science wire

4 November 2013 A major contribution to the global effort to fighting diseases that infect agricultural crops and the development of technological solutions to some of our biggest challenges has seen two academics at the University of Sydney honoured with NSW Science and Engineering Awards.

Weight bias among health professionals influences quality of health care for people with obesity, finds new UAlberta obesity researcher.

Pizza is widely regarded as a fully-paid up member of the junk food gang - maybe even the leader - at least the versions found on supermarket shelves or delivered to your door by scooter.

Beyond plate size and calorie and carbohydrate counts, the war against obesity may have a better front - the dinner table.

Doctoral candidate Yetkin Borlu's study of the social dynamics of corn production in his native Turkey has implications for farmers internationally.

Cornell hydrologist Todd Walter and his colleagues Larry Geohring and Tammo Steenhuis may have found a simple solution to a complex pollution problem caused by agricultural run-off: wood chips.

The 2013 grape harvest is in full swing, but when this vintage is bottled, will it appear on a wine list at your favorite restaurant?

To nourish the next generation of Indian children, we need to support their nurturers, said Prabhu Pingali, professor of applied economics and management and founding director of the new Tata-Cornell Agriculture and Nutrition Initiative (TCi).

A University of Alberta spinoff company commercializing technology developed by a researcher at the university is introducing the next generation of renewable fuels.

9 October 2013 The University of Sydney is bringing its most innovative and visionary multi-disciplinary research and education centre to Western Sydney to find real-world solutions to some of the most pressing health issues in the region: obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Posted under: For UW Employees , Health and Medicine , Learning , Research , Science , Social Science , UW and the Community Brian Wansink, the John S. Dyson Professor of Marketing at Cornell

University of Illinois food science and human nutrition professor Yong-Su Jin, left rear, and, clockwise, graduate student Josh Quarterman, EBI fellow Soo Rin Kim and postdoctoral researcher Na Wei engineered yeast to consume acetic acid and xylose simultaneously, improving ethanol yield from lignocellulosic sources (plant stems and other structural parts).

"We will be in the dark without the data," said Goetz. "We won't know whether policy changes we implemented are effective or not, and that could end up costing us more than we were trying to save." UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa.

UAlberta researcher brings biodiversity expertise to international study of why small mammals are vanishing from forest islands. A leading biodiversity expert at the University of Alberta was part of an international team of scientists that documented the near-extinction of native small mammals on forest islands created by a large hydroelectric reservoir in Thailand.

2 October 2013 Despite two decades of increased agricultural productivity there has not been a corresponding drop in malnutrition rates.

UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Agricultural extension educators should take a flexible approach in teaching farmers about the changing landscape of food safety regulations, according to Penn State researchers.

25 September 2013 The reasons behind why diets usually fail will be shared in the first of a series of medicine lectures being hosted by the University of Sydney each Wednesday from tomorrow to 27 November.

Cornell researchers, students and alumni are working alongside aid agencies in Haiti and Kenya to transform the humble peanut into a lifesaving legume.

Sir David Omand, the UK's former Security and Intelligence Co-ordinator and director of GCHQ, is to chair the University of Birmingham's latest policy commission.

Steam rises from heat generated during initial steps of composting ingredients to make mushroom-growing substrate. Penn State research has shown the process kills pathogens. UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. Strict requirements on the use of animal manures in fresh produce production imposed by the new federal food-safety law threatened to adversely impact the mushroom industry, which relies on horse and poultry manure for a specialized growth substrate.

20 September 2013 Deep in the Sahara Desert, the Al Jawf oasis in southeastern Libya is pictured in this image from Japan's ALOS satellite.

20 Sep 2013 Heart researchers in Manchester have been awarded a prestigious grant of more than £180,000 by the British Heart Foundation (BHF).

Scenarios pose large implications for nation's land and environment MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/19/2013) —How the United States goes about reaching Renewable Fuel Standard targets will have large consequences for the nation's landscape and environment.

19 September 2013 Robotics can offer the Australian agricultural industry the chance to regain its competitive edge in the global marketplace, according to Professor Salah Sukkarieh from the University of Sydney.

