Old MacDonald will be surprised when he sees what’s headed for his dairy farm: specially bred cows that naturally produce low-fat milk, designer milk that boosts the immune system, and “green” cows — engineered to produce less methane to help stem global warming. All are among the changes predicted for the future of the milk and dairy industry over the next 50 years.

These and other developments are described in a special report commemorating the 50th anniversary of the Journal of Agr

The discharge of groundwater to coastal waters represents an important source of dissolved nutrients and contaminants that may affect chemical and biological processes in coastal ecosystems. In a journal article published in a recent issue of Limnology and Oceanography, URI Graduate School of Oceanography chemical oceanographers Roger P. Kelly and S. Bradley Moran describe how they used radium isotopes as tracers to determine seasonal changes in groundwater input to the Pettasquamscutt estuary from

Work funded with $1.59-million from the National Science Foundation

Highly acidic drainage from an abandoned sulfide mine in Rowe is slowly cleaning itself over time, and an interdisciplinary research team from the University of Massachusetts Amherst is studying why. The group brings together experts from the fields of microbiology, geology, engineering, and science education, to determine the extent and rate of bioremediation. Researchers say their findings may enable quicker natura

Most of us don’t pay much attention to earthworms but maybe we should. New research suggests that non-native earthworms are radically changing the forest floor in the northern U.S., threatening the goblin fern and other rare plants in the process.
This is “the first research to show that exotic earthworms are harmful to rare native vegetation in northern forests,” says Michael Gundale of Michigan Technological University in Houghton, who presents this work in the December issue of Conservat

Wild salmon in the Pacific Northwest are in trouble — 26 populations are listed as threatened or endangered — and many conservationists fear hatcheries are a big part of the problem. In support of this belief, new research suggests that hatchery-reared steelhead are a threat to wild chinook in the Snake River.

“Our work suggests that steelhead released from hatcheries may increase the extinction risk of wild populations of Snake River chinook,” say Phillip Levin and John Williams of the N

USGS-funded research weighs benefits of forest thinning on plants and animals

Recent studies show that thinning of young forests can benefit the development of old-growth characteristics and the diversity of plants and animals, but only if methods are used that protect and promote the development of shrubs, hardwoods, and large or old trees.

The findings, which were made by researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and Oregon State University (OSU), hold special sig

Geologists may have to revise their ideas about what goes on in the Earth’s interior, following the publication today of new research in the journal ’Nature’. It appears that contrary to previous belief, part of the interior has remained undisturbed for at least two-and-a-half billion years, in spite of the massive forces at work inside the planet.

Like a saucepan of thick syrup being heated on the stove, huge convection currents within the Earth, generated by heat from the co

Oil from the wrecked tanker off the northwest coast of Spain had already reached the Spanish coast when ESA’s Envisat satellite acquired this radar image of the oil slick, stretching more than 150 km, on Sunday, 17 November, at 10.45 UTC.

The 26-year-old tanker, Prestige, can be seen as a bright white point located about 100 km off the coast. Support vessels are identifiable as smaller white points surrounding the ship. The huge oil slick is clearly visible as a dark plume emanating from the

A nuclear probe developed by CSIRO for minerals exploration and mining may soon be used to combat some of the world’s biggest environmental problems.

Overseas the probe could help prevent acid rain, one of the most pressing environmental problems in the northern hemisphere.

CSIRO also hopes to use the probe to measure salt concentrations in soil as part of its assault on dryland salinity.

“Acid rain is caused when high sulphur fossil fuels are burnt,” says Dr Mihai Bo

A new array of ocean robots has begun working deep in the Indian Ocean to help scientists understand Australia’s changing climate.

“This is a key region for the global climate system and installation of the robots will provide our best coverage to begin to understand how the Indian Ocean affects our climate,” says CSIRO’s Dr Gary Meyers.

Cycling between the surface and a depth of two kilometres every 10 days, the ocean robots are sampling conditions in a region thought to

Nicotine isn’t all bad, despite its addictive qualities and its presence in tobacco products, increasingly taboo in these health-conscious times. As a chemical compound, nicotine even has beneficial properties. It’s used around the world as a relatively cheap, environmentally friendly insecticide, repelling bugs that attack tobacco and other plants, and – contrary to popular misconceptions – it is not a carcinogen.

Take a nicotine molecule and snip off a methyl group, though, and y

The earlier the smoke in a forest will be detected, the easier it would be for firemen to stop the fire from spreading. The problem of forest fires have always been one of the most difficult and dangerous problems. Russian scientists from MULTITECH Ltd. have developed an equipment, which can help solving the problem.

Right now the equipment is not of much use, because autumn rains have already quenched forest and turf fires. However, if the scientists put their invention to industria

Scientists at UCL have recreated earthquakes in the laboratory for the first time allowing them to better understand the origin of the largest and most violent earthquakes.

This is the first time scientists have been able to generate and observe deep and intermediate focus earthquakes in the laboratory, recreating the exact pressure and temperature conditions of the deep earth. Their results have helped elucidate the origin of some of the largest and most violent earthquakes to occur on ear

In October, the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) completed the first measurement of the solar ultraviolet radiation spectrum over the duration of an 11 year solar cycle, a period marked by cyclical shifts in the Sun’s activity. This long measurement record by two instruments aboard UARS will give researchers better insight into how fluctuations in the Sun’s energy affect ozone and the Earth’s climate. In turn, the dataset gives scientists tools to document the influence of ma

Study by researchers from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y., and Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., to be published in the Nov. 14 issue of Nature

El Niño, the pattern that can wreak havoc on climate conditions around the world, is like a beacon, pulsating through time on a 2,000 year cycle, according to a new study by scientists from Syracuse University, Syracuse, N.Y.; Union College, Schenectady, N.Y., and from the NOAA Paleoclimatology Program, Boulder, Colo., that is being publis

Research detailed in the journal, Environmental Science and Technology

Microorganisms are cleaning up contaminants in the mud beneath Boston Harbor, and if humans prevent future fuel spills and leaks, the harbor could potentially cleanse itself within the next 10 to 20 years, according to research conducted at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The findings are detailed in the Nov. 15 issue of the journal Environmental Science and Technology. The work was funded by the Office of