News by Subject Biology

Nitrogen from agricultural production is a major cause of pollution in the Mississippi River Basin and contributes to large dead zones in the Gulf of Mexico. Illinois and other Midwestern states have set goals to reduce nitrogen load through strategies that include different land management practices. A new study from University of Illinois researchers, published in Journal of Environmental Management, uses computer modeling to estimate how those practices may be affected by potential changes in the climate, such as increased rainfall.

Greenhouse gases may get more attention, but aerosols -- from car exhaust to volcanic eruptions -- also have a major impact on the Earth's climate. Using a massive NASA dataset, Yale researchers have created a framework that helps explain just how sensitive local temperatures are to aerosols.

Solutions found in nature should be our first line of defense against the increasing number of climate change-related natural disasters, say experts from the University of Surrey.

Chemists at Scripps Research have invented an efficient method for making a synthetic version of the plant compound bilobalide, which is naturally produced by gingko trees. It's a significant feat because bilobalide -- and closely related compounds -- hold potential commercial value as medicines and 'green' insecticides.

Recent attacks on 'grievance' studies have occasioned renewed attention to the politics of knowledge in the academy. In a wide-ranging survey, Mark Horowitz, William Yaworsky and Kenneth Kickham revisit some of anthropology's most sensitive controversies. Taking the field's temperature since the sweltry 'science wars' of the nineties, Horowitz and colleagues probe whether anthropology is still a house divided on questions of truth, justice and the American Anthropological Association.

Hydrologic models that simulate and predict water flow are used to estimate how natural systems respond to different scenarios such as changes in climate, land use, and soil management. The output from these models can inform policy and regulatory decisions regarding water and land management practices. Numerical models have become increasingly easy to employ with advances in computer technology and software with graphical user interface (GUI). While these technologies make the models more accessible, problems can arise if they are used by inexperienced modelers.

Liquid metal catalysts show great promise for capturing carbon and cleaning up pollutants, requiring so little energy they can even be created in the kitchen.