News by Subject Agriculture

Color can impact the taste of food, and our experiences and expectations can affect how we taste food, according to Penn State researchers, who suggest this may have implications for how food and beverage industries should market their products.

Population geneticists at Bielefeld University and the British Antarctic Survey have found that eleven seal species only narrowly escaped extinction. Their study has been published today in Nature Communications.

Researchers from Würzburg and Toyama have discovered that a compound isolated from tropical rainforest vines inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer cells in the lab.

Demand for biofuels to fight climate change clouds the future for biodiversity, says the Executive Secretary of the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES). The demand could cause a 10- to 30-fold expansion of green energy-related agricultural land use, adding crushing pressure on habitat for plants and animals and undermining the essential diversity of species on Earth. Anne Larigauderie made the remarks at a major UN biodiversity meeting in Egypt.

Fall-applied residual herbicides are a commonly used control for glyphosate-resistant Italian ryegrass -- one of the most troublesome weeds in Mid-South row crops. But research published in the journal Weed Technology shows rice growers need to be cautious. Some residual herbicides can have a negative impact on rice crop performance.

In collaboration with the National Autonomous University of Nicaragua, a research group from the UPV/EHU's Plentzia Marine Station has studied the bivalves in the mangroves on both coasts of Nicaragua in order to analyse how they are affected by the pollution brought down by the rivers. That way, it will be possible to use them as sentinels or indicators of environmental changes. The research has been published by the journal Science of the Total Environment.