A new strain of yeast engineered by the scientists at the University of Illinois improves seaweeds conversion into biofuel substantially. The increase efficiency makes seaweed an ever better candidate as a useful marine biofuel.
Why seaweed? Typically, marine biofuels produce more biomass...
Bahia, Brazil – located in the rural northeastern part of the country – holds one of the highest levels of biodiversity in the world. There, around two years ago, handyman José Carlos Mendes Santos found a miniscule plant – one inch in height and with white and pink flowers.
Though Santos...
As any college student, I have definitely experienced the effects of stress and anxiety. Trying to balance school with work and extra-curricular activities is tough and can take a toll on your health. To combat these pressures we typically buy over-the-counter conventional medications. However, scientists...
Plain broccoli—or vegetables in general—may taste bland and uninteresting. Most people would prefer to grab a bite of pizza for lunch or to chow down a fat juicy hamburger, but here’s another good reason to eat veggies instead: researchers at the University of Illinois discovered that eating...
Fat mice versus thin mice; the shape of a flower; the color of fruit: it’s all in the genes, right? Well, not exactly. According to new research conducted by scientists at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies, many differences in phenotype derive not from changes in the genetic code itself...
Scientific discoveries can be made anywhere, but it’s probably safe to say that the last place one would think to look is in animal feces. Yes, I am talking about poop and not just any poop, great panda poop. In research was presented at a meeting of the American Chemical Society, bacteria...
As humans constantly exchange air with the environment through our noses and mouths, plants do the same through pores called stomata. These stomata were the structures that allowed plants to transition from the ocean to the land by facilitating the absorption of carbon dioxide and the release of water...
Rice, one of the most common cultivated foods, is a staple crop for a multitude of countries around the world. It is in our cereals and is commonly used when cooking. Additionally, rice’s low-labor costs combined with its nutritious value deem it a vital food item for most of the world. But in order...
For all of the potato lovers out there: Now is the perfect time to put away any guilty shame and to make a quick trip to the nearest grocery store. Indulging in small servings of potatoes each day has been proven to lower high blood pressure, while allowing consumers to maintain their preferred weight.
In...
When humans can’t find a suitable mate, they are out of luck (with the exception, of course, of those who use gamete donors). Plants, such as certain types of Babiana, however, can simply self-fertilize if there are insufficient pollinators.
For cross pollination, the Babiana family of plants...
The penchant to avoid or discourage freeloaders is not limited to animals: even plants and fungi reward fair players and punish freeloaders.
Plants and arbuscular mycorrhizal (AM) fungi continuously exchange nutrients with one another in a mutualistic symbiotic relationship well known to the...
Washing your fruits and vegetables prior to consumption may not be sufficient to rid produce of pathogenic bacteria. According to a new study conducted at Purdue University, bacteria such as E. coli and Salmonella can exist inside, as well as outside, the plant.
E. coli and Salmonella have...
New research indicates that deadly fungi played a significant role in the death of forests approximately 250 million years ago in the Permian extinction, during which the vast majority of life on earth was wiped out. The destroyed forests consisted largely of conifers and took 4-5 million years to...
For some plants, stress can actually help, rather than hurt, their chances of survival. By observing the effects of herbivorous stressors on Arbidopsis thaliana, a type of mustard plant, researchers at the University of Illinois have found a positive correlation between adverse conditions such as...
A group of researchers at Oxford University and King Abdullah University of Science and Technology, in Saudia Arabia, may have finally solved the riddle of plant clones. In the botanical world it is not news that regenerate or ‘cloned’ plants can display different phenotypes, despite coming from...
