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Duckweed Science May Lead To Food That Farms Itself

Duckweed split into different species 59 million years ago, when the climate was more extreme than...

Sticky Pesticides Reduce Chemicals Needed To Protect Plants

It's easy for Greenpeace employees in cities to talk about farming but in the real world, without...

Genetic Engineering Could Solve Spider Mite Infestations With Fewer Pesticides

The world is producing more food using fewer pesticides than ever, thanks to modern science. The...

Cheminformatics: NIH Funds A More Scientific Mosquito Repellent

Today, the best way to prevent malaria remains DDT. Though banned in the US by a politician over...

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New Bacteria Optimization Could Boost Nitrogen-Fixing In Corn

New Bacteria Optimization Could Boost Nitrogen-Fixing In Corn

Jan 20 2025 | comment(s)

Soybeans greatly benefit from nitrogen-fixing bacteria, which reduces the need for fertilizer, and a new study shows that gene-edited bacteria can supply the equivalent of 35 pounds of nitrogen from the air during early corn growth as well. 

Agricultural scientists tested products from Pivot Bio called PROVEN and PROVEN 40, which includes one and two species of soil bacteria, respectively, that turn atmospheric nitrogen into plant-available forms. An edited gene involved in nitrogen fixation makes more of it available so more of it at planting means the bacteria colonize plant roots.
Use DEET: Half Of Adult Ticks Carry Lyme Disease Bacteria

Use DEET: Half Of Adult Ticks Carry Lyme Disease Bacteria

Jan 20 2025 | comment(s)

If you want to avoid ticks in the woods, wear long clothing or use a scientifically-proven repellent like DEET,  IR3535 , or picaridin. Forget products claiming they are 'green' or have citronella, there is a reason that people who buy alternatives to DEET are over-represented in getting lyme disease. Alternatives don't work and, if you are in the northeast, 50% of adult ticks will carry Lyme disease bacteria so you are flipping a coin by avoiding science.
In British Iron Age Culture, Margaret Thatcher Was The Norm

In British Iron Age Culture, Margaret Thatcher Was The Norm

Jan 15 2025 | comment(s)

In British Iron Age society, land was inherited through the female line and husbands moved to live with the wife’s community. Strong women like Margaret Thatcher resulted.

That was inferred due to DNA sequenced from members of a single community, over 50 ancient genomes from a set of burial grounds in Dorset, that were in use before and after the Romans tried to do in AD 43 what they did to Israel a few decades later. They reconstructed a family tree with many different branches and found most members traced their maternal lineage back to a single woman from centuries before while relationships through the father’s line were almost absent.
Optimizing Nature: Biological Mechanism Could Lower Nitrogen Use

Optimizing Nature: Biological Mechanism Could Lower Nitrogen Use

Jan 15 2025 | comment(s)

Production of most major foods involve nitrate and phosphate fertilizers, but excessive fertilizer use is bad for the environment. 

That is why scientists came up with modern technologies that use less fertilizer and, on the other end, fewer pesticides. But some countries or processes like "organic" ban modern products, so their nitrogen runoff is excessive. Perhaps a new form of genetic engineering will be the first product to be allowed under their marketing guidelines since Mutagenesis.  
Climate Shifts May Bring New Apple Growing Areas

Climate Shifts May Bring New Apple Growing Areas

Jan 06 2025 | comment(s)

Climate has always shifted but concerns about faster changes brought on by the modern world have led the authors of a new paper to worry that current high-volume sources of apples could lose their apex status to other areas.

The paper in the pay-to-publish journal Environmental Research Letters analyzed over 40 years of climate conditions they correlate to the growth cycle, bud break to fruit, of apple trees. They sound the alarm that the largest apple-producing counties in the US (Yakima in Washington, Kent in Michigan and Wayne in New York) have already been impacted.
Knee Point Prediction And Battery Capacity Degradation

Knee Point Prediction And Battery Capacity Degradation

Dec 03 2024 | comment(s)

Electric cars and solar and wind energy alternative schemes have a few crippling limitations; low energy densities and unavailability when people need energy most. Batteries could help with that second one except current batteries are legacy technology that are held back by subsidies and mandates, not improved.