New results from experiments at a unique ecology facility show that plant communities are dramatically altered by changes to the type of animal species living among their roots, but that key ecosystem measurements such as overall agricultural yield or the amount of soil carbon stored are unaffected.

According to the results of a three year study into the processes of experimental grassland ecosystems published in the journal Science today, changes to the makeup of soil communities from small

What happens if fog comes on roads? First of all, visibility falls down, so the risk for a car accident increases, especially on highways. Scientists from Central Aerological Observatory have constructed a special electrostatic filter, which eliminates the fog at a distance up to 10 meters. The filter looks like a metal frame with a precipitation electrode – thin metal plates, separated with high-voltage isolators. It also has a corona-forming electrode of a twisted wire. The unit is grounded with a

The animals and plants of our planet are becoming extinct under the pressure of civilization. The scientists have counted that one species vanishes from Earth every hour. The mammoth, passenger pigeon, gare-fowl, Steller`s sea cow – these are the most well-known of extinct species, but hundreds of species are next in turn. Can the scientists forecast what species is the first in this succession and what species is not under the threat of complete extinction? If the answer is known, the effort and fun

Ageing does not only affect the way we look from outside; the microbiota living in our gut also changes with age. The intestinal microbiota of infants is quite well identified, but only 8% of the microbes in elderly people can be characterised at the moment.

We all carry inside us millions of mostly beneficial bacteria that help us manage our diet successfully and maintain our health, although we seldom realise it. So far, the composition of our microbiota is still an area that we know rathe

The treatment of BSE residues through anaerobic digestion is, according to Quercus, the most efficient and fruitful way of resolving this environmental question.
This is a biological process successfully put into practice in a national company, ITS Marques, and consists of the degradation of organic matter by microorganisms in the absence of oxygen.

After being put in a closed receptacle (called a “digester”), the organic matter is transformed into gas by the existing microorganisms. M

New research enables computers to name that tune

A team of British and American scientists claim a world’s first in online music recognition, paving the way for the musical equivalent of web search-engine Google; and the potential to resolve musical copyright disputes. Researchers at Queen Mary, University of London; King`s College London; Oxford University and the Universities of Indiana and Massachusetts have developed a new system which enables computers to recognise complex pieces