Planting bush basil near green beans naturally repels certain pests
Peer-Reviewed Publication
Updates every hour. Last Updated: 21-Aug-2025 15:11 ET (21-Aug-2025 19:11 GMT/UTC)
In the middle of summer, garden vegetables like green beans are proliferating, but so are pests that like to chew and suck on them. Now, a study in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry suggests growing bush basil near bean plants could offer a cost-effective, natural (and tasty!) alternative to chemical repellants. The fragrant herb not only helped the beans develop their own defenses against spider mites but also attracted the pests’ natural enemies.
An estimated 12% of first graders’ most-used media at home is educational, a new study suggests. Results also showed that higher use of educational media was associated with both more time spent reading and less overall time in front of a screen – a signal that educational video, app and game use is not replacing reading.
The slow kinetics and high energy consumption of the oxygen evolution reaction (OER) limit the large-scale development of electrocatalytic water splitting. Replacing OER with the glycerol oxidation reaction (GOR) and coupling it with the cathodic hydrogen evolution reaction (HER) can optimize the electrocatalytic water splitting system. Now, a research team at Wuhan University has accelerated the hydrogen transfer in the glycerol oxidation process by regulating the d-p hybridization of MnO2, providing new insights for balancing the adsorption and activation of biomass molecules. These findings are published in SCIENCE CHINA Chemistry.
A research team from the School of Engineering (SENG) at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has introduced comprehensive bio-inspired multiscale design strategies to address key challenges in the commercialization of perovskite solar cells: long-term operational stability. Drawing inspiration from natural systems, these strategies aim to enhance the efficiency, resilience, and adaptability of solar technologies. The approaches focus on leveraging insights from biological structures to create solar cells that can better withstand environmental stressors and prolonged use.
Immunotherapy has shown tremendous potential in cancer treatment but remains ineffective for most patients. Researchers continue to develop new therapeutic strategies to enhance both the safety and treatment efficacy of immunotherapy. A commentary authored by the group of Bo Xiao and Chenghui Wang at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China introduces a new strategy combining systemic type I interferons (IFN-I) with topical Toll-like receptor 7/8 (TLR7/8) agonists to enhance the antitumor effect of PD-1 antibodies. The commentary, titled “Systemic IFN-I Synergizes with Topical TLR7/8 Agonists to Suppress Metastatic Tumors,” was published in Research.
POSTECH and Jeonbuk National University Team Demonstrates First Bidirectional Asymmetric Frequency Conversion in a Single System.