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Agriculture
Reducing
and taking advantage of agricultural food waste
The aim of REPRO is to develop advanced methods for recycling and
reassessing agricultural food waste.
iratik@elhuyar.com
Elhuyar Fundazioa
Augmented
reality technology may improve communication in poultry plants
Technology that transfers computer-generated information onto the
physical world is being tested for use in poultry plants to improve
communication between computers and workers. Using augmented reality
(AR) technology, researchers have designed two systems that project
graphical instructions from an automated inspection system onto
birds on a processing line. These symbols tell workers how to trim
or whether to discard defective products.
jane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu
Georgia Institute of
Technology Research News
Organic
farms produce same yields as conventional farms
For corn and soybeans, organic farming yields the same size crop
with a lot less fossil energy input and impact on the environment
than conventional farming, according to a new study whose lead
author is David Pimentel of Cornell University. Bioscience (Vol.
55:7, 2005).
bpf2@cornell.edu
Cornell University News
Service
Sneaky
sex causes fish pest
Men! Fed up with women faking headaches? Grant yourself lucky that
you are not a mosquito fish, as females wouldn't think twice about
attacking you when you make a pass at them. Dr. Robbie Wilson from
the University of Queensland, Australia, will present his work on
the sexual behaviour of mosquito fish and how it changes when the
temperature goes up.
d.vangent@lancaster.ac.uk
Society for Experimental Biology
A
new molecule discovered in the battle between plants and disease
Scientists at Washington State University in Pullman have discovered
a molecule that plays a role in the battle plants must win against
bacteria and fungi that would eat them for lunch. The group led by
Professor Clarence A. "Bud" Ryan isolated a small protein
called Pep1 that appears to act like a hormone, signaling to the
rest of the plant to raise its defenses at the first sign of an
infection.
bhyps@aspb.org
American Society of Plant Biologists
Boosting
vitamin C in plants can help reduce smog damage
The harmful effects of smog on people and animals – the stinging
eyes and decreased lung capacity – are the stuff of
well-researched fact. Now, the body of knowledge about air
pollution's effects on plants has grown with University of
California, Riverside Biochemistry Professor Daniel Gallie's
discovery of the importance of vitamin C in helping plants defend
themselves against the ravages of ozone – smog's particularly
nasty component.
ricardo.duran@ucr.edu
University of California - Riverside
Aquatic
plants may hold key to advancing plant disease management
The way aquatic plants respond to plant disease and climate change
may have applications for managing land-based agriculture, say plant
pathologists with The American Phytopathological Society (APS).
asteigman@scisoc.org
American Phytopathological Society
Genome
study of beneficial microbe may help boost plant health
In a study expected to benefit crop plants, scientists have
deciphered the genome of a root- and seed-dwelling bacterium that
protects plants from diseases. The research provides clues to better
explain how the helpful microbe, Pseudomonas fluorescens Pf-5,
naturally safeguards roots and seeds from infection by harmful
microbes that cause plant diseases.
rkoenig@tigr.org
The Institute for Genomic Research
Plant
pathologists address next steps in combating soybean rust
In response to the discovery of soybean rust in the U.S., plant
pathologists are offering an opportunity to learn more about this
disease at a symposium held during the annual meeting of The
American Phytopathological Society (APS), July 30 – August 3, 2005
in Austin, TX.
asteigman@scisoc.org
American Phytopathological Society
Soil
fertility in the tropics can be influenced by landscape and
precipitation, study finds
A new study conducted in the Hawaiian Islands has revealed that
landscape and erosion play crucial roles in determining soil
fertility in tropical ecosystems.
mshwartz@stanford.edu
Stanford University
Augmented
reality technology may improve communication in poultry plants
Technology that transfers computer-generated information onto the
physical world is being tested for use in poultry plants to improve
communication between computers and workers. Using augmented reality
(AR) technology, researchers have designed two systems that project
graphical instructions from an automated inspection system onto
birds on a processing line. These symbols tell workers how to trim
or whether to discard defective products.
jane.sanders@edi.gatech.edu
Georgia Institute of
Technology Research News
Living
with salt
Life thrives in all sorts of hostile environments, including the
extreme salinity of the Dead Sea. A team of scientists at the
Weizmann Institute of Science has uncovered a strategy that helps a
plant-like, microscopic alga to happily proliferate in such
inhospitable surroundings, and their findings have unexpectedly shed
light on the working of our own kidneys.
ASmith@jgordonassociates.com
American Committee for the
Weizmann Institute of Science
Soil on farms and in tropical savannas may be a bigger
contributor to ground-level ozone and its accompanying smog than
previously thought, according to a new satellite-based inventory of
global NOx emissions. The findings elevate
estimates of soil-derived NOx, a smog precursor,
by 68% over earlier calculations and could lead to regulatory
oversight of farm emissions, experts say.
Science
News July 19, 2005
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