Researchers discover new antibiotics by sifting through the human microbiome
New York NY (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
Most antibiotics in use today are based on natural molecules produced by bacteria - and given the rise of antibiotic resistance, there's an urgent need to find more of them. Yet coaxing bacteria to produce new antibiotics is a tricky proposition. Most bacteria won't grow in the lab. And even when they do, most of the genes that cause them to churn out molecules with antibiotic properties never g ...
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Study finds less gloomy outlook for subtropical rainfall
Miami FL (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
A new study found that rainfall over land in the subtropics - including in the southeastern U.S. - will not decline as much as it does over oceans in response to increased greenhouse gases. The study challenges our previous understanding of the drying that will occur in subtropical regions and suggests its impact on people living in these regions could be less severe than initially thought.
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How lightning strikes can improve storm forecasts
Seattle WA (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
Humans have always been frightened and fascinated by lightning. This month, NASA is scheduled to launch a new satellite that will provide the first nonstop, high-tech eye on lightning over the North American section of the planet.
University of Washington researchers have been tracking global lightning from the ground for more than a decade. Lightning is not only about public safety - ligh ...
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Mississippi River could leave farmland stranded
Urbana IL (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
If the Mississippi River continues to go unchecked, the farmland on Dogtooth Bend peninsula may be only accessible by boat. According to a University of Illinois study, each successive flood carves a deeper channel across the narrow neck of the peninsula. This floodwater shortcut threatens to permanently reroute the Mississippi River, leaving Dogtooth Bend an island rather than a peninsula.
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New model reveals adaptations of world's most abundant ocean microbe
Honolulu HI (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
Researchers from David Karl's laboratory at the University of Hawai'i at Manoa (UHM) and from Professor Jens Nielsen's laboratory at Chalmers University of Technology in Goteborg, Sweden, developed a computer model which takes into account hundreds of genes, chemical reactions, and compounds required for the survival of Prochlorococcus, the most abundant photosynthetic microbe on the planet.
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Bacteria discovery offers possible new means of controlling crop pest
Corvallis OR (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
A bacterium common in insects has been discovered in a plant-parasitic roundworm, opening up the possibility of a new, environmentally friendly way of controlling the crop-damaging pest. The worm, Pratylenchus penetrans, is one of the "lesion nematodes" - microscopic animals that deploy their mouths like syringes to extract nutrients from the roots of plants, damaging them in the process. This p ...
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Underwater video reveals culprits behind disappearance of NSW kelp forests
Sydney, Australia (SPX) Nov 17, 2016 -
Seaweed-eating fish are becoming increasingly voracious as the ocean warms due to climate change and are responsible for the recent destruction of kelp forests off the NSW north coast near Coffs Harbour, research shows. The study includes an analysis of underwater video covering a 10 year period between 2002 and 2012 during which the water warmed by 0.6 degrees.
"Kelp forests provide vital ...
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