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. Companies and communities trying to restore vegetation on damaged northern landscapes should think twice about using fertilizer to stimulate growth according to new research published in the November issue of Arctic, Antarctic and Alpine Research. http://www.physorg.com/news180273757.html Space & Earth Thu, 17 Dec 2009 12:20:01 EST news180273757 (PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists are front and center in finding out how farming affects emissions of the green house nitrous oxide (N2O). http://www.physorg.com/news179678146.html Space & Earth Thu, 10 Dec 2009 15:20:04 EST news179678146 A USDOE and USDA study concluded that 50 million U.S. acres of cropland, idle cropland, and cropland pasture could be converted from current uses to the production of perennial grasses, such as switchgrass, from which biomass could be harvested for use as a biofuel feedstock. Economically viable production of a perennial grass monoculture from which substantial quantities of biomass are removed annually is expected to require nitrogen fertilizer. http://www.physorg.com/news178208915.html Biology Mon, 23 Nov 2009 14:40:01 EST news178208915 (PhysOrg.com) -- Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists have found that using alternative types of fertilizers can cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, at least in one part of the country. They are currently examining whether the alternatives offer similar benefits nationwide. http://www.physorg.com/news177778629.html Biology Wed, 18 Nov 2009 15:10:01 EST news177778629 The December issue of European Urology, the official journal of the European Association of Urology, features an article entitled 'Are Infertile Men Less Healthy than Fertile Men? Results of a Prospective Case-Control Survey' by Dr. Andrea Salonia et al. The conclusion is that male factor infertility is associated with a number of medical comorbidities, as objectively scored with the hospital-based Charlson Comorbidity Index. http://www.physorg.com/news176997599.html Medicine & Health Mon, 09 Nov 2009 15:30:07 EST news176997599 The complicated sex life of the papaya is about to get even more interesting, thanks to a $3.1 million grant from the National Science Foundation. The grant will fund basic research on the papaya sex chromosomes and will lead to the development of a papaya that produces only hermaphrodite offspring, an advance that will enhance papaya health while radically cutting papaya growers' production costs and their use of fertilizers and water. http://www.physorg.com/news176386888.html Biology Mon, 02 Nov 2009 12:21:48 EST news176386888 (PhysOrg.com) -- Artificial insemination (AI) techniques that work well with cattle and swine can be difficult or costly to perform in sheep, but help`s on the way, thanks to Agricultural Research Service (ARS) studies in Fort Collins, Colo. http://www.physorg.com/news175253007.html Biology Tue, 20 Oct 2009 11:09:18 EST news175253007 (PhysOrg.com) -- Studies in China and Colorado by Agricultural Research Service (ARS) scientists and cooperators have revealed some interesting tactics on how to irrigate with limited water, based on a crop`s critical growth stages. http://www.physorg.com/news174287071.html Biology Fri, 09 Oct 2009 06:20:04 EST news174287071 There is no doubt that modern contraception has enabled women to have unprecedented control over their own fertility. However, is it possible that the use of oral contraceptives is interfering with a woman's ability to choose, compete for and retain her preferred mate? A new paper published by Cell Press in the October issue of the journal Trends in Ecology and Evolution reviews emerging evidence suggesting that contraceptive methods which alter a woman's natural hormonal cycles may have an underappreciated impact on choice of partners for both women and men and, possibly, reproductive success. http://www.physorg.com/news174140457.html Biology Wed, 07 Oct 2009 14:10:01 EST news174140457 Virginia Commonwealth University researchers have identified the role of a gene in regulating molecular signals involved with ovarian follicle development, which may one day help shed light on some of the causes of fertility issues in humans. http://www.physorg.com/news173712184.html Biology Fri, 02 Oct 2009 14:40:01 EST news173712184 When society jumps on a bandwagon, even for a good cause, there may be unintended consequences. The unintended consequence of crop-based biofuels may be the loss of wildlife habitat, particularly that of the birds who call this country's grasslands home, say researchers from Michigan Technological University and The Nature Conservancy. http://www.physorg.com/news173595036.html Biology Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:10:01 EST news173595036 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers have linked poverty in sub-Saharan Africa with poor soil health, but two new Cornell studies find that the recommended practice of applying more fertilizer may not help the poorest farmers. http://www.physorg.com/news173035449.html Space & Earth Thu, 24 Sep 2009 18:36:15 EST news173035449 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 The complete asexuality of a widespread fungus-gardening ant, the only ant species in the world known to have dispensed with males entirely, has been confirmed by a team of Texas and Brazilian researchers. http://www.physorg.com/news170493929.html Biology Wed, 26 Aug 2009 08:26:13 EST news170493929 (PhysOrg.com) -- When it comes to potential mates, women may be as complicated as men claim they are, according to