https://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. How can the mild flavor of flaxseed oil be preserved for longer? A research team led by Roman Lang from the Leibniz Institute for Food Systems Biology at the Technical University of Munich has investigated this question. As the team demonstrates in its study, natural precursors of bitter-tasting compounds can be gently removed from the oil using bleaching earth (magnesium-aluminum silicate). https://phys.org/news/2026-04-simple-mineral-treatment-flaxseed-oil.html Biotechnology Mon, 20 Apr 2026 18:20:08 EDT news695911132 University of Florida researchers are testing a new type of cattle feed that could help dairy cows release less methane gas from burps and flatulence and use nutrients more efficiently. Because methane traps heat in the atmosphere, reducing these emissions could make dairy farming more environmentally friendly and sustainable. https://phys.org/news/2025-04-cattle-result-burps-dairy-gas.html Plants & Animals Tue, 22 Apr 2025 13:17:03 EDT news664546621 It's an all too common situation—you're busy cooking or baking to a recipe when you open the cupboard and suddenly realize you are missing an ingredient. https://phys.org/news/2024-02-butter-eggs-science-substitute-ingredients.html Biochemistry Mon, 19 Feb 2024 11:42:06 EST news627565325 Fatty acids are the molecular building blocks that form the lipids essential for life. While some lipids form cell membranes, others are present naturally as triglycerides in body fat and the waxes on our hair and skin. https://phys.org/news/2023-07-discovery-fatty-acids-paths.html Biochemistry Fri, 07 Jul 2023 09:00:04 EDT news607939201 If space is the final frontier, it's food that will get us there in good shape, and UBC researchers are making sure that our food will be up to the task. https://phys.org/news/2022-11-food-science-astronauts-future-mars.html Space Exploration Thu, 10 Nov 2022 03:27:59 EST news587273275 Scientists have solved the century-old mystery of a supergene that causes efficient cross-pollination in flowers. The results show that sequence length variation at the DNA level is important for the evolution of two forms of flowers that differ in the length of their sexual organs. The study is published today in Current Biology. https://phys.org/news/2022-09-short-supergene-efficient-pollination.html Ecology Fri, 09 Sep 2022 11:00:01 EDT news581937421 Worldwide, millions of people follow vegan and vegetarian diets for religious, ethical, environmental or economic reasons. While these diets have purported health benefits, they can also lack essential nutrients, such as vitamins B12 and D3, if not well-planned or supplemented correctly. Now, researchers reporting in ACS Food Science & Technology have packed a strawberry-flavored gummy with these vitamins, formulating it without any animal products so vegans and vegetarians can reach their recommended daily allowances (RDA). https://phys.org/news/2021-11-plant-based-gummy-candy-vegans-vegetarians.html Other Wed, 10 Nov 2021 09:26:44 EST news555758800 Stone Age cities sound like something of an oxymoron. But as many as 10 000 people lived in Çatalhöyük in Turkey some 8000-9000 years ago. This makes it the largest known settlement from what archaeologists call the Neolithic and Chalcolithic periods. https://phys.org/news/2021-11-unearthed-textiles-stone-age-settlement.html Archaeology Tue, 09 Nov 2021 08:49:22 EST news555670159 A research collaboration based in Kumamoto University, Japan has become the first to successfully purify and identify an attractant for crop-infecting root-knot nematodes from flax seeds. Their experiments revealed that rhamnogalacturonan-I (RG-I), a flaxseed cell wall component, can attract root-knot nematodes. The linkages between rhamnose and L-galactose are essential for the attraction. https://phys.org/news/2021-09-identification-plant-parasitic-nematode.html Molecular & Computational biology Fri, 03 Sep 2021 10:02:44 EDT news549882161 While the term "supergene" may bring to mind the genetic hocus-pocus of Peter Parker's transformation into Spiderman, supergenes are actually fairly common phenomena in the realm of biology. A supergene refers to a genomic region containing multiple genes or genetic elements that are tightly linked, allowing genetic variants across the region to be co-inherited. Supergenes may arise when there is a clear benefit to inheriting specific combinations of biological traits together. Perhaps the most well-known examples of supergenes are sex chromosomes, which allow traits that are beneficial to the reproductive success of one sex to be co-inherited. In humans, this explains the prevalence of male-specific genes on the Y chromosome. While the concept of supergenes arose nearly a century ago, until recently, the study of their origin, evolution, and eventual fate was largely theoretical. Now, however, thanks to advances in genomic sequencing and computational biology, scientists can put those theories to the test with real-world data. In a recent review published in Genome Biology and Evolution titled "The genomic architecture and evolutionary fates of supergenes," Associate Professor Tanja Slotte and her colleagues at Stockholm University in Sweden discuss new findings in the field of supergene evolution and reveal how the genomic architecture of a supergene is inextricably tied to its evolutionary fate. https://phys.org/news/2021-06-evolutionary-fates-supergenes-unmasked.html Evolution Tue, 01 Jun 2021 16:03:50 EDT news541782227 We typically think about antibiotics as drugs that our doctors prescribe. But they are actually molecular bullets that bacteria use to kill each other—humans merely borrowed and adapted