Crops

A version of this story appeared in Science, Vol 380, Issue 6646.Download PDF In early summer, unusual pollinators swoop over rice fields in Texas and Arkansas. Small, nimble helicopters fly low and steady so their rotors blow pollen from one row of plants to another. The flights help RiceTec, a plant breeding company, produce seed for high-yielding, robust varieties of rice grown across the southern United States. It’s an expensive and…

Every year, farmers fertilize their crops with nitrogen and phosphorus to ensure a good harvest. And every year some of that fertilizer inevitably makes its way into ponds and lakes, where it can trigger ecosystem-wrecking algal blooms. According to a new study published last month in Science of the Total Environment, though, there may be a relatively simple way to close the loop on this leaky system: using the nutrient-rich lake sediments as fertilizer. “We’d be…

But perhaps hydrogen’s greatest potential lies in its ability to store energy for rainy days. While fossil fuels are stores of energy from prehistoric sunlight, hydrogen can be used to store the solar energy of the previous 12 hours. “You need green hydrogen to continue to increase the amount of renewable power,” says Mowill. Once an electricity grid gets to a critical mass of renewable inputs from sources such as wind and solar, something has to step in to stabilize and smooth out those peaks and troughs of supply and…

Grapevine, one of the world’s oldest crops, has a complex history of evolution and domestication dating back to 11,000 B.C. in the South Caucasus. A multinational research network, utilizing DNA samples from over 3,500 vines, has unveiled the most detailed model of grapevine evolution, revealing how it survived climate changes and gathered genes from Asia through human migration movements.An international study has uncovered the origins of the grapevine using the Wild Vine Database at KIT.Grapevine has a long history as…

Salt is one of the oldest and most famous preservatives around. But could it be used to preserve carbon deep underground for thousands of years? Researchers believe it can, and that it just might offer a way forward in combating the atmospheric carbon levels that are leading the planet into an unprecedented climate crisis.With greenhouse gas emissions like carbon dioxide continuing to increase, and climate feedback loops partially caused by these emissions accelerating, finding ways to suck carbon out of the air is more…

New research published in the journal New Phytologist suggests that blocking a negative regulator gene called RRS1 (Robust Root System 1) can enhance root growth in plants, leading to longer root length, longer lateral root length, and larger lateral root density. The study shows that inhibiting the expression of RRS1 may improve drought resistance in crops by promoting water absorption. This could be achieved by using natural variants of RRS1 that alter the activity of the protein.A strong root system allows crops to…

CRISPR (Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats) is a revolutionary gene editing tool that allows scientists to make precise changes to the DNA of an organism with remarkable ease and accuracy. By using an enzyme called Cas9 guided by a small RNA molecule, CRISPR enables the targeting and modification of specific genes, opening up new possibilities for research and applications in fields such as medicine, agriculture, and biotechnology.According to a review of gene editing techniques, the CRISPR/Cas…

Galaxy S23 Ultra users are bringing an S Pen issue to light. The iconic stylus accessory randomly disconnects from the S23 Ultra when it’s in use and unholstered from its dedicated slot. Temporary workarounds and one potential long-term solution exist, but if that fails, Samsung may have to address the issue and release a hotfix. Affected Galaxy S23 Ultra users took to Reddit and the official Samsung Community forums to describe their issue. In short, the S Pen keeps disconnecting, seemingly at random, and users have to…

Kenya is in the middle of its worst drought in 40 years. In the parched north of the country, rivers are running dry and millions of livestock have perished due to lack of food. Around 4.4 million Kenyans don’t have enough to eat, and the situation will worsen if the coming rainy season fails like the previous five. “I’ve never seen it so bad. There’s nothing in the farms, the drought is too harsh,” says Daniel Magondo, a cotton and maize farmer in central Kenya.The record-breaking drought is forcing Kenya to confront a…

With a world facing the consequences of climate change, climate-resilient crops are becoming increasingly critical. By having crops that can withstand extreme environmental stressors, food security is improved, as farmers are able to grow crops even in challenging conditions. This, in turn, helps to address the issue of global hunger, as food production remains stable even in the face of a changing climate.The incorporation of exotic <span class="glossaryLink" aria-describedby="tt"…