For peat's sake: Alternative growing media

Peat, or semi-decayed vegetation matter, has been used by commercial growers and amateur gardeners since the middle of the 20th century. Peat is added to potting soil to help retain moisture and provide additional nutrients. ...

Death in space: Here's what would happen to our bodies

As space travel for recreational purposes is becoming a very real possibility, there could come a time when we are traveling to other planets for holidays, or perhaps even to live. Commercial space company Blue Origin has ...

Cloned sorghum is aluminum tolerant

(PhysOrg.com) -- Leon Kochian and colleagues have cloned a unique sorghum gene that is being used to develop sorghum lines that can withstand toxic levels of aluminum in the soil, a consequence of acidic soils.

How soil microbes help plants resist disease

Plants can't self-isolate during a disease outbreak, but they can get help from a friend—beneficial soil microbes help plants ward off a wide range of diseases. Now, Texas A&M AgriLife scientists have uncovered a major ...

Forest soils recovering from effects of acid rain

Before the United States 1970 Clean Air Act, rainfall all over the country was acidic. As precipitation would fall from the sky, it would mix with gases from industrial plants, emissions from cars, and especially coal and ...

New findings explain how soil traps plant-based carbon

When carbon molecules from plants enter the soil, they hit a definitive fork in the road. Either the carbon gets trapped in the soil for days or even years, where it is effectively sequestered from immediately entering the ...

page 2 from 7