Scientists solve mystery behind earthworm digestion
London UK (SPX) Aug 05, 2015 -
Scientists have discovered how earthworms can digest plant material, such as fallen leaves, that would defeat most other herbivores.
Earthworms are responsible for returning the carbon locked inside dead plant material back into the ground. They drag fallen leaves and other plant material down from the surface and eat them, enriching the soil, and they do this in spite of toxic chemicals p ...
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Fish that have their own fish finders
St. Louis MO (SPX) Aug 05, 2015 -
The more than 200 species in the family Mormyridae communicate with one another in a way completely alien to our species: by means of electric discharges generated by an organ in their tails.
In a 2011 article in Science that described a group of mormyrids able to perceive subtle variations in the waveform of electric signals, Washington University in St. Louis biologist Bruce Carlson, PhD ...
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Feed supplement greatly reduces dairy cow methane emissions
University Park PA (SPX) Aug 05, 2015 -
A supplement added to the feed of high-producing dairy cows reduced methane emissions by 30 percent and could have ramifications for global climate change, according to an international team of researchers.
In addition, over the course of the 12-week study conducted at Penn State's dairy barns, cows that consumed a feed regimen supplemented by the novel methane inhibitor 3-nitrooxypropanol ...
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Almost 80 species scavenge hunting remains worldwide
Madrid, Spain (SPX) Aug 05, 2015 -
Human activities such as livestock farming, fishing or hunting yearly waste tons of food into natural ecosystems. A large part of this anthropogenic food is provided as carrion and subsidizes a wide range of vertebrate species. Spanish scientists have described for the first time the general structure of scavenger communities worldwide, which consist mainly of birds (66%) and mammals (34%).
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Biology, not just physics, controls release of scent compounds from plants
West Lafayette IN (SPX) Aug 05, 2015 -
Purdue University research suggests active biological mechanisms transport scent and taste compounds known as volatiles from plant cells to the atmosphere, a finding that could overturn the textbook model of volatile emission as a process that occurs solely by diffusion.
Volatiles play key roles in plant pollination, reproduction, defense and communication. Researchers thought volatiles di ...
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Lenders back Azeri gas project with European focus
Manila (UPI) Aug 7, 2015 -
Asian and European lenders unveiled a $1 billion finance package Friday to help fund an Azeri natural gas field meant to diversify the European energy sector.
The Asian Development Bank and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, with support from the Black Sea Trade and Development Bank, announced funding support for the second stage of the Shah Deniz natural gas field of ...
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Canadian oil exports hit low mark for year
Calgary, Alberta (UPI) Aug 7, 2015 -
Canada reported total oil exports for May were at their lowest level for 2015, though slight increases have emerged while the country moves into recession.
The National Energy Board in Canada reported total exports through May, the last full month for which it has data. Government data show total crude oil exports for May at 2.8 million barrels per day, about 10 percent less than April ...
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