As a sensor sounded, scientist Akiko Takii hurried to a bear trap deep in the forests of Nagano, Japan, where rising nationwide attacks have sparked fear and the culling of thousands of the animals.
Separating things and then putting them back together is a common principle in industrial food production. Agricultural raw materials are broken down into their individual constituents, such as proteins, starches and fats, and the food industry then reassembles these building blocks into specific products. In many cases, not all of the harvested crop ends up in the food we eat. In some instances, byproducts are formed that must be reused outside the food industry. These processing steps can also lead to the loss of dietary fibers, vitamins and minerals in the finished product.
The universe has been having fewer and fewer stellar "babies." Over the past 4.5 billion years, the rate of star birth has crashed to less than half of what it once was. But here's the twist: the most essential "fuel" for making stars has barely decreased.
Just off one of New York's famed Hamptons beaches, shark researcher Greg Metzger reels in one of the day's prize catches: a young but powerful sand tiger shark.
Mount Sinabung on Indonesia erupted Monday, spewing a column of black ash and smoke 3,500 meters (11,482 feet) from the top of the mountain into the sky over Sumatra island.
Harvesting tall fescue above annual bluegrass seed heads could help reduce contamination and seed-cleaning costs. Preliminary Oregon research found that cutting at 28 centimeters (11 inches) rather than 5 centimeters (2 inches) reduced annual bluegrass collected with the crop without consistently reducing tall fescue seed yield.
Europe's water and climate resilience is under increasing pressure, with degraded soils, drained catchments and the loss of wetlands intensifying droughts and contributing to more destructive floods. In response, the EU-funded projects SpongeBoost, SpongeWorks and SpongeScapes have published a joint policy brief, "Achieving Better Implementation of EU Policies by Restoring the Sponge Function." The brief provides recommendations to strengthen Europe's water and climate resilience by restoring the natural sponge function of landscapes—the ability of soils, wetlands, forests and floodplains to absorb, store and slowly release water. Together, the three sister projects combine policy guidance, scientific evidence and real-world implementation to advance sponge landscapes across Europe.
The cost of playing community sports in Australia is far higher than previously understood, with a new national study led by Federation University finding families spend an average of $4,567 per child each year to keep their children playing sports.
Transitioning an aging perennial forage seed stand into annual cropping can be difficult, particularly when the original crop persists or weeds establish after termination. Preliminary Canadian research suggests cover crops could help by suppressing regrowth and weeds, retaining biomass and cycling nutrients.
High above the fields of the Morven Sustainability Lab, drones equipped with heat and light sensors are changing what it means to farm smarter. This month, researchers and students from the University of Virginia, NASA and the University at Buffalo tested drone technology by flying more than 100 feet (30 meters) above crops to measure plant health at UVA's 2,900-acre (1,170-hectare) research facility.
