Earth

A team of researchers at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center (BESC) have pinpointed the exact, single gene that controls ethanol production capacity in a microorganism - a discovery that could be the missing link in developing biomass crops that produce higher concentrations of ethanol at lower costs.

The discovery of the gene controlling ethanol production in Clostridium thermocellum means that scientists can now experiment with genetically altering biomass plants to produce more ethanol.

Manicured nails were not always the grammar of fashion. When finger- and toenails appeared in modern primates about 55 million years ago, they led to the development of critical functions, including finger pads that allow for sensitive touch and the ability to grasp, whether it's a nail polish brush or remover to prepare for the next trend.

Atmospheric chemists at the University of California, San Diego, report the first quantitative measurement of the amount of radiation leaked from the damaged nuclear reactor in Fukushima, Japan, following the devastating earthquake and tsunami earlier this year.

Their estimate in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, is based on a signal sent across the Pacific Ocean when operators of the damaged reactor had to resort to cooling overheated fuel with seawater.

New genetic evidence confirms the eastern United States as the single geographic domestication site of modern sunflowers.

Through a comprehensive examination of the geographic diversity in three recently identified early domestication genes of Helianthus annuus, the researchers also reported finding no DNA evidence to support suggestions based on archaeological evidence that a second, independent domestication event had occurred in Mexico.

After the E. coli outbreaks in Europe, people are concerned about pathogens in organic produced food.

Organic label or not, if you didn't grow it and don't know exactly what is in and on it, you should wash it but even sanitizing the outside of produce may not be enough to remove harmful food pathogens, according to a Purdue University study. Salmonella and E. coli can continue to live inside plant tissues.

New research by scientists shows that evolution can occur so rapidly in organisms that its impact on population numbers and other aspects of biology can be seen within just a few generations.

The research in Ecology Letters detailed work on aphids, considered the world's foremost crop pest, in which researchers experimentally tested the impact of rapid evolution on wild populations within a single crop-growing season.

Deep under a hillside near Hong Kong, a pair of new antineutrino detectors are warming up for some serious physics.

Twin detectors recently installed in the first of three experimental halls in the Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment are now recording interactions of elementary particles called antineutrinos that are produced by powerful reactors at the China Guangdong Nuclear Power Group power plant located about 55 kilometers from Hong Kong.

The "lily white" has inspired centuries' worth of rich poetry and art, but when it comes to the science of how and why those delicately curved petals burst from the bud, surprisingly little is known.

Mathematics has now revealed that differential growth and ruffling at the edges of each petal—not in the midrib, as commonly suggested—provide the driving force behind the lily's bloom. The research, conducted at Harvard's School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (SEAS), contradicts earlier theories regarding growth within the flower bud. The petals, in fact, behave like leaves.

New research led by scientists from Imperial College London explains why around half of people with asthma experience a "late phase" of symptoms several hours after exposure to allergens.

A suicide prevention program developed at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center has significantly helped teens overcome depression and thoughts of suicide, according to a new study.

Researchers have developed a new candidate vaccine to protect against chikungunya virus, a mosquito-borne pathogen that produces an intensely painful and often chronic arthritic disease that has stricken millions of people in India, Southeast Asia and Africa.

A thriving undersea wildlife park tucked away near the southern tip of Mexico's Baja peninsula has proven to be the world's most robust marine reserve in the world, according to a new study led by researchers at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego.

Despite the rapid retreat of Arctic sea ice in recent years, the ice may temporarily stabilize or somewhat expand at times over the next few decades, new research indicates.

Results of a study by scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) appear this week in the journal Geophysical Research Letters (GRL), published by the American Geophysical Union.

Thousands of tons of toxic mercury are released into the environment every year and much of this collects in sediment where it is converted into toxic methyl mercury, and enters the food chain ending up in the fish we eat.

New research, published in BioMed Central’s open access journal BMC Biotechnology, showcases genetically engineered bacteria which are not only able to withstand high levels of mercury but are also able to mop up mercury from their surroundings.

Two completely different quantum systems were successfully joined at Vienna University of Technology (TU Vienna). This should pave the way to feasible quantum-computer microchips.