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Increasing the amount of folate through our diet or taking supplements could help to reduce bowel cancer risk. These are the findings of new research , co-led by Dr Konstantinos Tsilidis from the School of Public Health at Imperial College London. It suggests that increasing the intake of folate - which can be found in leafy greens, such as spinach, cabbage and broccoli - could help to reduce the risk of colorectal cancer by up to 7%.

University of Bonn study shows where diversified farming also makes economic sense Where and how can diversified farming practices be put to profitable use in order to boost both productivity and biodiversity? Researchers at the University of Bonn have tackled this question in a study that has now been published in "Communications Earth & Environment.

Researchers hoping to rebrand a marine pest as a nutritious food have developed the world's first system of farming shipworms, which they have renamed 'Naked Clams'. Naked Clams taste like oysters, they're highly nutritious and they can be produced with a really low impact on the environment. Dr David Willer These long, white saltwater clams are the world's fastest-growing bivalve and can reach 30cm long in just six months.

Many people want to eat healthily, but also value the sustainability of their food . Intuitively, healthy is often equated with sustainable. A study by scientists from the Johannes Kepler University Linz, the University of Constance and the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences has investigated whether this perception corresponds to reality.

A fresh approach to urban agriculture could help Glasgow's 'food deserts' flourish into sources of healthy, affordable produce to help reduce inequality, new research suggests. A fresh approach to urban agriculture could help Glasgow's 'food deserts' flourish into sources of healthy, affordable produce to help reduce inequality, new research suggests.

The virus that causes cold sores can survive and remain infectious for several hours on food or food-related surfaces . It is generally accepted that the virus responsible for cold sores is transmitted via saliva or direct contact with the lesions it causes. However, there are other potential transmission routes, according to a study published by a team from Université Laval in the Journal of Applied Microbiology .

Scientists at the University of Innsbruck have been studying the water cycle and glaciers in the Andes near Huaraz in northern Peru for a long time. They recently documented a previously unreported rainfall phenomenon. These light rainfalls, known locally as "Pushpa", mark the beginning of the sowing season.

New coating protects nitrogen-fixing bacteria from heat and humidity, which could allow them to be deployed for large-scale agricultural use. Production of chemical fertilizers accounts for about 1.5 percent of the world's greenhouse gas emissions. MIT chemists hope to help reduce that carbon footprint by replacing some chemical fertilizer with a more sustainable source - bacteria.

High consumption of highly processed animal products and soft drinks containing sweeteners and sugar increases the risk of multimorbidity In a groundbreaking multinational study involving 266,666 participants from seven European countries, nutrition scientists from the University of Vienna, in collaboration with the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), have found that a high consumption of highly processed foods, also known as ultra-processed foods (UPFs), is associated with a higher risk of multimorbidity from cancer and cardiometabolic diseases.

Research on the electrification of agricultural machinery The special requirements placed on trucks and agricultural machinery often make it difficult for engineers to bring them into the electric age. At the Agritechnica agricultural machinery fair researchers from the Technical University of Munich (TUM) are now showing what a modular development kit for electric tractors can look like.

A University of Queensland-led research team says the key to a more sustainable food future may be a better understanding of ancient Indigenous food production systems. Their ARC Discovery project 'Testing the Dark Emu hypothesis' combines bioarchaeology, archaeobotany, palynology, ethnobotany and plant genetics in partnership with Indigenous communities to challenge existing perspectives.

Our microbiome is directly and indirectly linked to the development of a growing number of human pathologies. This is true for the bacterial component, but also for the population of microscopic fungi that make up the intestinal microbiome. However, most of the fungi in our diet come from the food industry (cheeses, bread, etc.

Existing air pollution regulations will reduce thousands of premature adult deaths in the UK, but even the most effective technically feasible actions, which will save thousands more lives, will do little to protect the country's sensitive ecosystems, find UCL researchers. The new research, published in GeoHealth , found that existing air pollution regulations could avoid 6,751 early deaths amongst adults in the UK by 2030 compared to if no regulations existed.

In a meta-study, a research team from the Institute of Environmental Biotechnology at TU Graz has provided evidence that the consumption of fruit and vegetables contributes positively to bacterial diversity in the human gut. Bacterial diversity in the gut plays an important role in human health. The crucial question, however, is where are the sources of this diversity? It is known that an important part of the maternal microbiome is transferred to the baby at birth, and the same happens during the breastfeeding period via breast milk.

With the aid of innovative statistical methods, researchers explore the complex interplay between life cycle, environmental factors and genetic information using wheat as an example. Cereal crops such as wheat are sensitive to climate change. Many studies show that their yield decreases as temperatures rise and extreme weather events increase.

Study reveals our European ancestors ate seaweed and freshwater plants Published: 17 October 2023 Researchers say they have found "definitive" archaeological evidence that seaweeds and other local freshwater plants were eaten in the Mesolithic, through the Neolithic transition to farming and into the Early Middle Ages.

Tropical crops such as coffee, cocoa, watermelon and mango may be at risk due to the loss of insect pollinators, finds a new study led by UCL and Natural History Museum researchers. Published in Science Advances , the study explores the intricate interplay between climate change, land use change, and their impact on pollinator biodiversity, ultimately revealing significant implications for global crop pollination.

When it comes to feeding a growing population at a time of conflict and climate change, Mother Earth has a lot on her plate. To build a sustainable future we'll need to return to a farm-to-table model, and that's opening up vast and exciting avenues of research for scientists in an array of fields. In this special report , we explore some of the developments taking place in research labs and out on the farm.

Researchers at the University of Freiburg quantify the amount of material needed to enable people to live without poverty 1.2 billion people live in poverty. To lift them out of it, an average of about six tons of raw materials are needed per person and year - in particular minerals, fossil fuels, biomass and metal ores.

It is impossible to imagine modern agriculture without plastics. 12 million tonnes are used every year. But what about the consequences for the environment? An international team of authors led by Thilo Hofmann from the Division of Environmental Geosciences at the University of Vienna addresses this question in a recent study in Nature Communication Earth and Environment .