Researchers have developed an improved technique for making wave-height predictions that mitigate gaps in data coverage and encompass rare, dangerously high waves.
Category: futurism
Analytical chemists from Stellenbosch University (SU) have provided the first evidence of a rare class of phenolics, called flavoalkaloids, in Cannabis leaves
Phenolic compounds, especially flavonoids, are well-known and sought after in the pharmaceutical industry because of their antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anti-carcinogenic properties.
The researchers identified 79 phenolic compounds in three strains of Cannabis grown commercially in South Africa, of which 25 were reported for the first time in Cannabis. Sixteen of these compounds were tentatively identified as flavoalkaloids. Interestingly, the flavoalkaloids were mainly found in the leaves of only one of the strains. The results were published in the Journal of Chromatography A recently.
Dr Magriet Muller, an analytical chemist in the LC-MS laboratory of the Central Analytical Facility (CAF) at Stellenbosch University and first author on the paper, says the analysis of plant phenolics is challenging due to their low concentration and extreme structural diversity.
Most plants contain highly complex mixtures of phenolic compounds, and while flavonoids occur widely in the plant kingdom, the flavoalkaloids are very rare in nature,” she explains.
A new explanation for Siberia’s giant exploding craters
Scientists may be a step closer to solving the mystery of Siberia’s giant exploding craters. First spotted in the Yamal and Gydan peninsulas of Western Siberia in 2012, these massive holes, known as giant gas emission craters (GECs) can be up to 164 feet deep. They seem to appear randomly in the permafrost and are formed when powerful explosions blast soil and ice hundreds of feet into the air.