psychologists. http://www.physorg.com/news170331327.html Medicine & Health Mon, 24 Aug 2009 11:15:58 EST news170331327 Women who are desperately trying to get pregnant might want to avoid complementary and alternative medicine. http://www.physorg.com/news169815113.html Medicine & Health Tue, 18 Aug 2009 12:40:01 EST news169815113 (PhysOrg.com) -- In an effort to keep lakes and streams clean, municipalities around the country are banning or restricting the use of phosphorus-containing lawn fertilizers, which can kill fish and cause smelly algae blooms and other problems when the phosphorus washes out of the soil and into waterways. http://www.physorg.com/news169743896.html Space & Earth Mon, 17 Aug 2009 16:30:01 EST news169743896 A single cell in a 1-millimeter nematode worm is providing valuable new clues into cancer's deadliest behavior -- its ability to put down roots in new tissues after spreading throughout the body. http://www.physorg.com/news169735730.html Medicine & Health Mon, 17 Aug 2009 14:10:03 EST news169735730 Scientists in Nevada are reporting development of a new and environmentally friendly process for producing biodiesel fuel from "chicken feather meal," made from the 11 billion pounds of poultry industry waste that accumulate annually in the United States alone. Their study is scheduled for the July 22 issue of ACS' Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry. http://www.physorg.com/news167478695.html Chemistry Wed, 22 Jul 2009 11:00:07 EST news167478695 The seeds of a lowly weed could cut jet fuel's cradle-to-grave carbon emissions by 84 percent. http://www.physorg.com/news166859707.html Space & Earth Wed, 15 Jul 2009 07:10:01 EST news166859707 Transferring just one embryo at a time to a woman's womb after embryos have undergone preimplantation genetic diagnosis (PGD) and freezing at the blastocyst stage has become a real option after researchers achieved pregnancy rates that were as good as those for blastocysts that had not had a cell removed for PGD before freezing. Their results mean that it will be possible to reduce the number of multiple pregnancies after PGD and the consequent complications associated with these pregnancies. http://www.physorg.com/news165576792.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 11:20:01 EST news165576792 A major new trial recently published in the journal Fertility and Sterility shows that for couples beginning infertility treatments, an accelerated path to in-vitro fertilization (IVF) can offer a shorter time to pregnancy, cost savings of nearly $10,000, and a lowered risk of multiple births. http://www.physorg.com/news165567260.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 08:40:01 EST news165567260 Daily sex (or ejaculating daily) for seven days improves men`s sperm quality by reducing the amount of DNA damage, according to an Australian study presented today (Tuesday) to the 25th annual meeting of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology in Amsterdam. http://www.physorg.com/news165567458.html Medicine & Health Tue, 30 Jun 2009 07:58:23 EST news165567458 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 Synthetic fertilizers have dramatically increased food production worldwide. But the unintended costs to the environment and human health have been substantial. Nitrogen runoff from farms has contaminated surface and groundwater and helped create massive "dead zones" in coastal areas, such as the Gulf of Mexico. And ammonia from fertilized cropland has become a major source of air pollution, while emissions of nitrous oxide form a potent greenhouse gas. http://www.physorg.com/news164553776.html Space & Earth Thu, 18 Jun 2009 14:23:17 EST news164553776 A possible relationship between men's diets and the quality of their semen has long been a discussion point. Spanish researchers have now confirmed that antioxidants, molecules which are found mainly in fruit and vegetables and can delay and prevent the oxidation of other molecules, play a key role. http://www.physorg.com/news163158411.html Medicine & Health Tue, 02 Jun 2009 10:47:24 EST news163158411 Crop water use efficiency (WUE, or yield per unit of water used), also known as crop water productivity, can be improved through irrigation management and methods, including deficit irrigation (irrigating less than is required for maximum yields) and supplemental irrigation (irrigating to supplement precipitation so as to avoid crop failure or severe yield decline). Thus, WUE is key for agricultural production with limited water resources. http://www.physorg.com/news160650821.html Space & Earth Mon, 04 May 2009 10:14:27 EST news160650821 An invasion of soybean aphids poses a problem for soybean farmers requiring application of pesticides, but a team of Penn State entomologists thinks a careful choice of nitrogen-fixing bacteria may provide protection against the sucking insects. http://www.physorg.com/news158926862.html Biology Tue, 14 Apr 2009 11:23:04 EST news158926862 Kim Harper started a career before starting a family. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1990, she traveled, earned a law degree and began working as an attorney. When Harper married in 2006, she and her husband, Jeff, hoped a baby would soon follow. http://www.physorg.com/news158567193.html Medicine & Health Fri, 10 Apr 2009 07:27:45 EST news158567193 In a potential advance toward a male contraceptive pill and new treatments for infertility, researchers are reporting the identification of key biochemical changes that put sperm `in the mood` for fertilization. http://www.physorg.com/news158424284.html Chemistry Wed, 08 Apr 2009 15:45:14 EST news158424284