There may be new hope for people who don't want potentially-harmful preservatives in their food, yet who still want it to have a decent shelf life. Scientists in Singapore have developed a plant-based food preservative, which they claim is actually more effective than its artificial counterparts.
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Containment measures are in development to keep GMOs from escaping and potentially disrupting natural ecosystems. To that end, researchers have now conducted a multi-year study using GMO poplar trees and found that engineering them to be sexually sterile is an effective containment measure.
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Nitrogen is a vital nutrient for plants, but they can't pull it out of the air, hence the need for artificial fertilizer. But now, researchers have engineered bacteria that can efficiently suck nitrogen out of the air, and the long-term goal is to develop crops that can do the same.
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Vo Trong Nghia Architects has long professed a desire to add more greenery to Vietnam's cities and this is reflected with its latest project, the Chicland Hotel. The extraordinary building will be almost completely covered in vegetation and squeezed into an awkward plot near the coast in Da Nang.
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Although it's associated with nasty cigarettes, the tobacco plant is also a potential source of vaccines, biofuel and antibiotics. Now, a chemical from the plant is also being used as a bug repellent for crops, which could replace eco-unfriendly insecticides.
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This year’s ESF list of the top new species discovered over the past 12 months features a bizarre beetle that lives undercover among ants, a fish living deeper in the ocean than ever thought possible, and a previously undiscovered single-celled organism found in an aquarium in California.
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The Pleistocene Park project is aiming to rebuild a lost Ice Age ecosystem in Siberia, and its directors, Sergey and Nikita Zimov, say it could help slow the effects of climate change. Now, the initiative is running a crowdfunding campaign to help transport a new herd of animals to the park.
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Deposits of arsenic naturally occurring in the ground and bedrock can contaminate water as a result of mining operations. But now researchers in Sweden have identified a moss that can quickly remove the harmful substance and make the water safe to drink.
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Another day, another new use for graphene. This two-dimensional form of carbon is strong, flexible and a great conductor. Now the overachieving wonder material has been put to work in the garden, as Australian researchers have used it as an effective slow-release carrier for fertilizer.
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In many parts of the world, the daffodil is a symbol of hope in the fight against cancer, but now the flower could take on a more proactive role. Researchers at ULB have found that an alkaloid extracted from daffodils can help shut down the “nanomachines” that tumors exploit to grow out of control.
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