Vampires and Free Radicals Beware
After centuries in existence, garlic has attained its fair share of myths and certainties. While this pungently flavored vegetable may have the ability to ward off vampires and fight the plague, garlic also has many associated health benefits, one of which includes containing one the world’s most...
New video game “Flower”
In a complete departure from our normal plant science news stories, we decided to instead bring attention to a new video game (available only for Playstation 3, alas) called “Flower”. Described as “the video game version of a poem”, it left one reviewer feeling “relaxed,...
Easy on the Spice
Have you ever wondered why some cultures have extremely spicy foods while others have foods deplete of spices all together? It is often postulated that our ancient ancestors from regions of the world with intense heat and humidity tended to have very spicy foods while those living in more temperate climates...
Why Exactly Can’t I Eat Peanut Butter?
Your peanut butter might taste the same, but you might not feel the same after eating it. I remember when my dad called me after he heard about the peanut butter issues going on around the nation. He forbade me from eating peanuts and peanut butter, telling me my health is more important than my guilty...
Huanglongbing: More than Just an Onomatopoeia
The discovery of an efficient method of sequencing DNA genomes has been one of the most important biological breakthroughs of this era. It has led to an exponential increase in finding ways of treating genetic disorders in humans as well as discovering the means of preventing infection by sequencing...
Special Delivery
Everyday our society makes new advances in technology. Computers, cell phones and cameras manage to be made smaller each time that a new model arrives on the market. Not only have technologies that benefit our social or business lives reduced in size, but medicine also seems to be following this miniature...
“We’re Burning the Rainforest in our Gas Tanks”
Holly Gibbs, a research fellow at Stanford University presented the latest study on land use for biofuel production this Valentine’s Day at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.
According to this study, the increased call for biofuels made from agricultural...
Don’t forget to eat your vegetables! Or should you?
“Don’t forget to eat your vegetables, honey!” How many of us can say, without hesitation, that we have heard such a command from our mothers every day about half way through dinner? Either my mother is the most enthusiastic vegetable cheerleader on the planet, or this seems to be a common trait...
Diversity Is Good, Even for Plants
Since the Civil War in the latter half of the 19th century, some people in our nation have strongly pushed for diversity in the workforce and in schools. However, pushing for diversity was never really considered in modern agriculture, until recently, that is.
It is a widely known fact that nitrogen...
Rice Tungro Disease: Solution Available
Over the course of the year, we have talked a lot about rice; it’s an eye opening phenomenon for me to think of how much research is conducted over one crop. There are new problems being diagnosed and fixed constantly to help increase rice yield. For example, a recent study shows that a single virus...
Green Tea May Not Be the Answer
As a student at one of the largest universities in the country, I cannot help but notice other people while walking to class or studying on a bench in the hall. Some students rush to class while scrolling through their favorite play list, while others choose to kill time between classes by text messaging...
Attention Leaves: If you’re not productive, you too might be let go in this economy
Amputation is one of the most mentally and physically trying experiences an individual would ever have to go through. In extreme cases, however, amputation often becomes necessary as a last resort for those with extensive gangrene, infection, or other extreme wounds.
If a doctor feels that an infection...
Cereal may be the solution to our food supply woes
The Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen German Research Center for Environmental Health has been researching the genetic sequence of the African plant Sorghum, commonly known as milo. According to Dr. Klaus Mayer, the center is focusing the study on this particular species because, as a C4 plant, its analysis...
Nourishing Soil with Coal Ash
Tons of coal fly ash are added to soils in the United States to nourish vegetables and increase crop yields. But wait, doesn’t that say “coal?” For many years, soil manufacturers have used coal fly ash in their soil and compost products. Coal fly ash, more specifically, is a powder recovered from...
New Technique Developed to Help Fight Mold
Last weekend, I took a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some strawberries, among other things. However, one distraction led to another and I didn’t quite make it to putting the pack in the refrigerator. A couple days later, I came back to find that I shared a common love for strawberries...
Start Your Coconuts!
Hearing the word coconut brings a variety images, scents and tastes to one’s mind. Some may recall their mother’s freshly baked coconut cookies or an oversized slice of coconut cream pie, while others remember the scent of their favorite body lotion or the taste of coconut water; but rarely do people...
LEED Certified, It’s all the Rage.
These days everyone and their Mothers claims to have a LEED certified building, but the committee has recently reconsidered its initial constraints about applying itself only to building structure. The new future of LEED certified buildings acknowledges the environmental impact of the specific natural...
X-Plants?
With the bringing of a new year and a new president, legislation is changing in Washington these days at a tremendous pace. Perhaps any day now, we are expected to see a unilateral lift of the previous bans on embryonic stem cell research enforced by the previous administration. In doing so, many in...
Does a Plum a Day Keep Breast Cancer Away?
Blueberries seem to be the fashionable, healthy snack to eat. How many times have you watched a movie and the characters go out to pick some blueberries? More than likely, you’ve seen more of those movies than movies where the actors go around picking plums. However, though blueberries seem to have...
More Research on Rice Yield: Answer to Global Hunger?
A couple of months ago, we discussed current research aimed at improving rice yield. We heard of genes that helped grow bigger, fatter crops, we read about methods to aid rice growth in flood conditions, and we also learned how rice varieties could withstand drought conditions.
In the process of rice...
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