Albert figured out how to eat thorny bushes by following Thembas lead to avoid the spikes.
which controls the Borden brand and 18 regional dairies selling milk under the names Flav-O-Rich, Dairy Fresh, Velda Farms, Sintons, Cream O Weber, Goldenrod
New investment in the USA by Mexican companies rose from $3. 6 billion in 2005 to nearly $8 billion in 2008
#Super-Yeast Developed That Can Generate Ethanol from Energy Crops and Agricultural waste Super-yeast is a significant step toward developing second generation biofuels.
A new type of bakers yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisiae) has been developed which can efficiently ferment pentose sugars, as found in agricultural waste and hardwoods.
Researchers writing in Biomed Centrals open access journal Biotechnology for Biofuels describe the creation of the new S. cerevisiae strain, TMB3130,
Normal bakers yeast cannot ferment pentose sugars at all. By inserting the required genes from other fungi
and bacteria it is possible to make a relatively inefficient transgenic strain that can ferment pentose sugars.
Our yeast demonstrates a significant step towards this goal. Via Physorg. com Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati n
potatoes, oats, corn oil flower vegetables, Different color crops so arranged, when looking from afar it seems like God painted them on a cloth so full of gorgeous color.
In September, white color oil flowers are in bloom on the whole mountain, It is a pity they covered up the beautiful red color.
whether he could imagine earning a living by planting flowers. He says that he will soon be training with a second-division club,
or biodiesel from rapeseed. oeit is pretty irrelevant to rank various sustainable biofuels, there is room for all fuels,
Biogas from sugar beets, grass, maize, including residue in the form of household waste, industrial waste and manure, biodiesel from rapeseed, ethanol from wheat and sugar beets,
as well as sugar cane ethanol from Brazil were studied. A co-production of biogas and ethanol from wheat was analyzed also.
and sugar-cane ethanol imports account for about five percent of total fuel use in Sweden. LINK Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati m
The Spicebush Swallowtail has evolved a large pair of false eyespots and bold yellow and blue markings to frighten off potential predators.
The habitat was a spicebush stand amidst a red maple forest. I was at this site looking specifically for the caterpillars.
if a predator gets too close The photographs show two different Spicebush Swallowtail caterpillars. One was found moving to a new feeding position
while another was spotted inside its leaf retreat. The caterpillars also have a few other tricks to keep them safe.
The caterpillars live in folded leaf shelters and eat the leaves of the sassafras or spicebush.
Adults consume a variety of nectars, including those from azalea, Japanese honeysuckle, milkweed, and thistle flowers.
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#Scientists Incorporate Spiders Silk-Spinning Genes Into Goats Goats that produce spider silk protein in their milk could enable researchers to collect large quantities of the silk.
Researchers from the University of Wyoming have developed a way to incorporate spiders silk-spinning genes into goats,
#Bees Prefer Flowers with Caffeine Bees prefer certain kinds of nectar. Also nicotine! A study conducted at the University of Haifa revealed that bees prefer nectar containing those psychoactive substances.
Flower nectar is comprised primarily of sugars, which provide energy for the potential pollinators. But the floral nectar of some plant species also includes small quantities of substances known to be toxic,
such as caffeine and nicotine Caffeine is found at concentration levels of 11-17.5 milligrams per liter, mostly in citrus flowers.
In the nectar of grapefruit flowers, however, caffeine is present in much higher concentrations, reaching 94.2 milligrams per liter The results showed that bees clearly prefer nectar containing nicotine and caffeine over the oeclean nectar.
Use them to remove fingernail polish when out of cotton balls. 23. Use them to sprout seeds..
Simply dampen the coffee filter, place seeds inside, fold it and place it into a plastic baggie until they sprout. 24.
Use coffee filters as blotting paper for pressed flowers. Place the flowers between two coffee filters and put the coffee filters in phone book..
25. Use as a disposable oesnack bowl for popcorn, chips, etc. Link-via Cynical-C Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati r
HP now has an edge over competitors such Dell and Acer by offering its new devices without ties to operating systems from Google and Microsoft.
sugar cane and rice farmers who live in a rural hamlet called Anandapuram, a name that translates in Tamil to oehappy place.
which play a large part in fertilizing our flowers and crops. Many bees, and in fact whole colonies have been dying due to an unknown factor
#Round up Resistant Weeds Pose a Threat to Farmers A certified crop adviser and agronomist looks for weeds resistant to glyphosate.
