News by Subject Agriculture

A study led by Indiana University suggests that computer models used to predict the spread of epidemics from climate change -- such as crop blights or disease outbreaks -- may not take into account an important factor in predicting their severity.

No species lasts forever, and, just as the saying goes, it seems like old species may get stuck in their ways and can't adapt to environmental change as fast as younger species do.

Microscopic plant-like organisms called phytoplankton support the diversity of life in the ocean. Scientists in Israel now report that one species, Emiliania huxleyi, and a virus closely associated with it, might be responsible for changes in cloud properties as well. When infected, E. huxleyi releases its chalky shell into the air, where it acts as an aerosol reflecting sunlight and even affecting cloud creation and movement. The research appears Aug. 15 in the journal iScience.

An aquarium fish that senses the Earth's magnetic field as it swims could help unlock how the human brain works and how diseases such as Parkinson's and other neurological disorders function. Michigan State University scientists are the first to discover a navigational gene in glass catfish called the electromagnetic-perceptive gene, or EPG, that responds to certain magnetic waves. They've already developed a way to use it to control movement in mice.

Fishing quotas have been decided using an inadequate method for decades, according to a Scientific Reports study. The same method has also been used to decide about culling, hunting quotas, or translocating threatened species. Analysing the nuclear genome of sardines shows previously unrecognised genetic differences between populations, which are not identified by the go-to-method for Isolation-By-Distance, mitochondrial DNA analysis.

A key ingredient of energy drinks could be exacerbating some of the negative effects of binge drinking according to a new study.

A new study has found that nearly half of fishers from seven countries had witnessed someone poaching in marine protected areas in the past year and most of them did nothing about it.