http://phys.org/ en-us Phys.org internet news portal provides the latest news on science including: Physics, Nanotechnology, Life Sciences, Space Science, Earth Science, Environment, Health and Medicine. Along with photosynthesis, the plant cell wall is one of the features that most set plants apart from animals. A structural molecule called cellulose is necessary for the manufacture of these walls. Cellulose is synthesized in a semi-crystalline state that is essential for its function in the cell wall function, but the mechanisms controlling its crystallinity are poorly understood. New research from a team including current and former Carnegie scientists David Ehrhardt (Carnegie), Ryan Gutierrez (Carnegie), Chris Somerville (U.C. Berkeley), Seth Debolt (U. Kentucky), Dario Bonetta (U. Ontario) and Jose Estevez (U. de Buenos Aires) reveals key information about this process, as well as a means to reduce cellulose crystallinity, which is a key stumbling block in biofuels development. Their work is published online by Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences for the week of February 20-24. http://phys.org/news249050626.html Biology Tue, 21 Feb 2012 12:43:56 EST news249050626 Firefighters reported progress Wednesday in bringing under control wildfires in southern Chile that have destroyed about 45,000 hectares (112,000 acres) as a special prosecutor began investigating the source of the blazes. http://phys.org/news244915150.html Space & Earth Wed, 04 Jan 2012 16:10:01 EST news244915150 If all the UK's discarded wrapping paper and Christmas cards were collected and fermented, they could make enough biofuel to run a double-decker bus to the moon and back more than 20 times, according to the researchers behind a new scientific study. http://phys.org/news243856771.html Technology Fri, 23 Dec 2011 09:59:42 EST news243856771 (PhysOrg.com) -- A method developed at Aalto University in Finland makes it possible to use microbes to produce butanol suitable for biofuel and other industrial chemicals from wood biomass. Butanol is particularly suited as a transport fuel because it is not water soluble and has higher energy content than ethanol. http://phys.org/news243502944.html Chemistry Mon, 19 Dec 2011 07:42:37 EST news243502944 Concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs) on industrial animal factories can stink up an entire county, due to ammonia, and a smorgasbord of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Jeppe Lund Nielsen of Aalborg University, Aalborg, Denmark, et al. report that biofiltration with microbial filters can remove most of the butyric acid, dimethyl disulfide, and ammonia from the exhaust air, along with other smelly compounds. The research is published in the December 2011 issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. http://phys.org/news243246101.html Biology Fri, 16 Dec 2011 08:50:01 EST news243246101 Japanese electronics giant Sony on Thursday revealed technology that generates electricity from shredded paper. http://phys.org/news243148794.html Technology Thu, 15 Dec 2011 05:20:06 EST news243148794 A milestone has been reached on the road to developing advanced biofuels that can replace gasoline, diesel and jet fuels with a domestically-produced clean, green, renewable alternative. http://phys.org/news241796397.html Biology Tue, 29 Nov 2011 13:40:07 EST news241796397 (PhysOrg.com) -- The mast from a classic racing yacht and samples from a Forestry Commission breeding trial have played a key role in the search for sustainable biofuels. http://phys.org/news241438975.html Biology Fri, 25 Nov 2011 10:23:47 EST news241438975 Taking a cue from Mother Nature, researchers at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center have undertaken a first-of-its-kind study of a naturally occurring phenomenon in trees to spur the development of more efficient bioenergy crops. http://phys.org/news238776116.html Technology Tue, 25 Oct 2011 15:42:09 EST news238776116 (PhysOrg.com) -- Not all parts of a corn stalk are equal, and they shouldn't be treated that way when creating cellulosic ethanol, say Purdue University researchers. http://phys.org/news238768136.html Biology Tue, 25 Oct 2011 13:29:09 EST news238768136 (PhysOrg.com) -- DNA and protein sequencing have forever transformed science, medicine, and society. Understanding the structure of these complex biomolecules has revolutionized drug development, medical diagnostics, forensic science, and our understanding of evolution and development. But, one major molecule in the biological triumvirate has remained largely uncharted: carbohydrate biopolymers. http://phys.org/news237553399.html Chemistry Tue, 11 Oct 2011 12:03:30 EST news237553399 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 recycled, natural, biodegradable source? http://phys.org/news236271564.html Chemistry Mon, 26 Sep 2011 15:59:41 EST news236271564 Adding a pretreatment step would allow producers to get more ethanol from switchgrass harvested in the fall, according to a Purdue University study. http://phys.org/news234014482.html Biology Wed, 31 Aug 2011 13:01:36 EST news234014482 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. http://phys.org/news234009451.html Chemistry Wed, 31 Aug 2011 11:38:02 EST news234009451 Preliminary research at Kansas State University may make a difference one day at the gas pump. http://phys.org/news233325126.html Chemistry Tue, 23 Aug 2011 13:33:55 EST news233325126 Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy's Los Alamos National Laboratory and Great Lakes Bioenergy Research Center have found a potential key for unlocking the energy potential from non-edible biomass materials such as corn leaves and stalks, or switch grass. http://phys.org/news230374562.html Biology Wed, 20 Jul 2011 09:56:16 EST news230374562 The microbial flora of the termite gut are necessary both for cellulose digestion and normal reproduction, and feeding the insects antibiotics can interfere in these processes, according to a paper in the July issue of the journal Applied and