For 15 years, Eddie Anderson, a farmer, has been a strict adherent of no-till agriculture,
and mixing herbicides into the soil to kill weeds where soybeans will soon be planted. Just as the heavy use of antibiotics contributed to the rise of drug-resistant supergerms
pull weeds by hand and return to more labor-intensive methods like regular plowing. oewere back to where we were 20 years ago,
with 10 resistant species in at least 22 states infesting millions of acres, predominantly soybeans, cotton and corn.
corn and cotton that are engineered to survive spraying with Roundup have become standard in American fields.
However, if Roundup doesnt kill the weeds, farmers have little incentive to spend the extra money for the special seeds.
Roundup originally made by Monsanto but now also sold by others under the generic name glyphosate has been little short of a miracle chemical for farmers.
It kills a broad spectrum of weeds, is easy and safe to work with, and breaks down quickly, reducing its environmental impact.
allowing farmers to spray their fields to kill the weeds while leaving the crop unharmed.
and 70 percent of the corn and cotton grown in the United states . But farmers sprayed so much Roundup that weeds quickly evolved to survive it. oewhat were talking about here is Darwinian evolution in fast-forward, Mike Owen,
a weed scientist at Iowa State university, said. Now, Roundup-resistant weeds like horseweed and giant ragweed are forcing farmers to go back to more expensive techniques that they had abandoned long ago.
Mr. Anderson the farmer, is wrestling with a particularly tenacious species of glyphosate-resistant pest called Palmer amaranth,
or pigweed, whose resistant form began seriously infesting farms in western Tennessee only last year.
Pigweed can grow three inches a day and reach seven feet or more, choking out crops;
By combining Roundup and Roundup Ready crops, farmers did not have to plow under the weeds to control them.
a weed scientist at the University of Arkansas, said. In addition, some critics of genetically engineered crops say that the use of extra herbicides,
and resolved in particular concerning biological contamination and weed resistance development. Agriculture Law reports that the district court agreed with the plaintiffs that the environmental assessment undertaken by the USDA was inadequate
#Corn smut Revolting Fungus That Could Make You Younger and Healthier oethe devils corn This looks like an alien parasite,
but its actually a fungus that attacks corn. U s. farmers call it oecorn smut and have spent millions to eradicate it.
A new study, released in the journal Food Chemistry reveal that corn smut, also called oethe devils corn,
In Mexico, the fungus is called huitlacoche, and its already considered a delicacy. But U s. farmers
#Student in Kenya Invents Solar Powered Forest fire Detector Kenya Forest Services workers use branches to put out a fire at Karura forest in Nairobi.
A Kenyan student has invented a device to automatically detect forest fire outbreaks. The technology, produced by Pascal Katana, a 24-year-old University of Nairobi engineering student,
which suffered widespread forest fires last year as a result of prolonged drought. oe2009 was the worst period for us in terms of fire outbreaks
what we in terms of technology and equipment to fight forest fires, he said. Fires in Kenya last year destroyed 11,370 hectares of bush and forest land.
Thirty-five percent of the already heavily deforested Mau Forest Complex was lost to fire, according to Noor Hassan Noor, an administrator in Kenyas Rift valley province.
Noor called the new fire reporting device a potentially useful part of Kenyas effort to keep forest fires in check. oethis is an interesting invention
which the government should support given the damage forest fires do to our ecosystems, he said.
While digitizing much of our once-printed media saves on tree pulp, it doesnt necessarily save trees.
Concerns range from worries about how nontraditional genetic traits in crops could affect human and animal health to the spread of herbicide-resistant weeds.
Ultra high tech farms of the future will generate exotic half-plant, half-animal vegetation as well as crystalline plants, air plants,
we will someday be able to oetrain a tree to have its branches grow into the shape of end tables,
Once these unusual branches are fully grown, farmers can walk up to the tree and harvest the rocking chairs by cutting them down,
Drinking turpentine is said to make urine smell like a rose so hundreds of years ago, women would drink turpentine
and optimize their operating capacities to produce energy and water and by proxy vegetation. This sense of collaboration is echoed in the team of people behind the proposal:
Politically Charged Science No other branch of science is charged as politically. A religious war is raging between alarmists and skeptics,
illuminated only by a small energy-saving bulb on the ceiling. This man with his thinning gray hair, is an unlikely adversary for climatologists,
holding a six-year-old Acer laptop with a 40-gigabyte hard drive. oemy wife finally gave me a new one for Christmas.
when the Vikings raised livestock in Greenland and grape vines were cultivated in Scotland, it was in fact warmer than it is today.
temperatures rose because houses and factories had been built around them. Elsewhere, stations were moved and, as a result, suddenly produced different readings.
said Bonitz. oeand that would increase the bacteria and fungi activities in the final product.
