Edible bird’s nest, built by the aerodramus genus of swiftlets, has long been regarded as a quintessential health food in Chinese culture. There remain many myths, beliefs, and puzzles surrounding it that have yet to be thoroughly investigated by science. Read more
The convocation ceremony for this year might be taking place online, but that don’t let that dampen your spirits to celebrate this important milestone! In this series, Science@NTU took some time to know the 2020 CoS valedictorians. First up, we have Kang Hwee Young from the School of Physical & Mathematical Sciences. Read more
“The most important thing when working with human-tiger conflicts, as well as other conflicts involving humans and predatory animals attacks, is to work collaboratively and to prepare the local communities in how to deal with or mitigate conflict situations. This human-tiger conflict risk map will help prioritize areas and enable more effective use of the limited resources available”, says ASE PhD candidate Muhammad Irfansyah Lubis, lead author of a new paper published in the journal Animal Conservation.
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Although the impacts of climate-related coral bleaching are well documented, knowledge of how sea level rise will influence reefs is limited. Global sea level rise (SLR) will present a major threat to turbid coral reefs, located in shallow coastal waters, by increasing the depth of water covering them, and reducing the amount of sunlight available on the seafloor. This will change the amount of habitat available for certain corals to grow, shows a new study led by ASE Presidential Postdoctoral Fellow and AXA Research Fellow Dr Kyle Morgan published last week in Proceedings of the Royal Society B.
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ASE/SCELSE Associate Professor Janelle Thompson is leading a team of scientists from NTU-SCELSE working with the NEA Environmental Health Institute to monitor the presence of the virus causing COVID-19 (SARS‐COV‐2) in wastewater in Singapore. Measuring the presence of virus in wastewater is not only cost effective but could also help trace new outbreaks at an early stage. Read more
A recent publication in Science, co-authored by ASE chair/EOS PI Prof Benjamin Horton, shows that vast areas of mangroves are under threat from sea level rise, which may cause the mangroves to drown by 2050 unless we curb climate change by cutting carbon emissions. The study surveyed 78 sites in the tropics and subtropics around the globe, using paleorecords of mangrove growth and sea level rise to predict the future of these ecologically and economically important ecosystems. Read more
Could the pandemic offer an opportunity for humankind to hit the reset button and address the environmental crisis and the climate emergency? This is what ASE Chair Prof Benjamin Horton and his father Peter Horton, Emeritus Professor at the Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of Sheffield, suggest in an opinion piece in Today Online. Read more
Yeo Kai Qing Joanne from NTU Asian School of the Environment represented Singapore at the 2nd Peace Summit of Emerging Leaders. Held at the United Nations Conference Centre Bangkok, Thailand, the conference gathered 500 young leaders from different parts of the world and gave them an understanding and broader perspective of peace. Joanne generously shares with us her takeaways from the summit. Read more
As we all know, space is three dimensional. Many aspects of physics, including the fundamental properties of matter, depend strongly on the dimensionality of space. For instance, 2D materials like graphene, in which the atoms are confined to a two dimensional plane, have properties very different from standard 3D materials. Now, researchers have created a synthetic material that behaves as though it has four dimensions (4D), higher than the number of dimensions in the space around us. Read more
In the last instalment of Making a Mark for Women in Science, we meet NTU School of Biological Sciences immunology scientist Chen Qi, who is a recipient of the 2020 Women in Engineering, Science, and Technology (WiEST) Conference Grant. Chen Qi sheds some light on her research, and her thoughts on women in science. Read more