Related topics: carbon

Termites evolved complex bioreactors 30 million years ago

Achieving complete breakdown of plant biomass for energy conversion in industrialized bioreactors remains a complex challenge, but new research shows that termite fungus farmers solved this problem more than 30 million years ...

Breaking down wood decomposition by fungi

Through a combination of lab and field experiments, researchers have developed a better understanding of the factors accounting for different wood decomposition rates among fungi. The new findings reveal how an understanding ...

Researcher: Smaller 'dead zone' recorded in Gulf

A new report says this year's Gulf of Mexico "dead zone," an area of low oxygen that develops every spring and summer, is the fourth-smallest since measurements of the zones began in 1985.

Green chemistry: Getting nickel back

In Southeast Asia, palm oil is used both as an ingredient for cooking and a raw material for biodiesel production. To stabilize the oil against decomposition, it has to be hydrogenated in the presence of a nickel catalyst ...

Research team describes the composition of asteroid Phaethon

Asteroid Phaethon, which is five kilometers in diameter, has been puzzling researchers for a long time. A comet-like tail is visible for a few days when the asteroid passes closest to the sun during its orbit.

Novel method to quantify decomposition of rhizodeposits

Rhizodeposition of labile organic carbon is one of the main pathways linking above- and below-ground biota to affect soil carbon cycling. Rhizodeposition is also a strategic physiological process for plants to cope with environmental ...

Don't Compare Bananas to Pears

(PhysOrg.com) -- Yellow leaves on banana plants give off a blue glow when viewed under UV light. This luminescence comes from decomposition products of chlorophyll, the substance that makes leaves green.

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