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Tropical forest carbon absorption may hinge on an odd couple

A unique housing arrangement between a specific group of tree species and a carbo-loading bacteria may determine how well tropical forests can absorb carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, according to a Princeton University-based study. The findings suggest that the role of tropical forests in offsetting the atmospheric buildup of carbon from fossil fuels depends on tree diversity, particularly in forests recovering from exploitation.

Tropical forests thrive on natural nitrogen fertilizer pumped into the soil by trees in the legume family, a diverse group that includes beans and peas, the researchers report in the journal Nature. The researchers studied second-growth forests in Panama that had been used for agriculture five to 300 years ago. The presence of legume trees ensured rapid forest growth in the first 12 years of recovery and thus a substantial carbon “sink,” or carbon-storage capacity. Tracts of land that were pasture only 12 years before had already accumulated as much as 40 percent of the carbon found in fully mature forests. Legumes contributed more than half of the nitrogen needed to make that happen, the researchers reported. (more…)

Credit lessons

Economy

Bank of America volunteer speaks to FYE students on ins and outs of credit

As an attendance sheet floated around the room, one by one the students in a University of Delaware First Year Experience (FYE) class signed their names, wrote down their home states (New York, Pennsylvania and beyond), and were quick to mark a check in the “Did not have high school personal finance class” column. (more…)

Hustenmittel vom Wegesrand

Health, Nature

Der Spitzwegerich ist „Arzneipflanze des Jahres“ 2014

Er stillt den Hustenreiz und hilft bei Entzündungen der Haut und der Schleimhaut. Der Spitzwegerich ist deshalb vom „Studienkreis Entwicklungsgeschichte der Arzneipflanzenkunde“ an der Universität Würzburg zur Arzneipflanze des Jahres 2014 gekürt worden.

Verschiedene Wegerich-Arten werden schon seit Jahrtausenden in der Heilkunde genutzt, ganz besonders der Breit- und der Spitzwegerich. „Heute wissen wir, dass der Spitzwegerich die stärkste Wirkung besitzt“, sagt Studienkreisleiter Johannes Mayer. Seine zahlreichen Inhaltsstoffe ließen positive Effekte bei Katarrhen der Atemwege und Entzündungen von Mund und Rachenschleimhaut sowie bei Wunden erwarten. Pharmakologische Laboruntersuchungen würden diese Effekte belegen. (more…)

New CU-Boulder-led study finds ‘microbial clock’ may help determine time of death

Science

An intriguing study led by the University of Colorado Boulder may provide a powerful new tool in the quiver of forensic scientists attempting to determine the time of death in cases involving human corpses: a microbial clock. (more…)

Berkeley Lab Releases Most Comprehensive Databook on China’s Energy and Environment

Environment

In the five years since the China Energy Group of the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory (Berkeley Lab) released its last edition of the China Energy Databook, China has achieved two dubious distinctions: it surpassed the United States in energy consumption and it surpassed the United States in energy-related emissions of carbon dioxide, becoming the world leader on both scores.

With these important shifts in the global energy landscape, the eighth edition of the China Energy Databook is being released this week. The Databook is the most comprehensive publicly available resource known to exist covering China’s energy and environmental statistics. The China Energy Group researchers have amassed an enormous trove of data from firsthand sources and organized much of it into a relational database, making it far more useful for research and analytical purposes. (more…)

MU Researchers Identify Risk-Factors for Addictive Video-Game Use among Adults

Science

Escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic gaming behaviors

COLUMBIA, Mo. – New research from the University of Missouri indicates escapism, social interaction and rewards fuel problematic video-game use among “very casual” to “hardcore” adult gamers. Understanding individual motives that contribute to unhealthy game play could help counselors identify and treat individuals addicted to video games.

“The biggest risk factor for pathological video game use seems to be playing games to escape from daily life,” said Joe Hilgard, a doctoral candidate in the Department of Psychological Sciences in the MU College of Arts and Science. “Individuals who play games to get away from their lives or to pretend to be other people seem to be those most at-risk for becoming part of a vicious cycle. These gamers avoid their problems by playing games, which in turn interferes with their lives because they’re so busy playing games.” (more…)

Importance of sex conversation before sex

Culture, General, Health, Media, Sex

The importance of sex conversation before sex is a very much delicate issue. The reason is that sex is a short time engagement. Therefore, you have to take some serious elements for consideration. The reason is that sex is the mental and physical engagement. Therefore, you will require the understanding of these elements well. Before doing sex, you should always converse with your partner. The reason is that it will clear any doubt about the courtship and it will make sexual ritual more serene. Actually, you should remember that once you are get into the sexual relationship, then you will have no opportunity to get away from it. Therefore, it is better to clear any doubt through the sex conversion before starting the sexual ritual as well. (more…)

150. Mosterei eingetragen

Nature

„Eigenes Obst für eigenen Saft“ beim NABU im Internet

Immer mehr mobile und stationäre Mostereien nehmen das Angebot des NABU-Bundesfachausschuss Streuobst an, bei www.Streuobst.de in die bundesweite Liste aller Mostereien aufgenommen zu werden. Jetzt konnte der NABU die 150. Mosterei begrüßen, die sich an diesem Angebot beteiligt, die Mosterei Gugel in Tübingen. Als Geschenk erhält die Mosterei vom NABU-BFA Streuobst je einen Karton mit zwölf 0,25-Liter und 24 0,1-Liter-Gläsern mit dem berühmten Aufdruck „Mosttrinker sind Naturschützer“.

„Bei allen 150 Mostereien können die Menschen ihr eigenes Obst zu eigenem Saft oder Most pressen lassen – das ist unsere Vorgabe für die Aufnahme in die Liste“, so der Sprecher des NABU-Bundesfachausschuss Streuobst, Dr. Markus Rösler. (more…)