A study has found that patches of protected forest on oil palm plantations play an important role in helping to conserve endangered species including hornbill birds and dipterocarp trees. The study, led by the University of York, found that patches of protected forest play an important role in helping to conserve endangered species including hornbill…

According to a new study, if we take immediate measures to reduce CO2 emissions, we could limit the rise in the temperature of Swiss rivers to 1°C between now and 2090 without drastically affecting their discharge. Three scenarios Michel’s research lays out three possible scenarios that depend on whether greenhouse gas emissions are low, moderate…

With the early assessment of sustainable, newly developed chemicals and products it is possible to assess a potential risk of toxic substances being released at a later point in product cascades. In the course of the study the toxicity of sustainable biosurfactants, potentially applied in, e.g., bio-shampoos, and of a new technology for the economical…

A new study compares techniques in organic farming that influence soil health. Measuring changes in soil organic matter can be a challenge in intensively tilled soil that is used for vegetable production. Even in production systems with less soil disturbance, soil organic matter changes slowly. But, Eric Brennan and Veronica Acosta-Martinez are testing for soil…

California grape growers in coastal areas can use less water during times of drought and cut irrigation levels without affecting crop yields or quality, according to a new study. The findings, published today (Sept. 1) in the journal Frontiers in Plant Science, show that vineyards can use 50% of the irrigation water normally used by…

Abundant, safe, and environmentally friendly, tin sulfide is predicted to be used in next generation solar cell panels. Now, a research group has used impurity doping to fabricate n-type conductive tin sulfide thin films, paving the way for their use in solar cells. A research group led by Issei Suzuki and Sakiko Kawanishi, assistant professors…

Atmospheric scientists reveal details of the connection between a larger atmospheric phenomenon, termed the Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO), and the daily patterns of rainfall in the Maritime Continent. In a new study led by atmospheric scientist Giuseppe Torri at the University of Hawai’i (UH) at M?noa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), researchers…

An international research team developed a superionic conductor that negatively charged hydrogen, called hydride ions, diffuses fast. To better expedite hydrogen conductivity in the intermediate range, an international research team developed the first superionic conductor based on a negatively charged hydrogen atom, called a hydride ion. The team published their results, which produced superior conductivity…

Researchers, in a recent study, were surprised to learn that they could take the exact same number of seeds from the same plants, put them in agricultural fields across the Mid-Atlantic region and get profoundly different stands of cover crops a few months later. The study came to be known as «‘farm-tuning’ cover crop mixtures,»…

A new tool allows farmers to create a budget balance sheet of any nitrogen reduction plans and see the economic and environmental cost, return and margins, all customized to fields under their management. A new tool developed by a University of Minnesota research team allows farmers to create a budget balance sheet of any nitrogen…