these bioactive compounds to fight infections. Since many bacteria produce bioactive compounds the question arises whether ≈1000 bacterial species inhabiting our gut also produce antibiotics. If yes, does the continuous exposure to these antibiotics lead to the development of antibiotic resistance in the human microbiome? https://phys.org/news/2019-12-algorithm-reveals-previously-unknown-potential.html Cell & Microbiology Thu, 19 Dec 2019 08:10:05 EST news495964842 The small but mighty flaxseed has many health benefits for humans, as well as other important uses. Yield, and therefore profits, are important for the few farmers who grow it in the United States. https://phys.org/news/2019-09-breeders-flaxseed-cultivar-higher-yield.html Plants & Animals Tue, 10 Sep 2019 10:20:01 EDT news487327562 From food and biofuels to cosmetics and detergents, palm oil is found in countless products these days. Demand for the oil has surged in the last decade—global usage went from 37 million metric tons in 2006 to 64.2 million in 2016—in part because it is cheap and, for a time, enjoyed a good-for-you reputation. https://phys.org/news/2018-12-sustainable-palm-oil-doesnt-grade.html Environment Tue, 04 Dec 2018 09:40:02 EST news463137843 The passage of time seems to have slowed down at Zarif Mukhtarov's paper mill in a village not far from ex-Soviet Uzbekistan's silk road city, Samarkand. https://phys.org/news/2018-06-uzbek-entrepreneur-paper-age-old-power.html Other Sun, 03 Jun 2018 15:06:04 EDT news447257149 Human stem cells have shown potential in medicine as they can transform into various specialized cell types such as bone and cartilage cells. The current approach to obtain such specialized cells is to subject stem cells to specialized instructive protein molecules known as growth factors. However, use of growth factors in the human body can generate harmful effects including unwanted tissue growth, such as a tumor. https://phys.org/news/2018-04-flaxseed-like-particles-bone-cartilage-tissues.html Bio & Medicine Mon, 16 Apr 2018 10:31:41 EDT news443093489 Eggs sold in Australia come with different labels and with different promises of chicken welfare. But what's real, what's hype and what can you do about it? https://phys.org/news/2018-02-australian-eggs.html Other Tue, 20 Feb 2018 09:21:25 EST news438340869 A UBC professor's flax research could one day help Canadian farmers grow a car fender. https://phys.org/news/2016-08-aims-canadian-flax-farmers.html Biotechnology Wed, 10 Aug 2016 09:57:28 EDT news390041768 Agricultural Research Service investigators have a long history of designing and developing reliable analytical methods for measuring nutrients and other compounds in foods. ARS scientists have now devised new analytical methods for detecting and measuring concentrations of phytochemicals called "polyphenols" in plant materials. https://phys.org/news/2015-01-total-phenolics-fruits-veggies.html Biochemistry Mon, 05 Jan 2015 10:30:01 EST news339673690 Dairy cows that are fed flaxseed produce more nutritious milk, according to a new study by Oregon State University. https://phys.org/news/2013-01-cows-fed-flaxseed-nutritious-dairy.html Plants & Animals Fri, 25 Jan 2013 16:46:34 EST news278354769 Researchers from the University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU, Spain) have been the first to discover the presence of certain aldehydes in food, which are believed to be related to some neurodegenerative diseases and some types of cancer. These toxic compounds can be found in some oils, such as sunflower oil, when heated at a suitable temperature for frying. https://phys.org/news/2012-02-toxic-aldehydes-reheated-oil.html Other Wed, 22 Feb 2012 11:39:00 EST news249133132 University of Rhode Island researcher Navindra Seeram has discovered 34 new beneficial compounds in pure maple syrup and confirmed that 20 compounds discovered last year in preliminary research play a key role in human health. https://phys.org/news/2011-03-uri-scientist-beneficial-compounds-pure.html Other Wed, 30 Mar 2011 11:33:13 EDT news220703575 (PhysOrg.com) -- The discovery by UCLA biochemists of a new method for preventing oxidation in the essential fatty acids of cell membranes could lead to a new class of more effective nutritional supplements and potentially help combat neurodegenerative disorders such as Parkinson's disease and perhaps Alzheimer's. https://phys.org/news/2010-12-biochemists-method-oxidative-cells.html Biochemistry Thu, 02 Dec 2010 06:38:17 EST news210494268 While natural food is a rising trend among humans, pet owners should be careful before feeding similar types of food to their pets, according to a Kansas State University veterinarian. https://phys.org/news/2010-09-veterinarian-natural-foods-pets.html Plants & Animals Fri, 17 Sep 2010 10:20:01 EDT news203936911 (PhysOrg.com) -- In murder mysteries, the detective usually diagnoses cyanide poisoning by the scent of bitter almonds wafting from the corpse. The detective knows what many of us might find surprising — that the deadly poison cyanide is naturally present in bitter almonds and many other plants used as food, including apples, peaches, apricots, lima beans, barley, sorghum, flaxseed and bamboo shoots. https://phys.org/news/2010-07-beware-bitter-almonds-food-cyanide.html Plants & Animals Wed, 21 Jul 2010 17:00:01 EDT news198949368 (AP) -- Vermont dairy farmers Tim Maikshilo and Kristen Dellert, mindful of shrinking their carbon footprint, have changed their cows' diet to reduce the amount of gas the animals burp - dairy cows' contribution to global warming. https://phys.org/news/2009-06-vt-farmers-cows-emissions-diets.html Environment Sun, 21 Jun 2009 13:42:30 EDT news164810504