http://www.physorg.com/ en-us Physorg.com internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. (PhysOrg.com) -- Many residents of New Longoro, a small village in the countryside of Ghana, are small-scale farmers, and one of the crops they grow is groundnuts - what we call peanuts. But harvesting and processing the nuts is a long and labor-intensive process, and the hardest part is the threshing - scraping the uprooted plants to release the pods containing the nuts. A better, faster way to thresh the nuts could enable each farmer to grow more of them and get them to market faster, thereby boosting their incomes. http://www.physorg.com/news173102562.html Technology Fri, 25 Sep 2009 13:20:01 EST news173102562 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new red-fruited habanero is the latest pepper with resistance to root-knot nematodes to be released by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists. http://www.physorg.com/news172920922.html Biology Wed, 23 Sep 2009 11:10:03 EST news172920922 A new computing tool that could help scientists predict how plants will react to different environmental conditions in order to create better crops, such as tastier and longer lasting tomatoes, is being developed by researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news172848772.html Biology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:10:03 EST news172848772 Scientists have shown that the main shoot dominates a plant's growth principally because it was there first, rather than due to its position at the top of the plant. http://www.physorg.com/news172824790.html Biology Tue, 22 Sep 2009 08:20:02 EST news172824790 (AP) -- White radishes are taking root on Tony Luthman's farm, the start of what he hopes will create a welcome mat for the corn he plants in the spring. http://www.physorg.com/news172474657.html Space & Earth Fri, 18 Sep 2009 07:30:01 EST news172474657 Energy shortages, climate change, pollution - some of the world's most pressing problems weigh on the shoulders of some of the world's most hard-pressed people. Michigan State University researchers aim to help them sort out such complex problems. http://www.physorg.com/news172342699.html Other Sciences Wed, 16 Sep 2009 18:50:03 EST news172342699 Growing the energy crops short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and miscanthus grass could help the UK to reduce carbon emissions and benefit wildlife, according to researchers from the UK Research Councils` Rural Economy and Land Use Programme. http://www.physorg.com/news172317168.html Biology Wed, 16 Sep 2009 11:10:07 EST news172317168 (PhysOrg.com) -- A large international research team has decoded the genome of the notorious organism that triggered the Irish potato famine in the mid-19th century and now threatens this season's tomato and potato crops across much of the US. http://www.physorg.com/news171720802.html Biology Wed, 09 Sep 2009 13:13:51 EST news171720802 Plants that live in the soil don't live alone -- a mere teaspoon of soil teems with an estimated billion microscopic organisms. http://www.physorg.com/news171634295.html Biology Tue, 08 Sep 2009 13:12:05 EST news171634295 Results of the first study evaluating the use of human urine mixed with wood ash as a fertilizer for food crops has found that the combination can be substituted for costly synthetic fertilizers to produce bumper crops of tomatoes without introducing any risk of disease for consumers. The study appears in the current issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. http://www.physorg.com/news171126772.html Space & Earth Wed, 02 Sep 2009 16:30:01 EST news171126772 Angola will begin planting sugar cane for the first time in more than 30 years this month as the oil-rich country takes its first step toward biofuels. http://www.physorg.com/news171047751.html Technology Tue, 01 Sep 2009 18:50:04 EST news171047751 (PhysOrg.com) -- Life in the fruit bowl is no longer the pits, thanks to a University of Alberta researcher. http://www.physorg.com/news170343700.html Chemistry Mon, 24 Aug 2009 15:00:01 EST news170343700 Life in the fruit bowl is no longer the pits, thanks to a University of Alberta researcher. http://www.physorg.com/news169392383.html Chemistry Thu, 13 Aug 2009 14:27:29 EST news169392383 (PhysOrg.com) -- The lonely, weed-choked roadsides along America's highways may turn out to be an unexpected solution to two of the biggest issues facing the U.S. today -- potential fuel shortages and water pollution. http://www.physorg.com/news169309392.html Space & Earth Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:40:01 EST news169309392 (PhysOrg.com) -- If a lush, protected forest with a winding stream is considered luxury accommodation for a migratory bird, a Purdue University study shows that those birds would be just as happy with the equivalent of a cheap roadside motel. http://www.physorg.com/news169307187.html Biology Wed, 12 Aug 2009 15:00:01 EST news169307187 Researchers at the National Physical Laboratory (NPL) in Teddington have developed imaging technology to be used in an intelligent harvesting machine that could minimise wastage and solve an impending labour shortage for UK farmers. http://www.physorg.com/news169202359.html Technology Tue, 11 Aug 2009 09:50:01 EST news169202359 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new tool developed by scientists at The University of Manchester will allow farmers to see under the soil to check how efficiently crop roots are using water and nutrients. http://www.physorg.com/news169143345.html