From recycling to food: Can we eat plastic-munching microbes?
Researchers are trying to turn plastic-eating bacteria into food source for humans. Enlarge (credit: Olga Pankova/Moment via Getty Images) In 2019, an agency within the US Department of Defense released a call for resear.....»»
Historically bad year for dolphin strandings on Cape Cod has scientists looking for answers
An unprecedentedly bad year for beached dolphins on Cape Cod might have to do with warming waters changing the availability of the animals' food, said scientists hoping to curb the strandings......»»
Infrastructure and communication challenges can be barriers to food safety in the low-moisture food industry
Low-moisture foods such as dried fruits, seeds, tree nuts and wheat flour were once considered to carry minimal microbial risks. However, the increased number of outbreaks linked to bacteria-contaminated low-moisture foods has resulted in product rec.....»»
Durable supramolecular plastic is fully ocean-degradable and doesn"t generate microplastics
Researchers led by Takuzo Aida at the RIKEN Center for Emergent Matter Science (CEMS) have developed a new durable plastic that won't pollute our oceans. The new material is as strong as conventional plastics and biodegradable, but what makes it spec.....»»
How anti-obesity drugs are linked to food waste: 1 in 4 users report an increase in discarding food
Taking anti-obesity drugs has led some U.S. adults to throw away more food than they tossed before starting the medications, a new study has found......»»
Chemists create world"s thinnest spaghetti
The world's thinnest spaghetti, about 200 times thinner than a human hair, has been created by a UCL-led research team. The spaghetti is not intended to be a new food but was created because of the wide-ranging uses that extremely thin strands of mat.....»»
Plastic reduces krill"s ability to remove carbon in the deep ocean, marine ecologists find
New research shows that increased levels of plastic pollution in the Southern Ocean could reduce the ability of Antarctic krill, a tiny shrimp-like crustacean, to help take CO2 from the atmosphere. The results are published this month in the journal.....»»
AI-assisted sorting system automates detection of aluminum-tolerant microbes in acidic soils
Researchers from the Single-Cell Center at the Qingdao Institute of Bioenergy and Bioprocess Technology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, together with collaborators, developed an artificial intelligence-assisted Raman-activated cell sorting (AI-RA.....»»
Plant biologists show how two genes work together to trigger embryo formation in rice
Rice is a staple food crop for more than half the world's population, but most farmers don't grow high-yielding varieties because the seeds are too expensive. Researchers from the University of California's Davis and Berkeley campuses have identified.....»»
Iron-clad defense: How microbes shield tomato crops from bacterial wilt
Ralstonia solanacearum is a soil-borne pathogen that devastates tomato and other Solanaceae crops globally. Traditional chemical controls have proven inadequate and environmentally damaging......»»
Light-based technology is safe and effective for mitigating fungal contamination of cereal grains, study finds
Fungal contamination of cereal grains poses a substantial threat to food security and public health while causing hundreds of millions of dollars in economic losses annually. In a new study, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.....»»
Cracking the recipe for perfect plant-based eggs
Hint: It involves finding exactly the right proteins. An egg is an amazing thing, culinarily speaking: delicious, nutritious, and versatile. Americans eat nearly 100 billion of th.....»»
"Will you buy fewer plastic bottles?" A simple question can change our behavior
The bottled water market has seen explosive growth—up 73% over the last decade—making it one of the fastest-growing industries globally. However, this growth comes at a significant environmental cost. Plastic waste, greenhouse gas emissions from.....»»
River microbes near wastewater treatment plants express high levels of antibiotic resistance genes, study shows
Rivers and streams serve as critical connectors across vast geographical landscapes, trickling out of tucked-away headwaters and snaking thousands of miles toward oceans and deep seas. These waterways directly impact human and environmental health, a.....»»
Gel coatings could make it easier to eat fiber-rich foods
Fiber is something that most of us get far too little of. To change that, we need to actually enjoy eating it. Food researchers from the University of Copenhagen have now invented a "disguise" that solves the problem of the dry and gritty mouth feel.....»»
Soil ecosystem more resilient when land is managed sustainably, finds study
Compared to intensive land use, sustainable land use allows better control of underground herbivores and soil microbes. As a result, the soil ecosystem is more resilient and better protected from disturbance under sustainable management than under in.....»»
“Windows 365 Link” is Microsoft’s $349 thin client for Windows in the cloud
Small, plastic thin client is Microsoft’s first “Cloud PC,” launches in April. Microsoft is announcing some new hardware today, but it’s a bit different from a typical Sur.....»»
California water recycling plant gains $26 million to feed Lake Mead
Toilet water in Los Angeles will soon reduce the strain on Lake Mead, thanks in part to a $26.2 million boost that was announced Monday......»»
Confinement may affect how we smell and feel about food
New research from RMIT University found confined and isolating environments changed the way people smelled and responded emotionally to certain food aromas......»»
Fermenting a future for food in Australia
Forming a National Food Plan and appointing a food minister are among the key recommendations of a white paper into growing a precision fermentation industry in Australia......»»
With new imaging approach, scientists closely analyze microbial adhesive interactions
Scientists have identified many types of bacteria in the mouth, but many problems remain in understanding how they work with one another. One of the problems is that microbes assemble themselves into densely packed multi-species biofilms. Their densi.....»»