News tagged with cotton
Consumers willing to buy sustainable US cotton, researchers find
As the interest in environmentally responsible business practices grows globally, researchers are interested in how that interest translates into consumer sales. Researchers from the University of Missouri have found that ...
Other Sciences / Economics & Business
Feb 06, 2012 |
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Cotton thrips posed big problem for some South Plains farmers
It happened so fast, some South Plains cotton growers assumed it was drought and extreme heat that withered away their crops.
Jan 02, 2012 |
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Cotton computing goes live at Cornell textiles lab
(PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers from France, Italy and the United States are weaving cotton with transistors for a new look in computing. Based on news about a lab at Cornell University, wearable computing is ...
Technology / Hi Tech & Innovation
Dec 30, 2011 |
4.1 / 5 (10) |
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Cotton fabric cleans itself when exposed to ordinary sunlight
Imagine jeans, sweats or socks that clean and de-odorize themselves when hung on a clothesline in the sun or draped on a balcony railing. Scientists are reporting development of a new cotton fabric that does ...
Dec 14, 2011 |
4.3 / 5 (21) |
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Controlling whiteflies the natural way
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists are showing Arizona cotton growers how to reduce their dependence on broad-spectrum insecticides by controlling sweetpotato whiteflies with greener alternatives.
Dec 06, 2011 |
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Transistors are made from natural cotton fibers
(PhysOrg.com) -- Smarter, more functional clothing incorporating electronics may be possible in the near future, according to a study co-authored by Cornell fiber scientist Juan Hinestroza.
Nanotechnology / Nanomaterials
Oct 27, 2011 |
5 / 5 (4) |
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New bacteria toxins against resistant insect pests
Toxins from Bacillus thuringiensis bacteria (Bt toxins) are used in organic and conventional farming to manage pest insects. Sprayed as pesticides or produced in genetically modified plants, Bt toxins, us ...
Oct 19, 2011 |
5 / 5 (3) |
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Genetic engineers create smarter toxins to help crops fight resistant pests
One of the most successful strategies in pest control is to endow crop plants with genes from the bacterium Bacillus thuringiensis, or Bt for short, which code for proteins that kill pests attempting to eat ...
Oct 09, 2011 |
4 / 5 (3) |
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Self-cleaning cotton breaks down pesticides, bacteria
(PhysOrg.com) -- UC Davis scientists have developed a self-cleaning cotton fabric that can kill bacteria and break down toxic chemicals such as pesticide residues when exposed to light.
Sep 28, 2011 |
4.5 / 5 (4) |
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Biology, crop injury, and management of thrips in cotton seedlings
A new, open-access article in the Journal of Integrated Pest Management provides a brief summary of the various species of thrips present in U.S. cotton, their plant host range and injury to cotton, a general description of thr ...
Sep 09, 2011 |
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Cotton's potential for padding nonwovens
U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists have conducted studies to investigate the use of virgin cotton in nonwoven materials and products. The work was led by cotton technologist Paul Sawhney and his colleagues at ...
Sep 09, 2011 |
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How cotton was born
A coming together and genetic merging of an American plant with an African or Asian plant one or two million years ago produced the ancestor of the bush that now provides 90% of the world’s commercial cotton. And although ...
Jul 28, 2011 |
3.7 / 5 (3) |
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Researchers study cotton gin dust emissions
The last of seven cotton gins is being tested this year as the fieldwork for a major 4-year cotton gin dust sampling project draws to a close. U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) scientists organized the project to intensively ...
Jul 05, 2011 |
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Papuan weevil has screw-in legs
(PhysOrg.com) -- New research has found that humans were not the first species to invent the nut and bolt mechanism for screwing one thing to another: weevils do the same to attach their legs to their bodies ...
Jul 01, 2011 |
4.2 / 5 (13) |
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Cedars-Sinai surgeon shows simple cotton swab slashes
A simple item found in almost every medicine cabinet – a cotton swab -- may be a key tool in the fight against post-surgical wound infections.
Jun 28, 2011 |
5 / 5 (1) |
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Cotton
Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective capsule, around the seeds of cotton plants of the genus Gossypium. The fiber is almost pure cellulose. The botanical purpose of cotton fiber is to aid in seed dispersal.
The plant is a shrub native to tropical and subtropical regions around the world, including the Americas, Africa, and India. The greatest diversity of wild cotton species is found in Mexico, followed by Australia and Africa. Cotton was independently domesticated in the Old and New Worlds. The English name derives from the Arabic (al) qutn قُطْن, which began to be used circa 1400 AD.
The fiber most often is spun into yarn or thread and used to make a soft, breathable textile. The use of cotton for fabric is known to date to prehistoric times; fragments of cotton fabric dated from 5000 BC have been excavated in Mexico and Pakistan. Although cultivated since antiquity, it was the invention of the cotton gin that so lowered the cost of production that led to its widespread use, and it is the most widely used natural fiber cloth in clothing today.
Current estimates for world production are about 25 million tonnes annually, accounting for 2.5% of the world's arable land. China is the world's largest producer of cotton, but most of this is used domestically. The United States has been the largest exporter for many years.
For more information about Cotton, read the full article at
Wikipedia.
This text uses material from Wikipedia and is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.
