A team of agronomists, entomologists, agroecologists, horticulturists and biogeochemists have determined that planting cover crops in rotation between cash crops - widely agreed to be ecologically beneficial - is even more valuable than previously thought. 

Writing in Agricultural Systems, the Penn State researchers quantified the benefits offered by cover crops across more than 10 ecosystem services. Benefits included increased carbon and nitrogen in soils, erosion prevention, more mycorrhizal colonization -- beneficial soil fungus that helps plants absorb nutrients -- and weed suppression.

Daniel H. Conrad, professor of microbiology and immunology at the
Virginia Commonwealth University
 School of Medicine, and colleagues have uncovered a new connection between allergy and cancer that could potentially lead to therapies involving common antihistamines. 

In the Journal of Leukocyte Biology, their study found that histamine, a component of the immune system that responds to allergens and foreign pathogens and is also linked to inflammation, plays a role in protecting tumors from the immune system. By blocking the production of histamine in animal models, the researchers were able to interrupt a process that promotes melanoma growth. 

This week, the people of Crimea overwhelmingly voted to join Russia. They were jubilant, the Russian people were prideful, and Europe and the United States acted like it was the start of a World War. President Obama levied sanctions on President Vladimir Putin's friends, leading the Russian Deputy Prime Minster to ask if it was some sort of joke.

A study of 235 bereaved parents participating in an online support community revealed that startling 37.4 percent of them were prescribed a psychiatric medication to help them cope with the loss of their child, either during pregnancy or within the first month of life. Some women received prescriptions within a week, which doesn't meet any criteria for depression. 

Of the 88 parents given psychiatric prescriptions, 79.5 percent were for antidepressants and 19.5 percent were only prescribed sedatives or sleep aids. Prescriptions were written shortly after the loss in many cases: 32.2 percent within 48 hours; 43.87 percent within a week; and 74.7 percent within a month. Most women prescribed antidepressants then took them long term, some for years.

A new type of single-dose vaccine comes in a nasal spray and doesn't require refrigeration.

The latest design and testing of these "nanovaccines" sets the stage to dramatically alter the public health landscape because it can get more people vaccinated around the world squash the looming threats of emerging and re-emerging diseases. 

Trust is an essential basis for business relationships but it can be easily shaken if one business partner exhibits dishonest behavior.  And so a subconscious strategy to help avoid the negative emotions associated with any breaches of trust may cause some to prefer computers over people, according to a new paper.

When individuals engage in risky business transactions with each other, they may end up being disappointed and so they'd rather leave money decisions to a computer, says Prof. Dr. Bernd Weber from the Center for Economics and Neuroscience (CENs) at the University of Bonn. "As a result, people are not all that eager to put their trust in others."