Top Stories

AgriLife Research Study: Winter Wheat Feasible Cover Crop for Rolling Plains Cotton

Interest in using cover crops to improve soil health continues to grow in the Texas Rolling Plains region, but the nagging concern of reductions in soil moisture and effects on yields of subsequent cash crops still exists.

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Mexico's Yucatan Peninsula Reveals a Cryptic Methane-Fueled Ecosystem

In the underground rivers and flooded caves of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula, where Mayan lore described a fantastical underworld, scientists have found a cryptic world in its own right.

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Turning emissions into fuel

MIT researchers have developed a new system that could potentially be used for converting power plant emissions of carbon dioxide into useful fuels for cars, trucks, and planes, as well as into chemical feedstocks for a wide variety of products.

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In Harm's Way

How safe is the water you drink? For the 45 million Americans who get their drinking water from private groundwater wells rather than a public utility, the answer is decidedly murky. The Environmental Protection Agency regulations that protect public drinking water systems don’t apply to privately owned wells, leaving owners responsible for ensuring their water is safe from contaminants.

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Maize pest exploits plant defense compounds to protect itself

The western corn rootworm continues to be on the rise in Europe. Why attempts to biologically target this crop pest by applying entomopathogenic nematodes have failed, can now be explained by the amazing defense strategy of this insect. In their new study, scientists from the University of Bern, Switzerland, and the Max Planck Institute for Chemical Ecology in Jena, Germany, show that the rootworm larvae are able to sequester plant defense compounds from maize roots in a non-toxic form and can activate the toxins whenever they need them to protect themselves against their own enemies. (eLife, November 2017, DOI: 10.7554/eLife.29307.001)

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Dark Ocean Bacteria Discovered to Play Large Role in Carbon Capture

Marine bacteria that live in the dark depths of the ocean play a newly discovered and significant role in the global carbon cycle, according to a new study published in Science.

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Breakthrough in tornado short-term forecasting could mean earlier, more accurate warnings

When mere seconds of storm warning could mean the difference between harm or safety, two researchers with Western University ties have developed a tornado-prediction method they say could buy as much as 20 minutes more warning time.

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SMU seismology research shows North Texas earthquakes occurring on “dead” faults

Study by Beatrice Magnani, USGS and other SMU scientists shows recent seismicity in Fort Worth Basin occurred on faults not active for 300 million years.

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Fear of Sharks Influences Seaweed Growth on Fijian Coral Reefs

Fishes’ fear of sharks helps shape shallow reef habitats in the Pacific, according to new research by a scientist at Bigelow Laboratory for Ocean Sciences.

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New Technique Can Detect Impurities in Ground Beef Within Minutes

Researchers at the University of British Columbia have found a better way to identify unwanted animal products in ground beef.

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