Space & Earth Mon, 10 Aug 2009 17:40:01 EST news169143345 (PhysOrg.com) -- Rice is one of the most important crops worldwide, as it feeds over half of the world's population. Domesticated rice is an important supply of the world's rice. However, these strains are genetically static and cannot adapt to changing growing conditions. Traditional varieties, or landraces, of rice are genetically evolving and provide a pool of traits that can be tapped to improve crops worldwide. http://www.physorg.com/news168020267.html Biology Tue, 28 Jul 2009 17:18:05 EST news168020267 A fungus that caused the infamous 1840s Irish potato famine has hit this summer's commercial and homegrown tomato crop in 13 states, putting farmers and agricultural experts on edge. http://www.physorg.com/news167937685.html Biology Mon, 27 Jul 2009 20:30:01 EST news167937685 Genetically modified crops are being grown in Britain for the first time in 12 months after controversial trials were resumed without alerting the public, a newspaper reported Monday. http://www.physorg.com/news167905842.html Biology Mon, 27 Jul 2009 10:00:01 EST news167905842 The progressive degradation of useful soils for agriculture and farm animal husbandry is a growing environmental and social problem, given that it endangers the food safety of an increasing world population. This fact prompted the Basque Institute for Agricultural Research and Development - Neiker-Tecnalia - to design a series of research projects in order to evaluate alternative agricultural practices, as a function of their capacity to combine the productivity of crops with the health of the soil. http://www.physorg.com/news167657289.html Space & Earth Fri, 24 Jul 2009 12:28:38 EST news167657289 Winter chill, a vital climatic trigger for many tree crops, is likely to decrease by more than 50 percent during this century as global climate warms, making California no longer suitable for growing many fruit and nut crops, according to a team of researchers from the University of California, Davis, and the University of Washington. http://www.physorg.com/news167457253.html Space & Earth Wed, 22 Jul 2009 05:30:01 EST news167457253 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers at the University of Warwick have recovered significant DNA information from a lost form of ancient barley that triumphed for over 3000 years seeing off: 5 changes in civilisation, water shortages and a much more popular form of barley that produces more grains. This discovery offers a real insight into the couture of ancient farming and could assist the development of new varieties of crops to face today's climate change challenges. http://www.physorg.com/news167376131.html Biology Tue, 21 Jul 2009 07:00:01 EST news167376131 (PhysOrg.com) -- Biofuels derived from renewable sources can be produced in large quantities and address many problems related to fossil fuels, including greenhouse gas emissions, but only if they are made from certain sources, according to a new article by a team of scientists and policy experts that included several Princeton researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news166980610.html Space & Earth Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:40:01 EST news166980610 Scientists are reporting for the first time that the use of weed killers in farmers' fields boosts the nutritional value of an important food a crop. Application of two common herbicides to several varieties of sweet corn significantly increased the amount of key nutrients termed carotenoids in the corn kernels, according to a study scheduled for publication in the July 22 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, a bi-weekly publication. http://www.physorg.com/news166268198.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Jul 2009 10:37:13 EST news166268198 With rising ozone levels scientists have found that high ozone conditions cause a 30 percent decrease in yield and an increase in the concentration of a group of compounds with toxic effects to livestock, but anticarcinogenic effects for humans, within oilseed rape plants. Maarten de Bock will present his findings at the Society for Experimental Biology meeting on Monday, June 29. http://www.physorg.com/news165474218.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 07:10:01 EST news165474218 A group of plant proteins that "shut the door" on bacteria that would otherwise infect the plant's leaves has been identified for the first time by a team of researchers in Denmark, at the University of California, Davis, and at UC Berkeley. http://www.physorg.com/news165474803.html Biology Mon, 29 Jun 2009 06:15:26 EST news165474803 Spring weather has been less than favorable for harvesting hay, keeping many Indiana hay producers out of their fields, said Keith Johnson, Purdue Extension forage specialist. http://www.physorg.com/news165081591.html Biology Thu, 25 Jun 2009 01:00:02 EST news165081591 In a first-of-its-kind advance toward the next generation of genetically modified foods -- intended to improve consumers` health -- researchers in Japan are reporting that a new transgenic rice designed to fight a common pollen allergy appears safe in animal studies. Their report is in the current issue of ACS` Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news165083485.html Chemistry Wed, 24 Jun 2009 20:40:01 EST news165083485 If you have weed problems in your cropping system, will adding nutrients just feed the weeds? http://www.physorg.com/news164996835.html Biology Tue, 23 Jun 2009 17:33:32 EST news164996835