Atrazine is one of the most commonly used herbicides in the world. It is also the most commonly found water pollutant in North America. Outlawed in Europe in 2003 for after some disturbing links to prostate and breast cancer, over 80 million pounds are dumped on the US every year. Atrazine has long been a suspect in causing the decline of reptile populations, and researchers at the University of California Berkeley recently released a study that found atrazine causes perfectly healthy genetically male frogs to grow up to be reproductive adult females.

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Post tags: agricultural research, agriculture, atrazine, corn, crop pollutant, environmental study, EU, farming, frogs, green study, ground pollution, herbicide, midwest, pesticide, sex change, sustinabale agriculture, syngenta, university of california, university of california berkeley, water pollution

Business Room. Excluding breakfast. Located along the busy streets of Chinatown in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, Replica Inn provides affordable accommodation for travellers on a budget with easy access to transport links. Rooms are cosy and comfortable and come with an en-suite bathroom. They are also fitted with all the basic amenities needed for a pleasant stay that include individually controlled air-conditioning. Replica Inn also offers several guest services to make your stay more enjoyable. Laundry and dry cleaning services are available, as well as car rental. If you're looking for more information on sight-seeing and tours, just enquire with the friendly staff. The hotel also has a casual cafe for meals and internet access is available in the lobby. Replica Inn Chinatown is close to several eateries, shops and entertainment options. It is also within walking distance from Puduraya Station and Plaza Rakyat LRT station, which makes travelling easy and cost effective.

Mostly cloudy 27°C

Humidity:

83%

Wind Speed:

2 KMH

Wind Direction:

NW (310°)

Barometer:

1010 mb

Dewpoint:

24°C

Heat Index:

29°C

Wind Chill:

27°C

Visibility:

8 km

One day after Obama announced his “Cash for Caulkers” energy efficiency program, a group of senators is trying to block government-funded, international renewable energy projects. In a letter to be read at a news conference today, the group of Democratic officials argue that financing renewables overseas under the Recovery Act runs counter to the economic stimulus plan’s goal: to create and preserve American jobs.

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Welcome to the seventh episode of Peggy Teaches Chinese. In this episode, Peggy teaches us how to count and use numbers.

Peggy Lee produces free language lessons for anyone with a desire to learn Mandarin Chinese.

If Mandarin Chinese is something you’ve always dreamed of doing, but you’ve never had the time to do, then these videos are perfect for you.

Episode 5 of Peggy Teaches Chinese: Numbers

Learn Chinese with Peggy Lee

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In addition to causing widespread death and destruction, last week’s devastating earthquake in Chile may have shifted the Earth’s axis permanently and created shorter days, according to scientists at NASA. Based on calculations thus far, every day from now on should be 1.26 microseconds shorter. While the change probably won’t be affecting our daily schedules too much (a microsecond is a millionth of a second), it is unsettling to think about how much impact something as concentrated as an earthquake can have on the entire planet.

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MALAYSIAN Bulk Carriers Bhd (Maybulk) plans to acquire modern second-hand vessels in line with the improving global economic situation. Its chief executive officer, Kuok Khoon Kuan, said the company was eyeing the opportunities as the market was back to normal and would focus on acquiring modern second-hand vessels until the outlook improved further for the sector. "Since the resale value has declined by about 60 to 70 per cent, the company will be able to buy them at a fraction of what they were previously sold for," he told a media briefing on the company's 2009 results here today. Its executive chairman, Teo Joo Kim, said the company was also looking at investment opportunities in the coming months, though not aggressively. Meanwhile, Maybulk said although there were indications of increased spending in exploration and production activities, they had yet to be translated into higher rates due to current oversupply in the offshore segment. Maybulk is the largest dry bulk shipowner in Malaysia. It is engaged in international shipping and currently owns and operates a fleet of vessels which includes dry bulk carriers and product tankers In 2008, the group entered into long-term charters for two 29,000 deadweight tonnes (dwt) handy-sized bulk carriers which will be delivered in 2010 and 2011 and a further two 61,000dwt supramaxes which will be delivered in 2012 to 2013. As at March 2009 the company has nine bulk carriers and three tankers. The group's pre-tax profit for financial year ended Dec 31, 2009 fell to RM248.3 million from RM525.75 million a year before. Revenue declined to RM303.7 million from RM721.16 million previously. -- Bernama

