1) Why plants don't die from cancer?
I recently watched
the fantastic documentary series on Chernobyl. I would recommend it to anyone
interested.
Chernobyl’s
exclusion zone isn’t devoid of life. Wolves, boars and bears have returned to
the lush forests surrounding the old nuclear plant. And when it comes to
vegetation, all but the most vulnerable and exposed plant life never died in
the first place, and even in the most radioactive areas of the zone, vegetation
was recovering within three years.
Critically, unlike
animal cells, almost all plant cells are able to create new cells of whatever
type the plant needs. This is why a gardener can grow new plants from cuttings,
with roots sprouting from what was once a stem or leaf.
All of this means
that plants can replace dead cells or tissues much more easily than animals,
whether the damage is due to being attacked by an animal or to radiation.
2) The downfall of Ranbaxy
The Ranbaxy story
remains a fascinating one for me. How in a span of a few years, how the two
Singh brothers managed to completely destroyed a reputed business is a lesson
to be learnt for all.
In its race for
profit, Ranbaxy had lied to regulators, falsified data, and endangered patient
safety in almost every country where it sold drugs. Ranbaxy had not properly
tested the stability of almost any drugs on the US market. The most basic good
manufacturing practices require continuous monitoring of drug quality.
3) Chinese private enterprises start stuttering
We’ve been smacked
by roaring trains of nonsense this year. In April, drugmaker Kangmei
Pharmaceutical Co. said that it overstated cash holdings by $4.4 billion,
due to an accounting “error.” Kangde Xin Composite Material Group Co.
didn’t skip a beat, telling us its auditor could find no trace
of a 12.2 billion yuan ($1.8 billion) bank deposit. “Qualitative factors
are playing an increasing role”
when assessing Chinese enterprises, S&P Global Ratings wrote
in June. Put more bluntly: Firms may look great on paper, but the
cash you see on their balance sheets may not even be there.
A loss of investor
confidence is the last thing private enterprises need as the economy stutters.
With banks reluctant to lend, stock and bond offerings remain their key funding
channels.
4) EV battery technology (for the uninitiated!)
There are,
essentially, three problems to solve in order for batteries to truly transform
our lives: power, energy, and safety.
In common parlance,
people use “energy” and “power” interchangeably, but it’s important to
differentiate between them when talking about batteries. Power is the rate at
which energy can be released.
The article
discusses the developments of battery technology and explains it well for
laymen.
5) Brian Lara scores a half-century
Now, that the World
Cup is over and we are all disappointed, let's go down memory lane with one of
the greatest batsmen in world cricket - Brian Lara.
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