Helpers for energy acquisition from plants
Bonn, Germany (SPX) Sep 07, 2016 -
Research into plant cells is far from complete. Scientists under the biochemist Professor Peter Dormann at Universitat Bonn have now succeeded in describing the function of chloroplasts in more detail. These are plant and algal cell structures that are responsible for photosynthesis. The results have now been published in the scientific journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of ...
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Predictive tool vital to sustainable environmental futures
York UK (SPX) Sep 06, 2016 -
A new predictive tool, which for the first time combines human perception of the environment with land-use planning and socioeconomic data, could help governments mitigate the impact of climate change in developing countries.
Scientists at the University of York are working in Tanzania, East Africa, to help produce new data and strategies that can contribute to decisions around the use of ...
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Experts warn booming seaweed industry
New York NY (SPX) Sep 07, 2016 -
A rising number of valuable uses being found for seaweed - from food and fertilizer to pharmaceuticals and industrial gels - is driving the rapid growth of an industry that could easily and needlessly drop into some of the same pitfalls previously experienced in both agriculture and fish farming.
Drawing on the expertise of 21 institutions worldwide, UN University's Canadian-based Institut ...
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Future drought will offset benefits of higher CO2 on soybean yields
Champaign IL (SPX) Sep 07, 2016 -
An eight-year study of soybeans grown outdoors in a carbon dioxide-rich atmosphere like that expected by 2050 has yielded a new and worrisome finding: Higher atmospheric CO2 concentrations will boost plant growth under ideal growing conditions, but drought - expected to worsen as the climate warms and rainfall patterns change - will outweigh those benefits and cause yield losses much sooner than ...
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Farming adaptations needed to combat climate change to impact crop yields in 2050
Urbana IL (SPX) Sep 07, 2016 -
As the globe continues to spin toward a future with higher temperatures, crop yields will likely decrease if farmers do not adapt to new management or technology practices. Establishing new strategies is particularly difficult for sorghum farmers in West Africa where seed varieties and fertilizer are scarce, while drought and unpredictable rainfall are prevalent. Using more heat-resistant sorghu ...
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Fruit flies help explain why humans yearn for protein
Ann Arbor, Mich. (UPI) Sep 8, 2016 -
Serotonin may be responsible for our love of protein.
The chemical, found mostly in the brain and digestive tract, is involved in the regulation of mood, appetite, and sleep in humans and other animals. It's also associated with feelings of happiness and is often released as a biochemical reward.
New research suggests the brain chemical may explain why humans seek out protein-ric ...
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Waste-besieged Easter Island slowly learns to recycle
Hanga Roa, Chile (AFP) Sept 10, 2016 -
Every Friday, a cargo plane loaded with three tonnes of waste cardboard takes off from wind-swept Easter Island, bound for the Chilean mainland thousands of miles away across the Pacific.
On the first Thursday of each month, it takes two tonnes of waste plastic for recycling; on the last, an equal load of aluminum.
With tourists drawn by the island's famous ancient statues churning out s ...
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