Tag: agriculture
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Iowa State Testing Bio-Oil Gasifier for Biofuels
Engineers at Iowa State University in Ames are testing a new machine that converts biomass to oil and then gas, for conversion to transportation and boiler fuels. The new bio-oil gasifier is part of a next-generation biofuels feasibility research project, funded by state and federal grants of nearly $1.5 million. The bio-oil gasifier uses a…
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Current Rice Cultivation Techniques Adding Greenhouse Gases
Researchers at Trinity College Dublin in Ireland, Northern Arizona University, and University of California in Davis found that increases in temperature and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are making rice agriculture a larger source of the greenhouse gas methane. The team’s findings appear online this week in the journal Nature Climate Change. Rice is the…
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Arcadia Biosciences to Develop Heat Tolerant Wheat
Agricultural technology company Arcadia Biosciences in Davis, California will develop heat-tolerant varieties of wheat under a $3.8 million grant from the U.S. Agency for International Development. The deal also involves the International Maize and Wheat Improvement Center (CIMMYT), which will share in the rights to the discoveries. Arcadia Biosciences says some 50 million acres of…
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Consortium to Develop Northeast U.S. Biofuels Supply Chains
Pennsylvania State University in University Park will lead a consortium of institutions, national labs, and companies to develop biofuel production and supply chain demonstration projects in the U.S. Northeast. The $10 million, five-year project is funded by the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Agriculture and Food Research Initiative. The Northeast Woody/Warm-season Biomass Consortium, or NEWBio, will…
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DNA Bar Codes Help Authenticate Natural Health Products
Researchers at University of Guelph in Ontario, Canada found DNA identification successfully verified a vast majority of natural health products sold in two North American cities. The study led by Mehrdad Hajibabaei, in Guelph’s integrative biology department and Biodiversity Institute of Ontario, appears online in the journal Food Research International (paid subscription required). Hajibabaei says…
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Study to Genetically Alter Algae for Faster Biofuel Output
Biochemists and engineers at Texas A&M AgriLife Research in College Station are researching the genetic characteristics of algae to produce a type of the organism that can quickly make fuel-grade oil in commercial quantities. The project that includes collaborators from Cornell University and Boyce Thompson Institute for Plant Research is funded by a $2 million…
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Biopharm, Monsanto to Partner on Agricultural Biotechnology
Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts and Monsanto Company in St. Louis, will collaborate on developing biotechnology applications in agriculture. The agreement has an immediate value to Alnylam of $29.2 million. The 10-year agreement gives Monsanto exclusive rights worldwide to use Alnylam’s platform technology and intellectual property in the field of agriculture. Alnylam is a…
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Effects Assessed of Manufactured Nanoparticles on Soybeans
Researchers from University of California in Santa Barbara found manufactured nanoparticles disposed after manufacturing or customer use can end up in agricultural soil and eventually affect soybean crops. Findings of the team that includes academic, government, and corporate researchers from elsewhere in California, Texas, Iowa, New York, and Korea appear online today in the Proceedings…
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New Fuel Cell Generates More Power from Wastewater
Ecological engineers at Oregon State University in Corvallis developed techniques that advance the use of wastewater from cities or factories to generate electricity. The findings of the team led by Hong Liu (pictured right), professor of biologicial and ecological engineering, appear in the journal Energy and Environmental Science; paid subscription required. Earlier microbial fuel cells…
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Technology Created to Remove Toxins from Edible Crop Plants
Researchers in Denmark, Spain, and Germany developed a method for keeping natural plant toxins out of edible parts of food and animal feed crops. The team led by University of Copenhagen plant biologist Barbara Ann Halkier reports its findings in this week’s issue of the journal Nature (paid subscription required). Halkier and colleagues studied glucosinolates,…