With extra sugar, leaves get fat too.

With extra sugar, leaves get fat too.Scientists tip balance of plant metabolism to increase oil content in leaves with aim of making biofuels and related useful chemicals. Eat too much without exercising and you'll probably put on a few pounds and plant leaves do something similar. A new study shows that retaining sugars in plant leaves can make them get fat too. In plants, this extra fat accumulation could be a good thing. It could help turn plants into factories for making biofuels and other useful chemicals.

Olive mill wastewater transformed: From pollutant to bio-fertilizer, biofuel.

Olive mill wastewater transformed: From pollutant to bio-fertilizer, biofuel. Olive oil has long been a popular kitchen staple. Yet producing the oil creates a vast stream of wastewater that can foul waterways, reduce soil fertility and trigger extensive damage to nearby ecosystems. Now scientists report on the development of an environmentally friendly process that could transform this pollutant into 'green' biofuel, bio-fertilizer and safe water for use in agricultural irrigation. During processing, olives are crushed and mixed with water in mills. The oil is separated out of this mixture, and the dirty water and solid residue are discarded. In Mediterranean countries, where 97 percent of the world's olive oil is produced, olive mills generate almost 8 billion gallons of this wastewater annually. Disposing of it has become problematic. Dumping it into rivers and streams can potentially contaminate drinking water and harm aquatic life. Pumping it onto farm land damages the soil and reduces crop yields. Some researchers have tried burning the wastewater with mixtures of solid waste from the mills or waste wood. But these approaches have either been too costly or have produced excessive air pollution. Mejdi Jeguirim and colleagues took a different approach. They wanted to see if they could convert olive mill wastewater (OMW) from a pollutant into sustainable products for practical use.

New report gives the lay of the land on grazing livestock's climate impact.

New report gives the lay of the land on grazing livestock's climate impact.An international research collaboration has shed light on the impact that grass-fed animals have on climate change. Its new study adds clarity to the debate around livestock farming and meat and dairy consumption. The newly published report dissects claims made by different stakeholders in the debate about so called 'grass-fed' beef, the greenhouse gases the animals emit, and the possibility that, through their grazing actions, they can help remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere. It evaluates these claims and counterclaims against the best available science, providing an authoritative and evidence-based answer to the question: Is grass-fed beef good or bad for the climate? "Grazed and Confused? Ruminating on cattle, grazing systems, methane, nitrous oxide, the soil carbon sequestration question -- and what it all means for greenhouse gas emissions" is written by Dr Tara Garnett of the Food Climate Research Network at the University of Oxford, Cécile Godde at Australia's national science agency the CSIRO and a team of international experts. The report finds that while grazing of grass-fed animals can boost the sequestration of carbon in some locally specific circumstances, that effect is time-limited, reversible, and at the global level, substantially outweighed by the greenhouse gas emissions they generate. more

Faster Salmonella test boosts food safety for humans and animals.

Faster Salmonella test boosts food safety for humans and animals. A new test allows accurate, rapid testing for Salmonella, a bacteria that is one of the leading causes of food-borne illness across all regions of the world. Salmonella can infect animals as well as people, with commonly reported cases of people falling sick after handling pets and livestock.A new test allows accurate, rapid testing for Salmonella, a bacteria that is one of the leading causes of food-borne illness across all regions of the world. Tests that used to take days now take 24 hours, with a hundredfold improvement in detection for at least one type of Salmonella -- called Salmonella Dublin -- that is an emerging concern and is difficult to grow in culture, making diagnosis difficult. The new method, first developed for automated food safety testing and then adapted by Cornell scientists for a wider range of sample types, can detect the bacteria from environmental and clinical samples, including swabs, feces, milk and blood. more

Women who get frequent UTIs may reduce risk by drinking plenty of water.

Women who get frequent UTIs may reduce risk by drinking plenty of water.Women who suffer from recurrent urinary tract infections may reduce their risk by drinking more water, according to a new study. Drinking an additional three pints of water a day may keep the urinary tract infection (UTI) away -- at least for women who are prone. Women are more likely to get UTIs than men in part because the urethra is shorter, meaning it is easier for bacteria to travel from the rectum and vagina to the bladder. Drinking more fluids increases the rate of flushing of bacteria from the bladder and also likely reduces the concentration of bacteria that enter the bladder from the vagina. This reduces the opportunities for bacteria to attach to cells that line the urinary tract, which is necessary to cause an infection. see

Smartphone-controlled smart bandage for better, faster healing.

Smartphone-controlled smart bandage for better, faster healing. Researchers from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Harvard Medical School and MIT have designed a smart bandage that could eventually heal chronic wounds or battlefield injuries with every fiber of its being. The bandage consists of electrically conductive fibers coated in a gel that can be individually loaded with infection-fighting antibiotics, tissue-regenerating growth factors, painkillers or other medications. A microcontroller no larger than a postage stamp, which could be triggered by a smartphone or other wireless device, sends small amounts of voltage through a chosen fiber. That voltage heats the fiber and its hydrogel, releasing whatever cargo it contains.more

Palm oil boosts world food prices: FAO

Palm oil boosts world food prices: FAO. World food prices rose slightly last month driven by higher vegetable oils prices, and palm oil in particular, according to the UN's Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO).