MAX FACTS
hydroponic news, tips and trivia
First Ever Record of Insect Pollination
from 100 Million Years Ago
Amber from Cretaceous deposits in northern Spain has revealed the first record of
insect pollination. Scientists have discovered in two pieces of amber several specimens of tiny insects (namely, Thysanopterans, or thrips) covered with pollen grains.
“This is the oldest direct evidence for pollination, and the only one from the
age of the dinosaurs. The co-evolution of flowering plants and insects, thanks to
pollination, is a great evolutionary success story...Thrips might indeed turn out to
be one of the first pollinator groups in geological history, long before evolution
turned some of them into flower pollinators,” concludes Carmen Soriano, who led
the investigation of the amber pieces with X-ray tomography.
(Source: sciencedaily.com)
Hydroponics for Social Welfare
in the Philippines
In Cebu, a province of the Philippines, hydroponics has been implemented in the
area’s relatively small urban spaces. This project is predominantly concerned with
the high levels of poverty and the requirement to alleviate malnutrition in densely
populated urban areas such as Cebu City. The Department of Social Welfare and
Development and the Department of Science and Technology are both hoping
that through education of hydroponic methods it will be possible to decrease
the threat of food shortages and to turn some of the derelict areas of the urban
environment into greener, more productive spaces. The project also encourages
the reuse of plastic containers, helping to reduce urban waste.
(Source: hydroponicsguide.co.uk)
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Maximum Yield USA | September 2012