and Technology Agency, the first time a national-level research agency has explicitly funded cellular agriculture research in Japan. The study will look at the development of a low-cost animal-free culture medium, and the technology that will make it commercially possible. The company has already driven down the cost of clean meat, on a laboratory scale, to the equivalent of only USD300 per kilogram.
In 2014, the founder of Integriculture Inc, Yuki Hanyu, began the Shojinmeat Project to provide Japanese high school students with the materials to grow their own animal cells at home as part of a push to normalise the consumption of clean meat and enhance public understanding of it. Feedback was positive, with students even eating their own home-grown meat. By 2016, the company had discovered a way to reduce the cost of production by replacing components in the cells’ growth solution, such as a cow foetus’ blood, with yeast extracts. The team hopes that the contract will contribute to the commercialisation of clean meat.
Synthetic Meat May Hit Supermarkets Soon
JAPAN
Mind-reading technology is getting more accurate, as scientists in Kyoto last year uncovered a new way to recreate in far sharper detail what a person visualises in their mind, based on their brain activity.
Previously, scientists used magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) to read electric signals in the brain, and fed the information into a digital system that would translate the signals into shapes or words currently being thought of by the test subject. The technology was simplistic, and only able to produce rough approximations of a person’s thoughts.
However, this new method uses advanced artificial intelligence, called a “deep neural network”, that produces clearer pictures of complex shapes and objects based on the data from subject’s brain scans.
It is able to detect nuances in brain activity previously unachieveable, and scientists involved in the study say that in the future, this techology could be used to achieve feats such as drawing and painting with the mind, recreating dreams, and curing psychiatric conditions such as hallucinations.
Mind-reading Computers Get Better at Their Job
Scientists involved in the study say that in the future, this techology could be used to achieve feats such as drawing and painting with the mind
Class: Phylum: Behaviour: Reproduction: Life Span:
Anthozoa Cnidaria Lives in colonies Sexual and asexual Two years (polyp); millennia (colony) Theca Gastrodermis
Coenosarc connecting polyp to other polyps Tentacles with stinging nematocysts Mouth Mesoglea Stomach Basal Plate
To raise awareness about coral reefs and promote their conservation among governments, the private sector and the public, 2018 is designated as the International Year of the Reef (IYOR). This is the third IYOR in history, with the previous two held in 1997 and 2008 respectively. This year’s Asia Dive Expo (ADEX) will be held in conjunction with the IYOR.
3
This express train operates on the longest train route in India and is named after Swami Vivekananda, an Indian Hindu monk. It is part diesel, part electric
DISTANCE
4,233km 4 days