This article was written by Paul Falkowski, professor in the Department of Marine and Coastal Sciences… The headline in the New York Times reads “Lebanon’s Garbage Crisis Underscores Government’s Disarray.” It seems that the Lebanese government is unable to collect and dispose of the garbage in Beirut and the waste is piling up across the city… Garbage smells bad, and in the heat of summer, with wafts of rotting meat and vegetables blowing across the city, it is hardly surprising that the citizens of Beirut are getting very frustrated at the lack of leadership… In preparing a short “TED talk” type lecture for the upcoming Positive Economy conference in France, I gathered some slides from the recent National Academy of Science report on geoengineering climate. I sat on the panel that issued the two reports. There were two because there are two “solutions” for continued, unabated burning of fossil fuels. And if you really need to know — we aren’t running out of fossil fuels anytime soon — at least not for a century.
Archives for August 2015
Rutgers Researchers Working On Cobalt Study
The U.S. Trotting Association announced it will fund a research study by renowned equine researchers Dr. George Maylin from Morrisville State College in New York and Dr. Karyn Malinowski and Dr. Ken McKeever of Rutgers University in New Jersey to evaluate the effects of cobalt on red blood cell production (erythropoiesis) and performance enhancement in horses… “The purpose is to study the effects of cobalt on racehorses with the exercise physiology model used by Dr. McKeever to study drugs such as EPO,” explained Dr. Maylin. “It’s the only way to assess the pharmacological effects with this type of compound. It will be a dose-response study to see if some level of cobalt has an effect on performance.”… According to the study plan, 50 mg of cobalt (Co HCl in one liter of saline) will be administered at 9 a.m. on three consecutive days. Blood samples will be obtained before and at one, two, four and 24 hours after administration.
Tracking a Rarely Seen, Endangered ‘Ninja’ Shark in the Philippines
Rutgers marine scientist Thomas Grothues’ expertise is featured in a Discovery Channel documentary on sharks that have developed adaptations to help them become effective predators. Read more at Rutgers Today.
Is a Drought Imminent in New Jersey?
According to Dave Robinson, the New Jersey state climatologist at Rutgers University, most of the Garden State has been quite dry in the month of August, especially in Central Jersey… “May was the third driest on record, but June was the fourth wettest June in the last 120 years and that was the real saving grace, because we could be facing seriously low reservoirs and possible crop damage if it hadn’t been so wet,” Robinson said… He said the bottom line is “if the next 2 weeks stay as warm and dry as the national weather service is forecasting we could see parts of Jersey with significant enough deficits of rainfall, soil moisture and stream flow, that we might get to this moderate drought categorization.”
Growing A Better Strawberry in NJ {VIDEO}
Something sweet and new now grows in New Jersey. Imagine if there was a way to create the perfect food. Scientists at Rutgers have created what they say is the ultimate strawberry. If you bite into one, you’ll notice that it’s not just red on the outsi…
County 4-H Members Compete at State Horse Show
Congratulations to six 4-H horse club members who represented Cape May County at the New Jersey State 4-H Championship Horse Show, Aug. 21-23, at the Horse Park of New Jersey at Stone Tavern in Allentown… 2015 4-H Senior Equestrian of the Year Kelly Suter, of Lower Township represented Cape May County in the NJ State 4-H Equestrian of the Year Contest in Monmouth County Aug. 15. She was awarded a 3rd-Place Runner-Up ribbon at state horse show opening ceremonies Aug. 21… “The competing 4-H’ers are the best of the best from each county; they have earned the right to participate through county-level qualifying shows,” says Linda Horner, Acting 4-H Agent. She continued, “I am especially proud of our state competitors this year. It was their first trip to the championship show for all of them but Kelly Suter.”… The 4-H Youth Development Program is part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and the Rutgers Cooperative Extension.
Rutgers Tomato Quest Takes Center Stage at Annual Great Tomato Tasting
How do you like your tomatoes – tangy, sweet, juicy, tart? There was a variety for every preference Wednesday at the Great Tomato Tasting at Snyder Farm in Hunterdon County… The Rutgers agricultural extension farm has been growing 152 varieties of tomatoes this year, from extra large beefsteak varieties to tiny cherry and grape tomatoes… Tent 5, with its red and white-striped canopy, had some special tomatoes to offer. Several varieties are vying for the honor of being the new Rutgers Tomato. Rutgers scientists have been asking the public to sample three attempts to recreate the famous Jersey tomato first bred by Rutgers and Campbell Soup Co. in the 1930s… “We remade the original,” said Pete Nitzsche, an agricultural agent in Morris County who helped to organize the day’s events. In Tent 5, tasters could vote for which of the final varieties they liked the best.
Rutgers Oyster Researchers Rank Amongst the World’s Most Productive
The scholarly excellence and vast collaborative network fostered by the oyster researchers at Haskin Shellfish Research Laboratory (HSRL) in Bivalve, NJ, has propelled Rutgers to number three among the top 10 most productive oyster research institutions in the world. Its high ranking was further confirmed in a recent paper published in Aquaculture International, whose authors […]
Alternative Nutraceutical Delivery Method Proposed
Manufacturers are keen to push more nutrients into processed foods, and nutraceuticals promise forgiveness for the sins of a bad diet – with iron and calcium in breakfast cereal, plant sterols in cookies, and vitamins in soda. That promise is predicted to drive a global market of nearly $263 billion by 2020, but a letter to Nature published earlier this year implicated some of the most widely used surfactant-based emulsifiers and encapsulation agents in promoting colitis and metabolic syndrome in mice… “There is concern that these materials, specifically carboxymethylcellulose and polysorbate-80, could be hazardous with long-term consumption,” says Qingrong Huang, a professor of food science at Rutgers University, New Jersey, US… Speaking on 18 August at the American Chemical Society’s (ACS) national meeting in Boston, US, Huang proposed an alternative approach for encapsulating and delivering nutraceuticals using particle-stabilised Pickering emulsions in place of the surfactant stabilised materials.
Poll: Name the New Rutgers Jersey Tomato
Rutgers University researchers are putting the fruits of their latest tomato tinkering to the test… At tastings across the state, including the Great Tomato Tasting at Snyder Farm in Pittstown Wednesday, Rutgers scientists have been asking the public to sample three attempts to recreate the famous Jersey tomato first bred by Rutgers and Campbell Soup Co. in the 1930s… The scientists may name the winning tomato “Rutgers 250,” in honor of the forthcoming 250th anniversary of the university, or they may choose something completely different… Vote in our informal poll to tell us what you’d like to name the tomato.