Eurek Alert News - Agriculture

(<i>Burness Communications</i>) Against a backdrop of extreme weather wreaking havoc around the world, a new report warns that increasingly erratic rainfall related to climate change will pose a major threat to food security and economic growth, especially in Africa and Asia, requiring increased investment in diverse forms of water storage as an effective remedy.

(<i>University of Toronto</i>) Widespread reports of a decline in the population of bees and other flower-visiting animals have aroused fear and speculation that pollination is also likely on the decline. A recent University of Toronto study provides the first long-term evidence of a downward trend in pollination, while also pointing to climate change as a possible contributor.

(<i>Society for General Microbiology</i>) While we are often exposed to bacteria in our food which could cause food poisoning, we don't always become ill -- why should this be so? Professor Colin Hill who is presenting his work at the Society for General Microbiology's autumn meeting in Nottingham today describes how bacteria use different tricks to aid their survival inside the body, helping to explain why food poisoning can be so unpredictable.

(<i>Michigan Technological University</i>) In 1998, Charlie Kerfoot discovered a "doughnut" of phytoplankton circulating in Lake Michigan, helping to feed the lake's famous fishery. Just 12 later, the doughnut is disappearing, and Kerfoot fears that the lake's ecosystem will crash, taking with it much of the fish biomass.

(<i>Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo</i>) The Sao Paulo Research Foundation presents the Marine Biodiversity Workshop: Recent Improvements in Bioprospection, Biogeography and Phylogeography to be held on September 9 and 10. This scientific meeting is intended to stimulate the formation of research groups involving both Brazilian and foreign scientists towards the development of research on bioprospection, geographic distribution of sea organisms in the Brazilian Coast as well as the search for natural bioactive compounds for pharmaceutical production.

(<i>United States Department of Agriculture-Research, Education, and Economics</i>) Afla-Guard, a biological control used to thwart the growth of fungi on peanuts, can be used on corn as well, according to a study by US Department of Agriculture scientists who helped develop it. After extensive study and research trials in Texas, Afla-Guard was registered by the US Environmental Protection Agency for use on corn, beginning with the 2009 crop.

(<i>Texas A&M AgriLife Communications</i>) Dr. Dariusz Malinowski is seeing blue, and he is very excited. For four years, Malinowski, an AgriLife Research plant physiologist and forage agronomist in Vernon, has been working with collaborators Steve Brown of the Texas Foundation Seed and Dr. William Pinchak and Shane Martin with AgriLife Research on a winter-hardy hibiscus breeding project.

(<i>Census of Marine Life</i>) The Pacific Ocean Shelf Tracking Program uses sound to track marine animals along the west coast of North America. Using hundreds of acoustic receivers (think of ears with computer hard drives attached) anchored to the sea floor, POST maintains listening lines running perpendicular to the coast, from shore to the edge of the continental shelf. The acoustic receivers record passing animals carrying acoustic tags, each one sending out a signal audible to the receivers.

(<i>Stanford University</i>) A new study led by a Stanford researcher shows that more than 80 percent of the new farmland created in the tropics between 1980 and 2000 came from felling forests, which sends carbon into the atmosphere and drives global warming. But the research team also noted that big agribusiness has largely replaced small farmers in doing most of the tree cutting in Brazil and Indonesia, which may make it easier to rein in the trend.

(<i>University of Arizona</i>) Scientists seek to develop a rice strain that is better capable of withstanding drought and poorer soils and produces higher yields than current forms of domesticated rice.

(<i>Texas A&M AgriLife Communications</i>) Texas AgriLife researchers have found that embryo transfer can double dairy cow pregnancy rates during the summer and increase the number of heifers born as compared with conventional artificial insemination commonly used on dairy farms. They believe this method could save dairies in Texas and throughout the country considerable money.