Environmental Microbiology. http://phys.org/news230288122.html Biology Tue, 19 Jul 2011 09:55:30 EST news230288122 Feared by realtors and homeowners alike, dry rot due to the fungus Serpula lacrymans causes millions of dollars worth of damage to homes and buildings around the world. This brown rot fungus' capacity to break down the cellulose in wood led to its selection for sequencing by the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) Joint Genome Institute (JGI) in 2007, with the goal of identifying the enzymes involved in the degradation process and using the information to improve cellulosic biofuels production. http://phys.org/news229871705.html Biology Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:15:25 EST news229871705 Plants have neither supportive bone tissue nor muscles, and yet they can form rigid structures like stalks and even tree trunks. This is due to the fact that plant cells are enveloped by a stable cell wall. The main component of the plant cell wall is cellulose, which represents almost 50 percent of the total cell wall material and, at one billion tonnes per year, is the most frequently produced macromolecule in nature. http://phys.org/news229870323.html Biology Thu, 14 Jul 2011 14:00:05 EST news229870323 (PhysOrg.com) -- Two professors from the University of Illinois; one specializing in materials science, the other in electrical engineering, have combined their talents to take the idea of printing circuits onto non-standard materials one step further by developing a conductive ink that can be used in a traditional rollerball ink pen to draw circuits by hand onto paper and other porous materials. In their paper published in Advanced Materials, team leads Jennifer Lewis, Jennifer Bernhard and colleagues describe how they were able to make a type of ink from silver nanoparticles that would remain a liquid while in the pen, but would dry like regular ink once applied. The pen could was then used to draw a functioning LCD display and an antenna. http://phys.org/news228481557.html Nanotechnology Tue, 28 Jun 2011 12:06:46 EST news228481557 Ionic liquids have emerged as promising new solvents capable of disrupting the cellulose crystalline structure in a wide range of biomass feedstocks. http://phys.org/news228122288.html Chemistry Fri, 24 Jun 2011 08:20:00 EST news228122288 (PhysOrg.com) -- For the past several years, Montreal-based company Enerkem has been working on a way to make ethanol from old utility poles and household garbage. Earlier this week, the company announced that they have received $60 million in new financing from the major independent oil refiner Valero and the trash-hauling company Waste Management. Total investment in Enerkem is now $130 million. http://phys.org/news226324960.html Technology Fri, 03 Jun 2011 13:02:59 EST news226324960 An international research group headed by Professor and Research Director Yrjo Helariutta has discovered the genetic process that controls the development of wood cells in the roots of plants. Wood is the vascular tissue that transports water and nutrients upward from the root, also contributing to the formation of the woody element in the stem. The work, published in the online version of the prestigious Current Biology journal, presents a potential method for engineering plants to produce more wood. http://phys.org/news226054603.html Biology Tue, 31 May 2011 09:56:54 EST news226054603 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new Cornell cloth that can selectively trap noxious gases and odors has been fashioned by a senior into a mask and hooded shirts inspired by the military. http://phys.org/news221890830.html Chemistry Wed, 13 Apr 2011 05:21:28 EST news221890830 Nanoscale whiskers from sea creatures could grow human muscle tissue http://phys.org/news219069843.html Nanotechnology Fri, 11 Mar 2011 12:44:18 EST news219069843 In the quest for inexpensive biofuels, cellulose proved no match for a bioprocessing strategy and genetically engineered microbe developed by researchers at the Department of Energy's BioEnergy Science Center. http://phys.org/news218721227.html Biology Mon, 07 Mar 2011 11:54:17 EST news218721227 Food versus fuel -- this rivalry is gaining significance against a backdrop of increasingly scarce farmland and a concurrent trend towards the use of bio-fuels. Researchers at the Technische Universitaet Muenchen (TUM) are helping to resolve this rivalry: They are working to effectively utilize residual field crop material – which has been difficult to use thus far – for the industrial production of bio-ethanol. They took a closer look at bacteria that transform cellulose into sugar, thereby increasing the energy yield from plants utilized. If this approach works, both bread and bio-fuel could come from the same harvest in the future. http://phys.org/news215954699.html Biology Thu, 03 Feb 2011 11:25:15 EST news215954699 You can eat all you want and not gain a gram, Polish academic Joanna Harasym promises of her freshly patented zero-calorie buckwheat hull wafers which are also gluten-free and rich in antioxidants. http://phys.org/news213957326.html Medicine & Health Tue, 11 Jan 2011 08:35:40 EST news213957326 A newly engineered yeast strain can simultaneously consume two types of sugar from plants to produce ethanol, researchers report. The sugars are glucose, a six-carbon sugar that is relatively easy to ferment; and xylose, a five-carbon sugar that has been much more difficult to utilize in ethanol production. The new strain, made by combining, optimizing and adding to earlier advances, reduces or eliminates several major inefficiencies associated with current biofuel production methods. http://phys.org/news212686748.html Biology Mon, 27 Dec 2010 15:39:43 EST news212686748 Dutch researcher Jean-Paul Meijnen has 'trained' bacteria to convert all the main sugars in vegetable, fruit and garden waste efficiently into high-quality environmentally friendly products such as bioplastics. http://phys.org/news209385500.html Biology Fri, 19 Nov 2010 10:38:37 EST news209385500