http://www.seeddaily.com/index.html Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST en-us Barley grown in Scandinavian countries is adapted in a similar way to reindeer to cope with the extremes of day length at high latitudes. Researchers have found a genetic mutation in some Scandinavian barley varieties that disrupts the circadian clock that barley from southern regions use to time their growing season. Just as reindeer have dropped the clock in adapting to extremely long da]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST The World Bank is lending the Philippines $275 million to tackle huge volumes of untreated sewage that threaten to swallow the capital Manila, the lender said Wednesday. The loan would be reinvested by a government bank into Manila Water Co. and Maynilad Water Services projects to boost the two utilities' household wastewater collection and treatment systems, the World Bank said. World B]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST A Cambodian girl was shot dead on Wednesday when security forces clashed with protesters demonstrating over an alleged land grab, an official said, in the latest territorial dispute to end in violence. The teenager was killed as hundreds of villagers involved in a long-running conflict with a private firm squared off against military officers and police in the eastern province of Kratie. ]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Milk poured down Britain's kitchen sinks each year creates a carbon footprint equivalent to thousands of car exhaust emissions, research shows. Scientists say the 360,000 tonnes of milk wasted in the UK each year creates greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to 100,000 tonnes of CO2. The study by the University of Edinburgh says this is the same as is emitted by about 20,000 cars annually. ]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Tall, waving corn fields that line Midwestern roads may one day be replaced by dwarfed versions that require less water, fertilizer and other inputs, thanks to a fungicide commonly used on golf courses. Burkhard Schulz, a Purdue University assistant professor of plant biochemical and molecular genetics, had earlier found that knocking out the steroid function in corn plants would create ti]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Mauritania's economy resisted a slowdown in external demand and the effects of a severe drought, and growth is estimated at 4.0 percent in 2011, the International Monetary Fund said Tuesday. "Economic growth in Mauritania remains sustained despite the effects of the acute drought and the slowdown in external demand," read an IMF statement issued after a visit to the country. "Real GDP gr]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Russia's food safety chief Gennady Onishchenko raised doubts on Monday over the safety of vegetables imported from the Netherlands, which he said had been experimenting with mutations of the avian flu virus. "The Netherlands is engaged in an activity banned by international conventions. It alters properties, in particular, the properties of bird flu viruses, increasing their virulence comp]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST A Moscow court upheld a ban on Friday prohibiting the Russian research and development company ScanEx from distributing satellite images of Earth at a resolution higher than two meters. Scanex works under license from the Russian federal space agency, Roscosmos, to collect, process and disseminate Earth remote sensing data. A 2008 ban prohibited ScanEx from distributing high-resoluti]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST A new innovation can completely reshape an industry - inspiring both optimism and debate. The development of genetically engineered (GE) crops in the 1980's ignited a buzz in the agricultural community with the potential for higher crop yields and better nutritional content, along with the reduction of herbicide and pesticide use. GE crops grew to play a significant role in the U.S., with more t]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST It was all too evident during the Dust Bowl what a disastrous impact wind can have on dry, unprotected topsoil. Now a new study has uncovered a less obvious, but still troubling, effect of wind: Not only can it carry away soil particles, but also the beneficial microbes that help build soil, detoxify contaminants, and recycle nutrients. Using a powerful DNA sequencing technique, called pyr]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Russia has exported 20 million tons of wheat since last July, making it the world's second biggest wheat exporter. Acting First Deputy Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov gave the figure to farming executives Saturday at a meeting in Krasnodar in southern Russia. He also said the spring is good, the sowing campaign is ahead of schedule, and Russia is poised to take in 94 million tons of gra]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST Meteorite fragments were recently scattered around Sutter's Mill in California, the same region where the first nugget of gold was found that sparked the Gold Rush in 1848. Scientists believe the meteorites may hold answers to unsolved mysteries about our solar system and the origins of molecules necessary for life. When the Gold Rush began, people headed to California seeking their fortune. Now]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST A plant pathologist at the University of California, Riverside has identified a fungus that has been linked to the branch dieback and general decline of several backyard avocado and landscape trees in residential neighborhoods of Los Angeles County. The fungus is a new species of Fusarium. Scientists are working on characterizing its specific identification. It is transmitted by the Tea Sh]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST An international research team led by Virginia Tech Associate Professor Boris Vinatzer and Giorgio Balestra of the University of Tuscia in Italy has used the latest DNA sequencing technology to trace a devastating pathogen back to its likely origin. Since 2008, Pseudomonas syringae pv. actinidiae (Psa) has been threatening the world's kiwifruit industry and destroying orchards in Europe, S]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST China successfully launched the remote-sensing satellite Yaogan XIIII Thursday from Taiyuan Satellite Launch Center in the northern province of Shanxi, according to a press release from the center. The satellite was carried into space aboard a Long March 4B carrier rocket which blasted off at 3:06 p.m. Beijing time, according to the center. The satellite will be used to conduct scien]]> Thu, 17 MAY 2012 14:55:29 AEST