Indonesian troops are reported to be intimidating civilians in Aceh in their search for separatist rebels. [BBC News]

Our first full calendar year of ownership of Funwe Farm has been busy and rewarding. We are beginning to learn the realities of agriculture in Africa, as a producer of low-priced raw materials at the very bottom of the global supply chain. We are also gradually becoming known and accepted among the local communities there.

Our first harvest yielded over twelve tonnes of maize and 500 kg of rice, which is now available for the local people during the present famine months, plus sorghum, paprika and chillies sold commercially (though not actually at a profit…). It was fascinating for us, as complete beginners in agriculture, to see the crops harvested, dried, sorted and stored: 500 kg of paprika is an exciting sight, especially when produced from a place that was previously derelict.

read more about how we celebrated and what we had achieved at the end of our first year by clicking here. [Funwe Farm News]

In a Harvard University laboratory, NASA-funded researchers shot light into a super-cold cloud of sodium atoms. The light bogged down, stopped, and turned off. The scientists later revived the light pulse and restored its normal speed by shooting another laser beam into the near-absolute zero cloud.

Fascinating stuff, as is the news today that light has been shifted in frequency with virtually no loss of energy!

(Bob_Lema) [Lockergnome Bytes]

"Radio tags the size of a grain of sand could be embedded in the euro note if a rumoured deal between the European Central Bank (ECB) and Japanese electronics maker Hitachi is signed." - Another potential use for RFID tags.(Peter) [Lockergnome Bytes]

An anonymous reader writes "A North Carolina State project has prototyped a wind-blown Mars exploration rover. It draws its inspiration from the lowly ... [Slashdot]

Indonesian troops are reported to be carrying out a campaign of intimidation against civilians in Aceh in their search for separatist rebels. [BBC News]

Our first full calendar year of ownership of Funwe Farm has been busy and rewarding. We are beginning to learn the realities of agriculture in Africa, as a producer of low-priced raw materials at the very bottom of the global supply chain. We are also gradually becoming known and accepted among the local communities there.

read more about how we celebrated and what we had achieved at the end of our first year by clicking here. [Funwe Farm News]