Agriculture

Many Midwestern retailers sell mislabeled invasive vines

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Gardeners hoping to celebrate the beauty of American bittersweet – a native vine that produces orange berries in the fall and is used for wreaths – may be unwittingly buying an invasive bittersweet instead. That’s because many Midwestern retailers are selling oriental bittersweet with labels misidentifying it as the native plant, researchers […]

Life sciences From left, Matthew Hudson, Arian Avalos, Gene Robinson and their colleagues found genomic signatures associated with the evolution of gentle behavior in Puerto Rico’s Africanized honey bees.

From left, Matthew Hudson, Arian Avalos, Gene Robinson and their colleagues found genomic signatures associated with the evolution of gentle behavior in Puerto Rico’s Africanized honey bees.

Genomic study explores evolution of gentle ‘killer bees’ in Puerto Rico

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — A genomic study of Puerto Rico’s Africanized honey bees – which are more docile than other so-called “killer bees” – reveals that they retain most of the genetic traits of their African honey bee ancestors, but that a few regions of their DNA have become more like those of European honey bees. […]

Agriculture With expansion, the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry in Brazil could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 5.6 percent, an international team reports.

With expansion, the sugarcane-to-ethanol industry in Brazil could reduce global carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 5.6 percent, an international team reports.

Scientists: Expanding Brazilian sugarcane could dent global CO2 emissions

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Vastly expanding sugarcane production in Brazil for conversion to ethanol could reduce current global carbon dioxide emissions by as much as 5.6 percent, researchers report in the journal Nature Climate Change. This would be a massive undertaking, involving the conversion of hundreds of thousands of square miles — at its most ambitious, more […]

Life sciences Researchers from the Illinois Natural History Survey have surveyed fish in the Illinois River since 1957. Here, the team uses electricity to stun the fish for capture.

Researchers from the Illinois Natural History Survey have surveyed fish in the Illinois River since 1957. Here, the team uses electricity to stun the fish for capture.

Illinois sportfish recovery a result of 1972 Clean Water Act, scientists report

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Populations of largemouth bass, bluegill, catfish and other sportfish are at the highest levels recorded in more than a century in the Illinois River, according to a new report. Their dramatic recovery, from populations close to zero near Chicago throughout much of the 20th century, began just after implementation of the Clean […]

Agriculture Like a Hydra, some plants grow bigger and boost their chemical defenses after being clipped.

Some plants grow bigger – and meaner – when clipped, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Some plants behave like the mythical monster Hydra: Cut off their heads and they grow back, bigger and better than before. A new study finds that these “overcompensators,” as they are called, also augment their defensive chemistry – think plant venom – when they are clipped. Clipping removes the primary stem and […]

Expert viewpoints Photo of Craig Lemoine, the director of the Financial Planning Program at the College of ACES

Is our flood insurance model broken?

Losses from Hurricane Harvey are projected to be in the billions of dollars, likely making it the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. Craig Lemoine is a professor at the College of ACES and director of the Financial Planning Program. Lemoine, also a certified financial planner, spoke with News Bureau business and law editor Phil […]

Expert viewpoints Photo of Craig Lemoine, the director of the Financial Planning Program at the College of ACES

Should states be in the lottery business?

A Massachusetts hospital worker recently claimed the record-breaking $758 million Powerball jackpot. The buzz surrounding the potential payout helped drive ticket sales, but at what cost to states and taxpayers? Craig Lemoine is an associate teaching professor at the College of ACES and director of the Financial Planning Program. Lemoine, also a certified financial planner, […]

Life sciences A new study of stress responses in largemouth bass found that those that are less likely to strike at a fishing lure also tend to experience higher cortisol levels after a stressful encounter.

A new study of stress responses in largemouth bass found that those that are less likely to strike at a fishing lure also tend to experience higher cortisol levels after a stressful encounter.

Study links fish stress hormones to whether they take the bait

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Take a fish out of water and its stress hormones will go up. Adrenaline and noradrenaline, the “fight or flight” hormones, peak first, followed more gradually by cortisol. A new study finds that largemouth bass whose cortisol levels rise most after a brief bout of stress are inherently harder to catch by […]

Life sciences Socially unresponsive bees share something fundamental with autistic humans, new research finds.

Study finds parallels between unresponsive honey bees, autism in humans

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Honey bees that consistently fail to respond to obvious social cues share something fundamental with autistic humans, researchers report in a new study. Genes most closely associated with autism spectrum disorders in humans are regulated differently in unresponsive honey bees than in their more responsive nest mates, the study found. The findings, […]

Agriculture Researchers at the U. of I. found that plants vary a lot in the efficiency with which they uptake carbon dioxide and conserve water. Plant biology professor Andrew Leakey, left, mentored Kevin Wolz, who was an undergraduate at the time he conducted the research. Wolz now holds degrees in civil engineering and biology and is pursuing a doctorate in biology.

Researchers at the U. of I. found that plants vary a lot in the efficiency with which they uptake carbon dioxide and conserve water. Plant biology professor Andrew Leakey, left, mentored Kevin Wolz, who was an undergraduate at the time he conducted the research. Wolz now holds degrees in civil engineering and biology and is pursuing a doctorate in biology.

Two undergrads improve plant carbon-cycle models

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — In the summer of 2012, two undergraduate students tackled a problem that plant ecology experts had overlooked for 30 years. The students demonstrated that different plant species vary in how they take in carbon dioxide and emit water through stomata, the pores in their leaves. The data boosted the accuracy of mathematical […]

Physical sciences Kumar_Richardson

Corn better used as food than biofuel, study finds

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Corn is grown not only for food, it is also an important renewable energy source. Renewable biofuels can come with hidden economic and environmental issues, and the question of whether corn is better utilized as food or as a biofuel has persisted since ethanol came into use. For the first time, researchers […]

Life sciences A new study reconfigures the elephant family tree, placing the giant extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus closer to the African forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, than to the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, which was once thought to be its closest living relative.

A new study reconfigures the elephant family tree, placing the giant extinct elephant Palaeoloxodon antiquus closer to the African forest elephant, Loxodonta cyclotis, than to the Asian elephant, Elephas maximus, which was once thought to be its closest living relative.

Genetic study shakes up the elephant family tree

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — New research reveals that a species of giant elephant that lived 1.5 million to 100,000 years ago – ranging across Eurasia before it went extinct – is more closely related to today’s African forest elephant than the forest elephant is to its nearest living relative, the African savanna elephant. The study challenges […]

Agriculture

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