The treehouses at the Maravu Plantation come with king-sized beds, local flowers, and attached sun porches. Elsewhere on the resort, the staff composts
try reef snorkeling or the Mayflower Jungle and Waterfall Hike. Via Treehugger Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati k
#Flowering plants May be Considerably Older Than Previously Thought A new analysis of the land plant family tree suggests that flowering plants may have lived much earlier than previously thought.
Flowering plants may be considerably older than previously thought, says a new analysis of the plant family tree.
Previous studies suggest that flowering plants, or angiosperms, first arose 140 to 190 million years ago.
Now, a paper to be published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences pushes back the age of angiosperms to 215 million years ago,
some 25 to 75 million years earlier than either the fossil record or previous molecular studies suggest. oeif you just looked at the fossil record,
you would say that angiosperms originated in the early Cretaceous or late Jurassic, said Michael Donoghue of Yale university. oemost molecular divergence times have shown that they might be older than that,
added Yale biologist Jeremy Beaulieu. oebut we actually find that they might be Triassic in origin,
If confirmed, the study could bolster the idea that early angiosperms promoted the rise of certain insects.
Modern insects like bees and wasps rely on flowers for nectar and pollen. oethe fossil record suggests that a lot of these insect groups originated before angiosperms appeared,
said Stephen Smith of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center. This study shifts the oldest angiosperms back farther in time towards the origin of groups like bees and flies,
the scientists say. oeif you take our dates and superimpose them on the evolutionary tree for these insect groups,
To trace the origins of flowering plants, the researchers used genetic comparisons of living plants and clues from fossils to reconstruct the relationships among more than 150 terrestrial plant species
. Though their results contradict previous age estimates for angiosperms, they support estimates for other plant groups. oemany of the dates that we get correspond really well to the known fossil record,
at least for the origin of land plants and the origin of vascular plants and seed plants, said Donoghue. oebut we got a much older date for the origin of angiosperms one thats really out of whack with the fossil record, Smith added.
is that the first flowering plants werent diverse or abundant enough to leave their mark in the fossil record. oewe would expect there to be a time lag between the time of origin
Maybe angiosperms were in that fuse state, said Donoghue. oebut its hard to imagine flowering plants would have had a big impact on the origin of major insect groups
if that were the case, he added. Another possibility, the researchers allow, is that the molecular methods may be amiss. oeif the angiosperms originated 215 million years ago,
then why dont we find them in the fossil record for almost 80 million years?
the researchers used a method that allows for variable rates of evolution across the plant family tree. oerates of molecular evolution in plants seem to be correlated with changes in life history,
he explained. oeolder methods assume that rates of molecular evolution dont change too radically from one branch of the evolutionary tree to another.
Aussiebums Lloyd Jones said on Friday that the new eco-friendly banana range of undies incorporated 27 percent banana fibre, 64 percent cotton and nine percent lycra.
He said the banana fibre used in the underwear was made from a bark weave from the banana plant,
broken and lifted by tree roots. Then they become dangerous to walk on. Sidewalk repairs require intensive labor, money and sometimes the removal of trees and their invasive roots,
but with Terrewalks trees, money and labor are saved. Terrewalks sidewalks are a new and improved version of Rubbersidewalks
This give tree roots room to grow. The panels flexiblity also accommodate for root growth
and because water can seep into the seams between the panels the roots wont grow thirsty either.
The consortium released the 464 megabyte draft genome of the pea aphid (Acyrthosiphon pisum) in the current issue of PLOS Biology. oebecause this is a different kind of insect not a fruit fly, not a beetle,
Lanng rests his Macbook on a tree-stump table in front of him. For the last seven months, he and a dozen or so other coders have been building an e-invoicing company called Porta.
savannah and shrub fires emits large amounts of organic carbon particles that block solar radiation. The new analysis offers policy makers and the public a far more detailed and comprehensive understanding of how to mitigate climate change most effectively,
Thats one way theyre able to tell different kinds of flowers apart. But a joint project between researchers at the Universit de Toulouse and Melbournes Monash University has found that bees can be trained to distinguish flowers from human faces
and to recognize the basic configuration of human facial features in different contexts. A group of bees were shown pictures of human faces and pictures of random geometric designs,
Whats happening here isnt exactly oelearning theres no reason to think that bees know any of the salient differences between people and flowers,
like that flowers are rooted in the ground and people can walk, talk, and order pizza.