(<i>Northwestern University</i>) Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led Northwestern University researchers to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible. The porous crystals are the first known all-natural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are simple to make. Most other MOFs are made from petroleum-based ingredients, but the Northwestern MOFs you can pop into your mouth and eat, and the researchers have.

(<i>Carnegie Mellon University</i>) Scientists who are pioneering the use of gigapixel imagery will discuss how they are leveraging this new technology Nov. 11-13 at the first Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. The deadline for early conference registration is Sept. 13.

(<i>Burness Communications</i>) With governments across Latin America preparing to implement a new financial mechanism aimed at mitigating climate change by curbing carbon emissions from the destruction of tropical forests, experts gathering here today warned against a "one-size-fits-all" approach, calling instead for flexible, balanced solutions to the thorny dilemmas surrounding this new mechanism. Among the experts' chief worries is that the wealthy and powerful could capture many of the benefits, largely at the expense of rural communities, including indigenous groups.

(<i>McGill University</i>) Water management and malnutrition are the two key threats to food security that will be discussed at the Third McGill Conference on Global Food Security, to be held Oct. 19-21, 2010, in Montreal.

(<i>Emory University</i>) A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The Emory University study finds that it's likely this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents.

(<i>University of California - Santa Barbara</i>) Prompted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has come up with a new way of predicting how contaminants like oil will spread. He was able to forecast several days in advance that oil from that spill would wash ashore in particular parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

(<i>Public Library of Science</i>) Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse.

(<i>University of Missouri-Columbia</i>) As the nation becomes more aware of health issues related to nutrition and lifestyle choices, communities are struggling to find ways to make healthy living easier. The University of Missouri is helping communities turn healthy ideas into sustainable changes through the Healthy Lifestyle Initiative. The initiative, underway at 13 sites in 12 Missouri counties, is aimed at changing environments to increase the availability of affordable, locally produced foods and access to safe physical activities.

(<i>Technische Universitaet Muenchen</i>) As reported in the journal Nature, a team of physicists from Technische Universitaet Muenchen and LMU Muenchen has developed a versatile biophysical model system that opens the door to studying phenomena such as the seemingly choreographed motion of hundreds or thousands of fish, birds or insects, and probing their underlying principles. Using a combination of an experimental platform and theoretical models, more complex systems can now be described and their properties investigated.

(<i>Worcester Polytechnic Institute</i>) Expanding their scope of study on the mechanisms of bacterial infection, researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute have reported the surprise finding from a small clinical study that cranberry juice cocktail blocked a strain of Staphylococcus aureus from beginning the process of infection. The data was reported in a poster presentation at the American Chemical Society's recent national meeting by Terri Camesano, professor of chemical engineering at WPI.

(<i>United States Geological Survey</i>) The use of salt to deice pavement can leave urban streams toxic to aquatic life, according to a new US Geological Survey study on the influence of winter runoff in northern US cities, with a special focus on eastern Wisconsin and Milwaukee.

(<i>American Chemical Society</i>) Health conscious consumers who hesitate at the price of fresh blueberries and blackberries, fruits renowned for high levels of healthful antioxidants, now have an economical alternative, scientists reported a meeting of the American Chemical Society. It is black rice, one variety of which got the moniker "Forbidden Rice" in ancient China because nobles commandeered every grain for themselves and forbade the common people from eating it.

(<i>American Chemical Society</i>) Scientists are reporting new evidence that the fat tissue in those lower belly pooches -- far from being a dormant storage depot for surplus calories -- is an active organ that sends chemical signals to other parts of the body, perhaps increasing the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and other diseases. They are reporting discovery of 20 new hormones and other substances not previously known to be secreted into the blood by human fat cells and verification that fat secretes dozens of hormones and other chemical messengers.

(<i>American Dietetic Association</i>) The American Dietetic Association has published an updated position paper on food insecurity in the United States, calling for funding for food and nutrition assistance programs, increased nutrition education and efforts to promote economic self-sufficiency for all households and individuals.