Microbial breakthrough impacts health, agriculture, biofuels
For the first time ever, University of Illinois researchers have discovered how microbes break down hemicellulose plant matter into simple sugars using a cow rumen bacterium as a model.
View ArticleWake up and smell the willow
More plant matter could be burned in coal-fired power stations if this 'green' fuel was delivered pre-roasted like coffee beans, according to researchers from the University of Leeds, UK.
View ArticleHow now, inside the cow: Nearly 30,000 novel enzymes for biofuel production...
Cows eat grass -- this has been observed for eons. From this fibrous diet consisting mainly of the tough to degrade plant cell wall materials cellulose and hemicellulose, substances of no nutritional...
View ArticlePutting the 'fuel' in biofuels
(PhysOrg.com) -- Recent discussions of methods by which biomass -- grasses, trees, and other vegetation -- could be turned into fuel makes a lot of sense in theory. Plant matter is composed of...
View ArticleVermont capital residents OK wood-heating system
(AP) -- Vermont's capital city is going ahead with a plan to expand state government's wood-fired heating system into city schools and government buildings.
View ArticleWith secondhand gene, 'freaky mouse' defeats common poison
Over millennia, mice have thrived despite humanity's efforts to keep them at bay. A Rice University scientist argues some mice have found two ways to achieve a single goal -- resistance to common poison.
View ArticleCows may hold the key to greener fuels
Scientists in Scotland are turning to cows and the tiny organisms and enzymes found in their stomachs for a potential way to create industrial products such as biofuels from plant waste and plan to...
View ArticleA new catalyst for ethanol made from biomass
Researchers in the Pacific Northwest have developed a new catalyst material that could replace chemicals currently derived from petroleum and be the basis for more environmentally friendly products...
View ArticleCracking cellulose: a step into the biofuels future
Scientists from the University of York have played a pivotal role in a discovery which could finally unlock the full potential of waste plant matter to replace oil as a fuel source.
View ArticleOrange peels could be made into biodegradable plastic
Plastic waste is one of the worst forms of trash because it takes so long to degrade, thus overflowing our landfills and polluting our oceans and waterways. But what if we could make plastic from a...
View ArticleTaking biofuel from forest to highway
The world is moving from a hydrocarbon economy to a carbohydrate economy, according to University of British Columbia biofuel expert Jack Saddler. He is presenting his work at the 2012 Annual Meeting...
View ArticleBacteria tend leafcutter ants' gardens
(PhysOrg.com) -- Leafcutter ants, the tiny red dots known for carrying green leaves as they march through tropical forests, are also talented farmers that cultivate gardens of fungi and bacteria. Ants...
View ArticleItalian super-eruption larger than thought
Recent research suggested that the super-eruption of the Campi Flegrei caldera volcano in southern Italy about 40,000 years ago may have played a part in wiping out, or forcing the migration of, the...
View ArticleMathematical model reveals commonality within the diversity of leaf decay
The colorful leaves piling up in your backyard this fall can be thought of as natural stores of carbon. In the springtime, leaves soak up carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, converting the gas into...
View Article'One-pot' industrial process for manufacturing high yields of artificial...
Most industrial manufacturing processes involve the use of many different reagents across multiple reactors—an approach that is costly, laborious, time-consuming and environmentally unfriendly....
View ArticleWaste plant materials remaining from palm oil extraction processes can now be...
Palm oil extraction annually produces approximately 13 million tons of waste plant matter. Some of this by-product, known as empty fruit bunch (EFB), is currently incinerated to produce heat and...
View ArticleNew protein probes find enzymes for biofuel production
New protein probes are now helping scientists find the best biomass-to-biofuel production enzymes that nature has to offer. Turning biomass into biofuel hinges on the breakdown of the energy-rich...
View ArticleA T-Rex of an idea: Dinosaur milk?
(Phys.org)—Did dinosaurs lactate? It's a question physiology expert Professor Paul Else has been pondering for years –15 years in fact.
View ArticleHuge, aggressive mosquito may be abundant in Florida this summer, expert warns
If mosquitoes were motorcycles, the species known as Psorophora ciliata would be a Harley-Davidson—big, bold, American-made and likely to be abundant in Florida this summer.
View ArticleScientists improve transgenic 'Enviropigs'
A research team at the University of Guelph has developed a new line of transgenic "Enviropigs." The new line of pigs is called the Cassie line, and it is known for passing genes on more reliably. The...
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