they probably think of human faces as very oddly-shaped flowers. Still, they can definitely tell one from the other,
Flower nectar is comprised primarily of sugars, which provides energy for the potential pollinators. But the floral nectar of some plant species also includes small quantities of substances known to be toxic, such as caffeine and nicotine.
while caffeine is found in citrus flowers especially those of grapefruit. In order to examine whether bees prefer the nectar containing caffeine and nicotine,
#Surprising New Branches on Arthropod family Tree Centipede. Any way you look at it by sheer weight, species diversity or population the hard-shelled,
But the smaller genome of brachypodium makes it easier to find genes linked to specific traits, such as stem size and disease resistance.
Theyre getting put together with berry colors, bright blues and violets, along with brilliant yellows and oranges earthy to bright oranges.
Stewart noted that one 2010 color will be rose-pink. oebut were not going back to the grays and pinks of the 80s
mammals and vascular plants all reach maximum diversity in Yasunã. The study is published in the open-access scientific journal PLOS ONE. oewe have documented so far 596 bird species occurring in Yasuni,
100 for an area of 25 hectares. oein just one hectare in Yasunã, there are more tree, shrub and liana (woody vines) species than anywhere else in the world,
This explains why the ancient herb ginseng, which is said to increase energy and memory, is considered a strong aphrodisiac.
Ginseng has long been respected in China for its systemic healing properties, including the ability to aid sexual function. 2. Yohimbine Chai Latte Before Viagra,
an oil that comes from the bark of the West african Pausinystalia Yohimbe tree. For hundreds of years, African natives have dried yohimbe bark
Fortunately, the key component of yohimbe bark, yohimbine hydrochloride, is available by prescription in pill,
Perhaps all this greenery led to evenings of fabulous lovemaking, or perhaps it only made the bride wonder
And although its unknown if the long, firm stalks of asparagus work any true phallic magic, in this era of fast food and poor diet
And in the traditions of pagan religions, crushed licorice root was used in love sachets and in spells to ensure fidelity.
they say the technology promises to have widespread implications for our food supply. oeif we took the stem cells from one pig
which phosphorous is stored in plant tissue. Because phytate is absorbed not by the animals that eat the feed,
A meteorological dispersal model was applied to describe the spread of pollen and seeds in the atmosphere.
and birch seeds spread more effectively than pine seeds. However, the results showed that these differences had only minor impacts.
and prevent new seedlings from establishing. In this way, younger seedlings, which would be more suitable to warmer conditions,
cannot easily progress beyond the sapling state. A question closely related to environmental changes is, whether humans should help the populations to adapt?
and planting southern seeds to more northern locations. more via science news Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati i
Leaves of Certain Plants Are Susceptible to Leaf Burn from Too much Sun Ginkgo leaves in sunshine To the gardening world it may have always been considered a fact,
but may have implications for forest fires and human sunburn. oethe problem of light focusing by water droplets adhered to plants has never been investigated thoroughly,
The prevailing opinion is that forest fires can be sparked by intense sunlight focused by water drops on dried-out vegetation.
and a leaf affects the light environment on a leaf blade. The aim was to clarify the environmental conditions under
which sunlit water drops can cause leaf burn. These experiments found that water droplets on a smooth surface
such as maple or ginkgo leaves, cannot cause leaf burn. However in contrast the team found that floating fern leaves,
which have small wax hairs, are susceptible to leaf burn. This is because the hairs can hold the water droplets in focus above the leafs surface,
acting as a magnifying glass. The latter not only partly confirms the widely held belief of gardeners, but also opens an analogous issue of sunburn on hairy human skin after bathing. oein sunshine water drops residing on smooth hairless plant leaves are unlikely to damage the leaf tissue,
summarised Horvath and co-authors. oehowever water drops held by plant hairs can indeed cause sunburn
and the same phenomenon can occur when water droplets are held above human skin by body hair.
