Environment

Soil Microbes Alter DNA In Response To Warming

As scientists try to forecast the effects of climate change, one of the missing pieces of the puzzle is what will happen to the carbon in the soil and the microbes too. Scientists studying grasslands in Oklahoma have discovered that an increase of 2 degre ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 17 2014 - 10:55am

Really? Plants Have Vascular Systems?

I was checking out  my trusty Cotton Physiology Handbook  and have to admit that I got a bit blown away.. ...

Blog Post - Janice Person - Jan 18 2014 - 11:39pm

To Increase Food Production In Africa, Farmers Need More Fertilizer, Smartly Applied

Under-use of fertilizers in Africa currently contributes to a growing yield gap; the difference between how much crops could produce in ideal circumstances compared to actual yields.  Better yields mean more food and sustainable food leads to wealth and c ...

Article - News Staff - Jan 28 2014 - 11:43am

Genetically Modified Maize Does Not Reduce Biodiversity

Though you may have read otherwise, numerous studies from China, Spain and the United States have have found that the biodiversity of insects and related arthropods is not reduced by genetically modified (GM) rice, cotton, or maize fields. A new study fro ...

Article - News Staff - Apr 11 2015 - 4:23pm

Mercury Vapor In Lamps: How Safe Is It?

Compact fluorescent bulbs save energy but they also contain mercury, a toxic metal. While environmentalists have promoted them as safe, and the US government has given them a de factor mandate and subsidy by banning incandescent bulbs, there are still conc ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 3 2014 - 8:11am

Herbicides Get A Bad Rap In Declining Plant Diversity

The increasing use of chemical herbicides, both synthetic and organic kinds, is often blamed for the declining plant biodiversity in farms, but it is simplistic to think herbicide exposure is solely to blame. The science doesn't add up. If herbicides ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 4 2014 - 6:44pm

Amazon Greening In Drier Weather: What's Going On?

For the past eight years, the Amazon rain forest has gotten greener as the weather seemingly got hotter and drier each year from June to October.  Limited rainfall didn't prevent thriving vegetation, which really put a damper on the simplistic ' ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 7 2014 - 5:00am

Ice Age Tundra Was Rather Nice- For Woolly Mammoths

50,000 years ago, the Arctic tundra was not as drab as you might think, being an Ice Age- it was filled with colorful wildflowers and these wildflowers helped sustain woolly mammoths and other giant grazing animals, according to a new paper. The study cha ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 8 2014 - 6:30am

Green Roofs And Cool Roofs: Do They Work?

Cool roofs, green roofs and hybrids of the two are all of the rage for city planners who want to do something about greenhouse-gas induced warming. They sound great but is it going to work, or is it another idealized wish that incurs cost but has little b ...

Article - News Staff - Feb 10 2014 - 2:42pm

Hack The Environment: Bringing Biodiversity Hardware Into The Open

New technologies are changing the way we collect biodiversity data. What once required taking expensive, bulky and fragile equipment on field trips can now be collected on cheap, compact and robust devices. A recent paper in the Biodiversity Data Journal ...

Article - News Staff - Mar 1 2014 - 10:55am