THE Japanese have come up with a process that makes wood resistant to fire, decay and warping. Earlier attempts at improving one of the 3 attributes invariably worsened at least 1 of the other 2.

In the new process developed at the Miyagi Prefectural Institute of Technology, the wood tissue is first impregnated with a flame-resistant substance called barium hydrogen phosphate and then heated at 160-200 degree Celsius in a nitrogen atmosphere so that it doesn't warp (New Technology Japan, Vol 22, No 1).

When wood thus treated was brought into contact with corrosive substances, its decay-resistance was found to have improved considerably.