science wire

Plop, plop, fizz, fizz: Alka-Seltzer found to help wine industry, with potential for construction industry, too Alka-Seltzer has been soothing human indigestion and heartburn for years. Now, it's helping out the wine industry. Elemental sulfur is wine's "frenemy" - it effectively keeps the ubiquitous powdery mildew disease in vineyards at bay, but excessive residues carried over into wine can result in a rotten egg aroma.

Cornell's new raspberry variety, Crimson Giant, is fashionably late.

Along with a sharp rise in recent decades in worldwide obesity rates has come a flood of research on the subject - more than 66,000 papers in the past 10 years, according to one estimate.

The largest publicly available genomewide association mapping study in rice to date has found that although the five subpopulations of Asian rice - indica, aus, temperate japonica, aromatic and tropical japonica - all belong to one species ( Oryza sativa ), their genetic structures are so different that, genetically speaking, they are almost like different species.

Researchers spotlight potential for biofuels production on existing croplands, underscores the importance of "sustainable intensification" MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/13/2011) —New research published online this week in the journal Environmental Research Letters by a team from the University of Minnesota and the University of Wisconsin shows that closing agricultural "yield gaps" around the world could lead to more efficient agricultural production - and thus more biofuels - without the need to clear more land globally.

U of M Extension efforts support farmers, schools, students MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (09/02/2011) —Gov.

U president Kaler, athletic director Maturi and Marching Band to headline State Fair parade An annual highlight for fairgoers takes place this Sunday, Aug.

Globally, irrigation increases agricultural productivity by an amount roughly equivalent to the entire agricultural output of the U.S., according to a new University of Wisconsin-Madison study. That adds up to a sizeable impact on carbon uptake from the atmosphere. It also means that water shortages — already forecasted to be a big problem as the world warms — could contribute to yet more warming through a positive feedback loop.

Losing weight without dieting, going hungry or using an expensive high-protein liquid diet can be as simple as eating a smaller lunch, reports a new Cornell study that is online and will be published in the journal Appetite in October.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (08/09/2011) —A new series of grants from the University of Minnesota's Healthy Foods, Healthy Lives Institute is aimed at helping people who live in disadvantaged communities eat healthier, safer diets.

Aug. AUSTIN, Texas — More than 90 percent of sack lunches prepared at home and sent with kids to preschool were kept at unsafe temperatures, a new study by nutritional scientists at The University of Texas at Austin found. The study will be published in the September 2011 issue of Pediatrics and was published online Aug.

Breeding crops with roots a metre deeper in the ground could lower atmospheric CO2 levels dramatically, with significant environmental benefits, according to research by a leading University of Manchester scientist.

What's in a Kids Meal? Not Happy News UC San Diego researchers tally the nutritional value of what kids actually eat at a fast food restaurant August 2, 2011 Debra Kain High-calorie, high-sodium choi

Seventy per cent of eight-month-old babies have a salt (sodium chloride) intake higher than the recommended UK maximum level, due to being fed salty and processed foods like yeast extract, gravy, baked beans and tinned spaghetti.

Wisconsin's larger dairy operations tended to fare better than the state's small farms in a UW-Madison study of milk quality, although all of the state's farms — both large and small — produced milk that easily met federal food safety guidelines. "I wanted to test this belief that I've heard a lot — that little farms are better," says Steve Ingham, who led the study while working as a UW-Madison food science professor.

The Australian National University and Bayer CropScience have signed a research agreement to develop new technology with the potential to produce higher yielding food crops.

UC San Diego Cancer Researchers Target Link between Obesity and Breast Cancer Risk July 28, 2011 Kim Edwards A team of researchers from the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and

Horn of Africa drought seen from space Drought in Somalia, Kenya, Ethiopia and Djibouti is pushing tens of thousands of people from their homes as millions face food insecurity in a crisis visible from space.

When global food prices rose sharply starting in late 2010 and hit an all-time high in February, many leaders, including the presidents of the World Bank and of France, spoke about the increases and conflated them with issues of food price volatility. In a paper published online July 13 in the journal Foreign Affairs, Cornell economist Chris Barrett argues that international leaders should treat the spike in prices and food price volatility as separate problems.

