Latest and Breaking Agriculture News

Test-tube calf embryos more likely to survive Texas summers
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Texas A&M AgriLife Communications) Texas AgriLife researchers have found that embryo transfer can double dairy cow pregnancy rates during the summer and increase the number of heifers born as compared with conventional artificial insemination commonly used on dairy farms. They believe this method could save dairies in Texas and throughout the country considerable money.

New climate change mitigation schemes could benefit elites rather than the rural poor
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Burness Communications) With governments across Latin America preparing to implement a new financial mechanism aimed at mitigating climate change by curbing carbon emissions from the destruction of tropical forests, experts gathering here today warned against a "one-size-fits-all" approach, calling instead for flexible, balanced solutions to the thorny dilemmas surrounding this new mechanism. Among the experts' chief worries is that the wealthy and powerful could capture many of the benefits, largely at the expense of rural communities, including indigenous groups.

Edible nanostructures
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Northwestern University) Sugar, salt, alcohol and a little serendipity led Northwestern University researchers to discover a new class of nanostructures that could be used for gas storage and food and medical technologies. And the compounds are edible. The porous crystals are the first known all-natural metal-organic frameworks (MOFs) that are simple to make. Most other MOFs are made from petroleum-based ingredients, but the Northwestern MOFs you can pop into your mouth and eat, and the researchers have.

Carnegie Mellon hosting first conference to explore scientific use of gigapixel imagery
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Carnegie Mellon University) Scientists who are pioneering the use of gigapixel imagery will discuss how they are leveraging this new technology Nov. 11-13 at the first Fine International Conference on Gigapixel Imaging for Science, hosted by Carnegie Mellon University. The deadline for early conference registration is Sept. 13.

Ancient brew masters tapped antibiotic secrets
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Emory University) A chemical analysis of the bones of ancient Nubians shows that they were regularly consuming tetracycline, most likely in their beer. The finding is the strongest evidence yet that the art of making antibiotics, which officially dates to the discovery of penicillin in 1928, was common practice nearly 2,000 years ago. The Emory University study finds that it's likely this prehistoric population was using empirical evidence to develop therapeutic agents.

New method successfully predicted how oil from Deepwater Horizon spill would spread
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(University of California - Santa Barbara) Prompted by the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, a UC Santa Barbara scientist has come up with a new way of predicting how contaminants like oil will spread. He was able to forecast several days in advance that oil from that spill would wash ashore in particular parts of the Gulf of Mexico.

Water management and malnutrition crucial issues at McGill food conference
2 September 2010, 4:00 am
(McGill University) Water management and malnutrition are the two key threats to food security that will be discussed at the Third McGill Conference on Global Food Security, to be held Oct. 19-21, 2010, in Montreal.

Study finds commercial organic farms have better fruit and soil, lower environmental impact
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Washington State University) Side-by-side comparisons of organic and conventional strawberry farms and their fruit found the organic farms produced more flavorful and nutritious berries while leaving the soil healthier and more genetically diverse.The study is among the most comprehensive of its kind, analyzing 31 chemical and biological soil properties, soil DNA, and the taste, nutrition and quality of three strawberry varieties on more than two dozen commercial fields -- 13 conventional and 13 organic.

Snail mail beats phones to help feds sustain ample fish stocks in US coastal waters
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(Southern Methodist University) Snail mail might be the answer to help federal officials protect US coastal waters from overfishing. Anglers say the feds currently rely on questionable data from a home phone survey to calculate recreational fishing volume and decide which locales to place off limits so stocks can rebuild. A new study found a snail mail survey netted a higher response rate and more complete data, says statistician Lynne Stokes, Southern Methodist University, Dallas.

New evidence that fat cells are not just dormant storage depots for calories
1 September 2010, 4:00 am
(American Chemical Society) Scientists are reporting new evidence that the fat tissue in those lower belly pooches -- far from being a dormant storage depot for surplus calories -- is an active organ that sends chemical signals to other parts of the body, perhaps increasing the risk of heart attacks, cancer, and other diseases. They are reporting discovery of 20 new hormones and other substances not previously known to be secreted into the blood by human fat cells and verification that fat secretes dozens of hormones and other chemical messengers.