Cobalt machine | The betatron, dubbed The Bomb, zaps cancerous tumours
Harold Johns and Allan Blair dropped in unannounced one day in 1946 to visit Saskatchewan premier Tommy Douglas. They had a proposal. Johns, a physicist at the University of Saskatchewan who supervised radium and X-ray therapy equipment, and Blair, director of Saskatchewan Cancer Services, were pioneering new radiation therapies. They needed permission to buy a […] Read moreTag Archives Technology — page 3
Protesters fear GM pig could trigger consumer backlash
GUELPH, Ont. – The sharply divided sides in the genetically modified food debate were on display last week as activists marched in bitter cold while researchers and MPs discussed biotechnology’s potential inside. On Feb. 9, the House of Commons agriculture committee listened as researchers and agribusiness representatives discussed the inevitability of GM material in the […] Read more
New technology promises faster trait development
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – A new technology that allows scientists to precisely add, delete or edit genes will speed up delivery of new crop traits to farmers, says the company that owns it. Dow AgroScience’s ExZact Precision Technology uses zinc-finger proteins to modify a DNA sequence in a plant genome exactly where scientists want it to […] Read more
Dow shifts more business to seed trait aspects
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Dow Agro-Sciences was one of the last agriculture chemical companies to invest in the seed trait business but it is playing catch-up in a big way. Sales of farm chemicals once accounted for 90 to 95 percent of the company’s revenues. Today, 20 percent of its business is seeds, traits and specialty […] Read more
Competition prepares students for real world
As far as Terry Fonstad is concerned, his team has already won Lord Stanley’s coveted trophy.His Stanley Cup equivalent is the pinnacle of competition in university agricultural engineering: The American Society of Agricultural and Biological Engineers one-quarter-scale tractor, student design competition, held annually in Peoria, Illinois.His franchise is the University of Saskatchewan Sled Dog scale […] Read more
Self-propelled sprayer a first for Versatile
ORLANDO, Florida – Versatile has moved closer to becoming a full-line agricultural equipment manufacturer. It has acquired Red Ball, a Minnesota company that got into financial difficulty last year. In the deal, Versatile gets its first self-propelled sprayer, the SX275. Retailing for $239,000 US, the sprayer ditched the Red Ball 7830’s John Deere engine in […] Read more
Wind turbine noise poses no health risks: study
The sound from wind turbines has no negative impact on people, says a worldwide, peer reviewed review of literature on the health effects of wind turbines. The American and Canadian Wind Energy Association established a panel to review the current literature after concerns about sound from wind turbines and their adverse health consequences. The panel […] Read more
Measuring tools: probes, meters and pillows
It’s easy to look out the window and conclude that four inches of snow fell overnight, but accurately measuring snow depth is challenging, says Alf Warkentin, director of flood forecasting for Manitoba Water Stewardship. “It’s never as accurate as we’d like it to be. The snow is very difficult to measure.… You can do a […] Read more
Gardiner dam tops the list
Spring thaw isn’t on the minds of most Canadians yet, but water forecasters have been thinking about melting snow for months. “Nov. 1 is called the start of the new water year because basically any precipitation that falls, for the most part, from (November) on in is going to be snow and won’t show up […] Read more
Irrigation allows production of 40 crops
The first homesteaders to settle in what is now southern Alberta realized that irrigation would make the difference to their survival. By the late 19th century, private groups were building canals and water delivery systems, and in 1910 the Canadian Pacific Railway embarked on two projects south of Calgary called the Eastern Block and the […] Read more