Efforts to encourage healthy consumption of whole grains by people receiving federal food assistance are paying off, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Purchases of 100% whole-grain bread and brown rice increased among participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) after the program changed in 2009 to offer foods that better reflect dietary recommendations for Americans.

Along with 12 smaller grants awarded in May, the Water Center has provided more than $3.4 million in research funds since it formed last October with an initial focus on the Great Lakes, working closely with academic colleagues and resource managers to improve restoration outcomes.

Obesity raises the chances of complications and medical interventions in childbirth. But a new study by Oxford University shows the risks are not the same for all obese women. For otherwise healthy women, the increase in risk with obesity may not be as great as previously suspected.

San Diego Bars and Restaurants Take Part in Fetal Alcohol Syndrome Disorder Awareness Day Before taking a sip of alcohol at nearly a dozen local bars and restaurants, San Diegans will be reminded of

UK commercial baby food don't meet infants' dietary weaning needs, because they are predominantly sweet foods that provide little extra nutritional goodness over breast milk, indicates research published online in Archives of Disease in Childhood.

Research into the rise in obesity associated with the burgeoning industrial and service sectors in lowand middle-income countries found that education is a key factor in reducing the negative impact on women's health.

Some mental health practitioners who treat patients with eating disorders may have their own weight biases that could negatively affect their patients, according to a study by the Yale Rudd Center for Food Policy & Obesity. Although previous research has documented weight bias among other healthcare providers, this is the first to examine it specifically among mental health specialists.

An 18th Century recipe recommended by Jeremy Bentham for inmates of his proposed Panopticon prison has been added to the menu at St. John restaurant in London.

Could your meals benefit from a walk on the wild side? A collaborative project between researchers and extension educators seeks to lure locavores to the piers and public hunting lands of the Finger Lakes region.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/29/2013) —This fall, the Bell Museum of Natural History's Jaques Gallery will be filled with art inspired by the very museum in which it is displayed.

Rich Hartel and JoAnne Robbins taste a prototype of drinks that they believe will improve upon commercial products available for people with swallowing disorders.

Researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania point out that the body mass index (BMI), based on the weight and height, is not an accurate measure of body fat content and does not account for critical factors that contribute to health or mortality, such as fat distribution, proportion of muscle to fat, and the sex and racial differences in body composition.

A simple mixture of organic waste, such as chicken manure, and zeolite, a porous volcanic rock, has been developed into a powerful fertiliser which can also reclaim desert or contaminated land.

22 August 2013 Are we facing a superbug apocalypse? That's the worst fear of Professors Jon Iredell and Tom Gottlieb.

Plymouth’s restaurants are being given an opportunity to participate in a scheme that could bring a prestigious award to the City and set Plymouth apart as a world-leading city for seafood sustainability.

It's a question that has perplexed pumpkin producers for years: Why aren't patches supplemented with beehives to aid pollination producing more pumpkins?

In May this year, the United Nations’ Food and Agricultural Organisation published a report which provided the first comprehensive assessment of insects' current and potential uses food for humans and livestock.

Women with a history of childhood physical abuse are more likely to become obese adults, says a new study by University of Toronto researchers.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/09/2013) —A humble weed called pennycress may be poised to provide significant economic and environmental benefits to farmers in Minnesota and other states with cold winters. The plant, which grows wild in Minnesota, has potential as a ground cover that could be planted after other crops are harvested and grow early in spring to prevent soil erosion caused by rain, which pollutes waterways.

Zurich, 08. How to improve the realisation and the communication of environmental footprints of food products' A new database providing reliable and up-to-date data for food and beverages life cycle assessments (LCA) has been launched by Agroscope and Quantis.

The highest honour in the discipline of soil science, widely regarded as its 'Nobel prize', has been awarded to Professor Alex McBratney , from the University of Sydney's Faculty of Agriculture and Environment.

Local and international flavours from new Executive Chef Luca Nervi, who has been appointed as Executive Chef for the University of Sussex with new external partner Chartwells, developed his passion for cooking as a child in rural Italy.