Dieback disease caused by soil-borne viruses affects romaine and leaf-type lettuce, often resulting in extensive crop loss. Researchers in California introduced two new romaine breeding lines that proved exemplary in terms of both disease resistance and shelf life. In replicated field trials the two breeding lines showed complete resistance to dieback. Testing of salad-cut lettuce in modified...

A team of researchers has announced the results of the first study comparing bone structure in Chinese-American women to Caucasian women. The report found that pre-menopausal Chinese-American women have far greater bone strength than their Caucasian counterparts, as determined by a breakthrough technological...

Who knew? The chance discovery that spikes in seismometer noise recorded in Africa corresponded with soccer matches has led to the discovery that there's a lot more buried in the noise, including a signal from the famous storms of the Southern Atlantic Ocean, the bane of ships of sail.

People engage in gardening and related activities for both psychological and environmental reasons, says a new Taiwanese study. Researchers found that engaging in gardening provides opportunities for people to forget worries and escape their everyday lives. Respondents rated the dimension of 'increasing positive mood' highest, indicating an emphasis on psychological benefits as the essence of...

A study from Texas A&M University evaluated consumer awareness of two Texas ornamental plant promotion programs. Researchers found that consumers had "low awareness" of the Texas Superstar and Earth-Kind brands, but found high levels of satisfaction among the group called "aware consumers". Survey results suggested that current marketing might not be effective in reaching some demographics....

The Conservative government's efforts to sell Canada's nuclear power agency secretly collapsed this week after the most likely buyer walked away from the negotiating table.

Reuters - U.S.-China relations are at a critical juncture and a summit between their leaders next week must produce "real action, on real issues" such as trade, climate change and North Korean nuclear proliferation, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said on...

AFP - The heads of energy giant BP and state-run Russian oil firm Rosneft announced an "historic" deal to swap shares in a joint venture to exploit the vast untouched energy resources of the...

The Daily Beast - An adorably cross-eyed opossum named Heidi has captured the German zeitgeist with toys and songs. See more famous captive creatures, from Knut the polar bear to San Francisco’s gay penguins.

The reward systems at universities heavily favor science, math and engineering research at the expense of teaching, which can and must change, according to a group of academics.

Plant biologists are facing pressure to breed plants that can respond to changing environments. One method of monitoring the response of plants to different environments is by studying their vein network patterns. To help address the challenge of how to quickly examine a large quantity of leaves, researchers have developed a user-assisted software tool that extracts macroscopic vein structures...

Researchers have found methods to help farmers reduce nitrous oxide emissions while also increasing corn grain production.

One out of every four or five students who visits a university health center for a routine cold turns out to be depressed, but most centers miss the opportunity to identify these students because they don't screen for depression, according to new research. About 2 to 3 percent of these depressed students have had suicidal thoughts or are considering suicide. Depression screening is easy and must...

Researchers have discovered a possible molecular mechanism behind coffee's protective effect against type 2 diabetes.

Scientists have developed Australia's first adult induced pluripotent stem cell lines using skin biopsies from patients with the rare genetic disease Friedreich's ataxia.

(PhysOrg.com) -- Weighing 6.6 billion solar masses, the black hole at the center of galaxy M87 is the most massive black hole for which a precise mass has been measured. Using the Frederick C. Gillett Gemini Telescope on Mauna Kea, Hawaii, a team of astronomers calculated the black hole’s mass, which is vastly larger than the black hole in the center of the Milky Way, which is about 4 million...

A new finding shows how the million working units in the kidney regulate salt handling. This identifies a new possible therapeutic target for treating high blood pressure.

Ancient tree rings show links between climate change and major events in human history, like migrations, plagues and the rise and fall of empires, said a study this week in the journal Science.

Tropical Storm Vania moved through southeastern New Caledonia on January 14 and NASA's TRMM satellite noticed heavy rainfall occurring. Residents of Norfolk Island are now expected to receive gusty winds and rainfall as Vania continues to move south in the South Pacific Ocean.

Building high pressure is expected to make Tropical Storm Vince do a U-turn in the Southern Indian Ocean and take a westward track away from Western Australia. Two instruments on NASA's Aqua satellite looked at Vince's clouds this morning before Vince's forecast U-turn.

The low pressure area known as System 94P on January 13 strengthened into the seventh tropical cyclone of the South Pacific Cyclone season, today becoming Tropical Storm Zelia. NASA's TRMM satellite found heavy rainfall was already occurring in the storm as it was turning away from New Zealand and heading toward New Caledonia.

More than 50 percent of US adult Internet users look up information on Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia which marks its 10th anniversary on Saturday, according to a new report.

Researchers watch a rare interspecies frolic among spider and woolly monkeys.

Football fans in Seattle shook the ground with their excitement last week - putting them on the local seismic network.