Results of an experts round table “decomposition behaviour of animal residues in soil” at the Institute of Plant Nutrition and Soil Science, Federal Agricultural Research Centre (FAL), Braunschweig, Germany.

As a result of the BSE-crisis, any feed for livestock must be “free” of anything of animal origin. This EU-decree lasts until 2006 and should prevent “MBM” (Meat Bone Meal) from reaching the feed trough. MBM means the heated, dried and ground remains of animal slaughter w

The latest technologies such as satellite navigation and unmanned autonomous vehicles do not stop at agriculture. In precision agriculture these techniques are used for variable rate spreading of fertilisers or pesticides. Using this technology the natural variability of soil fertility parameters within a field is taken into account, and the means of production are tailored to the crops specific needs in an ecologically desirable way.

Whereas in the industrial and service sector the intro

There are four wings to the Earth Science building of the Goddard Space Flight Center (GSFC) in Greenbelt, MD. But on August 8, “we added a virtual fifth wing,” says NASA Emeritus Scientist Milton Halem. That new wing used experimental OptIPuter software to create a ’high-performance collaboratory’ with the University of California, San Diego’s Scripps Institution of Oceanography, which allowed scientists to establish high-definition telepresence while also collaborating in real

The illegal mining of corals off the southwest coast of Sri Lanka permitted far more onshore destruction from the 26 December2004 tsunami than occurred in nearby areas whose coral reefs were intact. This is the principal finding of a team of researchers from the United States and Sri Lanka who studied the area earlier this year. Their report is published in the 16 August issue of Eos, the newspaper of the American Geophysical Union.

Some of the differences were startling. Lead aut

The Technical Research Centre of Finland, VTT has developed a low-temperature plasma burning process for controlled and safe incineration of water purification resin used in the primary circuit of nuclear power plants. Storing radioactive waste in the form of ash takes less space and is easier to manage. VTT and its partners have signed an agreement to build a half-scale plasma burning process pilot.

Resin is used for purification of primary circuit water of nuclear power plants,

Marine environments around the world are being threatened by exotic species of the moon jellyfish being dispersed by international shipping, according to new research.

Using genetic data and computer simulations of ocean currents and water temperatures, researchers from the University of New South Wales and the University of California, Davis, have revealed that the moon jellyfish could not have migrated naturally, according to a report in today’s Proceedings of the Nationa

The impact of global warming has become obvious in high latitude regions, including Alaska, Siberia and the Arctic, where melting ice and softening tundra are causing profound changes. But, contrary to popular belief, the most serious impact in the next century likely will be in the tropics, says a group of researchers headed by a University of Washington ecologist.

Scientists have noted warming at higher latitudes that already appears to be causing some flowers to bloom earlie

Cornell University researchers will present new audio evidence supporting the existence of the phantomlike ivory-billed woodpecker Aug. 24 and 25 at the 123rd American Ornithologists’ Union meeting in Santa Barbara, Calif.

Cornell Lab of Ornithology researcher Russ Charif will begin presenting the new audio evidence at 10:30 a.m. PST Aug. 24 in Lotte Lehmann Hall at the University of California-Santa Barbara (UCSB). Lab members Ron Rohrbaugh and Ken Rosenberg and Director Jo

New York-based Veterinarians in Mongolia in unprecedented international effort

Wildlife health experts from the Bronx Zoo-based Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) warn that efforts to control the spread of avian flu across Asia and beyond must focus on better management practices on farms and in markets.

WCS is currently working with Mongolian agencies on the ground in Mongolia’s Kovsgol province, collecting samples from wild birds that have recently contracted the

Since passage of the Endangered Species Act in 1973, over 1,300 endangered species have been protected in the United States and its territories. In the forthcoming issue of Ecology Letters, Male & Bean assess 14 years of endangered plant and animal status trends and show that the length of time species are protected, and the amount of money spent on their conservation are key variables in explaining trends.

Overall, about half of species protected are no longer declining and only 35 % o

Researchers at the Umeå Plant Science Centre at the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences (SLU), Sweden, report about a breakthrough in our understanding of how plants control their flowering. In an article published in the international journal Science, Thursday 11th, they show how a small molecule that is formed in the plant leaves is transported to the shoot tips where it induces the formation of flowers. This knowledge can lead to the development of new tools that can be used to cont

Old-fashioned methods of getting rid of head lice in children are far more effective than current chemical treatments, researchers revealed yesterday (FRI).

Using a fine-tooth comb and conditioner on wet hair was four times more effective than popular chemical-based treatments like lotions and shampoo.

London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine (LSHTM) researcher Dr Nigel Hill said: “Millions of pounds are spent each year by desperate parents or through NHS prescription

A Duke University study has found that maturing stands of pines exposed to the higher levels of carbon dioxide expected by mid-century produce more needles than those absorbing today’s levels of the gas, even under drought conditions. However, the study also found that lack of soil nutrients may impose limitations in many forests.

Duke graduate student Heather McCarthy will describe results she obtained from a futuristic open-air experimental forest site at 8 a.m. Eastern Tim

Heavy rainfall and flooding from Typhoon Matsa killed at least 12 people and caused millions of euros worth of damage in China. In Matsa’s aftermath, unique data from ESA’s ERS-2 spacecraft reveal the interior wind fields powering it at its height.

China’s ninth typhoon this year, Matsa first came ashore at Yuhan County in Zhejiang Province on 6 August, with reported winds up to 250 kilometres per hour. Matsa brought heavy rains and serious damage to several coast

The effect of the sun’s heat on weather balloons largely accounts for a data discrepancy that has long contributed to a dispute over the existence of global warming, according to a report by scientists at Yale University and the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA).

The report, to be published in the journal Science, says that direct heat of the sun on temperature probes of the weather balloon (radiosonde) probably explains the discrepancy between reports showing

When a volcano erupts, it does more than just create an ash cloud that darkens and cools a region for a few days. Instead, the most dramatic effect is actually high above us, where spewed volcanic material is not quickly washed out by rain.

If the volcanic eruption is strong enough it will inject material into the stratosphere, more than 10 miles above the Earth’s surface. Here, tiny particles called aerosols form when the volcano’s sulfur dioxide combines with water va