Results of the first human clinical studies confirm that a new yogurt fights the bacteria that cause gastritis and stomach ulcers with what researchers describe as almost vaccine-like effects. The new yogurt is part of a growing “functional food” market that generates $60 billion in sales annually. The yogurt is currently on store shelves in Japan, Korea, and Taiwan. The new study opens the door to possible arrival of the product in Canada and the US, say researchers.
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Warmer ocean temperatures could mean dramatic shifts in the structure of underwater food webs and the abundance of marine life, according to a new study. Until now, little has been known about how changes in temperatures might affect the total productivity and growth of all marine consumers (such as animals, fungi and bacteria) relative to their prey (including algae and plants).
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As gas prices continue to soar, motorists are crying out for less expensive alternatives that will allow them to stay in their cars. Now, scientists from the U.S. Department of Energy are answering that call with key scientific research that is working to chemically manipulate algae for the production of the next generation of renewable fuels – hydrogen gas to be used in the new hydrogen fuel cells.
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Wind energy may be one of the fastest growing sectors of the energy industry as energy utilities try to minimize their reliance on fossil fuels. However, this “green-energy” industry is not without its own environmental consequences. Researchers say that nocturnally active birds and bats have increasingly become prey to these large wind turbines, yet little guidance can be found for assessing the impacts of wind energy on the birds until now.
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A five-year, $8.8 million pilot project to examine whether seeding clouds with silver iodide produces a measurable increase in snowfall has started in the US. The test area is the skies over Wyoming’s Medicine Bow, Sierra Madre, and Wind River mountain ranges and involves intensive observations of Wyoming snow clouds. Scientists from the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) designed the experiment to evaluate a technique that has been mired in controversy for decades.
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Worldwide emissions of carbon dioxide from fossil fuel burning are dramatically altering ocean chemistry and threatening marine organisms, including corals that secrete skeletal structures and support oceanic biodiversity. A recent report summarizes the known effects of increased atmospheric carbon dioxide on these organisms, and recommends future research to determine the extent of the impacts. “It is clear that seawater chemistry will change in coming in ways that will dramatically alter marine life,” says the report’s lead author. Others look to the ocean as a huge carbon storage sink (countering the negative effects of higher levels of atmospheric carbon dioxide).
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“The dramatic rise of China and India presents one of the gravest threats and greatest opportunities facing the world today,” says the Worldwatch Institute in its State of the World report. The choices these countries make in the next few years will lead the world either towards a future beset by growing ecological and political instability, or down a development path based on efficient technologies and better stewardship of resources.
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As Canada, the United States and other countries look to crops as possible future sources of energy, some researchers are calling for caution, citing the possibility of some biofuel crops becoming invasive species. The scientists argue that before these crops are widely planted, further ecological studies of biofuel crops are needed. Biofuels (derived from processing these crops) are looked at by many environmentalists as a way to reduce our reliance on non-renewable oil and gasoline.
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As the human race exerts greater influence on the Earth, our preferences may play a greater role in determining which other species survive, say scientists. New research shows that, in some cases, these preferences may be influenced by subtle factors such as small colour highlights. In the case of penguins, the species most popular with humans appear to be the ones displaying markings of warm colors such as red, orange or intense yellow, said a conservation biologist. The more popular a species is, the more likely it will garner human support for its survival.
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New biofuels technology has the potential to turn virtually any fat (including oils from animal fat or from algae) into fuel to power jet airplanes. The technology is said to be 100 percent green as no petroleum-derived products are added to the process. The technology can also be used to make additives for cold-weather biodiesel.
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