Agricultural research by Boston College’s Harrison

Kevin G. Harrison, an assistant professor in Boston College’s Geology and Geophysics Department, has published new research on a farming technique that can both increase crop yields and reduce the release of carbons that develop into greenhouse gases. In the book Changing Land Use and Terrestrial Carbon Storage, Harrison and his co-authors, Michelle Segal (BC master’s degree in 2003) and Matthew Hoskins (BC bachelor’s degree in 2000)

The parasitic weed, broomrape, attaches to the root of such vegetable crops as tomato, potato, beans, and sunflowers. With no need for leaves of its own, it produces only a floral shoot above ground. Meanwhile, its host is barely able to survive, much less be productive.

Now, the defense mechanism of another pest – the fly – may provide a weapon against parasitic weeds.

Researchers from Virginia Tech in the United States and the Agricultural Research Organization (ARO) of Israel w

Under the right conditions, nanoparticles can form spontaneously in the air. Atmospheric nanoparticles are an important missing factor in understanding global climate change, because they could influence cloud formation and change how the Earth reflects or retains heat, said Anthony Wexler, professor of mechanical and aeronautical engineering at UC Davis.

They may also have health effects. Wexler’s laboratory uses and develops equipment to detect these extremely small particles. On the

CSIRO has measured above average growth in carbon dioxide levels in the global atmosphere, despite global attempts to reduce these emissions. The source of the increase is most likely from the burning of fossil fuels – coal, oil and gas.

“The results are concerning because carbon dioxide is the main driver of climate change,” says CSIRO Atmospheric Division chief research scientist Dr Paul Fraser. “I am a little bit surprised that the level is so high without input from forest wildfires.”

The French explorer, Gilles Elkaïm, who left North Cape (Norway) in May 2000, has almost completed the seventh and final stage of his 12,000 km solo trek along the rim of the Arctic Ocean, from the Atlantic to the Pacific, on foot, kayak, skis, by sled pulled by himself or by dogs… with help from ESA.

The “Arktika” expedition is nearing its conclusion. Gilles Elkaïm and his twelve sled dogs, who, last May, set up summer camp in a disused military base, close to Cape Shelagskiy (the most n

In spring, thoughts turn to sex, and three-spined stickleback females set about finding the most attractive mate. Their method of selection is to choose the male with the most attractive red belly, so it’s not surprising that Dr. Victoria Braithwaite (University of Edinburgh) has discovered that female sticklebacks become more sensitive to red during the breeding season. What is surprising is that the males do too! “This actually makes good sense” says Dr. Braithwaite. “Sticklebacks are very territo

Scientists have developed a ‘magic box’ containing dormant organisms that can be woken up anytime and anywhere to test the toxicity of contaminated waters and soils. This new technology, called Toxkits, will be described by Professor Guido Persoone (Gent University, Belgium) and Dr. Kirit Wadhia (ALcontrol laboratories) on Monday 29th March at the annual SEB meeting in Edinburgh (29th March – 2nd April 2004, sessions A13.12 and A13.13).

“Toxkits are revolutionary tools which provide a cheape

New multi-million dollar investment gives 5,000 remaining gorillas new lease on life

The world population of the Endangered eastern lowland gorilla (Gorilla beringei graueri), found almost exclusively in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), has plummeted by more than 70 percent in the past decade. Scientists estimate that fewer than 5,000 individuals remain, down sharply from 17,000 in 1994.

But a new multi-million dollar investment to save the gorilla is expected to

Soil particles lock up contaminants hundreds to thousands of times faster under the caustic conditions found beneath leaking toxic waste tanks at the Hanford Nuclear Reservation than under normal soil conditions, researchers report.

Understanding more about how contaminants such as radioactive cesium and strontium move through the soil under real-world conditions will help cleanup efforts at Hanford and other sites contaminated with nuclear waste. Previous research on the movement of soil c

A species of fish that lives in Antarctic waters may hold clues to climate change and lead to advances in heart medicine. Researchers from the University of Birmingham and the British Antarctic Survey (BAS) are investigating the behaviour and physiology of the ’Antarctic Cod’ (Notothenia coriiceps) which became isolated from its warmer water cousins around 30 million years ago when the Antarctic circumpolar current was formed.

The olive-coloured fish has broad head and a narrow bo

Emissions from ships may bring as much nitrogen oxide to the atmosphere as the total amount of emissions coming from the USA. International shipping along the Norwegian coast and in the Northern Atlantic Ocean contributes largely to the formation of ground-level ozone and acidification of the shores.

Air pollution from ships may be twice as bad as shown by previous estimates. In high traffic areas emissions may affect the climate just as much or even more than other forms of emissions. This

Is there an alternative to using GM crops in agriculture to eradicate the need for applying excessive phosphate fertiliser? John Hammond of UK’s Horticulture Research International thinks so. Working in collaboration with Nottingham University, he is developing a diagnostic test that tells when plants are low on phosphorus so they can be fertilised by precision management rather than the current practice of fertilising indiscriminately. Dr Hammond will present his results at the Society for Experimen

Russian scientists have discovered territories in the North that will run the greatest risk in the course of permafrost thawing, they have also calculated degree of risk for towns, industrial facilities and main lines.

Global climate warming makes attacks on permafrost. Accurate forecast is very important as the permafrost ground status would drive the future of all northern towns and industrial facilities. Researchers of the State Hydrological Institute (St. Petersburg) have undertaken such

The body size of ancient creatures, bivalves and brachiopods, could tell geoscientists a lot about the creatures’ life history and about the ecology of the times in which they lived. However, traveling the world to measure these creatures’ fossils would take several life-times and more travel funds than scientists usually have.

Since the same creatures have also become abundant in scientific literature since the mid 1800s, a team of Virginia Tech researchers is determining whether measurin

A billion years ago (the Neoproterozoic age), complex single-celled organisms, the acritarchs, began to develop, grow, and thrive. Almost a billion years later, the study of the evolutionary history of acritarchs began to bog down amid inconsistencies in the reporting of the diversity of species. Now, a Virginia Tech graduate student has devised a new way to study the ebb and flow of life in the Neoproterozoic and Early Cambrian ages, a period that includes two mass extinctions.

John Warren

At last! An excuse for those of us who take our work-related stress out on our family. Dr. Øyvind Øverli of the University of Oslo has discovered that dominant rainbow trout reduce their stress levels by venting their frustration on socially subordinate animals. Presenting his results at the annual SEB meeting in Edinburgh (29th March – 2nd April 2004, session A15.8), Dr. Øverli suggests that this method of stress reduction may be an evolutionarily conserved strategy, which may increase our understan