Discovered a key mechanism in the plant defense against fungal infections

Each year, fungal infections destroy at least 125 million tons of the world’s five most important crops -rice, wheat, maize, soybeans and potatoes-, a quantity that could feed 600 million people. Fungi are not only a problem in the field, but also produce large losses in the post-harvest stage: during product storage, transport or in the consumer hands. Also, it should be noted that some fungi produce mycotoxins, substances capable of causing disease and death in both humans and animals. Farmers use fungicides to treat fungal infections, but these are not always 100% effective and, moreover, consumer demands pesticide-free products.

Turtles Die in Southern California Lake Following Drought and Fire

Almost all of the turtles living in a southern California lake died following a large fire and years of drought, according to a new U.S. Geological Survey report published in the journal Knowledge and Management of Aquatic Ecosystems.

U.S. had 2nd warmest year to date and 9th warmest March on record

As a transition between winter and spring in the U.S., March is the kind of month where just about any type of weather can happen. Coming off a very warm February 2017, many of us were tricked into thinking spring had arrived. However, an Arctic plunge of frigid air plowed into the nation’s midsection in mid-March, dashing hopes of an early spring and freezing plants as far south as Florida. 

Hubble Spots Auroras on Uranus

This is a composite image of Uranus by Voyager 2 and two different observations made by Hubble — one for the ring and one for the auroras.

Catastrophic 'anti-infestation' logging threatens US National Forests

A fresh wave of logging is hitting America's national forests, writes Brett Haverstick. But this time it's all for the sake of 'forest health' and 'fire prevention'. It might look like industrial clear-cutting to you and me, but really, it's in a good cause. And if the forests and precious ecosystems they harbor just happen to perish in the process ... well ain't that just too bad?

NASA Catches Tropical Cyclone Ernie Being Blown Apart

NASA's Aqua satellite provided a birds-eye view of Tropical Cyclone Ernie as it was being battered by strong vertical wind shear and torn apart.  

We all glow together— New study shows that three quarters of deep-sea animals make their own light

Ever since explorer William Beebe descended into the depths in a metal sphere in the 1930s, marine biologists have been astounded by the number and diversity of glowing animals in the ocean. Yet few studies have actually documented the numbers of glowing animals at different depths. In a new study in Scientific Reports, MBARI researchers Séverine Martini and Steve Haddock show that three quarters of the animals in Monterey Bay waters between the surface and 4,000 meters deep can produce their own light.

Plants have been helping to offset climate change, but now it's up to us

Plants are currently removing more CO2 from the air than they did 200 years ago, according to new work from Carnegie’s Joe Berry and led by J. Elliott Campbell of UC Merced. The team’s findings, which are published in Nature, affirm estimates used in models from the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.  

Plants take up carbon dioxide as part of the process of photosynthesis—a series of cellular reactions through which they transform the Sun’s energy into chemical energy for food. This research from Campbell, Berry, and their colleagues constructs a new history of global changes in photosynthetic activity.

Project Hotspot

In their study published in Lithosphere this week, James Kessler and colleagues examine the geology of a scientific borehole drilled into the Snake River Plain, Idaho, USA, to investigate the potential for geothermal energy at depth. The site discussed in this paper is on the Mountain Home Air Force Base, where a drillhole in 1984 indicated that geothermal fluids were present at about 1.8 km depth.

Scientists Link Recent California Droughts and Floods to Distinctive Atmospheric Waves

The crippling wintertime droughts that struck California from 2013 to 2015, as well as this year's unusually wet California winter, appear to be associated with the same phenomenon: a distinctive wave pattern that emerges in the upper atmosphere and circles the globe.

Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) found in a recent study that the persistent high-pressure ridge off the west coast of North America that blocked storms from coming onshore during the winters of 2013-14 and 2014-15 was associated with the wave pattern, which they call wavenumber-5. Follow-up work showed that wavenumber-5 emerged again this winter but with its high- and low-pressure features in a different position, allowing drenching storms from the Pacific to make landfall.