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. A natural remedy that delays and reduces the severity of mastitis infection in dairy cattle is being investigated by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). http://phys.org/news259311622.html Biology Tue, 19 Jun 2012 08:01:36 EST news259311622 (Phys.org) -- Reducing phosphorus in dairy diets doesn’t change a cow’s productivity, but it does affect the environmental impact that cow might have, according to a Texas AgriLife Extension Service specialist. http://phys.org/news258276853.html Space & Earth Thu, 07 Jun 2012 08:50:01 EST news258276853 Sauropod dinosaurs could in principle have produced enough of the greenhouse gas methane to warm the climate many millions of years ago, at a time when the Earth was warm and wet. That's according to calculations reported in the May 8th issue of Current Biology, a Cell Press publication. http://phys.org/news255601507.html Space & Earth Mon, 07 May 2012 09:25:14 EST news255601507 The feeding habits of mammals haven't always been what they are today, particularly for omnivores, finds a new study. http://phys.org/news253808912.html Biology Mon, 16 Apr 2012 15:29:00 EST news253808912 (Phys.org) -- Putting cows, sheep and other livestock into forests to graze could prove to be a valuable tool for New York woodland management, say Cornell Cooperative Extension (CCE) agriculture educators and colleagues in the Cornell Forestry Program. http://phys.org/news253259371.html Space & Earth Tue, 10 Apr 2012 07:00:01 EST news253259371 (PhysOrg.com) -- Dairy farmers could see a boost in milk production, thanks to a new alfalfa variety to be released by Cornell's world-class plant breeders. http://phys.org/news252142113.html Biology Wed, 28 Mar 2012 08:28:42 EST news252142113 Australia Friday vowed to investigate claims that turtles and the threatened dugong are being killed to feed an illegal meat trade after images of an animal being butchered alive sparked new concerns. http://phys.org/news250489793.html Biology Fri, 09 Mar 2012 04:30:40 EST news250489793 (PhysOrg.com) -- A new report has found dozens of cases of illness, death and reproductive issues in cows, horses, goats, llamas, chickens, dogs, cats, fish and other wildlife, and humans. It says these conditions could be the result of exposure to gas drilling operations. http://phys.org/news250409243.html Space & Earth Thu, 08 Mar 2012 06:20:04 EST news250409243 A smart collar which closely monitors the health of cows and sends the results back to farmers using mobile phone technology is being developed as part of a three-year-project co-funded by the Technology Strategy Board. http://phys.org/news249045722.html Biology Tue, 21 Feb 2012 11:22:14 EST news249045722 (PhysOrg.com) -- Princeton University researchers are leading an effort to put to pasture the long-held convention of cattle ranching that wild animals compete with cows for food. http://phys.org/news249032892.html Biology Tue, 21 Feb 2012 08:00:02 EST news249032892 (PhysOrg.com) -- For many years archeologists and other scientists have debated the origins of the domesticated horse. Nailing down a time frame is important because many historians view the relationship between man and horse as one of the most important in the development of our species. Horses allowed early people to hunt for faster prey, to wander farther than before and to create much bigger farms due to pulling plows. Now, new evidence has come to light suggesting that all modern horses, which are believed to have been domesticated approximately 10,000 years ago, descended from one mare around 140,000 years ago. The new evidence comes from a team made up of international researchers who, as they describe in their paper published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, say that DNA evidence shows that the horse subsequently diverged into 18 different genetic lines, suggesting that domestication occurred independently in many places throughout the world. http://phys.org/news247218204.html Biology Tue, 31 Jan 2012 07:43:40 EST news247218204 The table has been set, the wine has been poured and the Christmas turkey is brought out for everyone's approval. http://phys.org/news243715413.html Other Sciences Wed, 21 Dec 2011 18:45:04 EST news243715413 Feeding dairy cows the stems, seeds and skins from wine grapes boosts milk production and dramatically cuts the animal's methane emissions, Australian researched published Thursday shows. http://phys.org/news242541010.html Biology Thu, 08 Dec 2011 04:30:23 EST news242541010 Farmer trainers should be selected based on their interest and ability to teach others rather than on their successes in implementing farming techniques, shows a new study led by Steve Franzel, a scientist at the World Agroforestry Centre (ICRAF). http://phys.org/news240580450.html Space & Earth Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:54:17 EST news240580450 (PhysOrg.com) -- Sometimes, scientists hard at work in their field, come across findings that they cannot explain, and instead of simply writing a paper describing what they’ve seen, they instead choose to write a paper describing what they think their observations have shown. Case in point, back in 2008, a group of guys with Biology and wildlife backgrounds were apparently sitting around looking at pictures taken by Google Earth, when they noticed that there seemed to be a pattern in the way some cows in a pasture aligned themselves. After looking at more pictures, a larger pattern began to emerge. Oddly enough, the cows seemed to be aligning