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| December 13, 2013 |
 Scientists map food security and self-provision of major cities Copenhagen, Denmark (SPX) Dec 12, 2013 - Wealthy capital cities vary greatly in their dependence on the global food market. The Australian capital Canberra produces the majority of its most common food in its regional hinterland, while Tokyo primarily ensures its food security through import. The Copenhagen hinterland produces less than half of the consumption of the most common foods. For the first time, researchers have mapped ... more |  |
Study demonstrates that indigenous hunting with fire helps sustain Brazil's savannas Bloomington, IN (SPX) Dec 12, 2013 - Indigenous use of fire for hunting is an unlikely contributor to long-term carbon emissions, but it is an effective environmental management and recovery tool against agribusiness deforestation, a new study from Indiana University and Brazil's Oswaldo Cruz Foundation has found. Many indigenous peoples in Brazil have practiced hunting with fire, and today Brazil's Xavante Indians often use ... more |  |
New System for Assessing How Effective Species Are at Pollinating Crops Raleigh NC (SPX) Dec 12, 2013 - From tomatoes to pumpkins, most fruit and vegetable crops rely on pollination by bees and other insect species - and the future of many of those species is uncertain. Now researchers from North Carolina State University are proposing a set of guidelines for assessing the performance of pollinator species in order to determine which species are most important and should be prioritized for protect ... more |  |
 California Water Planners Hear NASA Long-Term Forecast Pasadena CA (JPL) Dec 12, 2013 - Recent NASA research tying California weather to large-scale atmospheric patterns contributed to the newly issued experimental Winter Outlook Forecast for Water Year 2014 by the California Department of Water Resources (DWR). That forecast, calling for continued dry conditions for the third year in a row, was the first to include discussion of climate research from NASA's Jet Propulsion Laborato ... more |  |
Peaceful bumblebee becomes invasive Zurich, Switzerland (SPX) Dec 12, 2013 - Bumblebees look cute. They have a thick fur, fly somewhat clumsily and are less aggressive than honeybees or wasps. They are very much appreciated by farmers as keen pollen collectors. Particularly in the context of the crisis-stricken honeybee populations, the buff-tailed bumblebee, Bombus terrestris, is being bred on an industrial scale for the pollination of fruit and vegetable crops both ins ... more |  |
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Home teams hold the advantage East Lansing MI (SPX) Dec 12, 2013 - The home team holds the advantage over visitors - at least in the plant world. However, a mere handful of genetic adaptations could even the playing field. In the current issue of the Proceedings for the National Academy of Sciences, Michigan State University researchers and their collaborators found that plant adaptation to different environments involves tradeoffs in performance. Genetic ... more |  |
Dutch water firm cuts Israel ties after tense PM visit The Hague (AFP) Dec 11, 2013 - Dutch water supplier Vitens has ended a partnership with Israeli water company Mekorot due to the "political context", the Dutch company said on Wednesday. The abrupt decision comes days after a visit to the Mekorot offices in Israel by the Netherland's trade minister Lilianne Ploumen was abruptly cancelled. In a statement, Vitens said it had come to the conclusion that it was "extremely ... more |  |
Crop-infecting virus forces aphids to spread disease Cambridge, UK (SPX) Dec 11, 2013 - University of Cambridge researchers have shown that viruses use aphids as pawns, discouraging the insects from permanently settling on already-infected crops and using this forced migration to spread infection to healthy vegetation. Aphids are sap-sucking insects that attack many different types of plants and are major transmitters of crop-infecting viruses. By altering plant biochemistry, ... more |  |
China's massive water diversion project starts delivering water Beijing (UPI) Dec 10, 2013 - A portion of China's massive South-to-North Water Diversion Project has started to supply water. Shandong province will get about 1,200 million cubic feet of water in the first use of the project's east route, officials said, China Daily reported Tuesday. The three-route project, expected to cost $81 billion, is considered the biggest engineering endeavor in Chinese history, and ... more |  |
Better water purification with seeds from Moringa trees Uppsala, Sweden (SPX) Dec 10, 2013 - Seeds from Moringa oleifera trees can be used to purify water. Uppsala University leads a research group which has discovered that seed material can give a more efficient purification process than conventional synthetic materials in use today. Clean water is essential for good health. In many countries it is still difficult to obtain clean water. Even developed countries can benefit from a ... more |  |
