Bordeaux winegrowers hail 'magnificent' harvest
Bordeaux (AFP) Sept 24, 2015 -
For lovers of a good red Bordeaux, 2015 is shaping up as a "magnificent" vintage, growers from the largest wine-producing area in France said Thursday.
The harvest kicked off with Merlot grapes, which are eventually blended with Cabernet Sauvignon and Franc to make the blended wine, and vintners are delighted.
"It is magnificent, much like the wonderful years of 2005 or 2010," gushed Mic ...
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Digestible batteries needed to power electronic pills
Washington DC (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Imagine a "smart pill" that can sense problems in your intestines and actively release the appropriate drugs. We have the biological understanding to create such a device, but we're still searching for electronic materials (like batteries and circuits) that pose no risk if they get stuck in our bodies.
In Trends in Biotechnology, Christopher Bettinger of Carnegie Mellon University presents ...
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A whale of a tale
Boston MA (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
To some, it may not come as a surprise to learn that the great whales are carnivores, feeding on tiny shrimp-like animals such as krill. Moreover, it might not be surprising to find that the microbes that live in whale guts -the so-called microbiome- resemble those of other meat eaters.
But scientists now have evidence that the whales' microbiome shares traits with creatures not known to e ...
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Study: It's not cheating unless a species gets hurt
Houston TX (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
A review of dozens of key ecological studies has found very little evidence to support one of the field's commonly held beliefs: Cheating is widespread among 'mutualists,' species that cooperate with one another for mutual benefit.
"We find that although there are numerous observations of low-quality partners, there is currently very little support ... that any of these meet our criteria t ...
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The world's nitrogen fixation, explained
New Haven CT (SPX) Sep 25, 2015 -
Yale University scientists may have cracked a part of the chemical code for one of the most basic, yet mysterious, processes in the natural world - nature's ability to transform nitrogen from the air into usable nitrogen compounds.
The process is called nitrogen fixation, and it occurs in microorganisms on the roots of plants. This is how nature makes its own fertilizers to feed plants, wh ...
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Green barriers of cypresses could reduce fire initiation risk
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Every year fires burn thousands of hectares, destroy entire ecosystems and put the lives of people and animals at risk. Understanding the dynamics of fire would allow a solution to be found for the high number of incidents. Spanish and Italian researchers have studied the flammability of vegetation and shown that cypresses, capable of tolerating severe droughts and high temperatures, could be an ...
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New clues on the history of the smallpox vaccine virus
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil (SPX) Sep 23, 2015 -
Smallpox - simply hearing the word evokes images of countless people suffering gruesome deaths throughout recorded history. Known scientifically as variola, the virus had 30 percent mortality rate and survivors were branded with pox scars for life. For millennia, physicians often did more harm than good. Smallpox victims were bled, poked with golden needles, kept in overheated rooms while febril ...
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