Environmental News Network

Melting bacteria to decipher antibiotic resistance

With antibiotic resistance spreading worldwide, there is a strong need for new technologies to study bacteria. EMBL researchers have adapted an existing technique to study the melting behaviour of proteins so that it can be used for the study of bacteria. Molecular Systems Biology published their results – allowing researchers worldwide to start using the technique – on July 6.

Nature’s antifreeze inspires revolutionary bacteria cryopreservation technique

The survival mechanisms of polar fish have led scientists at the University of Warwick to develop of a revolutionary approach to ‘freeze’ bacteria.

Active Atlantic hurricane eras come with a speed bump for storms that approach the U.S

The hurricane record from the Atlantic Ocean shows phases of high and low activity that can last several decades at a time.

Expansion of agricultural land reduces CO2 absorption

Climate change is heavily related to the increase of CO2 in the atmosphere. During photosynthesis, plants absorb some of the industrial CO2 emissions from the atmosphere, making them contribute significantly to climate protection. “The CO2 increase in the atmosphere is currently lower than to be expected from anthropogenic emissions,” says Professor Almut Arneth from the Institute of Meteorology and Climate Research – Atmospheric Environmental Research (IMK-IFU) at KIT Campus Alpin in Garmisch-Partenkirchen. 20 to 25 percent of the CO2 released by humans into the atmosphere is currently being absorbed by plants. “This effect curbs climate change; without it global warming would have progressed further by now,” the scientist says. “The question is whether it will stay this way in the next few decades.”

Biorefineries will have only minimal effects on wood products and feedstocks markets

A new report from researchers from IIASA, Luleå University of Technology (LTU), and RISE Research Institutes of Sweden has shown that more biorefineries, which produce biobased fuels and chemicals, will have only a small effect on the availability and pricing of wood products and feedstocks.