The Noah"s Ark for plants beneath the English countryside
Inside bomb-proof frozen vaults underneath the English countryside hides a treasure trove of 40,000 species of wild plant seeds from around the world, many of which are in danger of disappearing......»»
Enhancing recombinant protein expression in lettuce
Recombinant proteins are crucial in pharmaceutical and other industries. A production method uses plants as hosts in transient protein expression systems. Researchers at the University of Tsukuba developed a technique to increase recombinant protein.....»»
Exploring the authenticity of a pair of storied gloves rumored to belong to Shakespeare
The leather gloves, embroidered at the wrists, rest on a tufted pillow of red satin in a glassed wooden box, a fitting place for artifacts that have a history tied to the English-speaking world's most-famous playwright......»»
A blueprint for mapping melting ice sheets: Open-source tool can help make radar systems at a fraction of the cost
Researchers in the Stanford Radio Glaciology lab use radio waves to understand rapidly changing ice sheets and their contributions to global sea-level rise. This technique has revealed groundwater beneath Greenland, the long-term impacts of extreme m.....»»
Photosynthesis is under threat in an increasingly warm world, says researcher
The basis of all life on Earth is photosynthesis. So, what happens if it is disrupted? Today, advanced measurement tools can reveal how climate change is affecting plants' ability to process the energy from sunlight......»»
Study combines woodchips and biochar to clean water of pharmaceuticals, nutrients
What happens to ibuprofen after it eases your throbbing headache? Like many pharmaceuticals, it can remain in an active form when our bodies flush it out. That's a problem, because although wastewater treatment plants are good at reducing nutrient po.....»»
How plants compete for light: Researchers discover new mechanism in shade avoidance
Plants that are close together do everything they can to intercept light. This "shade avoidance" response has been extensively researched. It is therefore even more remarkable that researchers from the laboratory of Molecular Biology at Wageningen Un.....»»
Nitrogen-fixing plant diversity declines with over-fertilization, study finds
Anthropogenic nitrogen deposition and climate change can reduce the competitive advantage of nitrogen-fixing plants, leading to reduced diversity of these plants in a community. Surprisingly, changes in temperature and aridity do not contribute to th.....»»
Loss of "nitrogen fixers" threatens biodiversity, ecosystems, say biologists
Mississippi State University is part of a European-American collaboration studying how human activities, like fertilizer use and pollution, are impacting nitrogen-fixing plants which are crucial for maintaining healthy ecosystems by adding nitrogen t.....»»
Materials of the future can be extracted from wastewater
A group of researchers is on the way to revolutionizing what biomass from wastewater treatment plants can be used for. Biopolymers from bacteria can be a sustainable alternative to oil-based products, and phosphorus and other minerals can also be har.....»»
Q&A: A faster way to identify drought-resistant plants for crop breeding research
Climate change is making droughts more common and more severe—which makes research into developing drought-resistant crops more important than ever. Now researchers have developed a new framework that should expedite this important research......»»
Nonnative plants are a major force behind global insect invasions, study finds
In an article in the journal BioScience, an international team of researchers led by Dr. Cleo Bertelsmeier from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland, argues that the global spread of nonnative plants is a key factor driving the growing number of i.....»»
Discovery of key protein for biosynthesis of plant defense steroids could enhance pest control strategies
Researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology have identified GAME15 as a key protein that regulates the biosynthesis of both steroidal glycoalkaloids and steroidal saponins in plants of the genus Solanum......»»
Stem carbohydrate richness in two cycad species
Terrestrial plants have developed strategies to cope with suboptimal conditions. Storage of nonstructural resources is one of those strategies. Nonstructural carbohydrates (NSCs) of plants are primarily sugars and starch, and have been studied extens.....»»
Could life exist below Mars ice? Study proposes possibilities
While actual evidence for life on Mars has never been found, a new NASA study proposes microbes could find a potential home beneath frozen water on the planet's surface......»»
Ancient ‘Age of Dinosaurs’ Seafloor Found beneath Pacific Ocean
A vast, ancient slab of seafloor plunged beneath the Pacific Ocean and has hovered in Earth’s mantle for more than 120 million years, a new study suggests.....»»
China"s underground lab seeks answer to deep scientific riddle
Far beneath the lush landscape of southern China, a sprawling subterranean laboratory aims to be the world's first to crack a deep scientific enigma......»»
Student debt: An individual and collective burden at English-language universities
Why do people feel it is legitimate to voluntarily take on debt in order to pursue higher education, and then challenge the debt burden later on, when it prevents them from enjoying the lifestyle that an education seemed to promise?.....»»
Trace gas measurements could advance carbon cycle predictions
A novel method for estimating the rate of photosynthesis from land plants reveals that satellite observations—the current gold standard for quantifying terrestrial carbon uptake—underestimate this important metric, a result that could inform and.....»»
In a fusion device plasma, a steep ion temperature gradient slows the growth of magnetic islands
Future fusion power plants will require good plasma confinement to sustain reactions and generate energy. One way to contain plasma for fusion reactions is to use a tokamak, a device that applies magnetic fields to "bottle" plasma. However, magnetic.....»»
Researchers discover hidden tomb beneath Petra"s Treasury World Heritage Site
A discovery of a secret tomb at one of the new seven wonders of the world has been made by a team of researchers, including academics from the University of St Andrews......»»