McDonald’s puts oil to green use – The golden arches announced last week that they are converting all their trucks in the U.K. to run on biodiesel, the source of which will be McDonald’s used cooking (vegetable and rapeseed) oil. Investors are quite pleased as the smell of McDonald’s French fries wafting throughout the city will make everyone perpetually hungry.

Letting Plants ‘Talk’ To You – The Agricultural Research Service in Ohio is working on inexpensive, portable light sensors, which when flashed on plant leaves, tell the researcher if the plant is lacking in any nutrients. Hand held devices could be developed for farmers to catch nutrient deficiency problems in their crops before it’s too late. Such devices in use now are often expensive and require constant calibration.

British plant research center to open – A new research center opened last week, which will focus on development of drought-resistant plants. The Center for Plant Integrative Biology at The University of Nottingham will use a multi-disciplinary approach to study issues of plant root growth in response to the environment.

News Briefs:

Ecology
Invasive Plant Problem Grows
Invasive Decorative Plants Targeted
Poison ivy getting bigger, stronger
Hybrid Scrub Oak Is Ancient Tree

Agriculture
Squash Seeds Show Andean Cultivation Is 10,000 Years Old, Twice as Old as Thought
Can The Right Potting Mix Replace Fungicide?
Building And Heating A Virtual Greenhouse
Scientists, Cooperators Identify Potato Pest
Threat To Grapevines And Gardens Now Easier To Pinpoint
Farmland to revert to forest in China’s green plan

Alternative Fuels
Prairie Cordgrass For Cellulosic Ethanol Production
U.S. Is Creating 3 Centers for Research on Biofuels

Health
Mushrooms may be good medicine
The elderberry way to perfect skin
Consumption of small amounts of dark chocolate associated with reduction in blood pressure