By Lesley Russell. First published in The Canberra Times. July 2011 In the past 30 years the world has seen the number of adults suffering from Type 2 diabetes - a preventable disease directly linked to obesity - more than double.

The widespread use of electric breast pumps by American women is fueling a "quiet revolution" in how infants receive their mothers' milk, argues Cornell nutritionist Kathleen Rasmussen in a commentary published online June 16 in the American Journal of Public Health. Once limited to hospitals and clinics, in the past two decades pumps have become high-powered and portable, as commonplace to modern motherhood as diaper bags and pacifiers.

MINNEAPOLIS / ST. PAUL (07/06/2011) —New research led by the University of Minnesota will help corn and soybean farmers across the country modify farming techniques to deal with climate change.

Can we produce enough food for the expected population of 10 billion later this century? How are scientists addressing threats such as cereal rust that can wipe out entire crops? Might forests eventu

Children who are overweight or obese are more likely to be victimised by bullying when compared to children who are not overweight.

There is new hope for a solution to Britain's ballooning obesity epidemic with the launch of Europe's most advanced metabolic research facility in the West Midlands, a region recently identified as the 'obesity capital of Europe' according to the most recent figures from the Association of Public Health Observatories.

A project aimed at determining the thresholds at which Australian farmers may need to transform their industry in response to climate change has secured University of Sydney researchers a prestigious $250,000 national grant.

A project aimed at determining the thresholds at which Australian farmers may need to transform their industry in response to climate change has secured University of Sydney researchers a prestigious $250,000 national grant.

Obesity is an important contributor to premature death in women who have never smoked, especially among women in low income groups, according to research published on BMJ.com. While established research has shown clearly that smoking is linked to premature death and health inequalities, it is not known which causes of death are related to the social position of women who have never smoked, says the paper.

By Melissa Beattie-Moss Research/Penn State First Lady Michelle Obama may be remembered for toppling a pyramid.

Many people are careful to follow a low glycaemic index (GI) diet. However, the glycaemic index concept has some shortcomings, in the view of one young researcher, who has developed a complementary method, ‘glycaemic profile’ or GP. The findings were recently published in Nutrition Journal. "White pasta is one example of a product which in some cases has received a bad reputation because of a high GI.

by Simon Levey 24 June 2011 People across the South-East of England are being asked to take part in a survey to count the number of Rose-ringed Parakeets living in the area.

University Park, Pa.

Childhood obesity is a serious public health problem predicted to affect two thirds of UK children by 2050.

AUSTIN, Texas — Not only does chocolate milk taste good, but two recent studies from The University of Texas at Austin show that it's also the  ideal post-workout recovery drink.

Paul Stachowski, farm manager at Cornell's Musgrave Research Farm near Aurora, N.Y., pilots his tractor along rows of winter wheat waving in the wind.

Fruit lovers, athletes and health-wise consumers take note: The next locally grown and healthful food may come in the form of a little purple berry packing a more powerful protein-fiberriboflavin-iron-calcium-antioxidant punch than blueberries.

PA 191/11 Visitors to a major exhibition for the UK's farming industry are to find out how University of Nottingham researchers are helping to protect the future of the world's crops, fuel and the environment.

To successfully introduce technologies to improve agricultural sustainability in developing countries, scientists must understand and engage not only the research experts but also the social and economic networks that local farmers rely on, Stanford researchers say. BY DONNA HESTERMAN New technologies can improve agricultural sustainability in developing countries, but only with the engagement of local farmers and the social and economic networks they depend on, say Stanford University researchers.

Researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar (WCMC-Q) have identified a region of the date palm genome linked to gender, making it possible for the first time to quickly and easily identify male and female trees. The finding provides a crucial piece of information for more efficient cultivation and propagation, as well as additional genetic studies.

Decorative white silk crosses are an ingenious tactic used by orb-weaving spiders to protect their webs from damage, a new study from the University of Melbourne has revealed.

University Park, Pa. Farmers using a cover-crop seeder developed by Penn State agricultural scientists may eventually need only a single trip across the field to accomplish what takes most farmers three passes and several pieces of equipment to do.