themselves with the Earth’s magnetic field lines. The group, led by Hynek Burda wrote up a paper describing what they’d found and had it published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Later, the team did additional research and found that no such kinds of lining up occurred around power lines which they thought might disrupt the cow’s ability to sense magnetic fields. http://phys.org/news240578102.html Other Sciences Tue, 15 Nov 2011 11:15:21 EST news240578102 Milk is about to get a whole lot safer for consumers, thanks to Concordia University researchers who've developed a new instrument to detect harmful foreign substances in dairy and other products. http://phys.org/news240061982.html Technology Wed, 09 Nov 2011 11:53:12 EST news240061982 (PhysOrg.com) -- Massey University research has led to the development of a calf supplement that can increase milk yield in dairy cows by up to 12 per cent. http://phys.org/news235030263.html Biology Mon, 12 Sep 2011 07:11:39 EST news235030263 (PhysOrg.com) -- A major evolutionary biological study, performed partly by researchers at Uppsala University, reveals what has driven the evolution of new forms of life. The study also shows how such a complex life form as the human being could emerge. The findings are being published in the scientific journal Science. http://phys.org/news233223244.html Biology Mon, 22 Aug 2011 09:15:53 EST news233223244 Nearly 10 years after scientists cloned the first cat, predictions of a vast commercial market for the "resurrection" of beloved pets through cloning have fallen flat. http://phys.org/news231993769.html Biology Mon, 08 Aug 2011 03:44:03 EST news231993769 Scientists in Scotland are turning to cows and the tiny organisms and enzymes found in their stomachs for a potential way to create industrial products such as biofuels from plant waste and plan to unveil their ideas at a presentation next month in Edinburgh. http://phys.org/news231129460.html Technology Fri, 29 Jul 2011 03:37:59 EST news231129460 Scientists are reporting development of a new approach for producing large quantities of human-derived gelatin that could become a substitute for some of the 300,000 tons of animal-based gelatin produced annually for gelatin-type desserts, marshmallows, candy and innumerable other products. Their study appears in ACS's Journal of Agriculture and Food Chemistry. http://phys.org/news229779054.html Chemistry Wed, 13 Jul 2011 12:31:15 EST news229779054 (PhysOrg.com) -- In the July issue of the Journal of Archaeological Science, researchers reveal the prehistoric remains of a BBQ in the valley of the River Tjonger in the Netherlands that took place over 7,700 years ago. http://phys.org/news228541179.html Other Sciences Wed, 29 Jun 2011 07:20:01 EST news228541179 An Argentine laboratory announced that it had created the world's first transgenic cow, using human genes that will allow the animal to produce the equivalent of mothers' milk. http://phys.org/news226895756.html Biology Fri, 10 Jun 2011 03:36:14 EST news226895756 As millions of acres of farmland in the U.S. Midwest and South recover from Mississippi River flooding, scientists report that river flooding can increase levels of potentially harmful flame retardants in farm soils. But the higher levels apparently do not find their way into the milk produced by cows that graze on these lands, according to a study in the ACS journal Environmental Science & Technology. http://phys.org/news226746760.html Space & Earth Wed, 08 Jun 2011 10:12:50 EST news226746760 Scientists could have a revolutionary new way of measuring how much of the potent greenhouse gas methane is produced by cows and other ruminants, thanks to a surprising discovery in their poo. http://phys.org/news226573116.html Space & Earth Mon, 06 Jun 2011 09:58:51 EST news226573116 Wageningen University researchers in the Netherlands are able to determine cows' methane emissions using the composition of fatty acids in their milk. This opens up the prospect of a method for reducing methane production by cows. http://phys.org/news225712577.html Space & Earth Fri, 27 May 2011 10:56:41 EST news225712577 Computer simulation studies by scientists at the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) suggests that a dairy cow living year-round in the great outdoors may leave a markedly smaller ecological hoofprint than its more sheltered sisters. http://phys.org/news225457096.html Biology Tue, 24 May 2011 11:58:26 EST news225457096 A Spanish study has analysed traffic accidents involving cattle being transported for human consumption in the country for the first time. Despite the "relatively" low mortality rate, animals suffer high-risk situations that cause pain and stress. The scientists say that specific protocols for action are needed with regard to these accidents, and to prepare the emergency services to deal with them. http://phys.org/news224501043.html Other Sciences Fri, 13 May 2011 10:38:53 EST news224501043 (PhysOrg.com) -- What tales they tell of their former lives, these old bones of sirenians, relatives of today's dugongs and manatees. http://phys.org/news222620935.html Space & Earth Thu, 21 Apr 2011 16:09:39 EST news222620935 (PhysOrg.com) -- Researchers in China led by Ning Li, the director of the State Key Laboratories for AgroBiotechnology at the China Agricultural University, have created cow milk similar to human breast milk which could one day replace the need for baby formula. http://phys.org/news221196871.html Biology Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:40:01 EST news221196871