While the same process could theoretically lead to forest fires if water droplets are caught on dried-out vegetation,
Horvath and colleagues added a note of caution: oeif the focal region of drops falls exactly on the dry plant surface intensely focused sunlight could theoretically start a fire,
and develop a former cotton ranch as the first Sun City. The opening of model homes on New Years Day, 1960 showed that the market for retirement communities was expected larger than.
and develop a former cotton ranch as the first Sun City. The opening of model homes on New Years Day, 1960 showed that the market for retirement communities was expected larger than.
the environment and the deep human need to reconnect with nature and our primordial roots.
Reduced-fat organic milk sales rose by 15 percent. At the same time, total conventional milk sales decreased 2 percent.
Insurance and real-estate magnate Eli Broad has become an influential funder of stem-cell research;
Renaissance s roots are in Moscow, where Jennings maintains his primary residence, and his business strategy involves positioning the firm to capture the investment flows between the emerging markets, particularly Russia, Africa, and Asia.
whose spores lead to problems when breathed in. It has been discovered by scientists from Upstate Medical University
The team analysed clippings from 28 Christmas trees including needles and bark, from a range of species,
which found that after a Christmas tree has been on display for a fortnight, the number of airborne mould spores increases from 800 per 35 cubic feet to 5, 000.
Whether you call them tapas, small plates or appetizers, smaller-sized portions are going to keep growing strong for several reasons.
Wild turkeys have a gene that makes them resistant to a type of toxic fungus sometimes found in corn and soybeans.
Honeybee on Snakeroot, a Creative Commons Attribution (2. 0) image from dendroica s photostream) Share Thissubscribedel. icio. usfacebookredditstumbleupontechnorati e
Over successive generations they were able to increase the amount of Human Serum albumin produced in the rice grains until it accounted for 10 per cent of the soluble protein produced in the rice seeds.
and homeowners have looked for a way to get rid of kudzu. The invasive plant native to Japan grows at such an astounding rate that people in the southern U s. joke about closing their windows at night to keep it out of the house.
Megacopta cribraria, an insect that hitched a ride to Atlanta on a plane from Asia in 2009, eats kudzu.
The kudzu bug could eat away a third of the kudzu covering several states within a decade#I m all for it#
Kudzu is a nuisance and almost impossible to get rid of.##The vine is virtually impervious to herbicides, chain saws and even fire.
Its roots can weigh 300 pounds and run 12 feet deep. But the bug is also chewing up soybean stalks,
reducing some yields recently by as much as a quarter, according to entomologists at the University of Georgia. Disappearing kudzu is a cultural problem,
#says John Shelton Reed, a sociologist and essayist on Southern life. But disappearing soybeans is an economic problem.#
#Researchers are looking for ways to protect soybean crops from Megacopta cribrariawhile still searching for a species that will kill kudzu and leave crops alone.
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#Magnetic resonance used to artificially taste and improve canned tomatoes Improving the taste of tomatoes in an unlikely way.
#The roots of perennial wheat Is this be the future of wheat? This is not the best photo,
and their skimpy root structures simply cannot. It s why, since large-scale corn farming replaced perennial prairie,
#Yuleahoop a revolutionary new way to decorate your Christmas tree Featured invention at the Davinci Inventor Showcase 2011 The Yuleahoopis a small round ring with gripping slots that slips over the top branch
You can create a gazebo for weddings with crystal beads and flower garlands. You can also create a canopy for a little girl s bed.
3.)Pixie still had milk after giving birth to her 1st litter of pups few months earlier,
Supplement use rose from 63%of women in 1986 to 85%of women in 2004.
Over that past week I ve had the great honor of working with both the good people at the North dakota Bankers Association in Bismarck, ND and the good people at Rabobank in Napa,
which surround the seeds in the disposable cartridge#All the user has to do is add batteries, light and water.
and brighter hydrangeas. 1. Landscaper s Companion Although the cost of this app is high,
400 plants across 16 categories, including perennials, shrubs, annuals, house plants and more. There are also approximately 5, 700 photos within the app for visual reference.
When any particular seed is selected, helpful information such as days to harvest, planting depth, space between rows and optimum germination temperatures is offered.
and shrubs and contains information on approximately 1, 300 species. One hindrance is the lack of an A-z directory from
Instead, users must enter a search term to find the tree or shrub of choice.
and also enables registered users to share collections with fellow tree and shrub enthusiasts through the Botany Buddy website.
and 13 types of basil. Cost: $5. 99 7. Herbs+This is a great app that provides valuable information on 25 different herbs.
The Plant Doctor You ve sowed the seeds, watered per instruction, and eagerly await the fruits of your labor.
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