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 China farmer kills self over fines for children: report Beijing (AFP) Dec 09, 2013 - A Chinese farmer with five children drank a fatal dose of pesticide at a communist chief's house after officials seized his family's annual food supply for violating the one-child policy, reports said Monday. Ai Guangdong, 45, had more than 3.5 tonnes of corn - the family's entire source of income until next year's harvest - confiscated last week by five officials in Liang'erzhuang, in the ... more |  |
Precipitation declines in Pacific Northwest mountains Fort Collins CO (SPX) Dec 09, 2013 - Recent Forest Service studies on high-elevation climate trends in the Pacific Northwest United States show that streamflow declines tie directly to decreases and changes in winter winds that bring precipitation across the region. Scientists believe the driving factors behind this finding relates to natural climate variations and man-made climate change. Research Hydrologist Charlie Luce, w ... more |  |
IPM for Billbugs in Orchardgrass Annapolis, MD (SPX) Dec 09, 2013 - Two weevil species, the bluegrass billbug and the hunting billbug, have caused widespread economic damage to orchardgrass, a cool season grass that is cultivated throughout the United States as a high-value forage crop. The cryptic feeding habits of these species, combined with a lack of effective systemic insecticides, make billbug control extremely difficult in orchardgrass. Howeve ... more |  |
Saudi, China scientists decode date-palm tree DNA Riyadh (AFP) Dec 08, 2013 - Scientists from Saudi Arabia and China said on Sunday they have completed mapping the genome of the date-palm tree, whose fruit is a staple food in many regions. Scientists from Riyadh's King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology and China's Shenzhen-based BGI have been working on the project since 2008. The sequencing could help increase productivity as well as prevent and help in t ... more |  |
 Philippines typhoon survivors determined to hope Tacloban, Philippines (AFP) Dec 07, 2013 - A raggedy cloth banner in a Philippine town torn apart by one of the most powerful typhoons on record declares that its residents are "roofless, homeless, but not hopeless". Super Typhoon Haiyan left more than 7,500 people dead or missing and ruined the homes of about four million others when it tore across some of the Philippines' poorest fishing and farming communities. A month after t ... more |  |
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Unlikely collaboration leads to discovery of 'gender-bending' plant London, UK (SPX) Dec 09, 2013 - Bucknell University biology professor Chris Martine has discovered and described a new species of wild eggplant, found in Australia's Lost City. Martine, who named the plant Solanum cowiei, recently detailed his findings in the journal PhytoKeys. Martine described the plant as "gender bending," and explained that the females actually pretend to be male by producing pollen. "What they're re ... more |  |
Israel, Jordan, Palestinians to ink water-sharing deal Jerusalem (AFP) Dec 09, 2013 - Israel, Jordan and the Palestinians are on Monday to sign a joint water-sharing initiative, but an environmental group denied it was connected to the controversial Red Sea, Dead Sea plan. According to Friends of the Earth Middle East (FoEME), the agreement, which will be signed at the World Bank's headquarters in Washington, will see Jordan providing 50 million cubic litres of desalinated wa ... more |  |
Qantas steward with Parkinson's to sue over pesticide link Sydney (AFP) Dec 09, 2013 - A former Qantas steward who believes he developed Parkinson's disease after repeated exposure to government-mandated pesticides sprayed in the cabin plans to sue Canberra, his lawyer said Monday. Brett Vollus, 52, worked for Australia's national carrier for 27 years as a flight attendant until his early-onset Parkinson's forced him to take redundancy in May this year. Vollus engaged a sp ... more |  |
How onions recognize when to bulb Dunedin, New Zealand (SPX) Dec 09, 2013 - New research from New Zealand will help to breed new onions tailored to grow in specific conditions. Onions, the third largest vegetable crop in the world, form a bulb in response to lengthening days, however the molecular mechanisms controlling this response were not previously known. Research undertaken by Plant and Food Research and the University of Otago has identified the gene contro ... more |  |
Press Release: Using moving cars to measure rainfall Hanover, Germany (SPX) Dec 05, 2013 - Drivers on a rainy day regulate the speed of their windshield wipers according to rain intensity: faster in heavy rain and slower in light rain. This simple observation has inspired researchers from the University of Hanover in Germany to come up with 'RainCars', an initiative that aims to use GPS-equipped moving cars as devices to measure rainfall. The most recent results of the project a ... more |  |
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