Thunder 30°C

Humidity:

70%

Wind Speed:

5 KMH

Wind Direction:

NNW (340°)

Gusts:

17 MPH

Barometer:

1008 mb

Dewpoint:

24°C

Heat Index:

35°C

Wind Chill:

30°C

Visibility:

6 km

Pharmaniaga Bhd is taking action to ensure the re-issuance of the manufacturing licence for its unit, Pharmaniaga Manufacturing Bhd, which was revoked recently. In a filing to Bursa Malaysia, Pharmaniaga said following a routine audit by the Pharmaceutical Services Division of the Ministry of Health, Pharmaniaga Manufacturing was notifed of the revocation of its manufacturing licence, effective March 1. "The company is taking the necessary steps to ensure issues raised by the audit, are addressed expeditiously for the re-issuance of the licence, to enable the plant to resume production as soon as possible," it said. Pharmaniaga is a diversified healthcare group with several business lines including manufacturing, logistics, distribution and medical equipping. Manufacturing contributes approximately 10 per cent to the Group's turnover based on the 2009 results. As such, the cessation of production is not expected to have a significant financial impact, as the other business lines are not affected. -- BERNAMA

THE outlook for Malaysian property market is promising with sales volume expected to increase by 5 to 10 per cent this year, according to RAM Holdings Bhd. In stating this, its chief economist Dr Yeah Kim Leng said the improving economic outlook and friendly lending policy will help to increase the confidence level of consumers and boost the property market. "Affordable housing and domestic-led growth strategy implies supportive policies will continue, though Bank Negara Malaysia remains wary of asset bubbles," Yeah said at a talk organised by the International Real Estate Federation or FIABCI here today. He said the favourable demographics, stricter-but-still easy access to home financing, rural-urban migration, foreign demand and income growth are all expected to improve housing sales. Yeah said expectation that the central bank will start "normalisation" of its monetary measures beginning this month will not dampen home purchases, especially when economic growth strengthened further. RAM expects an increase of 0.75 to 1.00 percentage point in the overnight policy rate by year-end. Loan growth is projected to expand between 8.0 and 10 per cent this year with non-performing loans likely to hover around 2.0 to 3.0 per cent. Loans growth remained positive at 6.5 per cent last year during the first 11 months of 2009 despite the economic recession as loans to the broad property sector outpaced overall loan growth. Yeah said consumer credit will continue to remain the core focus of banks'' lending but competition from non-financial institutions is likely to intensify. Property loans accounted for 36.2 per cent of total banking system loans. "The banks still view residential property lending as relatively safe, accounting for 26 to 27 per cent of their loans portfolios," he said, adding that credit conditions are not expected to tighten as demand is not overly excessive and output gap remains for the rest of the year. On the Malaysian economy, Yeah said the country is expected to resume modest growth this year with an upside bias should public sector reform and transformation policies and strategies strengthen further consumer and investor confidence, thus triggering a surge in domestic and foreign direct investment. "After a massive running down of inventories last year, re-stocking will contribute to higher production this year but ''autonomous'' or ''self-sustaining'' growth has to come from private consumption and investment," he said. RAM projects the country''s economy to grow by 4.9 per cent in 2010 and 5.4 per cent in 2011, supported by domestic-driven private sector spending and government spending. Yeah said Malaysia could reduce its budget deficit to below 3.0 per cent of the gross domestic product (GDP) from 2013 onwards compared to the forecast of 5.6 per cent this year. According to him, there is a chance for the deficit to be reduced from next year if economic growth can improve further. "With the goods and services tax (GST) introduction next year, the country can raise more revenue and will be able to cut back on spending," he said. Currently, taxes and royalties from oil and gas accounted for 40 per cent of the government revenue while its debt level made up 40 per cent of the GDP. -- BERNAMA