31 Jan
African fruits could help alleviate hunger
Africa’s own fruits are a largely untapped resource that could combat malnutrition and boost environmental stability and rural development in Africa, says a new report from the National Research Council. African science institutes, policymakers, nongovernmental organizations, and individuals could all use modern horticultural knowledge and scientific research to bring these “lost crops” — such as baobab, marula, and butterfruit — to their full potential, said the panel that issued the report……..
by Nicole Miller. Denizens of oceans, lakes and even wet soil, diatoms are unicellular algae that encase themselves in intricately patterned, glass-like shells. Curiously, these tiny phytoplankton could be harboring the next big breakthrough in computer chips. Diatoms build their hard cell walls by laying down submicron-sized lines of silica, a compound correlation to the key material of the semiconductor industry - silicon. “If we can genetically control that process, we would have a whole new way of performing the nanofabrication used to make computer chips,” says Michael Sussman, a University of Wisconsin-Madison biochemistry professor and director of the UW-Madison’s Biotechnology Center……..
Recent research at MIT’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering suggests how aquatic plants in rivers and streams may play a major role in the health of large areas of ocean coastal waters. This work, which appeared in the Dec. 25 issue of the Journal of Fluid Mechanics (JFM), describes the physics of water flow around aquatic plants and demonstrates the importance of basic research to environmental engineering. This new understanding can be used to guide restoration work in rivers, wetlands and coastal zones by helping ecologists determine the vegetation patch length and planting density necessary to damp storm surge, lower nutrient levels, or promote sediment accumulation and make the new patch stable against erosion……..
A University of Saskatchewan team of researchers has isolated a gene that has never before been identified in helping plants to resist stress. The study-published this month in the top-ranked plant journal The Plant Cell-could pave the way for development of agricultural and forestry crops that are more tolerant to environmental stresses such as ultra-violet light and other types of radiation……..
Ever since a forward-thinking trio of physicists identified the phenomenon known as self-organized criticality-a mechanism by which complexity arises in nature-researchers have been applying its concepts to everything from economics to avalanches. Now, scientists at the University of Michigan and the University of Toledo have shown that clusters of ant nests on a coffee farm in Mexico also adhere to the model. Their work, which has implications for controlling coffee pests, appears in the Jan. 24 issue of the journal Nature……..
Building upon several years of research into the gecko’s uncanny ability to climb sheer walls, scientists at the University of California, Berkeley, have developed an adhesive that is the first to master the easy attach and easy release of the reptile’s padded feet. The material could prove useful for a range of products, from climbing equipment to medical devices……..
Forgetful Casanovas are lucky in love. At least thats how University of Florida scientists interpret the results of new research on the mating habits and nervous systems of prairie voles. An article about the research, which examined both the voles behavior and their brains, appears in this weeks edition of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences……..
It is like the premise of a popular home improvement show: in the before photos, the surroundings are undesirable and in the after shot theres lots of attractive spaces to grab a meal, start a family and relax in seclusion from lifes stresses. The difference here is that the potential new homeowner is a lizard and the renovations come — not from a sophisticated Manhattan designer — but instead from a herd of elephants. An examination of the connections between elephants and lizards appears this month in the journal Ecology, where a researcher reports that the elephants eating habits have a strong influence on the lizards habitat choices. The results demonstrate an important and little understood aspect of ecosystem engineering, and may help land managers working on wildlife refuges in Africa……..
A delegation of Tasmanian government officials traveled halfway around the world to visit Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL), to lend their support and extend their gratitude for research aimed at understanding a unique transmissible and rapidly spreading cancer that threatens the very existence of Tasmanian devils. To combat this especially aggressive disease, a CSHL research team in collaboration with 454 Lifesciences is committing resources to sequence parts of the devils genome in an effort to increase the odds of saving them from extinction……..
Like bank accounts, the nutrient cycles that influence the natural world are regulated by inputs and outputs. If a routine withdrawal is overlooked, balance sheets become inaccurate. Over time, overlooked deductions can undermine our ability to understand and manage ecological systems. Recent research by the Universite de Montreal (Canada) and the Cary Institute of Ecosystem Studies (Millbrook, New York) has revealed an important, but seldom accounted for, withdrawal in the global nitrogen cycle: commercial fisheries. Results, published as the cover story in the recent issue of Nature Geoscience, highlight the role that fisheries play in removing nitrogen from coastal oceans……..
