Phys.org news
Phys.org / Crop production in 155 countries relies on forests in other nations, moisture flows reveal
Forests play a crucial role in providing precipitation to agricultural areas, importantly supporting crop production and global trade activities. A recent study published in Nature Water emphasizes that to manage global food ...
Phys.org / Plants under stress: How rye rearranges its genes
Researchers have gained new insights into the genetic basis of rye reproduction. They have demonstrated how plants recombine their genes and the extent to which this process is influenced by environmental factors such as ...
Phys.org / How silver iodide triggers ice formation at the atomic level
No one can control the weather, but certain clouds can be deliberately triggered to release rain or snow. The process, known as cloud seeding, typically involves dispersing small silver iodide particles from aircraft into ...
Phys.org / Life after death: How earthworms keep facilitating carbon capture
Earthworms don't stop shaping soil processes when they die. A new study shows they can still help store carbon in the soil, even after death. "This is quite surprising," says lead author Tullia Calogiuri. "Most of our knowledge ...
Phys.org / When speaking out feels risky: New study maps hidden dynamics of self-censorship
In an era when social media blurs the line between public and private speech, how do people decide whether to speak their minds or stay silent?
Phys.org / Engineered E. coli use direct, cell-to-cell contact to grow into new structures
Plant a seed and, if the conditions are right, the seed grows. The process seems simple enough at first glance and is something many of us may feel like we learned in elementary school.
Phys.org / Global study reveals soaring freshwater demand in material production
An international research team has published a study unveiling the hidden water footprint of materials such as steel, cement, paper, plastics, and rubber. The findings highlight alarming growth in freshwater consumption tied ...
Phys.org / Bacterial enzyme structure reveals new path for renewable plastic
Current demand for plastics and chemical raw materials is met through large-scale production of ethylene from fossil fuels. This makes it necessary to search for new, renewable processes. Using bacterial enzymes as catalysts ...
Phys.org / Indigenous fire sovereignty aims to bring 'fire regime' back to Native lands
There is a conceptual thread connecting Australia and Arizona—the places about which University of Kansas researcher Melinda Adams wrote in two recent scholarly journal articles—and the work she's been doing with the ...
Phys.org / Automated chloroplast screening platform speeds up crop trait development
Chloroplasts—the "light power plants" of plant cells—are increasingly the focus of synthetic biology. These organelles house the photosynthetic apparatus and host several metabolic pathways that are of great interest ...
Phys.org / Versatile gene-switch tool uses non-toxic molecule for safer research
Investigators at Weill Cornell Medicine have developed a versatile and non-toxic technology for controlling the activity of any gene in a cell. Such "gene-switch" tools allow scientists to "turn on" or "turn off" a target ...
Phys.org / Bacteria reveal hidden powers of electricity transfer
Microbes are masters of survival, evolving ingenious strategies to capture energy from their surroundings. For decades, scientists believed that only a handful of bacteria used specialized molecular "circuits" to shuttle ...
