Paper made from banana plants stymies potato pest
Wrapping potato seeds in biodegradable paper made from unusable parts of banana plants reduces the infestation and harmful effects of a nasty plant pathogen—a worm called the potato cyst nematode—and sharply increases potato size and yields......»»
UN summit approves fund to share benefits of nature"s sequenced genetic data
A UN nature summit agreed in Colombia Saturday on the creation of a fund to share the profits of digitally sequenced genetic data taken from animals and plants with the communities they come from......»»
Deep sea rocks suggest oxygen can be made without photosynthesis, deepening the mystery of life
Oxygen, the molecule that supports intelligent life as we know it, is largely made by plants. Whether underwater or on land, they do this by photosynthesizing carbon dioxide. However, a recent study demonstrates that oxygen may be produced without th.....»»
U.S. regulators raise questions about siting data centers at power plants
U.S. regulators raise questions about siting data centers at power plants.....»»
African Sahara "greening" can alter Northern Hemisphere climate, modeling study finds
Africa's Sahara Desert may be considered a vast expanse of barren sand with limited vegetation, an extreme environment for plants and animals to thrive, but life always finds a way. Indeed, vegetation growth in the desert has waxed and waned over mil.....»»
The reasons flowers wilt could explain how plants spend (and save) their energy
Wilting flowers might not signal poor flower or plant health, but rather the effects of a sophisticated resource management strategy in plants, millions of years in the making......»»
Researchers study effect of phosphorous and irradiance on the invasive plant Chromolaena odorata
Resource competition is an important factor affecting the invasion success of alien plants, and environmental factors influence the competition outcomes between invasive and native plants. Chromolaena odorata has been listed as one of the main invasi.....»»
In Hawaii, parasites and viruses team up in the battle against fruit flies—implications for global pest control
Take a stroll along one of the beaches on Hawaii Island in late summer, and you'll likely stumble upon almond-shaped fruits lying in the sand. Known as false kamani nuts, or tropical almonds, they fall from tall, shady Terminalia catappa trees that l.....»»
Paper-aluminum combo can replace plastic for strong, sustainable packaging
Takeout containers get your favorite noodles from the restaurant to your dining table (or couch) without incident, but they are nearly impossible to recycle if they are made from foil-lined plastics. Research published in ACS Omega suggests that repl.....»»
Journey with Mario and the gang with 25% off "Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door"
As of Oct. 30, get Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch for 25% off at Woot SAVE $15: As of October 30, get Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door for Nintendo Switch for $44.99 at Woot. That's a 25% discount......»»
Simple science summaries written by AI can help people understand research and trust scientists
Artificial intelligence-generated summaries of scientific papers make complex information more understandable for the public compared with human-written summaries, according to my recent paper published in PNAS Nexus. AI-generated summaries not only.....»»
New Age ritual that send "bad energies" up in smoke may contribute to overharvesting of wild plants
A commercialized New Age ritual is causing not only "unwanted energies" to go up in smoke, but also foreign wild plants. A study by Utrecht University researchers Isabela Pombo Geertsma and Anastasia Stefanaki, alongside colleagues from Wageningen UR.....»»
Professor calculates optimal glass shape for preserving chill in beer glasses
Claudio Pellegrini, a professor of thermal and fluid sciences at the Federal University of São João del-Rei in Brazil, has calculated the optimal shape for a beer glass to keep the beer cold for as long as possible. He has written a paper describin.....»»
Here’s the paper no one read before declaring the demise of modern cryptography
The advance was incremental at best. So why did so many think it was a breakthrough? There’s little doubt that some of the most important pillars of modern cryptography will tum.....»»
Are bioplastics really the wonder alternative to petro plastics?
Alternatives to petrochemical-based plastics are emerging, made from everything from banana leaves to tomato skins, especially for food packaging......»»
Chromium-62 study helps researchers better understand shapes around islands of inversion
In a recent paper in Nature Physics, an international research collaboration used world-class instrumentation at the Facility for Rare Isotope Beams (FRIB) to study the exotic nuclide, or rare isotope, chromium-62......»»
Soybean domestication linked to higher mesophyll conductance for increased photosynthesis
In a new study conducted by the Realizing Increased Photosynthetic Efficiency (RIPE) project, researchers at the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign looked back in time at soybean growth and discovered that modern plants have increased mesophyll.....»»
For the love of suckers: Volunteers contribute to research on key freshwater fishes
A new paper published today, led by Chicago's Shedd Aquarium, reveals how volunteers across Illinois, Wisconsin and Michigan enabled researchers to gather seven years of data on the spawning migrations of suckers, an understudied yet essential group.....»»
A next-generation catalog of cultivated bananas
A new research paper presents a cutting-edge catalog of banana diversity, utilizing innovative genomic techniques to trace the ancestral origins of various banana cultivars. The study involved collaboration between multiple institutions, and includes.....»»
Invasive plants drive homogenization of soil microbial communities across US, new study finds
Invasive plants are doing more than just taking over landscapes—they're also changing the soil beneath them. A new study co-authored by Matthew McCary, assistant professor of biosciences at Rice University, reveals that these species are reshaping.....»»
Laboratory simulation finds smaller nanoparticles are subject to enhanced agglomeration in gastrointestinal tract
In a laboratory set-up simulating the human stomach and intestine, researchers at the University of Amsterdam have explored the fate of plastic nanoparticles during gastrointestinal digestion. In their paper published in the October issue of Chemosph.....»»