20/12/12

The most read stories in 2012

The year is drawing to a close Copyright: Flickr/ArtbyRetta

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SciDev.Net brings you the articles that had most visitors in 2012, including news, features and opinions.

Which SciDev.Net articles do you find the most useful? Let us know by commenting below or tweeting us @scidevnet using #bestof2012

Maize farmer, Africa - Flickr/M. DeFreese/CIMMYT

Intercropping ‘boosts maize yields by 50 per cent’

A 12-year study in Southern Africa has found that intercropping has a long-term positive effect on rain-fed maize yields.

Plastic bag protest - Flickr/350.org

Plastic bags should be managed, not banned

Plastic bags are too practical to be banned, but policies to manage their use are necessary to protect the environment, says Lilia Casanova.

The new turbine - Saphon Energy

Sail-inspired turbine promises cheaper wind energy

A Tunisian wind turbine that replaces blades with sails, can capture twice the wind energy of existing turbines, its creators claim.

Azza Abdel Hamid Faiad at the EU Contest for Young Scientists in 2011 - European Commission

Student finds new way of turning plastic into biofuel

An Egyptian teenager has devised a low-cost method for producing biofuel from plastics, and will receive assistance with progressing her idea.

Figure with a question mark - Flickr/Marco Bellucci

How to tell policymakers about scientific uncertainty

Uncertainty is part of science but it’s no excuse for indecision. Chandrika Nath shows how to communicate uncertainty to policymakers.

Children near Kunsu, Ghana - Flickr/Gates Foundation

How to create resilient agriculture

Durable food security and agricultural growth depend on development strategies with resilience built in from the start, says Gordon Conway.

Flour mill on a scooter - SRISTI, Ahmedabad

Supporting grassroots innovation: Facts and Figures

Adrian Smith and colleagues explore grassroots innovations, their potential for development and challenges facing practitioners.

Lab workers - Shutterstock

Royal Society and DFID launch fund for African research

A capacity building fund will link up UK and African research teams to investigate water, renewable energy and soil.

Women labourers in Africa - Flickr/Gates Foundation

IDRC cuts regional offices and ends innovation programme

Canada’s International Development Research Centre is to close two of its six global offices following heavy budget cuts.

Aedes Aegypti mosquito - Flickr/Marcos Teixeira de Freitas

Brazil tests GM mosquitoes to fight dengue

Early results from the release of millions of genetically modified mosquitoes in Brazil are ‘positive’, say dengue researchers.

To see the highlights from 2011, click here

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