Knot heartwood, i.e. the knot or branch section contained within the tree stem, has been found to contain considerably large amounts of phenolic protective agents. These bioactive substances contained in knot heartwood can be isolated and utilised e.g. in health foods and medicines or as special chemicals in other products. This year has seen the first tree knot extract product brought onto the market. Current interest is centred around HMR lignan, which has been isolated from spruce knot hea

Wood fibres turn up in a wide range of products. In addition to traditional paper and wood-based materials, they are also used for example in the food, textile and pharmaceutical industries. The scope of application of wood fibre could, however, be vastly broader than it is at present. With this objective in sight, new avenues are being opened up by cellulose-based nanofibres, which can be used to produce extremely strong and modifiable materials. These efforts are backed by growing pressures suc

Long before the grains, fig domestication may have marked a decisive shift in human history

Archaeobotanists have found evidence that the dawn of agriculture may have come with the domestication of fig trees in the Near East some 11,400 years ago, roughly a thousand years before such staples as wheat, barley, and legumes were domesticated in the region. The discovery dates domesticated figs to a period some 5,000 years earlier than previously thought, making the fruit trees the

Detailed information on greenhouse gasses and a subtropical heat wave at the North Pole 55 million years ago is providing information about the Earth’s past as well as a portent for its future, according to reports in the June 1 issue of Nature.

An expedition to the Artic Ocean in 2004 by a team of scientists aboard a fleet of icebreakers collected samples by drilling into the floor of the ocean. The project was part of an international research effort, the Integrated

Mathematicians from Novosibirsk and Krasnoyarsk, working on a joint project with American colleagues (sponsored by the CRDF and the Federal Agency for Science and Innovations (Rosnauka)) have improved the tsunami forecasting system. To this end, they applied the method of the so-called circulation of tsunami data obtained in a real-time mode. This newest method is based on the latest results achieved by researchers in the theory and numerical algorithms of inverse problem solution.

A tsu

In vast remote taiga not far from the Yenisei river, where one can get only by helicopter within one third of the year, the construction of a huge 300-meter high mast is to be completed this summer. In the underground shelter under the mast, a research laboratory will be located, which is stuffed with the most contemporary scientific equipment. Researchers needed that in order to thoroughly investigate who or, more precisely, what is responsible for the greenhouse effect, where oxygen, carbonic ac

New scientific results for the Late Cretaceous greenhouse indicate radically different climatic mechanisms operating about 75-90 million years ago compared to the ones that control today’s climate. The study, published on 29 May 2006 in “Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology” as part of a special issue on “Causes and Consequence of Marine Organic Carbon Burial Through Time” by Sascha Floegel from the IFM-GEOMAR in Kiel/Germany and Thomas Wagner from the University of Newcastle upon

First assessment in two years points to widespread poaching

Results released today by World Wildlife Fund of the first assessment done in two years in one of Nepal’s premier national parks reveal an alarming decline in tiger and rhino populations, indicating widespread poaching. The area only became accessible for visits since the ceasefire between the Maoist insurgents and government troops a month ago.

Since 1986, 70 rhinos were translocated to Bardia National P

Prairie plants may also be good source of biofuel

Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods, according to a new study. It is the first experiment to gather enough data–over a sufficient time and in a controlled environment–to confirm a 50-year scientific debate about whether biodiversity stabilizes ecosystems.

The findings,

Researchers of the University of Malaga are to develop molecular markers and biochips that allow the early identification and selection of trees with good features for improving forest production in appropriate environments. This is a project of excellence funded with 190,900 euros by the Andalusian Ministry of Innovation, Science and Enterprise.

Scientists believe that the new technologies of genomics, proteomics and bioinformatics can be used to determine the function of the genes invol

Key findings published in Nature

A group of ocean-drilling research scientists that explored the Arctic Ocean subseafloor in Fall 2004 have released new findings in a report to be published in Nature on June 1. The report, supported by Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) research operations, contains analyses of subseafloor sediment samples gathered from 430 meters beneath the Arctic Ocean, near the North Pole. To recover the sediments that yielded the prehistoric climate reco

New report in Nature maps subsidence, addresses flooding in New Orleans

Most of New Orleans is sinking at an average rate of 6mm a year. In some areas, subsidence is occurring at a rate of as much as 29mm/year. That’s according to research published in this week’s edition of the journal Nature by scientists from the University of Miami Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science. Titled, “Subsidence and Flooding in New Orleans,” the authors conclude that when

Arctic ice formed about 45 million years ago – roughly 14 million years ahead of previous predictions – according to new research published in Nature. An international team of scientists, including Brown geologist Steven Clemens, says this startling evidence shows that glaciers formed in tandem at Earth’s poles, providing important insights into global climate change.

For the first time, scientists have pulled up prehistoric geologic records from the frigid vault of the Arct

Ecosystems containing many different plant species are not only more productive, they are also better able to withstand and recover from climate extremes, pests and disease over long periods of time.

These findings, published in the June 1 issue of Nature, are the culmination of 12 years of experiments conducted by David Tilman, Regents Professor of Ecology at the University of Minnesota, to explore the value of biodiversity. The research was carried out at Cedar Creek Natural H

Comfortable living is not why so many different life forms seem to converge at the warmer areas of the planet.

Writing this week in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, scientists say higher temperatures near the equator speed up the metabolisms of the inhabitants, fueling genetic changes that actually lead to the creation of new species.

The finding – by researchers from the University of Florida, the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Human induced climate change, rather than naturally occurring ocean cycles, may be responsible for the recent increases in frequency and strength of North Atlantic hurricanes, according to Penn State and Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers.

“Anthropogenic factors are likely responsible for long-term trends in tropical Atlantic warmth and tropical cyclone activity,” the researchers report in an upcoming issue of the American Geophysical Society’s EOS.

Michael